Recap / Obi-Wan Kenobi — Part II

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

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Obi-Wan Kenobi, part two of six.

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Responding to the Organa family's request for help, Obi-Wan travels to a planet where criminal activity is rampant to save Leia, but soon finds himself being chased after not just by the Inquisitors, but also the criminals there.

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Obi-Wan arrives on Daiyu to begin his search for Leia. As he searches around, a boy approaches him, claiming he knowns a Jedi nearby who could help. It turns out the Jedi is actually a Con Man, using remote shutters and concealed magnets to simulate Force powers, and he charges a mother and her son a large amount of credits to get them offworld. Obi-Wan calls the man, Haja, out on his tricks, but he does have his uses. He gives Obi-Wan the location of a spice lab where Leia is being held, and Obi-Wan goes to investigate.

There, he encounters some of the thugs who kidnapped Leia. They actually get the upper hand on him at first, but he manages to break free and find Leia. He convinces her to come with him, and they escape into the crowd. Meanwhile, the Inquisitors arrive on Daiyu to search for Obi-Wan. The Grand Inquisitor becomes increasingly annoyed with Reva's obsession with Obi-Wan and her tendency to ignore orders. He dismisses her from the mission, but she puts out a bounty on Obi-Wan instead, hoping to flush him out into the open.

Obi-Wan has his hands full with Leia, who it turns out is quite spirited. The two bicker quite a lot at first, and things only get worse when the bounty goes live. Leia puts it together that the thugs kidnapped her to get to Obi-Wan, and that she wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for him. She even begins to wonder if he might even be the one who was behind the kidnapping in the first place. She runs away, despite his protests. He pursues her, but things only get worse as bounty hunters begin showing up and firing on the two.

Leia falls off a rooftop, and Obi-Wan has to use the Force to slow her descent and save her life. This is enough to finally earn her trust. However, they run into Haja again. As it turns out, he may not be as bad a guy as Obi-Wan believed, as he gives them a key for a nearby automated transport that can get them off-planet. He tells them to go, planning to buy them some time. He encounters Reva and poses as a Jedi again, trying to distract her, but she easily senses he's not a Jedi and uses the Force to read his mind and learn where Obi-Wan is going.

Obi-Wan and Leia reach the ship, bonding a little as Leia's spunky attitude reminds Obi-Wan of Padmé. Reva shows up, and Obi-Wan urges Leia to get to the ship. He hides in the shadows, readying his lightsaber for a fight. However, he is stunned into silence when Reva reveals an incredible piece of information...

Anakin is alive.

Obi-Wan can barely move, and is only saved when the Grand Inquisitor shows up to confront Reva for disobeying orders again. Reva responds by stabbing the Grand Inquisitor in the gut with her lightsaber. Obi-Wan takes advantage of the distraction and flees. He gets onto the ship just as it takes off, leaving Reva behind, who swears to track him down.

On board the ship, Obi-Wan is deaf to any of Leia's questions and can only whisper Anakin's name.

At the same time, a heavily scarred figure in a bacta tank narrows his eyes and makes a very familiar breathing noise...

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Tropes:

• Actor Allusion: The drug dealer who tries to sell to Obi-Wan sadly informs him that she "was" somebody's daughter. Said drug dealer is played by Ewan McGregor's own daughter.
• The Aggressive Drug Dealer: The spice dealer Obi-Wan meets goes as far as giving him a free sample.
• Ambition Is Evil: The Third Sister isn't hunting Obi-Wan because she wants a challenge, she's hunting him so she can hand him over to Vader and advance in the Inquisitorius.
  Grand Inquisitor: [furious] Third Sister! I can stand the reek of your ambition no longer!
• Badass in Distress: Obi-Wan isn't the Jedi Grand Master he used to be, but that doesn't mean Flea and his goons are a match for the weakened man he is.
• Bait-and-Switch: When con man Haja learns that Obi-Wan is really a Jedi and that a bounty has been put out on him, he picks up a blaster and quips to his partner about "finding him first," making it seem like he intends to collect on the bounty. He then saves Obi-Wan from another bounty hunter and provides him with a means to get off-world.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: In order to prevent himself from being discovered, Obi-Wan has to use a blaster pistol while on Daiyu, a weapon he'd previously called "uncivilized." He can't hit the broad side of a barn at any more than ten feet.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Leia asks Ben to make her float, to prove he's really a Jedi. She gets her wish when he uses the Force to save her from falling to her death.
• Call-Forward:
  • The green coat Leia wears as a disguise, coupled with her braided hair, makes her look similar to the way she'll dress during her mission to Endor.
  • The Third Sister using the Force to look into Haja's mind and see the information she requires is reminiscent of Kylo Ren doing the same to Poe Dameron in The Force Awakens, though hers is much more effective and much less painful on the individual being interrogated.
  • Reva trying to coax a silent Obi-Wan out of hiding and sensing through the Force that he didn't know Anakin was alive is framed similarly to Vader trying to goad Luke into fighting him and discovering from Luke's feelings that Leia is his daughter in Return of the Jedi.
  • This won't be the last time we'll see a rage-filled and temperamental dark sider unexpectedly put a lightsaber through their more powerful superior as payback for their mistreatment.
• The Cameo:
  • Temuera Morrison appears as Nax, a retired Clone Trooper who's now homeless on the streets of Daiyu.
  • Ewan McGregor's daughter Esther portrays the spice dealer who hands Obi-Wan a free sample.
• Carnival of Killers: A subversion as they're hired not to kill or capture Obi-Wan, but to draw him out so Reva can get him instead.
• Chekhov's Gun: A spice dealer gives Obi-Wan a free sample. He later uses it to drug Leia's kidnappers, giving him time to escape.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Even at a young age, Leia is less than impressed with people's attempts at rescuing her.
• Con Man: Haja Estree uses magnets, remotes, and a partner to pretend to be a Jedi. He charges a lot of money for the privilege. The kid who led Obi-Wan to him is working for him, too. Despite this, he does seem to genuinely be helping people to get off of Daiyu, and it's only with Haja's help that Obi-Wan and Leia manage to leave the planet and escape the Inquisitors.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Obi-Wan having to use the Force, despite being undercover, to save Leia from falling is near identical to Cal doing the same for Prauf in the opening of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
  • Obi-Wan's Heroic BSoD on learning Anakin is alive is almost identical to Ahsoka's when she learned Anakin is Vader.
  • Leia insists her father will send an army after her. Yoda proves that a single Jedi Master is worth as much as an army. Obi-Wan will do the same eventually.
• Cyberpunk: Daiyu is one of the Star Wars universe's equivalents of cyberpunk settings (others include Nar Shaddaa and the lower levels of Coruscant) — a vast neon-lit city where the criminal underworld is everywhere.
• Death Glare:
  • The Grand Inquisitor, Fourth Sister, and Fifth Brother are all glaring at the Third Sister when they confront her on Daiyu.
  • Vader's cameo at the end of the episode has his eyes snap open as he stares with his menacing Supernatural Gold Eyes.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": When Obi-Wan calls her "Princess", Leia tells Obi-Wan that he doesn't have to call her that and that she is "just Leia."
• Dramatic Irony: Obi-Wan tells Leia about a friend she reminds him of, who died years ago. Leia offers condolences, unaware that they're discussing her own biological mother.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Though her methods were troublesome, Reva did draw Obi-Wan out of hiding, something Vader dearly wants. Nevertheless, the rest of the Inquisitorius show her nothing but disdain.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Upon seeing the open bounty on him, Leia assumes that her father didn't actually send Obi-Wan and runs away from him. Given that he's a stranger who refused to tell her anything about himself, and that there's a sizable bounty on his head that makes staying with him seem a lot more dangerous, she's not entirely unreasonable for thinking that, even if it's not true. That she correctly deduces that she was kidnapped to lure him out doesn't help.
• Eye Open: Vader awakens as Obi-Wan recognizes that Anakin is still alive.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Haja is exposed as a con man by Obi-Wan, but he enthusiastically and genuinely helps Obi-Wan locate Leia. This hints that, despite the con, Haja is genuinely trying to help people.
  • Not believing that Obi-Wan is a real Jedi, Leia playfully/tauntingly tells him to make her "float". He eventually saves her from falling to her death by using the Force to float her down safely.
• Get Out!: The Grand Inquisitor dismisses Reva from the hunt for Obi-Wan, insisting he will deal with her recklessness and insubordination later.
  Grand Inquisitor: [addressing the Fourth Sister and Fifth Brother] Secure the city. I will take Kenobi in myself. [to the Third Sister] You are no longer required, Sister.
• Goggles Do Nothing: When Obi-Wan is on Daiyu, an alien is shown wearing goggles on top of his head despite the fact that they are clearly made for a more human-like face than his and will not fit over his eyes.
• Gory Discretion Shot: The Grand Inquisitor threatens the leader of the kidnappers with his spinning lightsaber, but the scene cuts away just as we hear the sound of the blade striking the man and him screaming in pain.
• Heroic BSoD: Obi-Wan freezes up after the reveal that Anakin is alive. Even after Reva stabbing the Grand Inquisitor shakes him enough to run, he can still barely function when he gets to the ship.
• Hero-Worshipper: It turns out Haja reveres the Jedi and is almost speechless (almost) that Obi-Wan remembers his name after a few hours apart.
• He's Back!: It will take the rest of the series to complete, but Obi-Wan begins his journey back to being the wise, badass Jedi Grand Master we first met in A New Hope.
• Hidden Depths: It turns out Haja Estree is a fan of the Jedi and is willing to risk his life confronting an Inquisitor to help Obi-Wan escape. Yes, he charges money, but he really is trying to help people. It seems that the child he helped earlier really is Force-sensitive and he's delivering them to Jedi in hiding.
• I Resemble That Remark!: Leia insists she's not stubborn (like her mother).
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Reva stabs the Grand Inquisitor through the stomach, believing he wants the credit of catching Kenobi himself.
• Improvised Weapon:
  • When caught by the bounty hunters, Obi-Wan uses the spice canister he received earlier (along with a mask he'd already appropriated) to incapacitate the kidnappers and escape.
  • Leia attempts to use an unknown blunt object to hit whoever opens her door (in this case it's Obi-Wan) to escape her cell.
• Innocently Insensitive: Obi-Wan bluntly says, "Good," when Leia tells him her droid LOLA is broken. He's initially just glad it won't make any noise before he realizes the young princess is very attached to the droid.
• Internal Reveal: Obi-Wan learns that Vader survived their battle on Mustafar and is searching for him.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After having spent much of the previous episode being smug about abducting Leia, the kidnapper leader meets his fate at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor himself.
• Little Girls Kick Shins: Leia, mistaking Obi-Wan for another of her captors, does this when he enters her cell to free her.
• Little Miss Snarker: Leia continues to impress.
  Obi-Wan: If anyone asks, we're farmers from Tawl and you're my daughter.
  Leia: [under her breath] Granddaughter, maybe.
  Obi-Wan: What?
  Leia: [smiling innocently] Nothing!
• Motor Mouth:
  • Young Leia constantly asks Obi-Wan questions about himself and the Jedi Knights, much to his annoyance, as they are trying to keep a low profile as they flee Daiyu.
  • Haja babbles a bit explaining himself to Obi-Wan and trying to earn his trust.
    Haja: Do I like credits? Sure. There's so much stuff you can buy with credits! I helped get those people safe, and I'll help you, too.
• Mugged for Disguise: Offscreen, Kenobi steals the breath mask and protective clothes of a drug worker to infiltrate a lab that has Leia in it.
• Neon City: Daiyu is modeled after Hong Kong. The city is grungy, but choked with brightly colored advertisements and signage.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Haja tries to stall Reva while Obi-Wan escapes, but if anything, his efforts just help her track him down; she senses that he knows where Obi-Wan is going and effortlessly pulls the information from his mind.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • On the opposite end, had Reva not skewered the Grand Inquisitor — who was just about to draw Obi-Wan out from his hiding spot — Obi-Wan wouldn't have escaped safely with Leia.
  • On the other hand, had he not intervened (and not made it clear early that he was going to be taking the credit for Reva's work) in the first place, Reva would have lured Obi-Wan out herself.
• Noodle Incident: When the Grand Inquisitor reprimands her for using Leia as bait to lure out Obi-Wan, Reva retorts the Inquisitorius has done the same and worse to lure out targets previously.
  Grand Inquisitor: You would kidnap an Imperial Senator's child?!
  Third Sister: We've done worse.
• Not Worth Killing: After extracting the information she wants from Haja, Reva just leaves him in the alley, a sharp contrast from other Dark Side users, who would have killed him after being done with him.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Haja freezes up when Obi-Wan pulls a blaster on him and outs him as a Con Man who fakes being a Jedi.
  • Obi-Wan when he learns that the one of the Inquisitors was behind the kidnapping to bait him.
  • And again when he realizes that Reva is telling the truth and Anakin is alive. His expression is a study in this trope; he's clearly feeling a mixture of shock and absolute horror.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Obi-Wan relies on a blaster throughout the episode, getting in gunfights with multiple bounty hunters, due partly to his intent to avoid being identified as a Jedi, and partly due to feeling utterly defeated by the fall of the Jedi and rise of the Empire. And unlike the last time someone offered to sell him narcotics, Obi-Wan seemingly accepts a free sample of spice, though it proves useful later.
• Le Parkour: Reva uses some Force-assisted roofhopping parkour moves to chase Obi-Wan across the rooftops of Daiyu.
• Phony Psychic: Haja Estree is instantly unmasked by Obi-Wan as a fake Jedi who lures people who want to be smuggled out of Daiyu using magnets to simulate Force-grabbing and conveniently timed automatic doors and shutters that look like they're closed by him at a distance. He asks for pretty hefty sums of money, something that wouldn't fly by the Jedi Code.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: The Grand Inquisitor tears into Reva, the Third Sister, pointing out that her ability with the Force bought her a place among the Inquisitors, but that she's from the gutter and is the least of the Inquisitorius because of it.
  Grand Inquisitor: Whatever power you are craving, it will not change what you are.
  Third Sister: And what is that?
  Grand Inquisitor: The least of us. You came to us from the gutter. Your ability gave you station, but all the power in the world can't mask the stench beneath.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The Grand Inquisitor's outrage that Reva had Leia kidnapped is implied to be largely due to concerns about how kidnapping an Imperial Senator's daughter will look for the Inquisitors politically if their involvement is exposed.
• Recognition Failure: The homeless clone trooper, Nax, fails to recognize Obi-Wan despite the fact that he was part of the 501st Legion — Anakin Skywalker's battalion, and thus he almost certainly would have at least seen Obi-Wan at some point during the war. It's possible that the clone is too drunk/high to recognize him, his memory has faded a bit over the years, or he just chose not to acknowledge the former Jedi.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Reva has Leia kidnapped because she found an obscure connection between Obi-Wan and Bail Organa in the archives, and reasoned that Obi-Wan might come out of hiding to save his friend's daughter. While that is a factor, the main reason is that Leia is (potentially) The Chosen One.
• Saved by Canon: The Grand Inquisitor will survive his stabbing, since he is due to appear later in Star Wars Rebels.
• Shout-Out:
  • The spice lab Obi-Wan tracks Leia to visually resembles the meth labs from Breaking Bad, while Obi-Wan smashing a spice canister on the ground as an Improvised Weapon is reminiscent of Walter White pulling a similar trick with a bag of fulminated mercury disguised as meth. The spice he uses as a distraction in the lab also resembles the red phosphorus that Walt uses to escape Krazy 8 in the pilot. That series director Deborah Chow also directed an episode of Better Call Saul makes the parallels more blatant.
  • From down on the streets to up on the rooftops, the entire style and condition of Daiyu resembles the dystopian future Los Angeles in Blade Runner, only missing the constantly pouring rain.
• Sleeping Dummy: Leia's kidnappers use a globular object balanced on a chair and placed under a sheet to fool anyone who tries to rescue Leia, as Obi-Wan finds out the hard way when he opens the first cell door.
• Spoiled Sweet: Leia isn't a bad kid, but she's clearly accustomed to getting what she wants and is terribly out of her depth when it comes to being on the run from Inquisitors and bounty hunters.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Obi-Wan manages to slice his hand in a brief, but intense fistfight with a Zabrak, a race known for sporting a ring of horns on their heads. Forcibly grabbing someone by the head, when that head is covered in sharp, pointy bits, is a good way to hurt yourself in the process.
  • Obi-Wan may have been one of the most powerful Jedi Masters in his prime, but he's kept himself out of action for ten years. When he gets into a fight against two opponents, he barely escapes a thorough ass-kicking.
  • Leia may be a Force-sensitive princess that only just got rescued from her abductors, but she's still a child. Despite the threat looming over them, she can't help but be curious, impatient, and impulsive, to Obi-Wan's mild consternation.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Inquisitors can barely stand to be around Reva, and the Grand Inquisitor loses all patience with her when she calls in bounty hunters to go after Kenobi. It culminates in her stabbing him in the gut when he tries to take Obi-Wan for himself, giving Kenobi a chance to escape.
• Too Clever by Half: Leia sees that a bounty hunter has a picture of Obi-Wan, correctly deduces that she was kidnapped to draw him out, but then assumes her father didn't actually send him and runs away.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • The Inquisitor's bounty hunters take some precautions with Kenobi, but he still gets the drop on them and gets away quite quickly.
    Leader: You're not a Jedi any more, you're just a man, and you're bleeding all over my floor.
    Obi-Wan: Well, everyone bleeds.
  • Averted by the Grand Inquisitor, who recognises the danger Obi-Wan poses and orders his people to take appropriate measures.
    Grand Inquisitor: Make sure the port is shut down. I want a garrison here within the hour. And remember, this is no ordinary Jedi. Kenobi is the last ember of a dying age. Extinguish him.
    Fifth Brother: Consider it done.
  • Though Haja reveres the Jedi and works with the Path, he doesn't really understand how much danger he's in from the Inquisitorius, not really knowing what the Force is capable of.
• The Unfavorite: The Third Sister, unlike other Inquisitors, comes from a poor background and is despised because of it.
• Vice City: Obi-Wan lands in one on Daiyu, where everyone likes their secrets, spice is traded openly in the street, and a conman pretends to be a Jedi.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Reva and the Grand Inquisitor are constantly butting heads at the expense of their efforts to capture Obi-Wan; the Grand Inquisitor's annoyance with Reva's recklessness, disdain for her humble origins, and desire to take all the credit for Obi-Wan's capture clash with her ambition and viciousness, culminating in Reva stabbing the Grand Inquisitor through the stomach during an argument that, ironically enough, is just the distraction Obi-Wan needs to escape.
• Wham Line: Reva taunting Obi-Wan in the cargo bay. Not only is it an Internal Reveal that Anakin survived the duel on Mustafar, but Reva knows who Vader really is.
  Third Sister: You don't have to worry. You're not going to die... today. I'm just going to take you to him. Lord Vader will be pleased. You didn't know? He's alive, Obi-Wan. Anakin Skywalker is alive. He's been looking for you for a long time...
• Willfully Weak: To avoid attracting undue attention to himself, Obi-Wan foregoes using his lightsaber or the Force while fighting off the kidnappers or the bounty hunters Reva sends after him. He only uses the Force to save Leia from falling to her death, and it's only when he's cornered by Reva and the Grand Inquisitor that he even considers drawing his lightsaber against them.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Leia is quite observant, and probably showing her Force sensitivity.
  Obi-Wan: How old are you?
  Leia: I'm ten.
  Obi-Wan: You don't sound like you're ten.
• With My Hands Tied: Even limiting himself to not using the Force or his lightsaber, Obi-Wan is still a badass Jedi and veteran of the Clone Wars.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Obi-Wan has an exasperated expression upon seeing that there is a bounty on him.
  • Also the Grand Inquisitor's reaction when the Fourth Sister alerts him to the same.
• You Remind Me of X: Obi-Wan can't help but see similarities between Leia and Padmé. He talks about the latter to the former briefly. Ironically, Leia has no idea that he's describing her own mother.

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