Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part III
June 1, 2022 4:19 AM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Having attracted the attention of the Empire, Obi-Wan searches for allies.
This remains damn fine entertainment, surprisingly so for Star Wars.
What's working for me is how tight the plot is. I think normally things would be drawn out, the Empire would still be searching for Obi-wan, but not in this series. It's very obvious how long the Empire's reach and how quickly they can mobilize. None of the storytelling feels padded and wasted, it's deliciously lean and focused.
Yet we get two alternate views of the Empire. One is the trucker who views them as a source of order. The other is the double agent officer who says she signed up when the Empire stood for something. Such few words that paint an enormous picture of life for common people and their viewpoints.
Don't get me wrong, I have a few quibbles here and there, but such as Vader "losing" Obi-Wan when he's almost in arm's reach. But Vader not being willing to go through fire makes sense, though I had to wonder where he's Force powers suddenly went, why not use them to move the loader droid or Obi-Wan? Still, minor stuff.
At this point, I've entered prayer mode for the series, where I'm just muttering to myself "Please don't screw this, you're doing so good, don't let me down". This has been a great ride so far and hope it continues, it might even make a fan out of me.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:32 AM on June 1, 2022 [8 favorites]
What's working for me is how tight the plot is. I think normally things would be drawn out, the Empire would still be searching for Obi-wan, but not in this series. It's very obvious how long the Empire's reach and how quickly they can mobilize. None of the storytelling feels padded and wasted, it's deliciously lean and focused.
Yet we get two alternate views of the Empire. One is the trucker who views them as a source of order. The other is the double agent officer who says she signed up when the Empire stood for something. Such few words that paint an enormous picture of life for common people and their viewpoints.
Don't get me wrong, I have a few quibbles here and there, but such as Vader "losing" Obi-Wan when he's almost in arm's reach. But Vader not being willing to go through fire makes sense, though I had to wonder where he's Force powers suddenly went, why not use them to move the loader droid or Obi-Wan? Still, minor stuff.
At this point, I've entered prayer mode for the series, where I'm just muttering to myself "Please don't screw this, you're doing so good, don't let me down". This has been a great ride so far and hope it continues, it might even make a fan out of me.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:32 AM on June 1, 2022 [8 favorites]
Vader "losing" Obi-Wan when he's almost in arm's reach.
After the questionable chase scenes in the first two episodes, Vader toying with Obi-Wan and willing to let him escape because he knows it's only a matter of time before he catches up again actually makes sense to me. Having seen how terrified and weak Obi-Wan is, he probably relishes the prospect of extending the pursuit and further ratcheting up the fear.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
After the questionable chase scenes in the first two episodes, Vader toying with Obi-Wan and willing to let him escape because he knows it's only a matter of time before he catches up again actually makes sense to me. Having seen how terrified and weak Obi-Wan is, he probably relishes the prospect of extending the pursuit and further ratcheting up the fear.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:38 AM on June 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
Excellent point. Vader was clearly planning on torturing Kenobi a while, so him playing with his former master makes sense.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:42 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:42 AM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
What was that symbol on the wall that Reva was staring at before she went into the tunnel? I didn't recognize it.
posted by orrnyereg at 7:22 AM on June 1, 2022
posted by orrnyereg at 7:22 AM on June 1, 2022
Of course the show so far has been excellent but honestly i can already live on just the thought that Obi-Wan has been calling out for Qui-Gon for years, a fact every episode is keen to emphasize apparently.
posted by cendawanita at 9:14 AM on June 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 9:14 AM on June 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
Obi-Wan has been calling out for Qui-Gon for years
It occurs to me that Obi-Wan, having taken on training Anakin because it was his master's dying request, since found out that Qui-Gon was able to persist as a Force ghost (IIRC canonically Jedi would usually just merge with the Force and lose any individual thought). Not only that, but Qui-Gon taught that to Yoda. But has Qui-Gon talked to Obi-Wan at all, in the last decade? Since Qui-Gon's request indirectly lead to the fall of the Republic?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:36 AM on June 1, 2022
It occurs to me that Obi-Wan, having taken on training Anakin because it was his master's dying request, since found out that Qui-Gon was able to persist as a Force ghost (IIRC canonically Jedi would usually just merge with the Force and lose any individual thought). Not only that, but Qui-Gon taught that to Yoda. But has Qui-Gon talked to Obi-Wan at all, in the last decade? Since Qui-Gon's request indirectly lead to the fall of the Republic?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:36 AM on June 1, 2022
Ever since this show was announced and it was clear that Kenobi and Vader were going to cross paths again, I thought it was very fortunate that back in the seventies, the choice was made to have Vader say, “A presence I’ve not felt since...” and abruptly turn and walk away. It has left a lot of room to maneuver later.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:50 AM on June 1, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:50 AM on June 1, 2022 [20 favorites]
When Obi-Wan said: "Wasn't always like this here... there used to be fields, and families...," in the middle of what was clearly pristine wilderness untouched by human habitation, I indignantly exclaimed, "no, there were not!" It punched me right in the suspension of disbelief. Does this type of arid vegetation just read as "wasteland" to some people? They could at least have shown a burnt-out farmhouse, or something.
Ecological nitpick aside, the series is growing on me. I'm not a prequel fan, but I like all the actors, and the story has been more engaging than I expected.
posted by confluency at 10:35 AM on June 1, 2022 [10 favorites]
Ecological nitpick aside, the series is growing on me. I'm not a prequel fan, but I like all the actors, and the story has been more engaging than I expected.
posted by confluency at 10:35 AM on June 1, 2022 [10 favorites]
When Obi-Wan said: "Wasn't always like this here... there used to be fields, and families...," in the middle of what was clearly pristine wilderness untouched by human habitation,
Admittedly, I am a city boy, but that looked much more hilly than I think of fields as being. Rice paddies in terraces, maybe?
And I suspect that fanfic will now explode with theories about Kenobi's possible brother.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:17 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Admittedly, I am a city boy, but that looked much more hilly than I think of fields as being. Rice paddies in terraces, maybe?
And I suspect that fanfic will now explode with theories about Kenobi's possible brother.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:17 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
How did she get ahead of leia in the tunnel??
The whole who was where of the back half span my head.
Otherwise really enjoyed this. The one stormtrooper giving sideways looks at his squadmate asking too many questions of the "bereaved" man travelling with them? Top notch idiot stormtrooper stuff, on par with the best from the mandalorian.
posted by ominous_paws at 2:31 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
The whole who was where of the back half span my head.
Otherwise really enjoyed this. The one stormtrooper giving sideways looks at his squadmate asking too many questions of the "bereaved" man travelling with them? Top notch idiot stormtrooper stuff, on par with the best from the mandalorian.
posted by ominous_paws at 2:31 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
How did she get ahead of leia in the tunnel??
I think she divined the likely destination of the tunnel and headed there above ground. The tunnel looked awfully winding and Leia is just little. Reva needs to be there only a few seconds ahead of Leia.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:42 PM on June 1, 2022
I think she divined the likely destination of the tunnel and headed there above ground. The tunnel looked awfully winding and Leia is just little. Reva needs to be there only a few seconds ahead of Leia.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:42 PM on June 1, 2022
Ehhhhhhhh, maybe
posted by ominous_paws at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Of course the show so far has been excellent but honestly i can already live on just the thought that Obi-Wan has been calling out for Qui-Gon for years, a fact every episode is keen to emphasize apparently.
I have a suspicion that Obi hasn't been calling out to Qui-gon until now, because he's cut himself off from the Force.
That explains why he's so weak now (stopping Leia from that fall would've been trivial for younger Obi) - he's out of touch, un-Force-fit.
I am entirely expecting a Force-training montage as Obi gets himself Back In The Game, at least to be able to run away betterer next time.
posted by coriolisdave at 4:22 PM on June 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
I have a suspicion that Obi hasn't been calling out to Qui-gon until now, because he's cut himself off from the Force.
That explains why he's so weak now (stopping Leia from that fall would've been trivial for younger Obi) - he's out of touch, un-Force-fit.
I am entirely expecting a Force-training montage as Obi gets himself Back In The Game, at least to be able to run away betterer next time.
posted by coriolisdave at 4:22 PM on June 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
in the middle of what was clearly pristine wilderness untouched by human habitation
I don't think that it's impossible for wilderness to reclaim formerly inhabited places; it's apparently happened to New England to a great degree. I question it happening in only ten years, which is exactly as long as the Empire has existed. (Unless there was a very different type of cultivation going on there.)
That explains why he's so weak now (stopping Leia from that fall would've been trivial for younger Obi) - he's out of touch, un-Force-fit.
I am entirely expecting a Force-training montage as Obi gets himself Back In The Game, at least to be able to run away betterer next time.
History repeats itself
Try and you'll succeed...
(I think that he and Vader will get a rematch, if only to set up the bit in ANH where Vader goes, "When I left you, I was but a learner. Now I am the Master." If they leave it here, he'll think that he's there already.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:57 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't think that it's impossible for wilderness to reclaim formerly inhabited places; it's apparently happened to New England to a great degree. I question it happening in only ten years, which is exactly as long as the Empire has existed. (Unless there was a very different type of cultivation going on there.)
That explains why he's so weak now (stopping Leia from that fall would've been trivial for younger Obi) - he's out of touch, un-Force-fit.
I am entirely expecting a Force-training montage as Obi gets himself Back In The Game, at least to be able to run away betterer next time.
History repeats itself
Try and you'll succeed...
(I think that he and Vader will get a rematch, if only to set up the bit in ANH where Vader goes, "When I left you, I was but a learner. Now I am the Master." If they leave it here, he'll think that he's there already.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:57 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Per the Javert references above, the tunnel bit is from Les Misérables. Reva found it, correctly deduced where it was going, and took the short way to the far end to wait for her fugitive. (It was a sewer in the original; I guess the writers didn't feel the need to echo the trash compactor scene?)
posted by mersen at 8:16 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by mersen at 8:16 PM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Reva found it, correctly deduced where it was going, and took the short way to the far end to wait for her fugitive.
Which explains why Thala didn't bump into Reva in the tunnels. But also, I think it's clear the tunnels split up, because no way could Thala come out of the tunnel into the village there and get away clean.
I do wonder how many of these Stormtroopers might still be clones. Obi-Wan shot quite a number of them in this episode after all.
And poor Leia! Not a lot of blood, but she should be very upset and stressed at seeing so many people die around her.
posted by suelac at 8:59 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Which explains why Thala didn't bump into Reva in the tunnels. But also, I think it's clear the tunnels split up, because no way could Thala come out of the tunnel into the village there and get away clean.
I do wonder how many of these Stormtroopers might still be clones. Obi-Wan shot quite a number of them in this episode after all.
And poor Leia! Not a lot of blood, but she should be very upset and stressed at seeing so many people die around her.
posted by suelac at 8:59 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
It was a blatant analogy, but I dug the smart "loader droid" scene.
untouched by human habitation
Agreed, the art direction for that scene was just wrong.
--
I am what you made me. ... You should have killed me when you had the chance.
What's the light saber equivalent of a double tap? Also interesting to use 'what.'
posted by porpoise at 9:00 PM on June 1, 2022
untouched by human habitation
Agreed, the art direction for that scene was just wrong.
--
I am what you made me. ... You should have killed me when you had the chance.
What's the light saber equivalent of a double tap? Also interesting to use 'what.'
posted by porpoise at 9:00 PM on June 1, 2022
I appreciate how good this series is, especially after how dreadful TBOBF was, but I don’t love how reliant it is on the prequels.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 9:13 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 9:13 PM on June 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't think that it's impossible for wilderness to reclaim formerly inhabited places; it's apparently happened to New England to a great degree.
I have seen firsthand how farmland turns back into wilderness pretty swiftly. But ten years would be unusually swift.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:20 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have seen firsthand how farmland turns back into wilderness pretty swiftly. But ten years would be unusually swift.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:20 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I thought the reference to families and the land was about how it was all droids and miltary now. Stripping the land for resources instead of homesteads.
posted by M Edward at 9:58 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by M Edward at 9:58 PM on June 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Agreed, the art direction for that scene was just wrong."
I found the entire sequence on the planet (before the town) to be off.
Lately I've been finding myself annoyed by something but then replay the dialogue in my head as the screenwriter wrote it and given that they were trusting everyone down the line to ensure it makes sense. I'm realizing lately that a lot of dialogue that selems wrong is really because the art director or whomever made choices that don't quite fit.
That's the strong vibe I'm getting when they first arrive on planet.
Obi Wan's snapping at Leia that everybody isn't good did make sense given everything that was on his mind, but the directing and editing still made me feel like it came out of nowhere.
I'm not adopted or anything — although I did just learn of and meet a half-sister who was adopted, and I've been careful about language — but the "real father" line by Leia bothered me. I think to Leia her real father would be Bail Organa and she'd use a different way to describe her biological father.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:33 PM on June 1, 2022 [8 favorites]
I found the entire sequence on the planet (before the town) to be off.
Lately I've been finding myself annoyed by something but then replay the dialogue in my head as the screenwriter wrote it and given that they were trusting everyone down the line to ensure it makes sense. I'm realizing lately that a lot of dialogue that selems wrong is really because the art director or whomever made choices that don't quite fit.
That's the strong vibe I'm getting when they first arrive on planet.
Obi Wan's snapping at Leia that everybody isn't good did make sense given everything that was on his mind, but the directing and editing still made me feel like it came out of nowhere.
I'm not adopted or anything — although I did just learn of and meet a half-sister who was adopted, and I've been careful about language — but the "real father" line by Leia bothered me. I think to Leia her real father would be Bail Organa and she'd use a different way to describe her biological father.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:33 PM on June 1, 2022 [8 favorites]
I don’t love how reliant it is on the prequels
I don't know how they could realistically avoid this.
I don't love how reliant it is on The Clone Wars and Rebels.
I think to Leia her real father would be Bail Organa and she'd use a different way to describe her biological father.
Agreed. I am also not adopted or anything but I know lots of people who have step-parents or parents who have remarried after the death of a spouse and TV often uses weird language around it. I think "real father" is mostly spat out by kids who hate their step-dads or kids who fantasize their real father was a rich celebrity.
posted by crossoverman at 11:22 PM on June 1, 2022
I don't know how they could realistically avoid this.
I don't love how reliant it is on The Clone Wars and Rebels.
I think to Leia her real father would be Bail Organa and she'd use a different way to describe her biological father.
Agreed. I am also not adopted or anything but I know lots of people who have step-parents or parents who have remarried after the death of a spouse and TV often uses weird language around it. I think "real father" is mostly spat out by kids who hate their step-dads or kids who fantasize their real father was a rich celebrity.
posted by crossoverman at 11:22 PM on June 1, 2022
I loved that Freck’s shitty Imperial flag looked so much like an ISIS flag. After all, “order” was part of their pitch, too.
posted by Mr. Excellent at 2:13 AM on June 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr. Excellent at 2:13 AM on June 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
The only thing I have to add is that I was pleased the Obi-Wan and Vader were as rubbish at fighting here as they are in A New Hope.
posted by chill at 3:20 AM on June 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by chill at 3:20 AM on June 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
Vader is out snapping kids' necks to reclaim the force throne from Eleven
posted by eustatic at 4:00 AM on June 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eustatic at 4:00 AM on June 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don’t love how reliant it is on the prequels
I don't love how reliant it is on The Clone Wars and Rebels.
This is modern Star Wars. All of the references to all of the things, all of the time.
I was discussing it with a friend who told me he thought it made the universe feel "bigger." On the contrary, to me it makes it feel like a small town where everyone knows everyone else.
Anyway, I mostly am enjoying the show, although upon rewatch of the first two episodes with my son, the inability of anyone to catch the very slow running small child borders on comical. Reva's parkour run across the rooftops was also very clunky. And then, in this episode, it almost seems like she teleports to the other end of the tunnel. It seems like the show needs direction with a better understanding of how to communicate physical, dynamic movement.
Ewan MacGregor is doing a fine job, though. He was the best part of the prequels and it's enjoyable to see him inhabit the character again.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:41 AM on June 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
I don't love how reliant it is on The Clone Wars and Rebels.
This is modern Star Wars. All of the references to all of the things, all of the time.
I was discussing it with a friend who told me he thought it made the universe feel "bigger." On the contrary, to me it makes it feel like a small town where everyone knows everyone else.
Anyway, I mostly am enjoying the show, although upon rewatch of the first two episodes with my son, the inability of anyone to catch the very slow running small child borders on comical. Reva's parkour run across the rooftops was also very clunky. And then, in this episode, it almost seems like she teleports to the other end of the tunnel. It seems like the show needs direction with a better understanding of how to communicate physical, dynamic movement.
Ewan MacGregor is doing a fine job, though. He was the best part of the prequels and it's enjoyable to see him inhabit the character again.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:41 AM on June 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
When I say “reliant on,” I mean “shows entire scenes from” the prequels. For me it’s a bit jarring to have the decent quality of an Obi-Wan episode interrupted with clunky scenes and dialogue from those godawful films. Of course they had to incorporate the prequel storyline to make it work, and the Obi -Wan writers and editors did the best they could, but it sticks out. Oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Star Wars! Nyerrrm pew pew pew!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 5:21 AM on June 2, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 5:21 AM on June 2, 2022 [4 favorites]
Zach Braff being the voice of Imperial obedience seems to make sense, somehow.
I really like this, despite a lot of corny stuff. Blowing up the laser fence when they could have just walked around it, the stormtrooper saying they have plenty of time for Ben’s long story and then immediately getting off the transport after his two-minute story, and Vader being stymied by a slightly larger fire instead of the one he was force-dragging Obi-Wan through just moments before.
posted by jimw at 8:53 AM on June 2, 2022 [14 favorites]
I really like this, despite a lot of corny stuff. Blowing up the laser fence when they could have just walked around it, the stormtrooper saying they have plenty of time for Ben’s long story and then immediately getting off the transport after his two-minute story, and Vader being stymied by a slightly larger fire instead of the one he was force-dragging Obi-Wan through just moments before.
posted by jimw at 8:53 AM on June 2, 2022 [14 favorites]
the show needs direction with a better understanding of how to communicate physical, dynamic movement.
This this this. The tunnel bit is easier to make fun of, but when Ben just... sidles out of town into an industrial estate? And everyone wanders around... a bit? Very bad imo
posted by ominous_paws at 10:31 AM on June 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
This this this. The tunnel bit is easier to make fun of, but when Ben just... sidles out of town into an industrial estate? And everyone wanders around... a bit? Very bad imo
posted by ominous_paws at 10:31 AM on June 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
I really like this, despite a lot of corny stuff. Blowing up the laser fence when they could have just walked around it, the stormtrooper saying they have plenty of time for Ben’s long story and then immediately getting off the transport after his two-minute story, and Vader being stymied by a slightly larger fire instead of the one he was force-dragging Obi-Wan through just moments before.
I was on the fence with this series up until the laser gate thing. This is amateur level writing and directing. It's the stuff of bad MST3K horror movies. Are we sure Lucas isn't secretly making this show?
posted by Justin Case at 1:06 PM on June 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was on the fence with this series up until the laser gate thing. This is amateur level writing and directing. It's the stuff of bad MST3K horror movies. Are we sure Lucas isn't secretly making this show?
posted by Justin Case at 1:06 PM on June 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am not at all surprised to learn that Darth Vader is the sort of toxic manager who promises advancement to two different employees just to watch them fight over it, with the threat of force-choking as a spicy flourish.
posted by wabbittwax at 4:29 PM on June 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 4:29 PM on June 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
I was on the fence with this series up until the laser gate thing. This is amateur level writing and directing.
I read this as intentional? Like, the goal wasn't to get around the gate, it was to take down the gate. His cover was blown, there were a bunch of dead storm troopers, why not blow up an awful checkpoint?
posted by meese at 8:21 PM on June 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I read this as intentional? Like, the goal wasn't to get around the gate, it was to take down the gate. His cover was blown, there were a bunch of dead storm troopers, why not blow up an awful checkpoint?
posted by meese at 8:21 PM on June 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I said this about TBOBF and I'll say it again. These shows are exactly as cringe as the animated shows. The Clone Wars and Rebels and The Bad Batch all have these same type of moments and we dismiss them because "animated" and "for kids." It just feels way more clunky in live action. It seems to me like they made a conscious decision to keep Star Wars as this kind of corny and melodramatic space opera.
I hope we still get the Rogue Ones and Last Jedis but I also enjoy these silly shows.
posted by M Edward at 9:24 PM on June 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
I hope we still get the Rogue Ones and Last Jedis but I also enjoy these silly shows.
posted by M Edward at 9:24 PM on June 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
When Ben deactivated the checkpoint by shooting it with a blaster I happily ascribed it to Star Wars Logic. Of course they wouldn’t just walk around the gate, that’s not at all cool—they have to shoot it. But what is the point of a gate that an be knocked out of service by one shot from a blaster that everyone in the universe seems to have on them at all times? That’s the part that doesn’t make sense in Real World Logic but is perfectly rational in Star Wars—like placing your most important machinery on a narrow catwalk above a bottomless pit.
Anyway, if I had known before I watched this that The show was a Ben/Baby Leia road movie I probably would have actively avoided it. But it turns out I absolutely love it. Burnt-out Ben is great, and Baby Leia is excellently written and acted and a perfect foil for him. Plus the dramatic irony that drenches so many of the scenes, like Leia asking Ben if he’s her real father. I love that she’s smart enough to pick up that he’s hiding the truth from her, just as last episode she picked up that she was just bait to catch Ben.
As for me, I did not pick up on Freck’s voice actor and convinced myself it was Seth Rogen.
posted by ejs at 10:14 PM on June 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
Anyway, if I had known before I watched this that The show was a Ben/Baby Leia road movie I probably would have actively avoided it. But it turns out I absolutely love it. Burnt-out Ben is great, and Baby Leia is excellently written and acted and a perfect foil for him. Plus the dramatic irony that drenches so many of the scenes, like Leia asking Ben if he’s her real father. I love that she’s smart enough to pick up that he’s hiding the truth from her, just as last episode she picked up that she was just bait to catch Ben.
As for me, I did not pick up on Freck’s voice actor and convinced myself it was Seth Rogen.
posted by ejs at 10:14 PM on June 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
Maybe one of Baby Leia's latent Force abilities is making people unable to catch her even though she runs slowly. Kind of like how in a dream you feel like you can't run fast?
posted by Fleebnork at 5:32 AM on June 3, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 5:32 AM on June 3, 2022 [10 favorites]
This iteration of Ben Kenobi reminds me so much of the "Failed Jedi" character class in the original Star Wars RPG. He seems like he's on the very verge of crawling into a bottle with his lightsaber and his memories. I love it.
posted by Shohn at 7:26 AM on June 3, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Shohn at 7:26 AM on June 3, 2022 [12 favorites]
Good grief, people are reaching hard for things to disbelieve. Chasing a child who's running through a dense crowd is extremely difficult, I still have cold sweats about when my son got overexcited and ran off at London Zoo as not much more than a toddler. Aged seven, three years younger than Leia here, he clocked a 7-minute mile at the local kids race.
I can fully believe that you need either a professional snatch team or Jedi powers to catch an energetic kid purposefully fleeing through an obstacle laden environment.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:37 AM on June 3, 2022 [11 favorites]
I can fully believe that you need either a professional snatch team or Jedi powers to catch an energetic kid purposefully fleeing through an obstacle laden environment.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:37 AM on June 3, 2022 [11 favorites]
Yeah, don’t hire a bass player
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:48 AM on June 3, 2022
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:48 AM on June 3, 2022
As an occasional bass player, I think I might take exception to that remark if I understood the context.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:16 AM on June 3, 2022
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:16 AM on June 3, 2022
The dude kidnapping Leia was Flea, bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
posted by ejs at 11:50 AM on June 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ejs at 11:50 AM on June 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I was discussing it with a friend who told me he thought it made the universe feel "bigger." On the contrary, to me it makes it feel like a small town where everyone knows everyone else.
Solo was the worst offender at this, and set the bar for me. Most other Star Wars media at best keeps the galaxy feeling....around the same size as it was when the new thing started. George Lucas, for all his many faults, is the only film or TV creator I've seen who consistently focused on making the Star Wars universe feel much bigger and much weirder with each outing.
But yeah, there's also a sense where the repetition, at the same scale, starts to make things feel smaller eventually. If you see a lineup of bounty hunters somewhere once, you can believe there are plenty of others like them out there. Twice, maybe it's just a coincidence. But if you see that exact same lineup of bounty hunters twenty times, it starts to feel like actually, no, that's all there is.
That all being said, the nod to Quinlan Vos surviving was a bit I appreciated anyways; I don't know if it's just an easter egg or something they'll actually explore, but there's some layers of emotional complexity to having one of the few other surviving Jedi be one who, back in the day, was one that Obi knew and didn't get along with.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:09 PM on June 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Solo was the worst offender at this, and set the bar for me. Most other Star Wars media at best keeps the galaxy feeling....around the same size as it was when the new thing started. George Lucas, for all his many faults, is the only film or TV creator I've seen who consistently focused on making the Star Wars universe feel much bigger and much weirder with each outing.
But yeah, there's also a sense where the repetition, at the same scale, starts to make things feel smaller eventually. If you see a lineup of bounty hunters somewhere once, you can believe there are plenty of others like them out there. Twice, maybe it's just a coincidence. But if you see that exact same lineup of bounty hunters twenty times, it starts to feel like actually, no, that's all there is.
That all being said, the nod to Quinlan Vos surviving was a bit I appreciated anyways; I don't know if it's just an easter egg or something they'll actually explore, but there's some layers of emotional complexity to having one of the few other surviving Jedi be one who, back in the day, was one that Obi knew and didn't get along with.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:09 PM on June 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Good grief, people are reaching hard for things to disbelieve. Chasing a child who's running through a dense crowd is extremely difficult
Yeah, I have a 10 year old. In the second episode, Baby Leia literally runs slowly past Obi-Wan, within arms reach and he feebly waves his arm at her. The scene was shot poorly and could have been filmed in such a way to convey the child appearing quicker, as you describe.
And crowd aside, the chase through the trees was ridiculous. Come on, now.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:19 PM on June 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I have a 10 year old. In the second episode, Baby Leia literally runs slowly past Obi-Wan, within arms reach and he feebly waves his arm at her. The scene was shot poorly and could have been filmed in such a way to convey the child appearing quicker, as you describe.
And crowd aside, the chase through the trees was ridiculous. Come on, now.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:19 PM on June 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
> And I suspect that fanfic will now explode with theories about Kenobi's possible brother.
Right now, I'm picturing him as a twin, who's ready to take his fallen brother's place, and his swag.
(It's very soap-opera, and also Fargo season 3.)
posted by Pronoiac at 4:45 PM on June 3, 2022
Right now, I'm picturing him as a twin, who's ready to take his fallen brother's place, and his swag.
(It's very soap-opera, and also Fargo season 3.)
posted by Pronoiac at 4:45 PM on June 3, 2022
And I suspect that fanfic will now explode with theories about Kenobi's possible brother.
Meh, Kenobi's memory about this was explicitly hazy, which means it's entirely possible that it was sister, and since everything is interconnected, her name from her adoptive parents is...Jyn Erso.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:40 PM on June 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Meh, Kenobi's memory about this was explicitly hazy, which means it's entirely possible that it was sister, and since everything is interconnected, her name from her adoptive parents is...Jyn Erso.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:40 PM on June 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Clone Wars and Rebels and The Bad Batch
I rage-ignored all 3 of them after Tartakovsky's Clone Wars (2003) got demoted to the "Expanded Universe".
posted by mikelieman at 7:18 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I rage-ignored all 3 of them after Tartakovsky's Clone Wars (2003) got demoted to the "Expanded Universe".
posted by mikelieman at 7:18 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am now calling this the Baby Leia show, and I love it for every moment of screen time she has. I think it’s an interesting choice that she is so competent, she saves the day with the truck driver and storm troopers and she sends the rebel contact to save Kenobi, knowing that he will need help. I’m just impressed and pleased that they have decided to make her so amazing, and I love it.
posted by dellsolace at 7:36 PM on June 3, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by dellsolace at 7:36 PM on June 3, 2022 [7 favorites]
since everything is interconnected, her name from her adoptive parents is...
Since this is Star Wars it’s likely to be Duchess Satine.
posted by chrchr at 8:09 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Since this is Star Wars it’s likely to be Duchess Satine.
posted by chrchr at 8:09 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I always felt a little weird about how Lucas introduced the Royal Children Are Savants bit with Padme. Leia being amazing must have something to do with her Naboo genetics. Because of my age I recoiled at the aggressively spunky Leia but man she's growing on me and I definitely see a bit of the original in her. I hope Fisher left a bunch of notes scribbled somewhere describing how she saw young Leia and that Disney has it.
It occurs to me that Padme and Leia`s questionable taste in men is kind of the downfall of the universe. Han might not have been anything like Anakin but do we really think Ben Solo took more after his mom than his dad?
posted by M Edward at 9:52 PM on June 3, 2022
It occurs to me that Padme and Leia`s questionable taste in men is kind of the downfall of the universe. Han might not have been anything like Anakin but do we really think Ben Solo took more after his mom than his dad?
posted by M Edward at 9:52 PM on June 3, 2022
Leia being amazing must have something to do with her Naboo genetics.
Leia is force sensitive. This makes much more sense to me. But, yeah, she's also her mother's child. Plus, the Organas aren't to be forgotten, given their positions - Queen and Senator - those two raising her must have also rubbed off.
Anyway, I'm now waiting for LEIA ORGANA, JUNIOR SENATOR OF ALDERAAN on Disney+ focusing on her teen years, becoming the youngest Senator during the time when the Empire is about to wipe all that away. And it dovetails into Rogue One/A New Hope. Really make the explosion of Alderaan hurt.
posted by crossoverman at 10:00 PM on June 3, 2022 [11 favorites]
Leia is force sensitive. This makes much more sense to me. But, yeah, she's also her mother's child. Plus, the Organas aren't to be forgotten, given their positions - Queen and Senator - those two raising her must have also rubbed off.
Anyway, I'm now waiting for LEIA ORGANA, JUNIOR SENATOR OF ALDERAAN on Disney+ focusing on her teen years, becoming the youngest Senator during the time when the Empire is about to wipe all that away. And it dovetails into Rogue One/A New Hope. Really make the explosion of Alderaan hurt.
posted by crossoverman at 10:00 PM on June 3, 2022 [11 favorites]
There's an Irish Times review of the series on the blue that was a fun read.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:25 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 10:25 PM on June 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just want to say how much I loved the character of Freck. Warm, generous, kind guy with a heart of gold. And who also supports the fascists.
It helps that Freck's voice is in the uncanny valley of Jim Henson impressions. It's so close to Rowlf/Ernie but just wrong enough to be unsettling.
posted by Gary at 7:57 PM on June 4, 2022 [4 favorites]
It helps that Freck's voice is in the uncanny valley of Jim Henson impressions. It's so close to Rowlf/Ernie but just wrong enough to be unsettling.
posted by Gary at 7:57 PM on June 4, 2022 [4 favorites]
one shot from a blaster that everyone in the universe seems to have on them at all times?
Golly sure is weird how these spacefolk have weapons of mass murder on them at all times, boy howdy that would never happen in real life.
posted by coriolisdave at 3:33 AM on June 5, 2022 [9 favorites]
Golly sure is weird how these spacefolk have weapons of mass murder on them at all times, boy howdy that would never happen in real life.
posted by coriolisdave at 3:33 AM on June 5, 2022 [9 favorites]
Well that was fun. This series seems hellbent on extracting some value from the awful prequel movies and I'm not mad about that.
posted by Nelson at 7:09 AM on June 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:09 AM on June 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Just want to say how much I loved the character of Freck. Warm, generous, kind guy with a heart of gold. And who also supports the fascists.
Complete with homemade Trump flag.
posted by condour75 at 7:16 PM on June 5, 2022
Complete with homemade Trump flag.
posted by condour75 at 7:16 PM on June 5, 2022
OK, I know foolish consistency is a hobgoblin, but it bothers me when prequels don't square with what we (thought we) knew from the original (unless a twist is being executed, but that's not what's going on here). Here's a what Vader says when he encounters Obi-Wan on the Death Star in Star Wars:
Or maybe not EXACTLY, if we parse it REALLY REALLY closely? Here's what it used to mean:
posted by The Tensor at 12:50 AM on June 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.So, before this episode of Obi-Wan, the implication of this passage was clear: Obi-Wan and Vader hadn't met since their grand falling-out in the old days. What exactly that falling out was got filled in later, but—leaving aside the question of whether RotS Anakin was technically Obi-Wan's "learner"...—nothing contradicted that dialog in Star Wars...until now.
Or maybe not EXACTLY, if we parse it REALLY REALLY closely? Here's what it used to mean:
We meet again, at last.But now it must mean be referring to two different previous meetings, with a unacknowledged switch in the middle:
[it's been a long time since we met...]
...
When I left you, I was but the learner...
[...and at that time I was your student]
We meet again, at last.So maybe what happened in this episode doesn't contradict that dialog in the strictest sense—because Obi-Wan runs away here, so Vader doesn't technically leave him—but it requires a pretty awkward shift of reference in what Vader seems to be saying, and for him NOT to say something more natural like:
[it's been ten years since we met...]
...
When I left you, I was but the learner...
[...and at a DIFFERENT TIME twenty years ago, when I LEFT YOU, I was your student]
I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; you ran from me when last we met; but now I have you, and you'll see I am the master.So I don't like it. I get that there's a lot of fannish demand for an Ani/Obi encounter, but this feels like clumsy meddling with the OT to me.
posted by The Tensor at 12:50 AM on June 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
But yeah, there's also a sense where the repetition, at the same scale, starts to make things feel smaller eventually. [...] That all being said, the nod to Quinlan Vos surviving was a bit I appreciated anyways
To your point, I kind of hope we DON'T see Quinlan Vos in the show, because then Obi-Wan namedropping only one Jedi from that wall makes the universe seem larger. He may not have known any of those other names.
But if we do get Quinlan, my fancasting of the role is Jason Momoa.
When I left you, I was but the learner
Lucas already meddled with this, in a sense, by not having Crispy Critter Anakin crawl away from, rather than toward, Obi-Wan on Mustafar. "I HATE YOU! I'M LEAVING YOU!...VERY SLOWLY"
For that reason, since RotS came out, I've headcanoned that Vader was speaking metaphorically; "when I left you" really means "when I left the Jedi Order/the Light Side," those latter of which Vader could easily emotionally conflate with Obi-Wan himself, metonymically.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:36 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
To your point, I kind of hope we DON'T see Quinlan Vos in the show, because then Obi-Wan namedropping only one Jedi from that wall makes the universe seem larger. He may not have known any of those other names.
But if we do get Quinlan, my fancasting of the role is Jason Momoa.
When I left you, I was but the learner
Lucas already meddled with this, in a sense, by not having Crispy Critter Anakin crawl away from, rather than toward, Obi-Wan on Mustafar. "I HATE YOU! I'M LEAVING YOU!...VERY SLOWLY"
For that reason, since RotS came out, I've headcanoned that Vader was speaking metaphorically; "when I left you" really means "when I left the Jedi Order/the Light Side," those latter of which Vader could easily emotionally conflate with Obi-Wan himself, metonymically.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:36 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
But if we do get Quinlan, my fancasting of the role is Jason Momoa.
O’Shea Jackson Jr. is listed for the remaining three episodes in a currently unspecified role. Hmm.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:05 AM on June 6, 2022
O’Shea Jackson Jr. is listed for the remaining three episodes in a currently unspecified role. Hmm.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:05 AM on June 6, 2022
I agree that if you insert things in the middle, they need to ah....put it back, as it were. Like is little Leia gonna get a Jedi mind wipe at the end of this, for example?
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:20 AM on June 6, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:20 AM on June 6, 2022
There's still 3 more episodes and presumably another encounter where Vader doesn't throw Obi-Wan around like a ragdoll. That would make the "When I left you..." line make sense again.
Like is little Leia gonna get a Jedi mind wipe at the end of this, for example?
So far she only knows she's been rescued by a "Jedi called Ben" (I think? Has anyone mentioned his real name in her prescence?). So it tracks that when she's sent to find "Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine", she may not realise who that is. When Luke rescues her on the Death Star, she does reconise the name "Ben Kenobi".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:46 AM on June 6, 2022
Like is little Leia gonna get a Jedi mind wipe at the end of this, for example?
So far she only knows she's been rescued by a "Jedi called Ben" (I think? Has anyone mentioned his real name in her prescence?). So it tracks that when she's sent to find "Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine", she may not realise who that is. When Luke rescues her on the Death Star, she does reconise the name "Ben Kenobi".
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:46 AM on June 6, 2022
(Thinking about it, she might have seen his name on the WANTED holograms)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:56 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:56 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm too lazy to rewatch to confirm but I'm pretty sure that the Empire defector officer calls him "Obi-Wan" in Leia's hearing. Part of Li'l Leia's thing is she's precociously smart, I think it's likely she's figured out exactly who he is one way or the other.
As The Tensor says, consistency is a foolish hobgoblin. The Star Wars writers have only ever loosely held themselves to it, no reason we should hold them to a stricter standard.
posted by Nelson at 8:09 AM on June 6, 2022
As The Tensor says, consistency is a foolish hobgoblin. The Star Wars writers have only ever loosely held themselves to it, no reason we should hold them to a stricter standard.
posted by Nelson at 8:09 AM on June 6, 2022
How exactly does the fire stop Darth Vader from getting to Obi-Wan after Tala reignites it? He can't use the force to blow it out? He can't use the force to pick up Obi-Wan and drag him through or over it? He just stands there like, welp, fire too big for Vader. It pulled me right out of what should have been a really tense scene.
But I am loving it so far, nitpicks aside. It's no Mandalorian though.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:06 AM on June 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
But I am loving it so far, nitpicks aside. It's no Mandalorian though.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:06 AM on June 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm too lazy to rewatch to confirm but I'm pretty sure that the Empire defector officer calls him "Obi-Wan" in Leia's hearing
I don't think Leia ever heard him called "Obi-Wan" in the first couple of episodes, but Indira Varma's character mentions the name in front of Leia in Ep.3:
TALA: ...I made some mistakes.
OBI-WAN: We all did.
TALA: I can't imagine Obi-Wan Kenobi doing anything wrong.
OBI-WAN: It's just Ben, these days.
Tala's line could be interpreted as a statement about the great Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi who they both knew in the old days, but Obi-Wan's reply pretty clearly acknowledges she was referring to him. I guess it's possible they're going to claim that Leia missed this implication, but they've been writing her so far as smart and perceptive...
posted by The Tensor at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't think Leia ever heard him called "Obi-Wan" in the first couple of episodes, but Indira Varma's character mentions the name in front of Leia in Ep.3:
TALA: ...I made some mistakes.
OBI-WAN: We all did.
TALA: I can't imagine Obi-Wan Kenobi doing anything wrong.
OBI-WAN: It's just Ben, these days.
Tala's line could be interpreted as a statement about the great Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi who they both knew in the old days, but Obi-Wan's reply pretty clearly acknowledges she was referring to him. I guess it's possible they're going to claim that Leia missed this implication, but they've been writing her so far as smart and perceptive...
posted by The Tensor at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
What do we all think of the music? I'll confess it's not memorable to me at all, most of the time it's just kind of a wash in the background.
posted by aesop at 3:14 PM on June 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by aesop at 3:14 PM on June 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
God I loved this episode so, so much I couldn't even think of anything to write. I just watched it again and I still don't know what to say about it other than like, CHEF KISS, AAA-grade Star Wars content, more like this please. I am here for Obi-Wan Kenobi's sad sad handsome life and Anakin Skywalker as the galaxy's biggest drama llama and I Never thought I would actually get to see it rendered by actors again in my life and truly, it is so great. Small Leia is just the icing on this magnificent cake. I wish everyone could get a piece of entertainment made so squarely for them, it rules, I want this for each and every one of you.
The thing that's wild is I actually like Cassian even more as a character and oh what he's getting an even longer show later this year?? Bro 2022 has had its disappointments but the Content I am receiving is truly sublime
posted by potrzebie at 11:01 PM on June 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
The thing that's wild is I actually like Cassian even more as a character and oh what he's getting an even longer show later this year?? Bro 2022 has had its disappointments but the Content I am receiving is truly sublime
posted by potrzebie at 11:01 PM on June 6, 2022 [8 favorites]
Bro 2022 has had its disappointments but the Content I am receiving is truly sublime
Yer not wrong. I have been kind of a genre fan for as long as I can recall. In the late seventies, when I was a kid — 1978 specifically— I guess you could watch the weird Mormon-tinged Battlestar Galactica (with its four or five special effects shots reused weekly) or watch Project U.F.O., a glacially paced show where two White Guys in Ties investigated UFO sightings because once in a while you might see a cool flying saucer in the re-enactments. Or you could watch the syndicated reruns of Star Trek that you had seen nine times already.
44 years later, there is an avalanche of Star Trek, Star Wars , and superhero shows turning up pretty regularly, as well as a weirdly evocative tale of the people my contemporaries would be in five or seven years (Stranger Things). We hadn’t found D&D yet in 1978, and there were not that many interdimensional gates in my neighbourhood in the eighties, but it feels like my high school years did.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:45 PM on June 8, 2022 [9 favorites]
Yer not wrong. I have been kind of a genre fan for as long as I can recall. In the late seventies, when I was a kid — 1978 specifically— I guess you could watch the weird Mormon-tinged Battlestar Galactica (with its four or five special effects shots reused weekly) or watch Project U.F.O., a glacially paced show where two White Guys in Ties investigated UFO sightings because once in a while you might see a cool flying saucer in the re-enactments. Or you could watch the syndicated reruns of Star Trek that you had seen nine times already.
44 years later, there is an avalanche of Star Trek, Star Wars , and superhero shows turning up pretty regularly, as well as a weirdly evocative tale of the people my contemporaries would be in five or seven years (Stranger Things). We hadn’t found D&D yet in 1978, and there were not that many interdimensional gates in my neighbourhood in the eighties, but it feels like my high school years did.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:45 PM on June 8, 2022 [9 favorites]
But yeah, there's also a sense where the repetition, at the same scale, starts to make things feel smaller eventually.
This is exactly how I felt about the original trilogy. It's a vast, strange galaxy full of heroes and villians(Yay), but the main villian is his dad (meh). And the heroic princess is his sister (eye roll).
posted by Sparx at 10:03 PM on June 9, 2022
This is exactly how I felt about the original trilogy. It's a vast, strange galaxy full of heroes and villians(Yay), but the main villian is his dad (meh). And the heroic princess is his sister (eye roll).
posted by Sparx at 10:03 PM on June 9, 2022
I think we could cut it some slack for the parental connection there: I am not sure if you were of the right age to see the original trilogy as it arrived in theatres but weirdly, there was an era when the antagonist being the father of the hero was not yet a cliché.
The issue in my view starts to come into focus when it is revealed that young Anakin also built one of the companion droids the hero has; oh yeah, and as a child he also used the other to help win a space battle curiously like the one that ended the original movie. And then subsequently JJ Abrams, a creative type seemingly untroubled by any original thoughts, directs a cover version of the original movie and subsequently ultimately reveals that the long-deceased big bad of the earlier movies was alive after all, you fools, and is actually the grandfather of one of the major characters. It all makes it seem like the entire galaxy has about nineteen people in it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:39 AM on June 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
The issue in my view starts to come into focus when it is revealed that young Anakin also built one of the companion droids the hero has; oh yeah, and as a child he also used the other to help win a space battle curiously like the one that ended the original movie. And then subsequently JJ Abrams, a creative type seemingly untroubled by any original thoughts, directs a cover version of the original movie and subsequently ultimately reveals that the long-deceased big bad of the earlier movies was alive after all, you fools, and is actually the grandfather of one of the major characters. It all makes it seem like the entire galaxy has about nineteen people in it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:39 AM on June 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
Y'know, the whole Leia/Obi-Wan thing is what drives me nutty on SW prequels: "we thought of something kewl to do, screw future continuity!"
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on June 12, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on June 12, 2022
I think having Obi-Wan rescue child-Leia solves one of those tiny nagging deep-cut plot holes in the backstory*: Why is it that Leia knows Obi-Wan Kenobi, by his real name, and asks for his help, even though he's been living in hiding on Tatooine for twenty years? And why would she expect him to respond to a personal appeal from her? By establishing an actual past relationship, we can make better sense of that message and its implications.
*Which itself was caused by retconning Leia as Luke's secret twin sister in Episode VI, but let's not get into that.
posted by skoosh at 6:57 PM on June 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
*Which itself was caused by retconning Leia as Luke's secret twin sister in Episode VI, but let's not get into that.
posted by skoosh at 6:57 PM on June 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yeah, but unfortunately in that message, she talks to Obi-Wan like she doesn't know him, like she's just heard of him from her dad, not that he was her savior buddy from when she was ten :( That's exactly the kind of crap retcon thing that gets on my nerves. Like if Little Leia doesn't get some kind of Jedi mind wipe from Obi-Wan at the end of this show, it won't make any sense. I'm not even sure if they can do that on humans.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:41 PM on June 12, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:41 PM on June 12, 2022
The actress playing 10 year Leia is absolutely killing it, so I am perfectly ok with how it young Leia hooks into older Leia.
The message from A New Hope works just fine, as it reads as coded now.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:51 PM on June 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
The message from A New Hope works just fine, as it reads as coded now.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:51 PM on June 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Re: ANH!Leia - at this risk of winning the No-Prize, I didn't find it so bizarre because the message felt formal to begin with, and recorded in a moment of emergency, so Leia was fully keeping up the fiction that Obi-Wan is a stranger to her. She already knew the risk of those droids taking the long way around to Kenobi is practically a given, so why go out of her way to further expose their connection? A royal begging for help in a long-shot message to some guy 'no one knows' is already gossip material if the droids didn't actually make it to the Lars homestead. That's how I've personally worked it out and it's no bother.
What's bothering me now (low-key; more for a laugh; has been since the PT) is the OT retcon of Leia's parentage re : ROTJ and her recollections of her mother. Now THAT'S worthy of a "wait wait" chuckle from me, though now i AM wondering if this is the show that will offer some canon spackle.
posted by cendawanita at 8:59 PM on June 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
What's bothering me now (low-key; more for a laugh; has been since the PT) is the OT retcon of Leia's parentage re : ROTJ and her recollections of her mother. Now THAT'S worthy of a "wait wait" chuckle from me, though now i AM wondering if this is the show that will offer some canon spackle.
posted by cendawanita at 8:59 PM on June 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
In Leia's ANH message she mentions Kenobi's rank, his role in the Clone Wars, and his history with Bail -- she could hardly have done more to reveal him to Imperial scrutiny!
We've already had a clunky, nonsensical, plot-preserving memory wipe with C-3PO, so it's not like the ground isn't already trod.
But I think it could actually work here -- by the end of this story Leia realizes that she's sensitive to the Force, but recognizes that (a) it can't really help her in the current moment and (b) it's actually an enormous danger to her and everyone around her. So she buries it herself, and based on her experience of Sith mind-reading and Imperial interrogation droids she knows it needs to buried deep.
posted by bjrubble at 4:11 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
We've already had a clunky, nonsensical, plot-preserving memory wipe with C-3PO, so it's not like the ground isn't already trod.
But I think it could actually work here -- by the end of this story Leia realizes that she's sensitive to the Force, but recognizes that (a) it can't really help her in the current moment and (b) it's actually an enormous danger to her and everyone around her. So she buries it herself, and based on her experience of Sith mind-reading and Imperial interrogation droids she knows it needs to buried deep.
posted by bjrubble at 4:11 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Supposedly this will be explained at the end of the show.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:42 PM on June 13, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:42 PM on June 13, 2022
My retcon is more simple than all of this.
Basically, for Ben, in ANH, he knows Leia because he last saw her only nine years ago, which for him isn't that long. But for 19-year-old Leia, nine years is a longass time and she may think he won't remember who she is. Which is why she goes to the effort to remind him.
posted by suelac at 10:16 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Basically, for Ben, in ANH, he knows Leia because he last saw her only nine years ago, which for him isn't that long. But for 19-year-old Leia, nine years is a longass time and she may think he won't remember who she is. Which is why she goes to the effort to remind him.
posted by suelac at 10:16 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I didn't know much about this going in. After seeing Vader appear I realized it's Fanservice: The Miniseries. It's fun though!
posted by medusa at 9:01 PM on July 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by medusa at 9:01 PM on July 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
How many of us have experienced either one of these?
“I don’t know if you remember me” from someone you considered a friend for a while, or even a relative if one of you was a kid,
Or a very warm, familiar hello from someone you would swear you have never met.
So,
“Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars” is a pretty good “You know, Carol? Carol from math class?” when you did, in fact hang out with Carol outside of math class, too, as far as I’m concerned. I mean Jesus, Carol, we got kicked out of summer camp together, too.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:23 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
“I don’t know if you remember me” from someone you considered a friend for a while, or even a relative if one of you was a kid,
Or a very warm, familiar hello from someone you would swear you have never met.
So,
“Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars” is a pretty good “You know, Carol? Carol from math class?” when you did, in fact hang out with Carol outside of math class, too, as far as I’m concerned. I mean Jesus, Carol, we got kicked out of summer camp together, too.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:23 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also Vader couldn’t put the second fire out because he ran out of spell slots.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:26 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:26 AM on July 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
But has Qui-Gon talked to Obi-Wan at all, in the last decade?
IIRC, part of Yoda's sales pitch to Obi-Wan for the job of Luke-Watcher was that he would get to continue his training with Holographic Qui-Gon. He seemed pretty psyched about it at the time, but I would guess that 10 years of living in a cave, watching some kid grow up on a frickin moisture farm in the desert, and cutting meat off a dead space whale to pay the bills would sap one's motivation.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:31 PM on October 29, 2022
IIRC, part of Yoda's sales pitch to Obi-Wan for the job of Luke-Watcher was that he would get to continue his training with Holographic Qui-Gon. He seemed pretty psyched about it at the time, but I would guess that 10 years of living in a cave, watching some kid grow up on a frickin moisture farm in the desert, and cutting meat off a dead space whale to pay the bills would sap one's motivation.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:31 PM on October 29, 2022
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Probe droids are one of my favourite Star Wars designs, love to see them again. Also love a really grimy set of Stormtrooper armour.
"Quinlan" is Quinlan Vos.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:02 AM on June 1, 2022 [3 favorites]