PART ONE
Ten years following Order 66, in which most of the Jedi Order was slaughtered in Star Wars Episode III—Revenge of the Sith--Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is hiding in a cave on Tatooine. Everyone knows him as Old Ben Kenobi. He is watching the young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely), who is living with his Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Aunt Beru (Bonnie Diesse). He is the secret son of Anakin or Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). Obi-Wan has lost his connection to the force and cannot communicate with his dead Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and is tortured by nightmares.
The Inquisitors, under the command of the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend), are looking for a Jedi named Nari (Benny Safdi), who is somewhere on Tatooine. Also, the Third Sister of the Inquisitors, named Reva Sevander (Moses Ingram) is looking for Obi-Wan, though he is widely believed dead. To draw him out of hiding, she hires bounty hunters to kidnap the 10-year old Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) from Alderaan. Nari tries to obtain help from Obi-Wan but is rejected and then found hanged. Leia’s adoptive father Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) visits Obi-Wan and convinces him to rescue Leia.
The episode was directed by Deborah Chow from a script by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amiri. Many of the original players in the George Lucas movies appeared in the series. Ewan McGregor was excited to be playing Alec Guiness playing Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hayden Christensen was excited to play Darth Vader again, although an AI played James Earl Jones’s voice. Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine and Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn appeared in cameos in the series finale. The music of John Williams, which—let’s face it—is possibly the most important character in the George Lucas movies, is played throughout, and he wrote some new themes as well.
PART TWO
After tracking Leia’s (Vivian Lyra Blair) kidnappers to the planet Paiyu, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) meets a conman named Haja Estree (Kumail Nanjiani), who is pretending to be a Jedi. Haja sends Obi-Wan to Leia’s location, where he defeats the kidnappers and rescues her. The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) learns of the incident and locks down the city. Reva (Moses Ingram) disobeys orders and places a new bounty on Obi-Wan, attracting the attention of mercenaries and bounty hunters all over the city.
When Leia realizes they are after Obi-Wan, she distances herself from him. She falls off a roof in the process and he saves her with the force, regaining her trust. Haja sends them to an unguarded cargo port to escape the city, but Reva follows them. The Grand Inquisitor arrives to seize Obi-Wan, but Reva stabs him with a lightsaber. Kenobi and Leia escape, and Reva reveals that Anakin, whom Obi-Wan thought dead, is still alive as Darth Vader. Vader awakens in a Bacta revival tank.
The story was by Joby Harold. Ewan McGregor here portrays the emotional version of Obi-Wan Kenobi that he played in the prequel movies, before Alec Guiness’s portrayal him as a quiet-spoken Zen Master type. The Grand Inquisitor, as played by Rupert Friend, was a Pau’an from Utapau, once a Jedi Temple Guard in the Jedi Order. He was out to replace Emperor Palpatine. The character had appeared in the animated Star Wars Rebels series.
PART THREE
From his fortress on the planet Mustafar, Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen, AI voice of James Earl Jones) instructs Sevander Reva (Moses Ingram) to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, and she will be rewarded by appointment as Grand Inquisitor. Obi-Wan’s and Leia’s (Viven Lyra Blair) transport lands on the mining planet Mapuzo and they proceed to a rendezvous with Estree Haja (Kumail Nanjiani). There is no-one about and they take a ride on an Imperial Transport, where they are found and Imperial troops are sent to seize them
But an Imperial officer named Durith Tala (Indira Varma) who is a member of an underground network called the Path that aids dissidents and outlaws, rescues them. They are taken to a secret passageway, but before they leave, Vader and the Inquisitors arrive and try to lure Obi-Wan out of hiding by threatening innocents. Obi-Wan sends Leia and Tala on ahead and creates a distraction. He is confronted by Darth Vader, who overpowers him and burns him. Tala saves him but Leia is captured by Reva.
The script was written by Joby Harold, Hannah Friedman, Hossein Amin, and Stuart Beattie. Reva Sevander, or Third Sister, is ruthless and ambitious to prove herself to the Grand Inquisitor and Darth Vader. She was a Jedi Youngling and secretly rebelled against Vader for killing her peers. She is a serious badass, but Moses Ingram portrays her as motivated by the trauma in her past. She was shown with Kinky hair so black children could easily dress up as her for Halloween.
PART FOUR
Having escaped from Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) on the planet Mapuzo, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Durith Tala (Indira Varma) arrive at a Path facility on Jabiim. Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) is being held in the Fortress Inquisitorius, the stronghold of the Inquisitors on Nur, and is being interrogated by Sevander Reva (Moses Ingram) for the details of the Path. Obi-Wan and Tala plan to infiltrate the fortress and rescue Leia.
Inside, Obi-Wan discovers a trophy vault filled with the preserved corpses of killed or captured Jedi, including one of the Younglings. They rescue Leia, but Tala’s cover is blown and they are discovered. They escape with the help of the Path commander Kawlan Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and his guerilla troops. Vader almost kills Reva for her failure, but she tells him that a tracker was attached to Leia’s tiny companion Droid, Lola.
The story was written by Joby Harold and Hannah Friedman. A poll in the Hollywood Reporter in 2016 asked fans which Star Wars character deserved a spin-off film and the winner was Obi-Won Kenobi by a mile. But Disney cancelled any plans for any Star Wars spinoff in 2018 because Solo: A Star Wars Story was a box-office failure. But then it was on again, with the success of The Mandalorian, as an eight-part streaming series. Gradually it began to fill up with returning characters: Leia, Darth Vader, Senator Organa, Emperor Palpatine, Qui-Gon Jinn. The original actors returned because they didn’t want anyone else playing their roles, and because there was not a lot of work involved.
PART FIVE
Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) recalls his lightsaber training with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewen McGregor) before the Clone Wars, while he tracks the Path network to Jabiim. He promotes Reva (Moses Ingram) to Grand Inquisitor and she leads an attack on the Path facility, deactivating the escape doors. Stalling for time, Obi-Wan speaks with Reva and realizes that she knows Darth Vader’s true identity, since she witnessed his massacre at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when she was a Youngling. She reveals to Obi-Wan that she originally sought Vader’s favor so she could kill him in revenge.
But the Path facility is breached and Tala (Indira Varma) sacrifices herself to save Obi-Wan. Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) opens the facility doors after removing the tracker from her droid, which allows the Path to escape just as Vader arrives at the docking bay. Reva tries to kill Vader, but he overpowers her quickly in a duel. She is stabbed and left for dead as the original Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) arrives. When the Path network escapes, Reva discovers Senator Bail Organa’s (Jimmy Smits) message on Obi-Wan’s transmitter, revealing Luke Skywalker’s (Grant Freely) location on Tatooine.
The story was written by Joby Harold and Andrew Stanton. All the writers were careful not to make overt references to The Mandalorian, but to take their cues from the Prequel Trilogy. They tried to make it a character reference story in the Star Wars universe as Logan and Joker were in the Marvel and D.C. Universes. They also studied gritty westerns and the films of Akira Kurosawa, comparing the Jedi to the Ronin.
PART SIX
Reva (Moses Ingram) arrives on Tatooine to find Luke Skywalker (Grant Freely) while Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) and the Imperial forces pursue the Path Network. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewen McGregor) decides to lure Vader away and confront him alone on a nearby planet, allowing the Path to escape. Now fully connected to the Force, Obi-Wan incapacitates Vader. Realizing that Anakin is now completely consumed by Darth Vader, Obi-Wan leaves in sorrow. Arriving at Luke’s home, Reva is confronted by Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Aunt Beru (Bonnie Piesse). She subdues them and pursues Luke into the desert, but remembering Vader’s slaughter of the Younglings, she returns Luke to his home.
Obi-Wan congratulates her for freeing herself from the Dark Side. On Mustafar, Vader is healed and abandons his search for Obi-Wan when his master, Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) questions his motives. On Alderaan, Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) devotes herself to her work as a Princess. Obi-Wan visits the Organas and pledges his help. He returns to Tatooine and allows Luke to have a normal life, meeting him for the first time. In peace, Obi-Wan is able to commune with the Force of his dead master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson).
The script was by Joby Harold, Andrew Stanton, Hossein Amini, and Stuart Beattie. Natalie Holt was hired to compose the movie score, the first woman to do so for a live-action Star Wars film. John Williams had recorded an Obi-Wan Kenobi theme for the original films which later became the Force Theme. He was able to record something especially for Obi-Wan which was reflective, wistful, and hopeful. Holt created themes from different real-world cultures for each planet. She used a powerful hunting horn for the Inquisitors. The powerful Duel of the Fates was featured prominently in the trailers, with the return of Darth Vader. The series was a great hit on Disney and received praise from critics. Moses Ingram received hundreds of death threats and general racial abuse on the Internet. Ewen McGregor was disgusted. Then she won a Saturn Award for her acting. The series was less powerful than the melodramatic Prequel Trilogy, but it was a pleasure to see the characters, planetscapes, devices, and swordplay again.