‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Finale: Obi-Wan Faces His Past & His Future (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 6, “Part VI.”]
In Obi-Wan Kenobi’s tense final hour, Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) makes a sacrifice to save the rebels from the Empire — and young Luke’s (Grant Feely) in grave danger on Tatooine. Familiar Star Wars faces appear… and there’s a shout-out to one of the most popular memes from a galaxy far, far away. Here’s how it happens.
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As the episode opens, the Empire’s pursuing the rebels. The good guys’ hyperdrive is broken, meaning they can’t get away — and Obi-Wan realizes there’s one way he can save his friends. He decides to give himself up to Vader (Hayden Christensen) in hopes that he’ll be enough to stop the Imps. Leia’s (Vivien Lyra Blair) heartbroken. Ben gives her Padme’s (Natalie Portman) blaster holster, saying she would’ve wanted her to have it. When Leia notes that it’s empty, Ben remarks, “I wasn’t going to give you a blaster, Leia. You’re 10 years old.” Even with his life in danger, Obi-Wan’s still got sass.
He leaves in an escape pod, and Vader pursues him down to the surface of a jagged, rocky planet. “Have you come to destroy me?” Vader asks. “I will do what I must,” the Jedi says, referencing a pivotal moment in Episode III. They battle for a while, but Vader creates a sinkhole and traps Obi-Wan inside. “Did you really think you could defeat me?” he says to his old Master, now buried underground.
Trapped in the rocky rubble, Obi-Wan draws on happy memories of Luke and Leia to free himself using the Force. He then makes his way back to Vader again. Obi-Wan gains the upper hand by pelting him with rocks, and they continue to fight. Obi-Wan destroys the panel on Vader’s chest and slices at him with his lightsaber, and… he destroys part of Vader’s helmet. As the masked man struggles to breathe, Obi-Wan sees his Padawan’s face for the first time since Mustafar. “Anakin,” Obi-Wan says. “Anakin’s gone,” the villain says. “I am what remains.” Vader tells a stunned Obi-Wan that he’s not his failure and that he didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker: “I did.” Obi-Wan leaves him, wounded and gasping for air, on the surface of the planet.
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Meanwhile, Reva (Moses Ingram) arrives on Tatooine. A townsperson who sees her warns Owen (Joel Edgerton) of her arrival, and he and Beru (Bonnie Piesse) fortify their home to defend young Luke. They hide him, then they engage Reva on her arrival. Things go bad, and Luke’s forced to flee on his own into the caves, with Reva pursuing him. He falls and is knocked unconscious, and Reva raises her saber — but remembering her own trauma during Order 66, she can’t go through with it. Obi-Wan and the Lars family meet her on the sands of Tatooine, after she’s rescued Luke from his peril.
The Lars family goes inside their home, carrying their son, and Reva and Obi-Wan have an emotional conversation. She asks whether she failed the younglings who died, and Obi-Wan says she didn’t. “You haven’t failed them by showing mercy,” he says, “you have given them peace. You have honored them.” She asks him whether she’s become like Vader, and he says she’s not. “Who you become now is up to you,” he says. She puts down her saber, and he tells her they’re both free now.
On Mustafar in his castle, Vader has a conversation with a familiar face — Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid)! The wrinkly Sith ponders aloud whether Vader’s feelings interfered during his battle with Obi-Wan and whether he still has emotions about his past that left him weak. “Kenobi means nothing,” Vader says. “I serve only you, my master.”
On Alderaan, little Leia, now determined to be a leader, puts on her holster and prepares for the day ahead. (Guess Haja [Kumail Nanjiani] was successful in getting her back to her parents.) She’s reunited with Obi-Wan and her beloved droid Lola, no longer under Imperial control. “If you ever need me again,” Obi-Wan tells Bail (Jimmy Smits), “you know where to find me.” He says goodbye to Leia, telling her about her parents in just vague enough terms to keep Star Wars canon intact. Then he soars away and returns to his cave, where he gathers up his things.
He goes to see Owen at the Lars homestead and tells him he was right and that Luke doesn’t need Force training. All he needs is to be a boy. “The only protection he needs now is you and Beru,” he says. “Take good care of him.” Owen says he will. He asks Obi-Wan if he’d like to meet Luke, and they’re introduced. And of course, the first thing Obi-Wan says to the youngster? “Hello there!” (Unfortunately, Luke does not respond with “General Kenobi!”) As the episode ends, Obi-Wan finally sees a Force ghost: Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). “Took you long enough,” Qui-Gon remarks. “I was always here, Obi-Wan. You just were not ready to see.” He turns to walk away, telling his Padawan, “come on. We’ve got a long way to go.” With a smile on his face, Obi-Wan follows.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, All Episodes Streaming Now, Disney+
