Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part III

Kenobi is confronted by his past in this tension-filled episode.

Part III of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” dropped on Wednesday and so far, it’s my favorite episode of the series. The episode features a few great callbacks old-school Star Wars fans will love and takes on a different look than the previous two episodes. The best way I can describe the look is very fan filmish at times – very low budget and minimalistic – and something I thought fit the story very well.

At this point, we’re still tagging along with Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) as they make their way back to Alderaan and Leia’s family. They arrive on Mapuzo, the duo fails to rendezvous with Haja’s contact, encounters a group of stormtroopers and the Imperials finally confirm Obi-Wan did in fact survived the purge. We get a Stormtrooper sliced in half, a glimpse of a familiar cloaked face in the distance and we’re not even to the most kickass moments in the episode.

When Obi-Wan and Leia arrive at the safe house after meeting up with Tala (Indira Varma), Obi-Wan learns that fellow Jedi Quinlan Vos survived Order 66 and is helping the cause by escorting Force-sensitive younglings to the safety of Jabiim. But Kenobi and Leia are not alone. A probe droid relayed the whereabouts of Kenobi and now Reva (Moses Ingram) along with other Inquisitors and Stormtroopers arrive, but they’re not alone. The sinister Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) has accompanied them intent on finding and defeating his former master.

Just before departing, Obi-Wan is shaken in the Force when he feels his former Padawan’s presence. Then we see a more savage Vader on screen than ever before. Sure, he cut through a mass of fighters on the Tantive IV in “Rogue One,” but here we see him take out peaceful civilians as he stalks through the streets trying to lure Kenobi out of hiding. Force choking a man, Force dragging a woman and Force snapping the neck of a young boy – it’s brutal and very satisfying.

Kenobi instructs Tala to get Leia to safety while he leads the baddies away. Vader toys with Kenobi as he shows he’s the more powerful and skilled fighter at this time, ridiculing his former master “The years have made you weak.” The fight culminates in Vader Force choking Kenobi, lifting him in the air, igniting the ground with his lightsaber and plunging Kenobi into the flames, reversing the events of “Revenge of the Sith.”

The lightsaber battle isn’t as slick as the prequels or as emotional as the originals but stands up to anything we saw in the sequels. I loved Vader wielding his lightsaber one-handed as he did in “The Empire Strikes Back” and chopping away at Obi-Wan’s blade much like Luke did to his own in “Return of the Jedi.’ Just the fact we see Vader stalking his prey is terrific.

Leia convinces Tala to help Obi-Wan, insisting that she can make it the rest of the way to the ship on her own. Tala arrives just in time to knock off a Stormtrooper and have a droid drag Obi-Wan to safety after putting a wall of flames between him and Vader. Reva somehow finds the safe house, finds the tunnel, and is able to make it to the pilot first, kill him and be waiting for Leia when she arrives. It doesn’t make much sense, but it’s still fun.

This episode was a lot of fun. It has a few problems here and there, but overall, it’s still good. I loved the fact we got some excellent “Legends” name dropping in this episode. I think there’s zero chance we’re not going to see Quinlan Vos in this series and that has me very excited, as does knowing another Vader/Kenobi duel is still in store for us.

Seeing Christensen back in action as Anakin/Darth Vader was great. I’ve defended the actor since the prequels, and it’s nice to see him getting some much-deserved love from the fans. He captures the essence and movements of Vader perfectly. I can’t wait to see more of him. Seeing a terrified Kenobi is also something I’m enjoying with McGregor playing the character to perfection.

As far as Reva, I’ve gone from disliking the character to her finally starting to grow on me. Still, I’m not too fond of the complete performance, but I’ve spent more time trying to understand her obsession with Kenobi more than any other element of the show so far. Is she evil? Is she trying to get closer to Vader to kill the former Jedi that led the siege on the Jedi Temple? I’m honestly not sure and that mystery has me intrigued.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” Part III is a fun addition to the series. The Kenobi/Vader scenes are great and seeing McGregor and Christensen on screen together has got this Star Wars nerd excited to see what’s to come.