‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Episode 4 Recap: A Jedi Master Steps Into a Dark Fortress

Wednesday introduced us past the midpoint for Obi-Wan Kenobi, as episode 4 of the live-action Star Wars miniseries dropping onto Disney Plus. Jedi-in-exile Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is in unhealthy form after almost being burned alive throughout his horrifying reunion with fallen former apprentice Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen).

Our hero managed to flee with the assistance of Tala Durith (Indira Varma), an Imperial officer who’s secretly serving to Jedi escape Vader’s clutches by way of an underground railroad often called the Path. The risky Sith Lord will undoubtedly be happy when he finds out.

Unfortunately, Tala and Obi-Wan left little Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) to achieve the ship that’ll take her residence to Alderaan alone and he or she stepped proper into the clutches of Imperial Inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram), aka the Third Sister. The villain is decided to win favor with Vader, so it is fortunate that solely Obi-Wan is aware of Leia is the Sith Lord’s misplaced daughter.

It’s time to immerse ourselves absolutely within the Force and dive into a galaxy of SPOILERS. This present takes place round 10 years after Revenge of the Sith and 9 years earlier than A New Hope.

No escape

Obi-Wan reconnects with the Force awesomely and groups up with Tala to rescue Leia from Fortress Inquisitorius on Nur, however the wily Reva positioned a tracker within the woman’s beloved droid LOLA. It’s a part of her plan to trace down the Jedi and the Path, which nearly saves her from being fatally Force-choked by Vader (who storms into the room in an especially cool method).

“It appears I’ve underestimated you,” the Dark Lord says as he releases Reva. Every line induces chills, James Earl Jones remains to be magnificent at 91.

This calls again to the unique Star Wars film (aka Episode IV: A New Hope), since Vader employs a comparable tactic in permitting the Millennium Falcon to guide the Empire to the hidden insurgent base in Yavin IV. Since that film takes place 9 years after this present, it is smart that the Sith Lord would make use of the tactic once more.

Leia additionally remembers the transfer in A New Hope, reasoning that having a tracker on board is “the one clarification” for his or her escape. I assume the occasions of this present taught her that lesson the laborious manner.

Seeing Obi-Wan sneaking round an Imperial facility is visually much like the unique Star Wars, through which he slinks across the halls of the Death Star to disable the battle station’s tractor beam. Fortress Inquisitorius was beforehand seen in 2019 online game Jedi: Fallen Order, through which Cal Kestis infiltrates it for the ultimate mission (the sport takes place 5 years earlier than this present).

Early insurrection

Before his journey to Nur, Obi-Wan has a temporary dip within the therapeutic fluids of a bacta tank to repair up his burns after his battle with Vader. Like any good motion hero, he cuts his restoration brief as a result of he must rescue Leia. This trope at all times stresses me out — relaxation up Obi-Wan, you do not need to get a horrible house an infection.

This bathtub additionally offered the right alternative for a pleasant flashback — simply ask Boba Fett, that fella beloved his snoozy recollections — to Obi-Wan and Anakin being tremendous Jedi finest buddies and leaping about of their cool armor throughout the Clone Wars, however that does not occur. We simply get a reminiscence of his latest trauma in battling Vader, and the picture of the Sith Lord in his personal bacta tank. Which remains to be fairly cool, and higher for pacing than hopping again additional within the chronology.

Obi-Wan can be launched to anti-Imperial community chief Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who’s attempting to assist surviving Jedi. His spouse was both a former member of the Order or a Force delicate who was hunted down by the Inquisitors. It’s unclear if she’s somebody we’re accustomed to.

Roken’s community is not fairly the Rebel Alliance we see within the Original Trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). At this level within the timeline, the resistance effort is a scattered sequence of cells working largely independently — they’re united by renegade Imperial Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa (Leia’s foster father) throughout the occasions of CGI animated sequence Rebels a few years later.

Creepy Inquisitors

During his Fortress Inquisitorius infiltration, Obi-Wan discovers a horrifying room stuffed with the preserved our bodies of useless Jedi — together with younglings. It’s a putting reminder of the Empire’s horrible deeds.

Some followers would possibly acknowledge a Cosian that appears like Jedi Master Tera Sinube among the many entombed. He confirmed up a number of instances in The Clone Wars CGI animated sequence, maybe most memorably when he helped Anakin’s Padawan Ahsoka Tano get better her misplaced lightsaber.

He additionally lived a fairly lengthy life, having additionally proven up in tales set within the High Republic period (greater than 200 years earlier than the occasions of this present). We beforehand had no clue about his destiny within the wake of Order 66, through which clone troopers turned on their Jedi allies.

It’s unclear why the Empire is holding onto the our bodies of Jedi, nevertheless it may very well be associated to Emperor Palpatine’s makes an attempt to genetically engineer Force-strong beings to behave as alternative our bodies within the occasion of his demise.

The Bad Batch’s first season (which takes place 10 years earlier than Obi-Wan) and The Mandalorian (which happens round 18 years after this present) allude to Palpatine’s makes an attempt to make use of science to increase his personal life indefinitely. He hadn’t fairly pulled it off by the point he was killed in Return of the Jedi, which is why he returns in a yucky, failing cloned physique in The Rise of Skywalker (round 44 years after the occasions of this present).

Since we all know how the Palpatine plotline performs out, this seems like a little bit of a storytelling useless finish. Hopefully these genetic experiments will develop into about extra than simply his machinations.

Obi-servations and Easter eggs

• The badass scene the place Obi-Wan strikes the Stomtroopers from the darkness mirrors a similar moment seen in a trailer for 2010 game The Force Unleashed 2.
• Obi-Wan’s swimming into Fortress Inquisitorius calls again to his swimming on Naboo in The Phantom Menace and mirrors Cal Kestis’ technique of infiltration for Jedi: Fallen Order’s final mission.
• Leia’s Force sensitivity seemingly allowed her to withstand Reva’s thoughts probe.
• We overhear a Stormtrooper saying Nur provides him the creeps — I by no means tire of getting snippets of Imperial goons’ conversations, reminding us that they are largely common Joes simply attempting to make a dwelling in a galaxy run by house wizards.
• The torture chamber Leia is dropped at is much like the one the place Jedi: Fallen Order’s closing boss takes place.
• The black-armored Purge Troopers make their live-action debut on this episode, having beforehand appeared in Jedi: Fallen Order (the place they have been a critical ache to defeat in battle), its Dark Temple tie-in comedian sequence and author Charles Soule’s 2017 Darth Vadercomedian run. Their helmets have been redesigned within the years since these appearances, seemingly because the Empire transitioned from clone troopers to stormtroopers.
• Obi-Wan with Leia below his trenchcoat appears like a pathetic try to sneak a child into a movie show.
• It is superior to see Roken’s pilots utilizing T-47 airspeeders. The Rebel Alliance will later modified into snowspeeders to be used on the icy planet of Hoth, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

We can be honored in case you would be part of us for extra Easter eggs and observations subsequent Wednesday, June 15 , when episode 5 — the penultimate chapter — of Obi-Wan Kenobi hits Disney Plus.

 

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