Recap / Obi-Wan Kenobi — Part I

Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode Recap Index
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI

---

Obi-Wan Kenobi, part one of six.

---

The old Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi must maintain his cover while hiding out in Tatooine as the Empire's sinister agents hunt for Jedi on the planet's deserts. Meanwhile, young princess Leia must keep her guard up when a bounty hunter comes for her...

---

The episode opens in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, with a group of younglings being taught by a Jedi just as Order 66 begins. Clone Troopers burst onto the scene and open fire. The Jedi defends the younglings as best she can, but is struck down. The younglings try to escape as Jedi Knights attempt to defend the temple from the invading clones.

After the opening title sequence, we cut to Tatooine, ten years later. A group of Imperial Inquisitors land in Anchorhead and visit a local saloon, looking for a rogue Jedi Knight. The Grand Inquisitor talks about how Jedi can be hunted simply by threatening the innocent to draw them out. One of the Inquisitors, Reva, the Third Sister, throws a knife at one of the civilians, only for it to freeze in midair. An undercover Jedi has used the Force to save the man, exposing himself in the process. He manages to just barely escape the Inquisitors, partly due to their in-fighting, as Reva is particularly obsessed with searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Speaking of which, Obi-Wan, now hiding under the name of Ben, is now working a menial job for a pittance in credits. He spends his nights sleeping in a cave, trying unsuccessfully to commune with his long-dead master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He also takes the time to keep an eye on a young Luke Skywalker, now being raised by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Obi-Wan leaves a toy for Luke and moves on.

Later, in the desert, Obi-Wan encounters the Jedi who escaped the Inquisitors. The Jedi recognises him and asks for his help, but Obi-Wan appears to have given up all hope for the Jedi and advises the man to bury his lightsaber and live a normal life.

Owen approaches Obi-Wan in town the next day, returning the toy and telling him to stay away from Luke. Obi-Wan insists Luke will need to be trained in the Force one day, but Owen believes Luke is better off living the life of a farmer, especially considering what happened to Anakin when Obi-Wan trained him. The Inquisitors arrive in town again and start threatening the locals, trying to bully them into giving up the Jedi. Reva threatens Owen in particular, but Owen refuses to out Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan is grateful, but Owen claims he didn't do it for him.

Meanwhile, the episode also follows a young Leia Organa on Alderaan. It seems she resents the life of a senator in training and constantly sneaks off with her droid companion, LOLA. Her parents admonish her, but are still loving and supportive, especially when a bratty cousin teases her for being adopted.

Later, however, Leia is kidnapped by a group of thugs working for Reva. Bail Organa contacts Obi-Wan and begs him to help find her, but Obi-Wan refuses, claiming his job is to watch over Luke. Later, he finds the Jedi from before, dead and having been strung up in the middle of Anchorhead for all to see. When he returns to his cave he finds Bail waiting for him. Bail pleads with Obi-Wan again, who still refuses. Bail sees through him, figuring that he has lost confidence in himself after his failures with Anakin. Bail implores him to put that behind him and save Anakin's daughter.

Obi-Wan travels into the desert and digs up an old box, containing both his and Anakin's lightsabers. He returns to town and approaches a transport ship heading to Daiyu, where the thugs have taken Leia. After hesitating, he buys passage on the ship, briefly showing his lightsaber under his robe.

---

Tropes:

• Action Prologue: The very first scene has a Jedi instructor and her younglings fighting for their lives against the Clones...and then the camera pulls back to reveal even more carnage throughout the temple.
• Adoption Diss: Leia's cousin insults her by saying she's "not a real Organa."
  Niano Organa: [to Leia] You know the difference between you and me, cousin? I know things. You know, my father says they never let you leave this planet. They don't want anybody to know about you because you're not one of us. You're not even a real Organa.
• Adorably Precocious Child: Leia, who'd rather run off into the woods around her family's home on Alderaan to watch starships come and go than attend diplomatic gatherings with her parents, but who can absolutely hold her own in a verbal sparring match with a bratty cousin.
• Affectionate Pickpocket: Breha confiscates Leia's droid and tucks it into the back of her outfit. A little while later, Leia pulls her mother into a hug, which is actually just an excuse to steal LOLA back. Breha immediately knows what she's doing.
  Breha: You know, I can feel you doing that.
• An Arm and a Leg: Reva cuts off a woman's hand for saying that the Inquisitors have no jurisdiction on Tatooine.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Obi-Wan insists that in time, Luke must be trained as a Jedi, Owen coldly replies, "Like you trained his father?", which visibly shames Obi-Wan.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Bail cuts through Obi-Wan's bullshit when he tries to refuse to go after Leia.
  Senator Bail Organa: This isn't about the boy, and you know it! You've made mistakes. We all did. It's the past. Move on. Be done with it. You couldn't save Anakin, but you can save her.
• As You Know: The barman and the Grand Inquisitor have a quick conversation where they confirm that the sinister looking people in black are Inquisitors and their job is to hunt Jedi, facts both characters were already aware of, to get any audience members who haven't seen Star Wars Rebels up to speed.
  Grand Inquisitor: You know who we are?
  Barman: (terrified) Inquisitors.
  Grand Inquisitor: You know what we do?
  Barman: You hunt Jedi.
  Grand Inquisitor: In actuality, I would say the Jedi hunt themselves.
• Badass in Distress: As is often the case with the children of wealthy, powerful, or famous people, Leia knows what to do when kidnapped.
• Bag of Kidnapping: How Leia is abducted.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • When the Inquisitors first arrive on Tatooine, the viewer is inclined to think that they're looking for Obi-Wan. It's not until Nari actually reveals himself that it becomes clear that they're actually looking for him and have no idea that Obi-Wan is even on the planet.
  • When the action cuts to Alderaan, a child is seen being dressed in fancy white clothes, suggesting a young Princess Leia. Then Breha Organa sees the child's hand is the wrong color, and takes off the hood to discover an obviously alien Body Double in Leia's clothes. The real Leia has run off to the woods.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: You'd be tempted to think that Reva is referring to Anakin when she says that Obi-Wan fought alongside Leia's father in the Clone Wars. Part II makes it clear she was talking about Bail.
• Beard of Sorrow: Though he wore a beard in both Episodes II & III, Obi-Wan has grown it and his hair out, making him look more unkempt and scruffy.
• Bilingual Dialogue: Obi-Wan speaks Basic to Teeka, who replies in Jawaese.
• Blatant Lies: The Grand Inquisitor orders Reva to forget about Kenobi, and she mutters "He is forgotten." She obviously isn't forgetting him.
• Broken Pedestal: Obi-Wan is probably this to Nari, when he refuses to help Nari and says that the Jedi lost.
• Call-Back: Reva says that Obi-Wan will come for Leia because "he fought beside her father during the war." She's referring to Bail Organa, but of course we know who her biological father is...
• Call-Forward:
  • The T-16 Skyhopper model/toy Obi-Wan buys and which Lars throws back at his feet is the one we see Luke playing with early in A New Hope (Luke would go on to own a real one growing up).
  • As it will be fifty years later, Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber is shown to have been buried in the sands of Tatooine.
  • Obi-Wan's first appearance here in the present day is at a meatpacking site where he now works. The Mandalorian's first appearance in The Book of Boba Fett is at a meatpacking site while doing his job of bounty hunting.
  • Obi-Wan's introductory scene — doing what he can to make credits, working for a Mean Boss, living alone in the desert and eating quickly cooked food — is remarkably similar to Rey's first scene.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Obi-Wan initially refuses to help search for Leia when Bail contacts him by subspace comm. Then Bail shows up in person to demand his help and call him on his bullshit. This, plus the death of the young Jedi, Nari, finally spurs him into action.
• The Cameo: C-3PO briefly appears serving drinks to senators during a party on Alderaan. R2-D2 is also there, cleaning up after the banquet.
• Canned Orders over Loudspeaker: During the episode's prologue, set during the attack on the Jedi Temple, Palpatine's voice can be heard speaking above the carnage repeating "Execute Order 66."
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Lampshaded by the Grand Inquisitor as he's explaining how Jedi, by their nature, are driven to help others even to their own detriment. When Reva tosses a knife at the bartender, the Jedi they're hunting exposes himself by using the Force to stop the blade. Obi-Wan has to fight every instinct he has not to fall victim to this, as his duty to Luke takes precedence.
• Crystal Spires and Togas: The aesthetic of Alderaan's cities and people, which are presented in detail for the first time in this series.
• Cutting the Knot: Reva cuts the Grand Inquisitor's Hannibal Lecture short by throwing a knife at the cantina owner.
• Daddy's Girl: Leia seems much closer to her adoptive father Bail than her mother (though she does love her mother too.).
• Dead Guy on Display: After killing Nari, the Inquisitors string up his body in Mos Eisley for all to see, a grisly example of what fate awaits the Empire's enemies.
• Discretion Shot: Nari's dead body is introduced with its feet hovering above the ground, suggesting a hanging. But the camera pans up to show the dead body tied to an archway rather than hanging from a noose. Still murder for the sake of public display, but not quite as graphic.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Reva maims a woman for saying that the Inquisitors have no authority on Tatooine.
  • A guy who works the same product line as Obi-Wan gets half his regular pay. The boss beats him up when he complains, and threatens to take all of it next time he complains.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Obi-Wan, Owen, and Bail believe Anakin died from his wounds following the duel on Mustafar. Of course, almost any audience member knows what really happened. A recap of the Prequel Trilogy plays before the title sequence to ensure newcomers are up to speed as well.
  • The Third Sister threatens to kill Owen Lars and his family if no-one reveals the whereabouts of the Jedi, completely unaware she's threatening to kill the son of Darth Vader, her boss.
  • As with the example above, Reva's plan to lure out Obi-Wan involves kidnapping the adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa based on old information, again completely unaware she just endangered the life of the daughter of Darth Vader.
  • Reva considers the mission on Tatooine a waste of time, as she's obsessed with capturing Obi-Wan rather than the minor Jedi the Inquisitors are tracking, having no idea that Tatooine is where Obi-Wan is hiding.
  • Niano Organa mocks Leia as not being a "true" Organa because she's adopted instead of a blood relative. Unless future canon reveals any other surviving family members, the events in A New Hope will make Leia the last Organa.
• The Dreaded: The Inquisitors make their live-action debut, having previously appeared in Star Wars Rebels, Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. They're well-known enough that they're recognized even on a backwater planet like Tatooine.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Reva's methods in general seem to invoke this reaction from her fellow Inquisitors, but in particular, when she threatens to kill the entire Lars family unless the people of Anchorhead give up Nari's location, the Fifth Brother forces her to stand down and bluntly tells her afterwards that she went too far.
• Fantastic Racism: Leia's cousin mocks her for thanking a droid, saying that good manners aren't for "lower life forms." Leia snarks that if that's the case, she needn't be polite to him. The boy's attitudes are implied to come from his father, who vocally praises the Empire and shows apathy to their policy of slavery.
• Faux Affably Evil: Reva praises Owen for looking out for his family — and then threatens to kill them if someone doesn't start talking about the fugitive Jedi.
• Flashback: The episode opens to the middle of the Clone attack on the Jedi Temple, focusing on a group of younglings fleeing the slaughter as older Jedi are cut down around them. Then it jumps ahead to the main narrative ten years later.
• Foil: During their brief screentime, Duke Kayo Organa and his son Niano stand out as polar opposites to Bail and Leia; while Bail is arguing against the brutal taxation of the Outer Rim and the Empire's policies about slavery, Kayo just wants to enjoy a party and, unlike eventual Rebel leader Bail, denigrates the Republic as a "disaster" and praises the Empire for "lining pockets," implying that he is corrupt. Kayo's son, meanwhile, mocks his cousin Leia for showing respect towards droids, and is implied to have a similarly low opinion of other non-humans. Also, while Leia shows herself to be Wise Beyond Their Years, Niano simply repeats what he hears his father say in the hopes of being frightening and impressive, very different from Leia, who grows up to be a major Hope Bringer. Finally, Bail and Leia have a very positive, loving relationship despite their lack of blood ties, while Kayo is strongly implied to be a negative influence on his son, who fears him and looks down on Leia for being adopted.
• Foreshadowing: Early in the episode, Obi-Wan tells the young Jedi that finds him to bury his lightsaber in the sand and to forget all about being a Jedi. Later on, Obi-Wan digs his and Anakin's lightsabers out of the sand, having left them there to take his own advice.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: It's clear that the Third Sister, Reva, is not held in high regard among the other Inquisitors, largely due to her loose cannon tendencies.
• Giant Flyer: Obi-Wan is part of a crew harvesting tuna-like meat from the corpse of a giant manta ray-like creature which, judging by the trench trailing behind it, seems to have fallen out of the sky and buried itself sideways in a Tatooinian dune field.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: A variation with the Third Sister and Fifth Brother: she angrily demands information on Jedi whereabouts, maiming and threatening to kill those who don't co-operate, while he offers a substantial reward to those who come forward. Unlike most examples, they're not playing good cop-bad cop on purpose; the Fifth Brother is being pragmatic, while the Third Sister is being needlessly aggressive, and they clearly have no patience for each other's methods.
• Good Is Dumb: The Grand Inquisitor clearly believes this, stating that the Jedi are driven by their compassion and thus will always reveal themselves.
• He's Back!: The scene where Obi-Wan recovers his lightsaber (along with Anakin's) from the desert.
• Hope Spot: Leia still has her droid hidden on her, and it's just cut her bonds when one of her kidnappers enters the room and smashes it.
• I Have a Family: When one of the meatpacking workers only gets half pay, he cites this reason to the foreman. The foreman merely shoves him and warns him that if he hears one more complaint, he'll take all the worker's pay.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Done by Breha after her brother tells Bail he's "not here to end slavery, I'm here to eat your food. Save the bleeding heart for the Senate." Bail's about to retort, but Breha sends him for drinks.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Owen throws Anakin's "death" in Obi-Wan's face, but Obi-Wan silently acknowledges that Owen is right that Obi-Wan failed Anakin, and Owen's remark is driven by a desire to protect his nephew from a similar fate.
  Obi-Wan: We talked about this. When the time comes, [Luke] must be trained.
  Owen: Like you trained his father? Anakin is dead, Ben, and I won't let you make the same mistake twice. So, leave him on the farm with his family, where he belongs.
• Kick the Dog: One of the kidnappers smashes Leia's pet droid LOLA.
• Killed Offscreen: The Inquisitors manage to find and kill Nari offscreen and later string his corpse up in the middle of Mos Eisley to warn the townspeople of what will happen to those who oppose the Empire.
• Like a Son to Me: Bail makes it clear that Leia is his daughter, and Obi-Wan will save her, because she's just as important as her brother.
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • Obi-Wan gets a pained look on his face when he sees young Luke wearing goggles and pretending to fly a ship — reminding him of his father Anakin, "the best star pilot in the galaxy." Particularly because earlier in the episode Obi-Wan's dream montage shows clips of when he first met Anakin, as a young boy the same age on the very same planet, and wearing similar goggles while flying the N-1 starfighter.
  • Like Mother, Like Daughter: Leia swaps places with one of her handmaids, dressing her up in her royal clothes so she can sneak off — just as Padmé frequently had her handmaids act as decoys. She also has a lot of the stubbornness of both her parents and sass of her father.
• Make an Example of Them: Reva cuts off the hand of a resident of Anchorhead who refuses to acknowledge the Empire's authority in the Outer Rim. She later threatens to murder Owen and his family if the residents don't turn in the fugitive Jedi. The Fifth Brother prevents this because Reva's tactics are needlessly aggressive and a waste of time, since (for all the Inquisitors know) the people she's threatening might not know anything at all.
• Mama Bear: A version as close as the Jedi with no family contact can have happens with Jedi instructor Minas Velti, who deflects numerous direct shots at her youngling pupils and ultimately dies protecting them.
• Manly Tears: When the Organas call Obi-Wan to ask for his help, Bail is choked up and fighting back tears.
• Mean Boss: The foreman at the meatpacking site where Obi-Wan works is verbally and physically abusive to his workers. It's clear Obi-Wan wants to do something about it, but doesn't want to draw needless attention to himself.
• Mood Whiplash: The opening scene is a Jedi Master leading her younglings in their exercises...and the Clone Troopers burst in and start shooting.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling:
  • Owen's turmoil over his resentment of Obi-Wan and the fact that he does not want to turn him over to the Inquisitors alerts Reva, causing her to target him first for interrogation, then with threats to get the rest of the crowd to give her information.
  • Owen's Exact Words response may be what confuses her enough to save him. She can sense if he's lying, so he says that he resents the Jedi and feels they bring nothing but trouble: a truthful response — from a certain point of view — just omitting that he still actually does know a Jedi.
• Nerves of Steel: Owen calmly faces down the Third Sister when she asks him about the Jedi in hiding, even when she puts her lightsaber to his throat and threatens his family.
• Never-Forgotten Skill: Despite not having used the Force in years and doing his best to forget it, Obi-Wan remembers (or senses) exactly where he buried his and Anakin's lightsabers in a desert.
• Nice to the Waiter: Leia makes a point of thanking a protocol droid by name when it serves her during the party. Her cousin makes fun of her for being nice to "lower life forms" such as droids. When Breha is scolding her for insulting the cousin, Leia cites his rudeness to droids as a reason he needed to be put in his place.
• Oh, Crap!: The town of Anchorhead is alarmed at the Inquisitor ship's arrival. Notably, the Jawas start packing their shit and run away as soon as they see its shadow.
• The Oner: The second shot of the episode follows the Jedi Minas Velti leading a group of Younglings through the halls of the Temple and defending them from the Clone Troopers until she's cut down by blaster fire. The shot continues with the Younglings realising they need to run and heading off on their own as fighting continues all around them.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Owen is less than pleased with Obi-Wan leaving gifts for Luke, and sternly tells the former Jedi to stay away from his family.
  • After Leia is kidnapped, Bail reaches out to Obi-Wan to rescue her and says she's just as important as her twin brother. He personally travels to Tatooine to convince Obi-Wan to go after her, even though doing so puts them all at risk of exposure.
• Pet the Dog: Despite his dislike of Obi-Wan, Owen refuses to sell him out to the Inquisitors, and very nearly loses his life for it. Of course, it's mostly to protect his family.
• P.O.V. Sequel: The opening scene retells the sacking of the Jedi Temple from the perspective of Younglings who were in the middle of training when Anakin and the 501st stormed the building. Through them, we get an extended, alternate perspective of not just the siege, but also the slaughter in the Great Hall that was only briefly glimpsed during the Order 66 montage in Revenge of the Sith.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • The Fifth Brother stops Reva from killing Owen with her lightsaber — not because he gives a damn about the life of a moisture farmer, or anyone in Anchorhead, but simply because her scare tactics aren't working, and they have a whole town still to search.
  • The Grand Inquisitor uses the Force to stop Reva from killing Nari, insisting that he's more valuable to keep alive for information about other potential Jedi survivors.
• Present Absence:
  • Luke Skywalker is arguably the most important character in the episode, with Obi-Wan's vow to watch over him being his sole motivation, as well as the root of his conflict with Owen. Luke himself, however, only appears briefly, from afar.
  • Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader makes no appearance, but his presence is felt throughout the episode: the Inquisitors are hunting Jedi on his orders, Obi-Wan is crushed by the guilt of failing him, his "death" is brought up by Owen, and his children are, due in no small part to being his children in the first place, of paramount importance to the story.
• Previously on…: The episode is prefaced with a 4-minute recap of the entire Prequel Trilogy, to make sure you're up to speed.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ten-year-old Leia gives a very biting one to her cousin when he mocks her for being adopted.
  Leia: You're scared of him. [Niano stares at her confusedly for a second before she continues] Your father. You want him to like you, so you repeat what he says even though you don't really know what it means. You think being like him will make people frightened of you, but really, you're the one who's scared. You've never made one decision for yourself in your entire life, and you never will. I may not have seen much, cousin, but I can see that.
• Refusal of the Call:
  • Obi-Wan coldly turns Nari away when the fugitive Jedi begs him for help fighting back against the Empire and the Inquisitors, saying the war is over and the Jedi lost.
  • Likewise, Obi-Wan initially refuses Bail's plea to rescue Leia, supposedly because he's busy protecting Luke, but Bail figures it's really because Obi-Wan still blames himself for Anakin's fate.
    Obi-Wan Kenobi: I can't.
    Senator Bail Organa: She's my daughter, Obi-Wan.
    Obi-Wan: I told you, I'm not the man you remember.
    Bail: Well, you're going to have to be!
    Obi-Wan: I can't leave the boy.
    Bail: This isn't about the boy, and you know it! You've made mistakes. We all did. It's the past. Move on. Be done with it. You couldn't save Anakin, but you can save her.
• The Reveal: Reva says that she kidnapped Leia because "[Obi-Wan] fought beside her father in the war." Don't mistake her as speaking about Anakin; she's talking about Bail.
• Rewatch Bonus: One of the thugs kidnapping Leia is a Falleen, making this the first live-action appearance of the race.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: The Third Sister correctly senses Owen is hiding something about the Jedi, but thinks he's sheltering the Jedi they originally came to Tatooine to hunt, when he's actually protecting Obi-Wan (and Luke).
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Some Jawas that are selling stuff at the marketplace pack up and flee when they spot the Inquisitors' ship.
• Stalker without a Crush: The Third Sister Reva is determined to go after Kenobi, despite orders from the Grand Inquisitor to forget him and go after the Jedi they know about.
  Grand Inquisitor: You are reckless.
  Third Sister: Why chase after scraps?
  Grand Inquisitor: Scraps are all we have left.
  Third Sister: Then we should be hunting bigger prey.
  Grand Inquisitor: He is not yours to find. We are past this, Third Sister. I will not warn you again. You will forget this fixation with Kenobi, or I will relieve you of your duties. Is that clear?
• Stock Footage: Obi-Wan has a nightmare about his history with Anakin, which shows footage from all three of the Prequel movies.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother barely conceal their disgust at the Third Sister's psychotic manner and willingness to go straight to using violence to achieve their goals, while Reva doesn't quite hide her disdain towards them.
• That Man Is Dead: Obi-Wan tells Bail he isn't the man he used to be. He changes his mind later.
• Time Skip: It's been ten years since Episode III.
• Tranquil Fury: Niano, during Leia's "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Narrowly averted with Nari. Whatever the reason he came to Tatooine, he brought the Inquisitors in pursuit. Nari's actions indirectly put Owen in the crosshairs of Reva (who senses his inner turmoil regarding Obi-Wan). If Owen's answers hadn't confused/satisfied her (and the Fifth Brother hadn't intervened), Reva would likely have exposed Owen's secret, which would've endangered Obi-Wan and Luke (as well as Bail and Leia if they'd managed to take Obi-Wan alive to interrogate him). In Nari's defense, he had no way of knowing Obi-Wan's purpose for hiding on Tatooine wasn't just exile.
• What You Are in the Dark: Despite having a lightsaber held to his throat and his family threatened, Owen holds his nerve and doesn't say a word about Obi-Wan.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Obi-Wan refuses to help search for Leia, saying he's no longer the Jedi Knight he once was, Bail insists he's the only person in the galaxy he trusts to get the job done.

---