When we arrive at the end of a series – or season – of television, one of the questions a critic asks of the series is “Why?” Why did it end the way it did? Why did we go on that particular journey with those characters? Why did this story need to be told? And as we come to the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi*, I found myself not really having a great answer to any of those questions outside of this entire exercise being a chance for Disney to get more mileage out of existing IP. Why did it end that way? Well, because there was literally no other way it could end without retconning a beloved film series (and, one might argue, it certainly retconned things a bit). Why this journey and why tell it now? Well, I guess because Ewan McGregor decided he was ready to play this character again and Disney wanted a series they knew would get people to watch. Not very satisfying answers. And that’s fitting for a not very satisfying finale.
*Within the Disney+ app, Part VI is referred to as a season finale, not series. While there’s certainly more story that could be told – Obi-Wan leaving Tatooine for a while, Reva’s post-series journey, etc. – I honestly hope that this is the last time we play in this particular sandbox. It’s time to start telling new stories in this universe, as revisiting old characters is beginning to result in more and more disappointing stories. If Disney wants to really thrive with their new Star Wars toy, they need to start pushing forward and stop looking back.
Taking a page from the Game of Thrones playbook (not a playbook one should use, by the way), it appears that all the characters can now magically travel fast enough to arrive just in time to complete their quests – and, in the case of Reva, do so after suffering a devastating lightsaber wound that apparently wasn’t nearly as devastating as it should have been because, well, plot reasons. Reva’s trip to Tatooine was just a misfire from all side – narratively, character-wise, and within the bounds of what is possible within the universe. Even if we accept that she had the physical strength to get to a ship (what ship, exactly, is something best left unasked as the answer might fully strain the little credibility the series has left) and the speed to arrive at Tatooine with enough time to figure out who Owen is and sus out where he lives, the fact that she can fight at all with her wound is just plan ridiculous. And then there’s the reason why: She wants to kill Luke because he’s somehow connected to Vader – even though Bail made it clear that Vader doesn’t know about him? What’s the logic? She kills someone linked to Vader but who Vader knows nothing about and that’s how she gets revenge? That makes absolutely zero sense save for the fact the series needs a reason to get Obi-Wan back to Tatooine and to make Luke relevant in this story. Just sloppy all around.
And that’s the real issue at the heart of the series: For a series about Obi-Wan getting his groove back, it cared very little about doing the work to show that character progression – or to show other characters growing as well. The elements of the story were there – we saw Obi-Wan go from down and out butcher to Force wielding Jedi Master over the course of the series – but the emotional parts of that journey were muted. Part of that comes from Obi-Wan lacking a character with whom he could discuss his struggle – shame Qui-Gon didn’t pop-up until the end of the series, as Force ghosts have traditionally been great sounding boards for Star Wars characters in the past – but a lot comes from the prequel nature of the show. We know where this all ends for Obi-Wan. We know where it ends for Anakin. And we know nothing they say or do will alter that course of action. So, in a sense, it’s all filler unless the series gives us a reason to care on a deeper level. And outside the moment in which Obi-Wan finally admits that Anakin is truly gone (even though he isn’t truly gone and they will be reunited again on the other side), there wasn’t much there for us to care about on a character level.
The series also, ultimately, failed Reva as a character. What an interesting set-up: Trying to get revenge on the man who murdered her friends and mentors, she infiltrates a team of highly Force trained individuals who could figure out if you’re lying and manages to stay in their good graces long enough to get a shot at taking down Vader. Sure, she betrayed her end goal to them long ago, apparently. And yeah, she doesn’t succeed. But it says a hell of a lot about Reva that she was able to survive as long as she did – and that she was able to complete such heinous actions all in the name of exacting revenge. What does it take for a person to willingly hurt others she knows are innocent just to get a chance at killing one man? Now that’s an interesting question, and one that could pay dividends in a series like this one. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t interested in telling that particular story – even though it’s much better than Obi-Wan and Anakin dueling a couple more time before going their separate ways for the next nine years. And a spin-off where Reva tries to come to terms with her actions and figure out her future might work, but I worry it would devolve into a dark slog through her psyche with nowhere for the character to go but into another confrontation with Vader that won’t end well. Again, the problem with working in prequels is that unless you cultivate stories that aren’t linked directly to the key characters from the future story, you’re doomed to run in circles until you reach the narrative start of the other series.
You might wonder why I’m being so harsh now, after we’ve had five other episodes that I, on the whole, found more enjoyable. Well, it’s because I was hoping there would be a greater reason for the existence of this series rather than the ones outlined above. It’s fun to see McGregor back in the saddle. And I’m happy Hayden Christensen got another crack at a character that was woefully underwritten in the prequel films. And yes, little Leia was a delight throughout the entire series. But with the narrative short cuts and the disappointing lack of a clearly defined arc supporting the series, I can’t help but feel like Obi-Wan Kenobi was a waste of all our time in the end. We didn’t learn anything particularly new – in fact, the series messed just enough with what we did know to annoy those who hold tight to the original films and not enough to make it interesting for the rest of us – and we slogged through more episodes than were necessary to get to an unsatisfying ending. All-in-all, they could have done much better than what we got. Reviving a classic set of characters after so long requires more than just throwing them together to fight it out, it requires us to understand why we need to see this story at this time. In the end, the series never made that reason clear. And that’s the most disappointing part of it all.
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