Last week, the first two episodes of Star Wars’ latest product, “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” aired and were met with a myriad of reactions. Some were excited to see their favorite Jedi master up and about again. Some were disappointed by the overall production value and the quality of the writing. But one thing that almost eclipsed the technicality and narrative-driven discourse is, you guessed it, racism.
Moses Ingram (who plays Reva Sevander/Third Sister) was hounded by the bigoted side of the Star Wars fanbase (if you can even call them fans). Things got so bad that the official accounts of the franchise and Ewan McGregor put out statements, backing Ingram and reprimanding fans who reacted to the show in this horrible way. And as we walk into Part III of the show, here’s yet another reminder to not watch the show if your mind is clouded by your bigotry. Star Wars owes you nothing.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Reva Sevander Gets Darth Vader’s Blessing To Hunt Kenobi
After learning that Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is still alive as Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones again), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) tries to call out to Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), asking for his help in these troubling times. He hears echoes of what Reva said, Yoda’s (Frank Oz) warnings, and excerpts from his last fallout with Anakin. This is intercut with Vader getting into his iconic suit. It’s revealed that Vader is still in Mustafar, where he chats with Reva about finding Kenobi. Vader says that Reva will be given the position of Grand Inquisitor if she finds Kenobi. If she fails, Vader will kill her.
Kenobi fixes Leia’s robot for her, and they have a conversation about the mechanics of the Force. They arrive at a mining planet, as per Haja Estree’s (Kumail Nanjiani) directions, and make their way to the rendezvous point while evading Stormtroopers. On their way, Leia and Kenobi talk about the Empire and how there are forces at odds with each other. After seeing some stormtroopers, Kenobi has a vision of Anakin standing on the hilltop. He momentarily zones out but regains normalcy. Additionally, I think he realizes that Vader is onto him.
Reva reunites with Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) and Fourth Sister (Rya Kihlstedt). Fifth Brother high-key bullies Reva for doing more than she was asked to do. Reva reveals that she’s gotten the green light from Vader himself to head the operation to hunt down Kenobi. So, instead of bickering, they should launch the probes they have in Kenobi’s general direction. Fifth Brother and Fourth Sister reluctantly obey Reva’s orders, while Fifth Brother leaves Reva with a threat of seeking revenge because she is in his way to the Grand Inquisitor’s position. And going by Reva’s reaction to it, she intends to kill the Fifth Brother too.
Pretending to be farmers and a father-daughter duo, Kenobi and Leia hitch a ride in a vehicle driven by Freck (likely voiced by Zach Braff). They pretend that they’re supporters of the Empire so that Freck doesn’t doubt their “disguises.” Since it’s a vehicle for the Empire, Freck does pick up some Stormtroopers. They start questioning Kenobi and Leia about their identities. Kenobi and Leia manage to keep up the ruse. But at one point, Kenobi accidentally calls Leia by her actual name. Fearing that their game is up, Kenobi improvises to say that Leia is actually the child’s mother’s name, and sometimes when he looks at her, he confuses her with her mother. Leia senses that Kenobi knows her actual parents, Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin, and is lying about it.
After reaching a checkpoint, Freck tells the Stormtroopers to check on Kenobi and Leia. Coincidentally, that’s when the Probe droid lands there. As soon as it identifies Kenobi, he opens fire, killing all the Stormtroopers there and knocking Freck unconscious. When they start to move on from that position, they face another group of Stormtroopers, headed by an Imperial Officer (Indira Varma). But it turns out that the Imperial Officer is actually an ally, as she shoots down the Stormtroopers and takes Kenobi and Leia to safety. That proves that Haja Estree didn’t send Kenobi and Leia into a trap.
Kenobi Lights Up His Saber To Face Darth Vader
The Inquisitors learn about Kenobi’s little action set-piece and prepare to go to the mining planet they’re on. The Imperial Officer promises Obi-Wan Kenobi and Leia to take them to the port but says that it’s going to be difficult because the Empire is now aware of Kenobi and Leia’s presence and has locked everything down. After making sure that the coast is clear, the Imperial Officer takes Kenobi and Leia into a junkyard shop, where they meet a loader bot. Leia cutely introduces L0-LA59/LOLA to the bot.
The Imperial Officer reveals that the junkyard is actually a safe house, and there’s a hidden path that leads to Jabiim, where rebels can get new identities and find a way out. She also says that Kenobi isn’t the first Jedi to pass through here. Kenobi sees an inscription on the walls and realizes that Quinlan Vos has passed through the place. As per canon, during the Clone Wars, Kenobi and Quinlan teamed up to capture a Hutt crime lord called Ziro, and they’ve met several times over the years. The Imperial Officer says that Quinlan smuggles younglings as the Empire is hunting down anyone who is Force-sensitive.
Stormtroopers knock on the door of the safehouse. The loader bot obviously doesn’t give them any information, since it can’t communicate, and the Stormtroopers leave. The Imperial Officer realizes that they’ve been compromised and that they need to quicken their schedule. Leia feels inspired by the Imperial Officer’s zeal and requests her to teach her to shoot. Kenobi ushers her away, and the Imperial Officer says that Leia is going to make a good fighter one day. As soon as the Imperial Officer opens the path, Kenobi feels a disturbance in the Force. And in the most dramatic way possible, it’s revealed that Vader, along with his inquisitors, has landed on the mining planet.
Kenobi watches in silence as Vader tortures and kills the villagers. Realizing that he has to step in, he asks the Imperial Officer to take Leia away while he tries to stop Vader. Kenobi manages to draw Vader away from the villagers. Reva moves to go after him, but the Fifth Brother reminds her that they’ve been given orders to sweep the village, nothing more, nothing less. Kenobi faces off with Vader in a factory of sorts. Initially, Kenobi hesitates while drawing his lightsaber. But when he sees that there’s no other option left, he lights it up and goes to town with it.
‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Episode 3: Ending Explained – What Happens To Kenobi And Leia?
Obi-Wan Kenobi, shocked at Anakin’s new persona, asks Vader what he has become. Vader responds, “I am what you made me.” Kenobi proceeds to draw Vader further away from the village. Reva finds the safehouse. The Imperial Officer leads Leia to the ship that’s waiting for them. Kenobi and Vader engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader observes that the years have made Kenobi weak (something that he’ll tell him in the future again during their final duel). The Imperial Officer probably senses that Kenobi is in danger and goes back for him and tells Leia to keep going down the path to the pilot that’s waiting for her.
Vader knocks down Kenobi and tells him that he should’ve gone for the kill when he had the chance. Kenobi continues to run away from Vader. Reva finds the path. Vader laces the gap between him and Kenobi with coal (?) and then ignites it as well. And then he proceeds to Force-grab Kenobi and drag him through the embers in order to emulate the way Kenobi left him to burn on Mustafar. The Imperial Officer stops Kenobi’s torture and sends in the loader bot to take Kenobi away from Vader. And Vader lets Kenobi leave. The Imperial Officer tells the loader bot to ready the ship because they have to leave for Jabiim. Leia reaches the end of the path only to meet Reva at the end of it, who has killed the pilot.
