The Biggest Flaw with Obi Wan Kenobi

                    By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

photos copyright Owen Quinn

I am convinced that Disney are listening to every word I say. I was having a discusswith a buddy of mine about why would Leia ever name her kid Ben since she had neve met him. Lo and behold, they did a series explaining that very plothole.

When it was rumoured that Disney were working on a new series for Ewan McGregor’s version of Obi Wan Kenobi, fans were ecstatic. Comics for years have been filling in the blanks of characters lives between series and movies. Kenobi was an obvious one. Exactly what did he do in the desert for all that time? Did he really sit there waiting for Luke to reach the right age to sweep him away to fight his father? It would be a bit boring and waste of life if he did so. That bloody sand gets everywhere. So here we are sitting in the afterglow of the first series with news of series 2 confirmed.

So here we go and witness the time Leia was kidnapped and fugitive Obi Wan Kenobi was lured out of hiding by her father Bail Organa. It was a race that would bring in Vader and the Inqusitors to capture Kenobi and kill out a Jedi that should have died the nght of Order 66. However what Kenobi did to Anakin causing his metamorphosis into Darth Vader has burned in Vader all this time. He wants Kenobi to suffer as he did and nothing will stand in his way.

All Jedi are being hunted down by the Inquisitors but when Reva Sevand learns Kenobi has resurfaced, she makes him her personal project even murdering the Grand Inquisitor. If she can gain Vader’s favour by capturing Kenobi then she can get close enoughto kill Vader for murdering her fellow younglings the night of Order 66. Yep Reva was a jedi in training but has kept her secret all this time rising up through inquisitor ranks to achieve her goal.

We all know that it will end with a showdown between Vader and Kenobi, years before their final one on the Death Star and yes it does when hidden emotion and regret come boiling forth in a proper Force fight. This series is limterally a tick list of what fans want to see; McGregor back, Christian Haydensen back in full Vader and pre Vader mode. Liam Neeson popping up, Owen and Beru, Kenobi saying ‘Hello there’ to a young Luke. It’s all there and enjoyable but such a gift from Disney blinded many to a very simple thing- there’s no drama in the series at all. The so called cliffhangers are as devoid of tension as brewer’s droop. It just isn’t there.

The problem with filling in blanks is we already know the future. We know Leia will be fine. We know Kenobi if captured, will escape and go back into hiding. We know Luke grows up under the care of Owen and Beru so nothing really bad is going to happen. But for me the series fell completely flat when Reva found out that Vader had children and went to hunt Luke down. Any other show we would have been on our seats but not here. We already can see how it’s going to go just from that cliffhanger. Reva knowing about the kids means nothing. We know she will not tell Vader, will not kill the kids and probably have a change of heart and make a truce of some kind with Kenobi. So there is no drama in it. It’s an empty threat. No one can deny that the Vader/Kenobi fight is awesome and I bought the figures before the nay sayers come to kill me. It’s this blinkered enjoyment that robs the show of true grit and protects it from criticism. But it’s true.

Why didn’t the writers try to subvert our expectations and insert a danger which could severely harm the characters we know survive but need a miracle to survive it. Reva’s backstory is a good subversion of audience expectations but there was nothing else. It was all pretty standard, enjoyable and better than the Book of Boba Fett.

This series really wrote itself ensuring fan needs but without the drama required to bring back the casual viewer.