– Spoiler Review –
Reva rushes to Tatooine to enact justice and Obi-Wan decides he must face Darth Vader again to save the refugees and Leia, even if it means his death, in a thrilling, emotional, and ultimately satisfying finale in Obi-Wan Kenobi “Part VI.”
There have been two core journeys to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan himself and the Third Sister Inquisitor Reva, and they couldn’t happen without the other, so thankfully the show does both justice in the finale by building off their great arcs so far. For Reva, Moses Ingram has been tearing up scenery since she first appeared, her anger and focus palpable, but so too the underlying doubts about her purpose, her mission, remembrance of her past uncovering uncomfortable emotions she’s trying to quash in order to feed on the anger for her revenge. Ingram does it again, and more, in the finale, delivering a moving ending for the character, and we have been so damn blessed to have her in the role, but what I loved most about it is how she makes the choices on her own, no input or interruption from Obi-Wan, allowing her to complete her own journey. Ewan McGregor has been no slouch either, having such great screen partners to bounce off of like Vivien Lyra Blair as Leia or even Hayden Christensen at key points as Vader, also Ingram’s Reva, but the way he’s taken a role he defined for the character’s early years (and The Clone Wars only deepened) and brought such broken, haunted looks, doubts where there was once confidence and a smile, has only made the slow, but purposeful return to his former self all the more satisfying, with the finale providing a rousing ending for his arc during this time frame as well. Their journeys of conquering their past and learning to let go, relinquishing either their self doubts or their anger, has been a compelling aspect to watch unfold all season long, so as the show already handled their character arcs with care, the finale simply continues in the vein, resolving their threads and opening the door for more, buoyed by the fantastic performances and unfiltered close-ups by director Deborah Chow. They aren’t the only characters with arcs during this series, mind you, but these were the ones I was most invested in and were carrying the show, and the finale doesn’t disappoint.
Sustained by her anger (and probably a little dip in the Path’s bacta tank), Reva arrives on Tatooine after hearing Bail Organa’s message about Owen having a boy Vader can’t know about. She intimidates a local to find out Owen’s location, but leaves him alive, which allows him to warn the moisture farmer. When Reva arrives at night fall, the humble farmers are locked and loaded and ready, thanks to Aunt Beru (Bonnie Piesse), and they put up a good fight against the injured intruder, giving young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) time to run away into the night. Owen asks her what she wants with the boy as they fight and she claims it’s justice, for how the boy’s father slaughtered her and her friends, but her face betrays the truth, she barely believes it, though it’s the only thing she can conceive of to keep going, avenging her fellow younglings one way or another. Reva gives chase once Luke’s able to flee, the Lars’ wandering the desert trying to find them, and she locates him in a rocky area. Little Luke doesn’t stand a chance and she swipes his feet out from under him, leaving him unconscious after he tumbles to the ground at her feet. She approaches, angry and ready to achieve what she’s fought for these last ten years, considering her last attempt was an abject failure as she still wasn’t a match for Vader, but the indecision slows her blade. Indecision brought on not just by the good inside of her, the youngling she used to be, but the knowledge by doing this, by striking down the young Luke, she’d essentially become the monster she’s hated all this time. Sure, she’s made terrible choices in the name of revenge, to get to this point, but she’s not yet over the edge Anakin Skywalker surpassed all those years ago during Order 66. She begins to see her youngling-self in the place of Luke, Anakin’s twisted, angry face approaching, but she fights through those visions, lifting the blade, the pain of her choice breaking her.
When the episode returns to Reva, it’s after Obi-Wan has arrived, joining the Lars’ in their search, only for Reva to appear out of the darkness, cradling Luke and depositing him before his charges unconscious, yet alive. She breaks down, looking to Obi-Wan for an answer, an answer he can finally provide because by this point of the finale, he’s overcome his past as well, he’s moved on. She’s in tears, angry at herself now and broken over her choice that she couldn’t kill Luke, that she couldn’t give her youngling friends justice. Obi-Wan assures her she did the right thing, that mercy gave them peace, honored their lives, and when she asks him if she became Anakin, he can tell her without question she didn’t, that she chose not too. And she can choose who she wants to be next, free from her past, free from the thirst of revenge that’s quenched her for 10 years. This is not the first time the episode brought me to tears, and definitely not the last, as Reva’s breakdown by Moses Ingram is powerful to watch, the desire to do right by her friends and the hope she didn’t become the monster that killed them bursting out in pain and tears, while Obi-Wan’s confidence, there to help guide her onto the next stage of whatever journey she’s on, begins to show his steps back to the Master fans all know and love. Redemption is a hard path and Reva went through hell to get to this point, but if there’s one thing Deborah Chow and the writing helped captured from Ingram’s performance in the role is that she deserved this moment and yet it didn’t feel preordained, leaving me on the edge of my seat to see what happened. The idea Reva lives and goes on to the galaxy, a fate unknown, is an absolutely exciting prospect. Exciting due to the fact it means more Moses Ingram in Star Wars, which as a star I believe to be rising more and more I see her, is lucky for us fans, exciting because I’ve come to be intrigued by and eventually care about Reva and her fate, and exciting for all the potential in her story and what she does next. Considering I figured going into this show thinking, for me at least, the Obi-Wan and Vader content would overshadow whatever they might try with Reva, this is quite the happy development and made me want to cover her aspect of the show and the finale first.
In the Path’s freighter, pursued by Vader’s Imperial Star Destroyer, Obi-Wan feels and sees the fear from those around him, and he learns from Roken the hyperdrive still isn’t any closer to being fixed. When he decides it’s time to pay back the Path for how it’s helped Jedi for 10 years, that regardless if he’s ready or not to face Vader, he has to if he wants to save these people, Leia is angry and Sully, Roken, and the Path aren’t happy with his choice. They’re concerned they can only survive with him, as he promised last episode and delivered, but he knows they can make this work without him as the heat he carries over his shoulders is too much to ask to put on these innocent people anymore. Haja helps prep Leia for Obi-Wan, as he’s entrusted the fake Jedi with a heart of gold (literally and figuratively) to look out for her when he leaves, but the conversation Leia and Obi-Wan have isn’t an easy one for either of them regardless. I love how mature they’ve portrayed Leia in the show, but yet found the childlike innocence in her too, all played wonderfully by Blair, and their first of two chats this episode only affirms the choice of actress and story. She doesn’t want him to go, complaining he’ll break his promise of taking her home, but you can tell little Leia barely believes her argument to make him stay either, and he calms her fear of losing him a bit by promising he’ll come see her after and giving her Tala’s holster, claiming the Path operative would’ve wanted her to have it. Her disappointment over its lack of a blaster, and Obi-Wan’s response, is a bright moment of levity in an otherwise dower opening to the finale. As he flees the Path’s freighter in the shuttle, the Grand Inquisitor cautions Darth Vader with pursuing the Jedi Master, saying they could wipe out the Path in a single blow instead, but of course Vader takes orders from only one being besides himself (and even then, not always), so he has them pursue the shuttle and let the Path get away. If only Vader had listened…
Before Obi-Wan embarks on his encounter, he tells Qui-Gon, not even really trying this time, what he’s about to do and how he’ll bring it to an end one way or another. He’s making peace with what he has to do, that he has to confront Vader, his old friend, his failure. When he lands back on Jabiim, he uncovers Leia’s hidden Lola in his pocket, though he leaves the little droid behind as he heads out to face the approaching Vader. When they meet, it gave me Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren on Crait vibes, as there’s a vast wall behind Obi-Wan, though this time it’s a porous area of spires, and there’s a blank expanse between them and far beyond Vader, an Imperial shuttle behind him (though no AT-ATs), providing a visual that shows how small they are in the grand scheme of the galaxy yet showing how alone they are in the confrontation, how close and personal it will get. When Vader approaches the waiting Obi-Wan, their exchange plays off their final words before their battle on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan saying he’ll do as he must and Vader saying Obi-Wan will die this time, not try like he said 10 years prior. I loved this way to begin the duel, as it set the stage for what would come by making this callback, teasing an epic fight but an emotional one as well, and it delivered on both fronts. Obi-Wan wasn’t in the right place or mindset to battle Darth Vader when they met back in “Part III,” but the Jedi Master has come a long way since, reawakening the Jedi inside of him, pushing back at those doubts, so it makes sense thematically and story-wise their first encounter was so one-sided, much to Vader’s displeasure, but it makes even more sense they’d have a battle as epic as their one on Mustafar now in the show’s finale.
Deborah Chow, have all the Star Wars, please! Not just because of the gorgeous lighting and way she captured their duel on Jabiim, but the emotional damage she helps these character commit against us viewers. The battle is much more level this time around, but while Obi-Wan holds his own, he’s still not there yet, still not fighting for the right reasons and Vader begins to beat him back. When the tables turn, they turn south fast, as Vader tears open a hole in the ground beneath Obi-Wan, and while he has the high ground but doesn’t make any quips about it (finale ruined…kidding!), he decides to BURY OBI-WAN ALIVE. Burning him was sadistic, but this takes it to a whole different level. Vader believes his Master beaten, the weakness inside he sensed in “Part III” still there, still holding Obi-Wan back, and he leaves Ben to die.
Way back in the premiere, we saw Obi-Wan struggling to sleep, voices of the past, his failures, haunting him. They’ve been largely absent since, but they return as he attempts to hold back the rubble with the Force, struggling the louder they get. But Obi-Wan’s been fighting for the wrong reasons, thinking he needs to confront Vader to make up for his past, but that’s not what he needs, rather he needs to free himself from his past, to let it go like Tala was trying to show him, like Yoda’s training would advise him if he really wanted to speak with his old Master. In this moment, we see the push and pull between those choices, to keep fighting to make up for his failure or fight for the future and let go of the past, the rocks crushing down on him one part of it and the images flashing before him of Leia and Luke, of the new hopes living and thriving, the other. He embraces the hope they give him, turning the light on again, and explodes out of the hole Vader dug for him. Vader senses his old Master’s return and holy wampas, quite the return it is. Knowing what he’s fighting for, Obi-Wan and the light side of the Force are unleashed, as he opens with a deadly barrage of rocks from the ground and then begins to whittle away at Vader’s armor. At first he takes out Vader’s breathing support, so the wheeze we’ll hear again after he helps save his son Luke begins, but then he lands a deadly blow, slicing open a part of his helmet. Star Wars Rebels fans, like myself, will be immediately fed at this moment, as it mirrors when Ahsoka Tano does this to Vader as well, and both times it lands with an emotional wallop but I love to see live-action knows animation has been leading the way.
Exposed, Anakin’s scarred visage can be seen, and with a broken helmet and breathing equipment, his voice fluctuates, often Hayden Christensen, as seen inside the helmet, and James Earl Jones (which also happened in Star Wars Rebels), and just the mere glimpse of his old friend is enough for Obi-Wan to hold off his attack, shouting Anakin’s name. I am going to try to write about this without crying again, but I already know I’m going to fail. Vader/Anakin responds, saying Anakin is dead and he’s all that remains and that’s when both Obi-Wan and myself break, as Obi-Wan wells up and tells Anakin he’s sorry, for all of it. Vader/Anakin says he’s not Obi-Wan’s failure, confessing Vader’s the one who killed Anakin Skywalker, a technicality that helps his brother, his friend, his old Master with the guilt he’s been carrying. It’s a rare admission, a rare sign of weakness in Vader, of the Anakin that is still inside him, buried under rage and anger, but it doesn’t last long. During this brief, yet emotional exchange, Chow does a beautiful thing with the lighting from the lightsabers, as it begins with Vader seen in a combination of red and blue light, then switching to more blue than red as he confesses the truth he’s made for himself, but then goes deep, bright red as Vader takes over completely, his anger all encompassing; it’s such a small thing but adds even more heft to this beautiful, emotional exchange. Vader threatens he’ll kill Obi-Wan like he did Anakin, but Obi-Wan sees this as confirmation is friend is truly dead, even calling him “Darth” as he walks away, like Obi-Wan refers to him in A New Hope. Vader, too injured to follow, screams Obi-Wan’s name in rage, since Maul has the corner covered on shouting “Kenobi” (more Star Wars Rebels!), and the two part ways, likely to never see each other again until the Death Star (far more certain to be true this time than at the end of Revenge of the Sith). Ewan and Hayden absolutely deliver, from Ewan gushing tears to Hayden’s labored cadence and switch from the softness of Anakin to the rage of Vader, while they also bring the weight of their previous encounter into this one, and it’s a wonder we got to have these two return and bring such a moment to life like this, under the hands of an excellent director. No one will walk away disappointed from this encounter in “Part IV.”
We catch up with Leia on Alderaan, adorning herself in an outfit more fitting for her personality than what she was supposed to wear in the premiere, including Tala’s holster, which Breha and Bail both approve of in their own delightfully sweet ways. She’s being called to the landing platform again and out steps Obi-Wan, with Lola, whom she rushes to first (and later puts in the holster, can’t believe I missed that initially) as the Jedi exchanges pleasantries with the Organas. Then Obi-Wan goes to Leia to say goodbye, but before he does, he breaks this viewer’s and I’m sure many other’s hearts in a scene that hit me even more than Anakin and Obi-Wan. He confesses to Leia she was right, he did know her parents, and while he won’t open that can of worms, he does list the traits Leia got from them. While I wish this had finally given us a Padmé mention by name, I understand why it couldn’t, but the list of traits and Leia’s theme in the background make it such a delightful scene, especially Ewan’s way around Leia, like he would with a youngling again, not as gruff as he was when they first met. As I said, Reva and Obi-Wan aren’t the only ones who have arcs, as Leia does too, and it’s here she signals to Obi-Wan, while she’d like to know who her parents were, she’s more than content with the two supportive ones she has here. Especially since now she knows how she wants to move forward, that joining the Senate is something she does want instead of running away, as she wants to help like her father, Obi-Wan, and the Path have helped others. Spending time with the Jedi and the Path have given her purpose, their strength in the face of the Empire an inspiration for her to join up and help how she can. Of the two, Leia was never destined for a life like Luke’s, away from the danger and away from the fight, and while she kept trying to stay away, fearful herself of what a future in the Senate could mean, if anything, she embraces the chance to help others and be in the fight. Vivien Lyra Blair has been exceptional in the role, inhabiting all the traits Obi-Wan points out effortlessly and I see a bright future for her in acting and maybe Star Wars again, as I’m definitely also imagining Blair coming back in several years to adapt something like Leia: Princes of Alderaan or further adventures she goes on prior to A New Hope.
While it certainly wasn’t enough, we are living in Aunt Beru supremacy!! When Owen comes home and tells her the news, whereas he’s ready to run and involve others, she wants to take a stand and pulls out a secret stash of guns! It was killer to see her finally in the show, and in such a badass way, I just wish we could’ve had a little more of that earlier, maybe having her alongside Owen when Reva first encounters him in the premiere. Regardless, it felt like a good way to hint at and play towards her recently revealed role in the slave freeing trade on Tatooine (Queen’s Hope), and hopefully E.K. Johnston’s upcoming unrevealed work is that story! As for Owen (Joel Edgerton), when Obi-Wan visits the farm after his trip to Alderaan, the two aren’t as antagonistic, between Obi-Wan’s renewed confidence and sense of purpose and Owen’s own reminder how much the man does care for the boy, no matter how much Owen calls Luke his own, the are almost friendly. In fact, while Obi-Wan says he won’t be coming around any more, that Luke should just have a childhood like Owen said, Owen asks the Jedi Master if he wants to meet the boy, a smile lighting Obi-Wan’s face at the opportunity. His first words to Luke? The iconic “Hello, there!” And while we don’t get any more of their introduction, it’s not needed, as we know he’ll just be happy to greet the young lad and let him simply be, and that, if the Force wills it like it does now, they may meet again.
The juxtaposition in the end between Vader and Obi-Wan is an interesting choice and also contains the moment where I cheered like no other in “Part VI.” Back on Mustafar, stewing in the angry lava around him and his castle, Vader’s chatting with Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) about how he’ll scour every corner for his old Master, but Palpatine isn’t excited by the prospect considering how both times Vader’s dueled with Obi-Wan, he’s lost. It would be hard to replace Vader at this point in Palpatine’s plan if he were to perish, though this feels like it helps set up a little storyline in the first Darth Vader comic of Palpatine trying to find replacements, so telling Vader his obsession with Obi-Wan has potentially weakened him (which obviously Obi-Wan got through, if for a moment, after the mask was destroyed) and leaving a threat dangling in the air if he can’t let this go is enough for him to change his tune and let Obi-Wan go…for now. Here Vader is learning to let go of the past as well, but it’s not as clean-cut as Obi-Wan feels in the finale, forced to make the choice, not making one of his own, further cementing Obi-Wan’s comment to Reva that she isn’t Vader as she makes her own choices. On the flip side, Vader’s not the only one chatting with a blue-form of their Master…that’s right, as Obi-Wan rides away from the Lars homestead, a blue form appears…AND IT’S LIAM NEESON AS QUI-GON JINN!!! I was cheering before he even turned around, and then crying laughing when he tells Obi-Wan it took him long enough! The scene is SO brief but it’s the first time we’ve ever really had the two communing after his death (especially in canon), so it made this big Qui-Gon fan more happy than I can really say. I never needed or wanted it to be a long sequence and would’ve been happy with just his voice, but a full-on appearance?! Even for this scene, the quick rapport between the two, I’m happy as can be. They walk on together into the credits, the idea Obi-Wan isn’t alone, has found his purpose, his arc for the show closing is beautifully conveyed in this final scene.
Here are a few other things:
- There have been some concerns about the show “breaking” canon, and while it matters far too much to some, the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale cleared up a few things. For starters, it makes sense Leia wouldn’t have outright said, “hey, old friend Jedi Master Obi-Wan who helped me and my father many years ago!” in her message to him in A New Hope regardless of us knowing about this story back then because any interceptions and she’d have a giant target on her back, but they do sort of clarify it when Obi-Wan tells her no one can know about their alliance and time together, so it doubly makes sense she says what she does about him serving her father in the war instead. Secondly, while Obi-Wan comes away from this believing his friend dead, hence why he tells it that way to Luke, for a time he didn’t believe it and Vader being mournful to Luke in Return of the Jedi about how Obi-Wan once felt like Luke does also still tracks. Thirdly, the idea Vader’s now not felt Obi-Wan’s presence since Jabiim is very likely, given his conversation with Palpatine at the end.
- Ingram took to Instagram today to tackle the haters head on in two little delightful videos of her geeking out over the survival of her character! Well deserved celebration! Now, when’s that Reva show happening?!
- Alright, I will say, yes, Roken was a little too, “we can’t do this” only to change his tune a few scenes later, but it only felt a little glaring here, as Obi-Wan decides to buy them time at first because the situation of the ship’s repair sounds so dire and then before he’s leaving it sounds like it’ll all be good. Minor issue in a rather spotless finale.
- Ewan says “Hello, there” for the first time in the show and well, you’ll never believe what was trending on Twitter at the same time…you’re all sent to horny jail!
Obi-Wan Kenobi “Part VI” delivers on all fronts in an emotionally satisfying and exciting finale, wrapping up the show’s many arcs and offering plenty of hope, not just for the once downtrodden Obi-Wan, but for the rising star of the show as well, Reva.
+ REVA LIVES AND ALL THE POTENTIAL WITH IT
+ Obi-Wan and Vader’s big fight, emotional and otherwise
+ Wrapping up everyone’s arcs
+ QUI-GON JINN!!!!
+ Stellar performances and directing throughout
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
OBI-WAN KENOBI SERIES REVIEWS
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V