Star Wars Goodbye There (Obi-Wan Kenobi TV Series Reborn)

[Bacle]

That's actually consistent with her backstory from Legends; she was a Jedi Initiate who was smuggled to a safehouse on Belsavis, and captured by Inquisitors after that safe-fortress was breached.

(Note that while the Inquisitors didn't really take a center stage role until Star Wars: Rebels and are thus often thought of as Disney-canon, they actually date back to Kevin J. Anderson's Young Jedi Knights series of the 90s.)

Edit: Also note that Ismaren's backstory is *way* darker than it was probably intended to be, because it means that she became the Emperor's consort and then subsequently an Emperor's Hand when she was *in her early teens*. She was explicitly trained as a Hand *before* she had her son, she was eighteen *then*, and unlike Mara Jade who was canonically mostly used as a top-level messenger, Roganda was explicitly set up as a seductress and assassin.

All true.

Man, if Leia's kidnapping nets the Empire the Jedi underground safe-house network, Third Sister's scheme and Kenobi's action could blow open and endanger a lot of Order 66 survivors and Force sensitive children.

And yeah, Ismaren's story is all kinds of fucked up from beginning to end, and I had not made the age-of-induction connection before.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Man, if Leia's kidnapping nets the Empire the Jedi underground safe-house network, Third Sister's scheme and Kenobi's action could blow open and endanger a lot of Order 66 survivors and Force sensitive children.

Which actually makes it a pretty logical plan. They can't *directly* strike at Organa because of his Senate position, but he's one of the few people they pretty much *know* is almost certainly involved in the Jedi underground, so use deniable agents to hit at him indirectly and see what resources he calls upon in dire need.

And yeah, Ismaren's story is all kinds of fucked up from beginning to end, and I had not made the age-of-induction connection before.

It really made me angry that she was portrayed as a conniving, irredeemable dark side schemer when she was literally a kid desperately trying to survive after being thrown into the shark pit that is Imperial court politics.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

And yeah, Ismaren's story is all kinds of fucked up from beginning to end, and I had not made the age-of-induction connection before.

Yeah the EU was much more hit and miss than we tend to give it credit for. I'm frankly ok with Disney sanitizing her story a bit.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Yeah the EU was much more hit and miss than we tend to give it credit for. I'm frankly ok with Disney sanitizing her story a bit.

There is a very strong tendency in fiction to cast any female character who uses her looks for her own benefit as ruthless, cold-blooded, and inherently evil, even when it's a survival situation and that's literally the only resource she has available to her.

 

[Terthna]

I cannot believe how many people are bitching about this show, or the 3rd Sister's actress.

This show has been great, and the only quibble most people I've seen talk about is the fate of the Grand Inquisitor, which can be chalked up to 'he was healed by the time of Rebels 5 years later, his species has two stomachs'.

It's like people only want to try to find the 'bad' stuff in Star Wars anymore, to shit on Disney and any 'wokeness', instead of just enjoying the content in any way.

You're acting as the only genuine opinion one can have of the show is yours.

 

[Bacle]

You're acting as the only genuine opinion one can have of the show is yours.

Maybe I'm fucking tired of people just looking for things to bitch about by default with Star Wars these days when it's one of the few bright spots on a rather dismal world we currently live in.

Seriously, when any flaw is amplified to 'show is shit, cannot be fixed' most of the time, then just stop watching the franchise.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Speaking of flaws of this show...

If you add an 'N' to the main antagonists name it becomes Revan.

Now when people think of the Saga known as the 'Redemption of Revan' they will think of this Television Series, not the much beloved computer RPG game known as Knights of the Old Republic. Disney is doing this intentionally because it hates you and everything you love about Star Wars.

 

[Terthna]

Maybe I'm fucking tired of people just looking for things to bitch about by default with Star Wars these days when it's one of the few bright spots on a rather dismal world we currently live in.

Seriously, when any flaw is amplified to 'show is shit, cannot be fixed' most of the time, then just stop watching the franchise.

There is a lot of that on the internet, I'll grant you; but not everyone criticizing the things you like is "just looking for things to bitch about". Maybe you're just in a similar position here to Zachowon; the guy who thinks The Last Jedi was a good film bereft of any significant flaw.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Obi Wan ain't that bad IMHO. It's just pretty hit or miss in it's quality with good moments and bad ones. But it's better then Book of Boba Fett and some of the Marvel TV shows released on Disney Plus so far.

 

[Captain X]

It just made Obi-Wan into a bitch and has crapped all over A New Hope, and it's only a few episodes into its first season.

 

[Husky_Khan]

It has butchered A New Hope in ways hard to reconcile but I won't pass judgment on it until the season is complete. Just like I'm indifferent to arguments on Revas' character and why she's got a supposed hate boner for Obi Wan or knows about Vader's identity etc etc.

Still looking forward to how it all turns out though. If the Reva storyline is a similar repeat of Fallen Order one that would be cringe AF. If it turns out Reva is somehow a low-key goodie this whole time, equally cringe.

There are moments I could dunk more but there's other bits I do like. Most of it is just getting insight in the whole everyday life of peeps. I liked Obi Wans day to day routine, Leia's life on Alderaan, the slummy bits on the urban planet I already forgot the name of. That whole trip on the speeder with that Skaven Xenos Freck.

I liked the portrayal of the other Inquisitors in Episode One and Two as well. They seemed to have some measure of not so Stupid Evil in their alignment.

I'm also amused by how much Obi Wan is using a blaster to excellent effectiveness. All the more impressive considering how clumsy and random I'm told those weapons are. He handles a blaster with the precision of an Imperial Stormtrooper though.

 

[Husky_Khan]

So... there was an Episode Four.

I mean... still kinda underwhelming. You'd think an action packed episode would be kinda exciting or something. But actually... No.

Was this episode directed by Robert Rodriguez by chance?

And wow, that Inquisitor Reva. She really is so smart and capable. Success through idiocy. Like a Darth Homer Simpson.

As for good parts of this episode.

Well I might have to watch it again. And even though I might not be interested in watching it again, I will likely do so this weekend with other people who have more of lives then I do. And maybe in live conversation and reaction with them something positive will surface. We'll see...

It's hard for a series to bounce back honestly from a show which decided to have a mid-season climax confrontation.

 

[Captain X]

 

[Husky_Khan]

Kinda liked the latest episode. Stuff happened that was of interest to me. The plot twist was kinda predictable of course and I think I mentioned its possibility before but honestly, where else was that character going to go development wise? With that said the plot reveals did help mitigate some of the nonsensical behaviors of the Bad Guys this season.

The action was... okay. I found it entertaining but it just wasn't exciting enough to meet my expectations. Leia's subplot kinda dragged... through the whole damn episode. Vader didn't disappoint though. And I enjoyed the flashbacks even if they were a little strongly on the nose.

Still another episode to see how it all turns out. There is time for redemption and improvement, even now, as we face the end.

 

[Skallagrim]

I'm not even watching this series anymore (I might catch up when it's done, but right now I'm both too busy and not nearly stoked enough to dedicate time to a mediocre series). Nevertheless, I'm impressed with what fans can do. Without going into spoilers, I gather that the series has one or more flash-backs. I've seen a clip of a flashback set during AotC... in which they apparently didn't even bother to de-age Hayden Christensen. (Or if they did, it was a shit effort).

A fan has edited the clip, doing very good de-aging work, plus some other edits, and has inserted it into the sequence of scenes in AotC. It looks a million times better than what the series originally gave us. I've put it below a spoiler cut, just in case anyone hasn't caught up with the series yet & doesn't want any spoilers.

Spoiler

Not only has it been edited into AotC (a version with the deleted scenes, no less), and not only has the de-aging been done on an impressive level... the fight choreography has also been edited, much improving the overall quality.

I don't care much for the Obi-Wan series, but I'd happily consider an AotC fan-edit with this edited scene in it to be my "preferred version" of the film.

 

[AspblastUSA]

I've heard theories flying around that the flashbacks aren't actually the past, instead being a highly analogized form of communication through the Force between Obi-Wan and Vader, with things like Anakin looking wrong, there being no speeders in the Coruscant skyline, and the events of the spar paralleling events of the real world. However I'm getting all this secondhand as I've also not been keeping up, but I will say it sounds just plausible enough that I'm not sure if it was deliberate artistic choice by the showrunners, or fans taking a big hit of copium.

 

[Zachowon]

I actually like it.

@Captain X the thing about him being weaker is that he hasn't used the force in 10 years.

He considers himself defeated, a failure. That he is the reason Anakin died. That he is yhe reason the empire came to be.

Of course as we notice he is getting stronger and stronger throughout the series because he is tapping back into the force.

And eiposfe 4 is 9 years from now, Obi Wan would be in his 50s/60s and probably only uses the force minorly now instead of all the time, but does use it unlike before.


Remember what happens in Rebels with Maul and Kenobi?

He definitely finds balance in himself.



Also, my theory for next episode

Spoiler

i feel like Riva is going to try and go after Luke now, to try and get good graces kf Vader again or to maybe try and turn a new leaf.
Obi wan will arrive late of course.

 

[Captain X]

I actually like it.

@Captain X the thing about him being weaker is that he hasn't used the force in 10 years.

He considers himself defeated, a failure. That he is the reason Anakin died. That he is yhe reason the empire came to be.

Of course as we notice he is getting stronger and stronger throughout the series because he is tapping back into the force.

And eiposfe 4 is 9 years from now, Obi Wan would be in his 50s/60s and probably only uses the force minorly now instead of all the time, but does use it unlike before.

People really ought to stop making excuses for shit like this. If you reward crap, all you will ever get is crap. That applies to any franchise. The truth is, fans are being taken for granted, and the people funding this show are banking on the name and nostalgia factor, but the people actually making these shows at best don't give a shit and at worst just plain hate these established characters.

 

[Zachowon]

People really ought to stop making excuses for shit like this. If you reward crap, all you will ever get is crap. That applies to any franchise. The truth is, fans are being taken for granted, and the people funding this show are banking on the name and nostalgia factor, but the people actually making these shows at best don't give a shit and at worst just plain hate these established characters.

But how am I wrong?
That os exactly what they are doing?
Did the prequels make Yoda in Eoisode 5 nkt make sense?
When they do not use the force they do not remain as strong and lose the strength they once had in the past.

 

[Bacle]

So, who had 'Obi-wan vs Vader earthbending fight' on their bingo card for this series?

I swear if I found out Obi-wan's biological mom was Toph, I would not be in the least bit surprised.