Obi-Wan Kenobi 1×06 Review: “Part VI”

“Part VI” provides a thrilling and emotional conclusion to Obi-Wan Kenobi while setting up the events of A New Hope.

With Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) chasing the ship of refugees at the end of “Part V,” Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) makes the decision to face him alone in an effort to let the ship escape unscathed in “Part VI.” While the season of Obi-Wan Kenobi has been overall strong, “Part VI,” manages to provide a satisfying conclusion that sets the stage for the future events of A New Hope.

After saying goodbye to Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair), Obi-Wan awaits Vader’s approach, and the two clash in an epic duel. With Obi-Wan fully returning to embracing his Jedi abilities, this duel surpasses the one in “Part III,” and lives up to their previous one in Revenge of the Sith. Vader pins Obi-Wan below with rocks, but Obi-Wan manages to escape being suffocated with the use of his Force abilities.

Once Obi-Wan gains the upper hand, he slashes Vader’s helmet in half, exposing Anakin (Hayden Christensen) underneath. While Obi-Wan attempts to apologize to Anakin for failing him, Vader tells him that he killed Anakin himself. This causes Obi-Wan to realize that Anakin is truly dead and says goodbye. The emotional moment is well done with the mixture of Christensen’s and Jones’ voices through the damaged helmet and McGregor’s performance really shines.

Though Vader obviously needs to be alive for the events of the original trilogy, it doesn’t make sense that Obi-Wan simply chooses to walk away. If Obi-Wan now realizes that Vader is beyond saving and recognizes what a threat he poses to the galaxy, shouldn’t he do more to try and stop him? Obi-Wan at least trying to stop Vader and walking away after thinking that he’s dead like in Revenge of the Sith would have been a more effective way to handle it.

Obi-Wan’s focus soon turns to Luke (Grant Feely), who Reva (Moses Ingram) searches for on Tatooine. Upon finding out that Reva is hunting Luke, Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Beru (Bonnie Piesse) tell Luke that Tuskens are raiding the area and do their best to fend off Reva. Unfortunately, Reva corners an unconscious Luke after chasing him and knocking him out using the Force.

However, Reva ultimately cannot go through with killing Luke, being reminded of Anakin’s face when he killed all of her friends. She instead brings Luke’s unconscious body back to Owen and Beru, and Obi-Wan tells her that she honored her friends by not becoming like Vader in a poignant moment. He tells her that she now has the ability to become whoever she wants and sets up a potentially intriguing redemption arc if it was ever explored.

The episode ends with a series of touching moments. Owen allows Obi-Wan to meet Luke for the first time and Obi-Wan reunites with Leia to return her droid to her. The reunion is sweet, and Leia continues to tease him as they reconnect. Obi-Wan tells her that she has traits from both of her parents and promises to be there for her in the future if she needs him. The series ends as Obi-Wan reunites with force ghost Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) after spending the series attempting to call out to him.

The episode as a whole is a satisfying conclusion to the series and did an overall good job of maintaining the continuity of the events of A New Hope. Luke doesn’t know who is chasing him and is unconscious when Reva uses her lightsaber. Obi-Wan tells Leia to not mention their adventure together in the future, and Luke and Leia never learn the truth about their parents or each other. Though the potential of Leia losing her memories was a popular fan theory, I’m glad that they didn’t go that route and kept the best dynamic of this series intact.

“Part VI” provided a great conclusion to Obi-Wan Kenobi that was filled with a great clash between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader as well as emotional highlights throughout. Whether there will be a season two remains to be seen, but the series works as a standalone while also having potential for more stories to be told. Either way, the series is an effective bridge between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy.

Author: Jessica Wolff

Jessica Wolff is a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in Film/Video. She has a passion for entertainment and representation in entertainment. She currently resides outside of Washington, DC.

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