One of the great things about Star Wars is that it inspires endless debates and opinions on a wide array of topics. Best bounty hunter? Most powerful Jedi? Does Salacious Crumb have the best haircut in the saga? In that spirit StarWars.com presents From a Certain Point of View a series of point-counterpoints on some of the biggest and most fun Star Wars issues. In this installment, two StarWars.com writers pick their best-loved chapter from the Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series now streaming on Disney+.
For me, Star Wars has always been about the echoes of the past. That moment when the story reflects a moment that reminds us of another place another person, a time in the saga dear to our hearts. The fifth episode of Obi Wan Kenobi while staying present in an anxious moment Obi Wan Leia and the Path refugees hunkered on Jabiim, trying to escape the approaching Empire manages to echo an expansive set of films and television shows.
Opening with a brightly lit flashback to the prequel era this episode reunites us with Anakin before his turn to the dark side: the smiling, devil may care Jedi sparring with Obi Wan in order to prove himself yet again. For those of us with a deep, abiding love for the prequel era of the Skywalker Saga that return to Coruscant really just seeing Hayden Christensen without that bulky armor in the way stirred something in our hearts. The rest of the episode flashing between Obi-Wans duel with Anakin and his desperate attempts to protect Leia and the others from Revas assault reminds us how much of that prequel era Anakin brash, headstrong, focused on victory remains in present-day Darth Vader.
Beyond that, the episode reflects a host of moments from the saga’s past and future. There’s the reluctant scoundrel Haja Estree, recruited into a fledgling rebellion like Han and Lando. The panic stricken escape from an approaching battalion of stormtroopers is reminiscent of the Battle of Crait in Star Wars The Last Jedi. And how can you watch Vaders impressive display of the Force holding back the departing shuttle and not think of Rey’s attempt to do the same in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?
Amid all those echoes the episode still offers something new and surprising when we learn everything we need to know about Reva, the youngling turned infiltrator. Reva, played by Moses Ingram has until this moment possessed a single minded driven purpose Get Kenobi. Chapter by chapter, we learned of her ambition to become Grand Inquisitor and to take her place at Vader’s side. But flashing back to the first moment of the series Part V finally explains who Reva really is one of the few younglings to escape Vaders extermination of the Jedi at the Coruscant temple during Order 66.
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