[TV] Disney+ Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi

[Kyphael]

I liked the first 2 episodes of Kenobi. I'll echo I'm not a fan of Reva but I like the other characters and hope to see Vader soon.

Technically, you've already seen Vader if you saw Part II.

[PACOX]

They kinda touch on this in starwars comics where Luke meets a bunch of different force sensitives but almost none of them are as developed as the Jedi are so they are more or less limited to things like heightened senses, feelings that something is off and so on.

There are a handful of people luke meets who have learned to use the force in completely different ways then the Jedi have have some different powers because of it that are just as developed but have different limits Like with the living stone.

There's a number of factions outside of the Jedi. They are mostly small, specialized, and/order wiped out shorty after the Empire came to power.

We've seen the Nightsisters in the cartoons and Fallen Order. Knights of Ren. Guardians of the Whills, Bendu. I think Luke encountered a sect of force-sensitives after RotJ (canon) but personally haven't read any of the material neveemind you brought them up. I know the High Republic stuff has various groups/entities as well.

[formerShandalay]

I liked the first two episodes a lot, maybe apart from the chase-scene on Alderaan. I thought they might go with Leia taking advantage of her height and her knowledge of the terrain (and was under the impression that was indeed what they were trying to convey) but it seemed clumsily cut and made everyone involved look bad.

I liked the difference between Reva and the Inquisitors. The inqusitors may be Jedi hunters, but they are no Sith and cannot act like they are. I'm quite sure they are under very strict orders not to piss off the underworld kings in the galaxy, because the Empire has deals with them. As such, they cannot act with impunity on Tatooine, just talk and look menacing and kill Jedi if they find one. Reva seems more like a Sith (from the swtor-era, not Palpatine) in that regard, not caring about deals and short-fused. Kill first ask later, if it doesn't work kill some more. If there's consequences, kill those too ^^

[Redwyrm]

I think we will get a lot more back story to Reva that will explain her motivation and behavior. My guess is that she was one of the younglings from the beginning of episode 2 and that somehow she blames Kenobi for what happened. She also probably met up with Anakin (before the vader suit) during that time. Either he trained and is using her for his revenge against Kenobi. Or their mutual hatred is what brought them together.

[Finlandia WOAT]

So what, the only options are "full Empire" or "literally only two people"? Come on.

You said it yourself: it's a rule broken all the time, because it creates constraints for storytelling that get in the way. Which means it's not a rule at all.

Worse: it's a narrative convenience from the OT that Lucas made a hard canon rule for the Prequels, for some reason.

I didn't have a problem with Reva's acting, she's just a poorly written character. We're 1/3rd the way through the show, and they're still only alluding to her motivation and specific goals....you need to be upfront with this stuff, otherwise it makes understanding characters difficult. Star Wars Disney keeps doing this, i don't know why.
Also, nitpicky but i thought Leia's kidnapping being a plan to bait out Obi Wan was dumb... seems more organic that's a completely separate thing, Obi Wan gets dragged into it, and that's how the Inquisitors find him.

Other examples: Yoda's offhand excuse against training Luke "he's too old"= official Jedi policy
Haphazard training Obi Wan threw together on the Falcon= official Jedi training exercise

[Polyxo]

Just finished Part II and love the series so far, everything about it. The opening re-capping Episodes I-III, all the way to the little firecracker playing Leia. Great casting there. I was confused as hell Obi-Wan didn't know Vader/Anakin survived, though. I mean, I know hiding on Tatooine means he likely has no way to keep up with what's going on, and Anakin's fate/Vader's identity isn't likely common knowledge, and him not using the force likely means he can't sense Vader, so if he didn't know after 10 years, odds are Yoda doesn't know, which means Yoda will most likely find out in this series because by the time Empire Strikes Back rolls around, Yoda does know Vader/Anakin is alive and is training Luke to stop him.

Maybe sensing in the force is kind of like active sonar, where if you're feeling out for others, other people can feel you back.

[Biomega]

Maybe sensing in the force is kind of like active sonar, where if you're feeling out for others, other people can feel you back.

Honestly, the Force is more kind of like whatever the fuck they need at any given moment. There's basically nothing the Force can't do if the writers want it to, in any which way they like.

The whole "how can Vader NOT know his children?!" has been a thing since the original movies. Any ol' explanation will do. Maybe they're unconsciously shielding themselves. Maybe Vader is unconsciously keeping himself from finding out because he feels guilty. Whatever.

The Force is just space magic. "A wizard did it." explains everything.

[Kyphael]

Honestly, the Force is more kind of like whatever the fuck they need at any given moment. There's basically nothing the Force can't do if the writers want it to, in any which way they like.

The whole "how can Vader NOT know his children?!" has been a thing since the original movies. Any ol' explanation will do. Maybe they're unconsciously shielding themselves. Maybe Vader is unconsciously keeping himself from finding out because he feels guilty. Whatever.

The Force is just space magic. "A wizard did it." explains everything.

Technically, that could be said of any work of fiction. In a story, the writer is God and through luck and circumstance, can arrange so anything can happen at any given time to fit whatever narrative or events the character(s) are going through. Whether you want to invest the time to debate those semantics, however unplausible or not, is up to you, but that's the fun of it you're a fan.

[Biomega]

Technically, that could be said of any work of fiction. In a story, the writer is God and through luck and circumstance, can arrange so anything can happen at any given time to fit whatever narrative or events the character(s) are going through. Whether you want to invest the time to debate those semantics, however unplausible or not, is up to you, but that's the fun of it you're a fan.

It's not quite the same. Good world building is about diegetic consistency - setting out rules, then following them.

The problem with the Force is it has no rules. It can do anything. A lot of what makes good world building is having a compelling framework, but the Force is just an omnipotent MacGuffin. It doesn't need a framework. Stuff just happens, with no need for an explanation, reasoning, or consistency.

Sure all fiction is arbitrary, but not at all fiction is GOOD fiction, and how arbitrary the writing is absolutely plays into that.

I'm not saying SW is trash, but the Force as a storytelling device at least is pretty dreadful.

[Elim Garak]

I'm not saying SW is trash, but the Force as a storytelling device at least is pretty dreadful.

The force is not different from magic or some divine power and it obeys the rules of that. It can do anything, but not at once, and you don't have total control. Also it exhausts you and can even kill you if you overuse it. Out of mana.

SW is not sci-fi so it's perfectly fine to have magic in it. Heck even Star Trek had Q who was for all intents and purposes the almighty snapper.

[Biomega]

The force is not different from magic or some divine power and it obeys the rules of that.

Those are pretty dreadful storytelling devices, too

At least the unrestricted, just-snap-your-fingers kinds. There's certainly systems with more thought (and more rules) behind them.

[Jotaux]

Just finished Part II and love the series so far, everything about it. The opening re-capping Episodes I-III, all the way to the little firecracker playing Leia. Great casting there. I was confused as hell Obi-Wan didn't know Vader/Anakin survived, though. I mean, I know hiding on Tatooine means he likely has no way to keep up with what's going on, and Anakin's fate/Vader's identity isn't likely common knowledge, and him not using the force likely means he can't sense Vader, so if he didn't know after 10 years, odds are Yoda doesn't know, which means Yoda will most likely find out in this series because by the time Empire Strikes Back rolls around, Yoda does know Vader/Anakin is alive and is training Luke to stop him.

In one of the books I read he saw Vader on the holonet and knew he survived but I'm fine with them retconning it. I think the only issue I have is Vader would have not made a public appearence in 10 years when he seems pretty well known by the time ANH rolls around.

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Maybe sensing in the force is kind of like active sonar, where if you're feeling out for others, other people can feel you back.

In some of the EU novels when they hide from others feeling them through the force it also cuts them off from the force.

[Koriani]

But I will say she seems to be the only one who got the memo about their MO. She threatens to kill a single guy and her coworkers, who are also working for the bad guys and are in the dark side of the force club seem to react like she's suddenly taking things to far.

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THAT interaction was the "biggest one" to me that REALLY stood out, and didn't fit. I was VERY confused by the Inquisitors calling out another Inquisitor for being "too Sith"?

When to me she was acting 100% appropriate to the way Sith have been portrayed throughout every other piece of media involving Star Wars (at least the ones I've seen - not ALL of them, but most of it heh). Bullying villagers - check. Randomly threatening everyone with over-the-top violence and death for little to no reason - check.

One Sith telling the other Sith to leave the innocent people alone? Wait what? That... isn't Sith.. that isn't Inquisitor... that... wth IS that?

Rest of it is fine for me - enjoyed the first episode, anyway, and looking forward to the rest of the ride; however it plays out. Not saying it doesn't have its flaws - it does - and while I agree with some of what other posters are saying, I'm also, as another poster put it, seeing these things as "small annoyances" overall. Though will agree the writing is...not the best.

But out of everything in the first episode - the only part that just HIT ME with wrongness - was that scene. Sith would NOT be calling out another Sith for threatening to kill randos to get information. The fact that they are Inquisitors just makes that feel 'less right' than a "regular Sith" as, in my head, Inquisitors should be a 'notch above' a 'normal Sith' (So even more evil than the standard Sith.)

That may be just my head canon though as far as "Sith Evilness" levels =D.

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Oh, and: I really really really hope the Third Sister plotline doesn't just devolve into her being angry at Obi-Wan for not saving her/the younglings at the Jedi Temple massacre. "You made me into this!" and all that. Even worse if it's followed by redemption and recognizing the error of such ways.

Vomit.

LOL- but...I mean would it be Star Wars without a redemption arc of some sort?

(I get your point - but at the same time - Star Wars is ALL ABOUT the redemption so it also wouldn't surprise me, either.) =D

P.s. That is exactly what I expect her reasoning to be, and nothing more. If it is more, then I'll be 'impressed' with the writing - but I'm not expecting more than this sort of logic and Star Wars.

[PACOX]

Wonder if the EST release time will stick? Probably not.

[Biomega]

LOL- but...I mean would it be Star Wars without a redemption arc of some sort?

(I get your point - but at the same time - Star Wars is ALL ABOUT the redemption so it also wouldn't surprise me, either.) =D

P.s. That is exactly what I expect her reasoning to be, and nothing more. If it is more, then I'll be 'impressed' with the writing - but I'm not expecting more than this sort of logic and Star Wars.

What I'd like to see is for her to spiral out of control more and more in her psychotic obsession, and at the end Obi-Wan puts her down. And that's a cathartic moment for him because he finally overcomes his guilt over what he did to Anakin, realizing that at some point you have to step in and end things and that may not be a bad thing.

But you're probably right: they don't have it in them to diverge from shmaltzy tropes.

[quras]

I feel like I want to wait before reviewing it to harshly because I like a number of things but a couple things I really disliked.

All the chase scenes were just garbage. It killed any actual tension.

The reva character as a major villain came across as a joke and in no way to me had a screen presence for intimidation or even as a menace. To the point I didn't even care when she was onscreen as she brought nothing to the show. Then there was her volatile acts, like cutting the hand off a civilian, wanting to kill owen or anyone helping the jedi. Then she runs across a person actually helping a jedi and pretending to be one and she just lets that guy go free as a bird. Half a second needed to kill him but nope. I hope they do something interesting with her because as if now, she's bringing the show down. The script/writing for her just isn't that good or maybe it's the actor or maybe the director. I'm not sure yet.

and of course I want to know how she of all people knows who Vader really is because at that moment I actually thought, "WTF. How does she know that?"

It's decent but I hope it gets better.

[PACOX]

My prediction for the rest of the series is that the inquisitors never inform Vader of everything about Kenobi, or Kenobi finds a way to lead them away from Tatt. It would make no sense that no one tracks Kenobi to Tatt until Maul does almost 10 years later. If Maul could track down Kenobi, then surely Vader and the Empire could. So we're either going to have a big plothole or people are assuming the Inquisitors are going to be honest. Considering all the Inquisitors are backstabbing power starved goons, at the end of the day I'm going to go with the latter.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

My prediction for the rest of the series is that the inquisitors never inform Vader of everything about Kenobi, or Kenobi finds a way to lead them away from Tatt. It would make no sense that no one tracks Kenobi to Tatt until Maul does almost 10 years later. If Maul could track down Kenobi, then surely Vader and the Empire could. So we're either going to have a big plothole or people are assuming the Inquisitors are going to be honest. Considering all the Inquisitors are backstabbing power starved goons, at the end of the day I'm going to go with the latter.

I could be wrong but doesn’t Maul use Ezra for a force vision to find Obiwan? I don’t think he did and proper tracking to find him.

[Biomega]

If Maul could track down Kenobi, then surely Vader and the Empire could.

That's not how that usually works, though. If someone is hiding, it's usually not about "you didn't try hard enough" but about information leakage. If no information leaks until it does, you can't really blame people for failing to find someone.

That's like stumbling over a dropped banknote going "I guess everyone else just wasn't looking hard enough huh, if I found it why couldn't they" - sometimes you're in the right place at the right time.

The universe is a big, big place. Even a single planet is a big place. Without something to go on, random searching is unlikely to get you there.

[PACOX]

I was immediately wrong but a fun episode. Definitely one I will rewatch.

Edit: immediately see that some people don't understand why Vader didn't immediately kill Obi. Because Vader is a tormented, vindictive, and dramatic soul. He wants Obi to feel his pain before Obi he kills Obi, if he even plans to let him die (in that moment, we know what happens later). There's really not much too than that.