Warning! Spoilers ahead for the second episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Part II.”
Perhaps the most anticipated Star Wars series yet has arrived on Disney Plus. Ewan McGregor has made his triumphant return in Obi-Wan Kenobi, a limited series exploring the period in Obi-Wan’s life between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
“Part II” picked up with Obi-Wan’s efforts to rescue a young Princess Leia while introducing a crucial cliffhanger.
A Real Jedi
After a brief encounter with Haja Estree (the hilarious Kumail Nanjiani), who was decidedly not a Jedi, Obi-Wan soon found and rescued a reluctant and skeptical Leia.
With the Inquisitors, and Reva (Moses Ingram) in particular, hot on their heels and issuing a city-wide warrant, Obi-Wan was not only fleeing the Inquisitors but chasing after Leia who questioned whether he was who he said he was.
In a climactic, arresting moment, Leia falls off the roof of the building, leading Obi-Wan to finally use the force to save her and prove his identity.
Anakin is Alive
Just as Leia and Obi-Wan reach their rescue transport, Reva closes in on them. Obi-Wan sends Leia ahead planning to hold off Reva.
While still hiding from her, Reva reveals why she’s been so determined to capture Obi-Wan–she wants to deliver him personally to Darth Vader and tells Obi-Wan that Anakin is still alive.
The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) arrives just in time to distract Reva–and get killed by her–allowing a shell-shocked Obi-Wan to escape with Leia.
The final moments of the episode are a close-up of Obi-Wan’s face, in a crushing moment of acting, as he processes the news that Anakin, his one-time brother, is alive and has been hunting him down. As he whispers his name, the episode cuts to Anakin (Hayden Christensen) in the bacta tank, staring into the camera.
One With the Force
There are several hints throughout “Part I” and “Part II” that Obi-Wan had cut himself off from the force.
He meditates and reaches out to his departed master Qui-Gon Jinn for guidance numerous times without ever hearing anything back. When he uses the Force to save Leia, it takes him several moments, and he struggles, barely saving her before she hits the ground.
In the episode’s final moments after he learns the truth about Anakin, it seems that he has finally reconnected to the Force, and is perhaps feeling his padawan again for the first time.
Obi-Wan cutting himself off from the force makes sense for several reasons, first and foremost to protect himself and conceal his identity. However, like Luke in The Last Jedi, Kenobi may also consider himself a failure, cutting himself off from the Force out of fear and heartbreak.
From a storytelling perspective, Obi-Wan’s disconnection from the Force also explains why Anakin and Obi-Wan wouldn’t have found each other before now, leading to their eventual first encounter after Mustafar.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is available to stream on Disney Plus.