Obi-Wan Kenobi became an exemplary Jedi Master in the original trilogy, in which Alec Guinness played the role. This character was also a hero in the prequels. Actor Ewan McGregor performed young Obi-Wan since his apprenticeship with Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson).
Kenobi has done all the heroic acts you expect from a Jedi. He fought the dark Force and helped the victims. He trained Anakin (Hayden Christensen), even though all other Jedi Masters turned away from the boy. Kenobi battled the toughest opponents, including Anakin’s adult alter ego, Darth Vader. Obi-Wan was one of the Star Wars characters that retained the audience’s favor even in George Lucas’s prequels, hated by many fans. In short, Obi-Wan was everyone’s darling and hero from the start.
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The Star Wars spin-off, Obi-Wan Kenobi, sheds new light on the titular character as he experiences an unexpected psychological meltdown. This hero intends to leave the fight of the disappearing Jedi against the Empire. After Order 66 destroyed almost all Jedi, the remaining ones are trying to survive. The Inquisitors sent by the Empire hunt these Jedi while civilians form a resistance to save them. In such a difficult situation, Obi-Wan has no right to step out of the battle against the dark side.
Obi-Wan Meets Vader Once Again
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Conceived as a limited series, Obi-Wan Kenobi became popular with fans as it gives his personality a new twist. Kenobi is one of the few living Jedi, hiding from the Empire’s persecution. In this series, he fights Lord Vader again.
Vader is hunting him because of a grudge against Kenobi, who left young Anakin to die on Mustafar’s shores. Little Princess Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair), the daughter of Anakin and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), becomes entangled in this manhunt. The finale sees Obi-Wan save her from the Empire and send her home.
The success of the spin-off may inspire its makers to create a sequel. The Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in her ET interview:
The second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi will bring new fights for the protagonist. He left his opponent, Lord Vader, alive in the spin-off. Clearly, Vader will recover and come after Kenobi, as Obi-Wan died dueling Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode IV. But he will fight many other battles before his demise.
Kenobi’s Struggles and Retreat
Despite his heroic image and saving the day in the end, Obi-Wan somewhat disappoints. The title character hides from the Inquisitors in Tatooine deserts and keeps an eye on Leia’s brother Luke Skywalker raised by his uncle. This story follows the original plot of Star Wars: Episode IV. But many details go against the image of a brave Jedi Master who sacrificed himself to save others.
In the spin-off, Kenobi toils as an unskilled worker with other immigrants and lives as a vagabond. He ceases to protect the victims, as an incident at his workplace shows in episode 1. He lost his battle spirit, and his mind wanders off. Once he pairs with Little Leia, the princess has to save his hide several times when Kenobi’s tongue slips in front of armed guards. This man is not what this famed Jedi Master used to be.
Obi-Wan suffers psychologically under the weight of his guilt and grief. He mourns the Jedi murdered by the Empire. He laments his dead Master, Qui-Go, for whose death Kenobi feels responsible. He grieves Anakin, whom he failed to train: the youngling turned to the Dark side just as the Jedi Council predicted. Obi-Wan could not end Anakin’s life in their first duel. As a result, this young man became the Dark Lord Vader. Vader, obsessed with defeating Kenobi, leads the Imperial Forces, which is also on Obi-Wan’s shoulders.
This emotional turmoil lies heavy upon Kenobi and affects his Jedi abilities. He cannot reach the Source, and his fighting skills flag. The self-assigned responsibility for Luke Skywalker weighs even heavier. Strangely, Obi-Wan ignores the existence of Leia until he can no longer. Even when the 8-year-old princess is in grave danger, the former Jedi is reluctant to help her. Obi-Wan only sets off on this quest after Leia’s adoptive father, Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits), visits him in person and pleads for his daughter’s life. Can you call a man a hero who refuses to help a child in distress? Heroes exist for such cases, right?
But the worst is that Kenobi retreats from the battle when people need him. Only Vader killing the innocent in Obi-Wan’s plain sight motivates him to initiate the combat. As a Jedi, Kenobi is responsible for civilians and must protect them from enemies. But fans will soon learn more about Obi-Wan’s decisions, which include burying his lightsaber, as director Deborah Chow confirms with ET that Disney and Lucasfilm are contemplating the second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
