Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Part IV Review
The first three episodes of the miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi took the Internet by storm. We’ve seen a PTSD-addled Obi-Wan come out of hiding to find and rescue Princess Leia from the Inquisitors. And, like any good pairing between a cynical adult and an idealistic child, the two end have brought out the best in each other, and it looked like Obi-Wan was starting to recover from what he went through in the Clone Wars. Then, Vader showed up, set him on fire, and planned to subject him to an eternity of torture before being rescued. However, Leia got captured by the Inquisitors once more, which means Obi-Wan now has to launch a rescue mission.
It’s a shame that Star Wars already did this a few years ago in a video game, which didn’t bode well for how this episode would turn out.
If I Had Nickel for Every Time…
Obi-Wan’s mission to infiltrate the Inquisitor’s fortress is one that’s already been done. In the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, fans saw Cal Kestis, another Jedi Survivor, break into the exact same fortress five years earlier. The only difference is that Cal had to retrieve a Holocron with the names of all the Force-sensitive children in the Galaxy. That mission saw Cal fight through hordes of Stormtroopers, Inquisitors, and almost meeting his end at the hands of Vader himself. In other words, nothing about what Obi-Wan does in this episode is original.
Given how Star Wars saw a Jedi who’s weaker than Kenobi break into the Inquisitors fortress and escape, the sense of danger is not as great as it’s trying to be. Even in his weakened state, Obi-Wan’s still one of the most powerful Jedi alive. He manages to make his way through the fortress relatively easy, though not without making some disturbing discoveries.
Some fans estimate that out of the thousands of Jedi alive before Order 66, only a hundred or two managed to escape the initial purge. By the time of the classic trilogy, the Jedi are either all dead or in hiding, and one room in the Inquistor’s base serves as a reminder of how thorough they’ve been. Fans were stunned when Obi-Wan discovered a room that is, for lack of a better word, a tomb. Frozen in what appears to be amber are the corpses of hundreds of Jedi and Force-sensitives that the Inquistor’s have killed. It’s a sadistic reminder of their role as Jedi hunters, and just how many Jedi the Sith have murdered over the years. For Obi-Wan, it’s another reminder of how he failed to stop this by stopping Anakin’s fall.
Sassy Leia is Best Leia
Meanwhile, Leia continues to steal the show in every scene she’s in. Even though she’s got every right to be terrified, Leia refuses to give Reva the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. It’s yet another reminder of how she’ll one day grow into the woman who plays a key role in toppling the Empire. For now, though, it’s fun to see her sass her captors until Obi-Wan rescues her.
In the end, Obi-Wan, Tala, and Leia escape the Fortress and make Reva look foolish in front of Vader. However, this isn’t the end. Reva took Leia’s loyal droid companion, Lola, and turned her into a servant of the Empire. In a call-forward to the tactic that Vader uses to find the Rebel Base on Yavin IV, Reva does the same here. In other words, the Path will likely be compromised.
Not a Good Time to Stumble
As far as episodes go, this was the weakest one of the miniseries. The stakes aren’t as high as they make themselves out to be, it drags on in certain places, and many of the scenes are very forgettable. With only two episodes left, Kenobi has to rally if it wants to stick the landing and give us the rematch of Kenobi and Vader that fans want to see.
