Why 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Was A Flawed, But Much Needed Story

Obi-Wan Kenobi has come to an end … unless, of course, they decide to make a second season in which Obi-Wan gets his private eye license and scores a hot red Space Ferrari. The show had more ups and downs than an Imperial Turbolift, but in the end, the story it was telling does seem somewhat necessary to the overall Star Wars mythology. 

Obviously, Obi-Wan Kenobi, not unlike most prequels, created new plot holes, like how Leia knew Obi-Wan pretty darn well, which seemingly contradicts her formal and impersonal holo-request in A New Hope.

The finale tries to smooth over that issue by having Kenobi suggest to Leia that she keep their friendship secret for safety reasons … which really makes no sense considering that the context in which we see this strategy play out is in a private message containing details of a terrorist plot – which doesn’t exactly invite discretion.

But despite the occasionally sloppy plotting, from a character standpoint, it does feel somewhat essential. After all, Revenge of the Sith ended with Obi-Wan amputating his best friend and leaving him on the shores of a volcano planet burning like a s’more. But then, in A New Hope, he’s just a wistful local eccentric who’s happy to whip out his dead friend’s lightsaber at the drop of a hat one afternoon.

But Obi-Wan Kenobi, for all of its flaws, shows us the journey in which Obi-Wan eventually lets go of much of the guilt and trauma leftover from his confrontation with Anakin. Plus, now he can have canasta nights with Force Ghost Qui-Gon.

There’s always going to be a pretty glaring discrepancy between the epic CGI-filled drama of Episode III and the one-off ‘70s pulp fantasy of the original Star Wars. But this series generally did a pretty good job of squaring that emotional circle, giving us an explanation for how a post-Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan could be so surprisingly kooky and amiable, in light of past events – beyond a secret Death Stick habit, of course.

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Top Image: Lucasfilm