OBI-WAN KENOBI: Part IV Review, References, and Easter Eggs

We have reached the third week of Obi-Wan Kenobi with part IV of the miniseries, which, in an attempt to pay homage to episode IV of the classic movie trilogy, in which the old Jedi master enlists the help of rebels to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire, delivers the worst episode.

While it's an interesting homage — just as Part III references Episode III of the prequel trilogy — Kenobi's (Ewan McGregor) miniseries is coming to an end and the direction of the plot, and the character himself, seems to converge on simple paths, and so on. as mentioned in the previous text, hiding its full potential.

Heads up! This text contains spoilers for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Assault mission

After being humiliatedly defeated by Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen), Obi-Wan was wounded in every way in the last match. Not only for discovering that his apprentice was still alive and killing everything in his path, but also for having his body almost completely burned. A poetic revenge, so to speak. However, with Leia's (Vivien Lyra Blair) fate still in the balance after being captured by Reva (Moses Ingram), he had to ensure the princess' safety.

Therefore, the fourth part is totally focused on the girl's rescue mission, and has a structure like that of heist movies, in which a small group infiltrates a very safe place to steal - in this case, rescue - something.

In the episode, Tala (Indira Varma) manages to use all her powers of persuasion to infiltrate the Fortress of the Inquisitors and help Obi-Wan enter the hidden location. Interestingly, the episode focused on the Stealth It's precisely the one that has the most action moments so far.

And the Force?

Well, it's still early to talk about plot holes, but it's getting more and more complicated to understand the directions and decisions in the miniseries so far. After all, if Obi-Wan hasn't turned away from the Force and can use it, why didn't he use his mind tricks to sneak away from Planet Daiyu, back in the second episode?

Reva tried to get into little Leia's mind while interrogating her, but as Inquisitor, did she ever notice that the child was susceptible to the Force?

Deborah Chow wrong hand

Or role of showrunner — director general, if you will — is critical to the success or failure of a series. That's because the person is responsible for maintaining cohesion between script and direction of all episodes. It's so much work, that usually the showrunner only directs one or two episodes—usually the first and last—but in Obi-Wan Kenobi Deborah Chow decided to direct every episode of the show. And as good a director as she is — see her work in The Mandalorian —, his direction in the miniseries gives signs of haste and accumulated work.

It seems that for every good scene, there is a negative counterpoint. Part IV of the series is the culmination of the director's bad decisions. If we have a moment when Kenobi visits exposed tombs — as trophies — of dead Jedi, soon after we see scenes worthy of the clumsy in the fight against the moments of action of the stormtroopers. I dare say the Empire has never been so incompetent in its defenses. Seriously, there's a scene of Leia hidden in an overcoat, bordering on parody.

overcoming trauma

But not everything was bad in the episode. After the fall for Vader, we see Obi-Wan beginning to overcome his fears, as well as inspiring the rebel group to invade the Imperial base, regaining the self-confidence of the legend he became as a general in the Clone Wars.

Another interesting point was the dialogue between Reva and Tela about both being good liars, which raises the theory that the Third Sister has a past linked to the Empire's opposition.

What else to expect from Obi-Wan Kenobi?

It is likely heading towards the conclusion of the overcoming trauma arc, which will take place after a personal victory against Vader. The proposal is very cool, a pity that we are following such a poor development.

References and easter eggs in episode IV

The biggest references of part IV were taken from the games, more specifically from the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The game, which takes place just 4 years before the events of the miniseries, gained two major references, in addition to showing game characters in live action.

• The imperial underwater base is the same one presented in the game, where the end of Cal Kestis' adventure in Fallen Order takes place;
• The Purge Troopers;
• Both the game and series include sequences where a fortress window breaks and water must be held back using the Force.

• The scene where Leia is interrogated by screen is another clear narrative mirroring with Episode IV of the classic trilogy, in which the same Leia is captured by the Empire, but Darth Vader is her interrogator.

New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi will be available weekly, on Wednesdays, starting at 4 am (Brasilia time), exclusively on Disney +.

See also other features

Are you enjoying Obi-Wan Kenobi? Do you think it will have an interesting ending? Leave your comment below and check out our article with Everything you need to know to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ and our text about Part III.