Obi-Wan Kenobi Is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, 1 year after the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story and 9 years before A New Hope. Could any of these story threads connect to the new event series?
There was a time when I would consider the possibilities of a new Star Wars project. The promise and the potential. Now my first thoughts go to the limitations of what can be achieved.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the limitations of the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series. In terms of big Star Wars events, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series, coincides with one event that’s pretty big, in more than one way - the relocation of the Death Star’s construction to Scarif. Seeing how surprised Obi-Wan is by the reveal of the Death Star in A New Hope, I’m assuming he hasn’t seen it before so maybe that event won’t feature in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.
The rebellion is emerging as a unified force at this time. Just a year before the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi, we see Han Solo donate a haul of Coaxium to the nascent rebellion, will this feature in the show? Does Bail Organa reach out to Obi-Wan for help of some kind? Perhaps. That seems like something important enough to take Obi-Wan away from his primary mission; protecting Luke Skywalker. Now that feels like a limitation to me. The fact that Obi-Wan is in hiding to protect Luke and be there ready to start the boys training. Let’s look at that for a second.
The Protection of Luke Skywalker
In the year or so prior to this event series Obi-Wan had to rescue Luke from Jabba The Hutt’s henchman during a dispute over a water tax. This seemingly results in Jabba sending the Wookiee Black Krrsantan to hunt down Obi-Wan, so it’s safe to say, protecting Luke raises Obi-Wan’s profile to slightly above “crazy old hermit” status. But is it a full time gig or can he get some time off world to help Bail, the Rebellion or any number of other allies?
This has always felt limiting to me. How to get Obi-Wan engaged in exciting events but keep him hidden enough to not draw attention to Luke. It’s a thin line the writers on this show will have to walk.
Let’s consider Luke being the focus of Obi-Wan’s story. Let’s say he did indeed do something that brought too much attention to Luke. Who might connect the dots and realise Luke’s value?
One character active at the time is Emilia Clark’s Qi’ra. She and Maul are running Crimson Dawn, might they have interests that cross paths with Kenobi? It’s safe to say Maul doesn’t know about Luke until much later, but what if Qi’Ra found out about Luke and his importance? Would she necessarily bring Luke to Maul’s attention if she learned who he was and where he came from? or might she keep that detail to herself. Like an ace up her sleeve? Could the Obi-Wan series redeem Qi’ra and release her from Crimson Dawn?
Potentially.
It might be interesting to follow up on some of the threads left dangling after Solo. The gangs of Crimson Dawn, Black Sun and the Hutts would be fascinating to see onscreen and small enough to keep Obi-Wan planet side and keep his profile low. It also allows him to get into some exciting action.
Yeah I think the gangs in general, and Crimson Dawn and especially Qi’ra would be very interesting adversaries for Obi-Wan.
It might be helpful to look a the structure of the existing Star Wars tv show for clues as to how the creators might tackle Obi-Wan Kenobi story telling.
The Mandalorian Structure
When considering the Obi-Wan series, The Mandalorian seems like a good structure to consider.
The central story of The Mandalorian is The Child’s story. Mando first acquires Grogu for Moff Gideon via The Client, then rescues him back. Soon his quest is revealed as delivering Grogu to “his people”, in this case The Jedi. And so the narrative drive of The Mandalorian is the child and keeping him safe.
For Obi-Wan it seems Luke will fulfil a similar function as Grogu. Luke’s safety will determine what Kenobi does at any given time.
In The Mandalorian the “character arc” of Mando seems to be his evolution thanks to the presence of Grogu. The child changes the man as he learns what it means to be a “father”. I don’t expect that for Obi-Wan, although I do expect his character arc to be built around the Force.
During his time in exile Obi-Wan must learn more about the Force, most likely from Yoda and Qui-Gon. His deeper understanding will better prepare him for the events of the OT. I expect to see some of the abilities we witness in the sequel trilogy put to good use in this series as we learn about the Force alongside Obi-Wan. Expect Yoda and Obi-Wan to connect the way Rey and Kylo Ren connect, allowing Yoda and Obi-Wan to be in each others presence physically. That will make for much more fulfilling storytelling as those characters interact. It will also allow for Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader to connect in a similar way leading to the third aspect of Obi-Wan’s story in the limited series.
Obi-Wan and Darth Vader
With Hayden returning to the role of Anakin Skywalker, it’s clear that the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin will be explored in some way. Many have suggested we should expect flashbacks to the Clone Wars, and even though that would be exciting to see, I’m much more interested in what happens between the events on Mustafar and the Death Star for these two men.
Will Obi-Wan try to save his “brother” from the monster that consumed him a decade earlier? How will Anakin react to knowing his former master is still alive? How do they have “...the rematch of the century” to quote Kathleen Kennedy without undermining what happens in A New Hope?
Remember when Vader says, “You should not have come back”? Can this show put a new spin on that line? Come back from where? Or does he mean come back to the Death Star? Come back to him (Anakin)? How about that disturbance in the Force Vader felt? He tells Tarkin, “The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master”. I always took that to mean he was feeling Obi-Wan’s presence onboard the Death Star, but could it be something else? Does it mean Luke? Luke was with Obi-Wan on the Death Star, does Vader sense Luke’s presence with Obi-Wan during this series? Remember in The Last Jedi when Luke walk out of his hut and Kylo Ren sees him whilst connected to Rey? Could Vader experience a connection to Luke whilst connected to Obi-Wan? Perhaps a feeling he doesn’t understand, a disturbance in the Force when Luke enters frame so to speak?
The visual story telling, knowing what we know about Force users connecting remotely will be exciting. Vader and Obi-Wan together in the hut on Tatooine or in Vader’s castle on Mustafar will be awesome. Might we see a new way Vader survives out of the suit? We have seen him in the tank during Rogue One, does he have another way to survive in his chambers? A way that allows Hayden to act opposite Ewan without the limits of that helmet? Maybe when Obi-Wan connects to Vader through the Force he sees Anakin, not the Sith Lord, but instead he sees his friend?
Will they take time to explore Anakin’s feelings about being Vader? His regrets about Padme? Will he learn her true fate from Obi-Wan and realise Palpatine lied to him a decade earlier?
The more I think about it, the more there is to explore about Obi-Wan, the Force, Anakin/Vader’s evolution, Luke and Leia and the Rebellion. Not to mention the much smaller, personal, one shot stories we have see done so well in The Mandalorian, being brought to life in this event series. It seems like Obi-Wan Kenobi has plenty of room to do something interesting. Something that goes beyond the limitations of the time frame. Some that has the potential to expand and enhance what we already know about Star Wars.
I for one, can’t wait!