Tag: kumail-nanjiani

It’s time for the stand-off that we have all been waiting for. Welcome to the finale of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’.

We begin with Reva (Moses Ingram) on Tatooine. She tells a stall owner that she’s looking for a farmer, Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton). In space, Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) is chasing Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and the group of refugees. Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) tells Ben the shields won’t last, and the Empire is likely to catch them.

He looks to the escapees, and at Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) as she helps calm a child. She tells Kenobi they’re scared. Luke (Grant Feely) and Owen go shopping for parts. He’s approached by the stall owner from earlier, saying he needs to tell him something.

Ben explains to Leia he’s going to go to Vader, so the refugees can escape. They’ve spent their time protecting Jedi, so let him return the favor. He orders Haja (Kumail Nanjiani) to get Leia home safe if he doesn’t come back.

Owen tells Beru (Bonnie Piesse) that Reva is coming for them. She tells him they’re not leaving, and not putting anyone else in danger. They arm up, ready to face her.

Haja tells Ben he spoke to Leia, and Kenobi relays to her how he wishes he could have taken her home. He gives Leia the blaster holster that belonged to Tala (Indira Varma). Leia hugs Ben and begs him to come back. He promises her he will. We see him looking over his lightsaber, trying to speak to Qui-Gon’s force ghost. But all he gets is silence.

Roken tells Ben he doesn’t have to confront Vader, but Kenobi explains there’s not many leaders left, and tells Roken not to stop. The Empire tracks the escape ship, and the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) explains to Vader how they need to wipe out what’s left of the refugees. “He’s not just some Jedi,” Vader responds.

On Tatooine, Owen explains to Luke why he needs to hide, and tells him not to leave. He tells his uncle he’s not afraid, and they lock him away.

Vader chases Kenobi to a planet, saying he will face him alone. Ben lands on a dark, rocky planet and just sits, waiting for his old Padawan to find him. He hears a droid, and it’s revealed Leia left L0-LA for him.

Reva is creeping her way onto Owen’s farm. We see Vader landing on the planet at the same time. He steps off the ship, facing down Kenobi. Vader asks if he’s come to destroy him. Kenobi says, “I will do what I must.” “Then you will die,” Vader responds. Finally, the battle the entire series has led up to.

Back on Tatooine, we’re shown Owen aiming for Reva. They fire on her, at the same time Vader and Kenobi are duking it out, using the Force against one another. “Your strength has returned, but the weakness still remains,” Vader says to Kenobi. Vader managed to finally get the high ground. He tries to crush Kenobi under a large pile of rocks and walks away.

Reva fights against Owen, and it’s revealed she’s going after Luke in some attempt at justice against Vader. Luke escapes, and she chases after him.

Kenobi is buried, but he’s struggling to use the Force to help himself escape. We hear flashbacks to when he fought Anakin before he was Vader, and he uses Leia and Luke’s voice to free himself. Vader stops walking away, Obi-Wan finally getting the upper hand and using intense force powers, turns the tables on him.

Reva chases Luke into a rocky corridor, paralleling where Kenobi and Vader are fighting. At the same time, Obi-Wan destroys Vader’s breathing tech. He destroys his helmet, and for the first time in a long time, he is face to face with Anakin Skywalker. We’re shown the surprise and fear on Kenobi’s face. “Anakin’s gone, I am what remains,’ says Vader.

Kenobi tearfully apologies, for everything, as Vader tells him “I’m not your failure. You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did.” Whatever was left of Anakin, was gone. “Then my friend is truly dead,” replies Kenobi. Ben says goodbye calling him Darth instead of Anakin one last time.

Obi-Wan escapes the planet, and meanwhile, Reva is still on the hunt, getting closer to Luke. Kenobi feels what is happening to Luke and races to help. Reva approaches the child, ready to take her revenge on whoever she can that is related to Vader. She does hesitate, seeing Luke as herself as a child during Order 66.

Kenobi lands on the planet and sees Owen and Beru trying to find Luke. They see Reva carrying Luke back to them, very clear she didn’t kill him. Reva tells Kenobi she couldn’t do it, and she explains how Anakin killed all of the younglings. Ben tells Reva that by saving Luke, she honors all who have been lost.

She asks if she’s become Vader, but Ben says she’s chosen not to. What she becomes is up to her. Reva takes out her lightsaber and tosses it away. Kenobi offers her a hand, and she accepts. “Now you’re free, we both are,” Kenobi says.

Cut to Mustafar, and we’re shown Vader talking to the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). He questions if Vader’s thoughts are clear and asks if his feelings are clouding him.

Leia is shown returned to her family, dressed like a little Rebellion princess. Her mother (Simone Kessell) questions the holster, but explains she actually loves it. They make it out to her father (Jimmy Smits), who looks at her outfit, with Leia responding, “You said there was many ways to lead.”

Kenobi steps off the visiting ship, giving her L0-LA back and visiting Leia’s family. They explain how they can never repay him, and her father says he fears for her future. Ben offers his help in case anything happens, and Leia asks what he’ll do now. He says he doesn’t know, and she offers up the idea he should sleep.

He finally reveals to Leia all her fantastic qualities come from both her real mother and father, but she seems not to care, looking to her adoptive family as if they were blood. Leia asks if she’ll ever see him again, and they hug one last time. Obi-Wan flies off, and he’s seen packing his stuff away once again in his cave on Tatooine.

He grabs the bag of metal toy parts, and visits Owen one last time. Owen asks what he’s doing there, and Kenobi tells the man he was right. Luke just needs to be a boy. “The future will take care of itself,” Ben admits.

Kenobi tells Owen the only protection Luke needs is him and his aunt and tells him to take care of the boy. Owen calls for Ben, asking if he wants to meet Luke. He walks over to the boy and gives a single greeting of “Hello there.”

Finally, we’re shown Kenobi riding into the desert, when a force ghost of his old master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) finally appears. “Well, took you long enough,’ Jinn says to Kenobi.

He explains to Ben he was always there, saying he just wasn’t ready to see him. He tells Ben to “Come on, we got a way to go,” leading him into the desert as the series ends.

So, how was ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ really’? Well, I was someone who grew up on the prequel trilogy. Seeing Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christenson back was probably a highlight of this extended universe for me. Both of the characters and their story were huge highlights of the show. From the smallest side characters to the leads, everyone was incredibly interesting and felt like fantastic additions to the universe.

Being able to see Christensen and McGregor continuing where the prequels ended was a dream come true, and their acting absolutely killed it. Seeing the pain on Kenobi’s face when he sees his old apprentice in this last episode hurt me to my core. Special props to Christensen for making Darth Vader just as scary so many years later. His performance is an absolute triumph.

Moses Ingram’s performance as Reva also deserves a shout-out, especially for being one of the more badass villains so far on the ‘Star Wars’ screen, and quickly becoming sympathetic through her heartbreaking origin.

With all this praise, the show did indeed have its issues, such as missed opportunities for character cameos (though the addition of Qui-Gon Jinn right at the end was a sweet touch) rather than uninteresting villain plotlines. The Inquisitors, not counting Reva, seeming more like a video game nod than real fleshed out baddies.

But we’re staying in the past with the next Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ show, ‘Andor’.

Can’t wait to see you all then, and thanks for reading!