Recap / Obi-Wan Kenobi — Part VI

Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode Recap Index
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI

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Obi-Wan Kenobi, part six of six.

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With Vader hot on the Path's tail, Obi-Wan breaks off from them to lure him to a duel so that his friends and Leia can escape. However, the old Jedi master must move quickly, for Reva is coming for the Lars family and Luke...

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Tropes:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Once they finally reach Alderaan, an exhausted Obi-Wan asks Leia what she thinks he should do. The Princess "innocently" suggests he get some sleep. Obi-Wan cracks up.
• All There in the Manual: Qui-Gon Jinn appears as a full Force Spirit in this episode, even though the "Yoda's Journey" story arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars stated that Jinn had not completed the training necessary to appear as one (hence why he was only present as a disembodied voice in Attack of the Clones), though he appeared in the flesh on Mortis. This is the first time we've seen him appear physically. This ability is better explained in other media set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, with the short story "Master and Apprentice" revealing that Jinn was able to appear as a Force Spirit approximately ten years after the Empire was founded. Skywalker: A Family at War, a novel written like an in-universe biography, also stated that Qui-Gon was able to physically manifest as a Force Spirit around this time, serving as a bit of Production Foreshadowing, as it was written while the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was in the scripting stage.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's hard to say why Reva decided to go after Luke. Did she somehow interpret from Bail's message that Luke was Anakin's son and thus would be a proxy for revenge against him? Or did she just see him as a youngling under Obi-Wan's protection and thus a proxy for revenge against him for creating Vader?
• Ambiguous Syntax: Vader's response to Obi-Wan's apology ("I am not your failure, Obi-Wan"); is he forgiving his old Master in some way, releasing him from the guilt of Anakin's fall to the Dark Side? Or is he being prideful and defiant, refusing to give Obi-Wan credit for the powerful Sith Lord he has become? Vader's tone and mental state are ambiguous enough for either (or even both) to be true.
• Anachronic Order: The scenes on Tatooine take place some time after the scenes of Vader hunting Kenobi, as both Reva and Obi-Wan need time to travel from Jabiim to Tatooine, the latter needs time to fight Vader, and the former needs time to recover somewhat from the injury Vader gave her in the last episode.
• Attack the Injury:
  • While fighting to hold Reva back, Owen notices the injury Vader gave her and attacks it, buying Luke time to escape.
  • Once he finally gains the offensive, Obi-Wan repeatedly pounds on Vader's chest plate with his lightsaber pommel to damage his life support system before slicing open his mask as Vader stumbles around struggling to breathe.
• Badass Normal: Owen and Beru Lars manage to temporarily fend off Reva, a trained Force user, to prevent her from getting to Luke.
• Bad Boss: Once he's had enough of Vader's obsession with killing Obi-Wan, Palpatine threatens him into submission. He doesn't have to specify what that threat is, or even finish his sentence, but whatever it was, it's unpleasant enough to shut Vader up immediately.
• Batman Gambit: Obi-Wan leaves in an escape craft, betting Vader will be diverted away from the Path's ship to pursue him. The Grand Inquisitor even notes that Obi-Wan is just one Jedi, while the Path can be wiped out here and now, but Vader refuses to listen.
• Beleaguered Assistant: In a sense, the Grand Inquisitor falls under this while in command of the Star Destroyer together with Vader. Vader's cowboy antics regarding Obi-Wan leads the Sith Lord to dismiss the Grand Inquisitor's insistence to stick to pursuing the refugees. He is last seen visibly curling his lip and rolling his eyes in annoyance. Taking into account how badly that went down for Vader, it's within reason the Grand Inquisitor ratted out Vader's faulty commands to the Emperor — hence the Sith Lords' holo-call in the tail-end of the episode.
• Blatant Lies: Cowed by the Emperor's implied threat, Vader tells his master that "Kenobi means nothing", an obvious lie, given Vader's past and future eagerness to confront Obi-Wan again.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Darth Vader makes two crucial errors that allow Obi-Wan to accomplish all his goals. The first is falling for Obi-Wan's diversion again, going after the Jedi Master instead of the ship containing all the Force-sensitive refugees. The second is leaving the pit after burying Obi-Wan, not even checking to see if his master is actually dead. The Grand Inquisitor even points this out to Vader, and later, Emperor Palpatine questions if Vader's attachment to Obi-Wan has clouded his judgement.
• Bookends:
  • The series begins and ends on Tatooine for Obi-Wan and Reva, and on Alderaan for Leia.
  • Obi-Wan and Vader's story begins with Anakin being crippled and left for dead on Mustafar all those years ago, and ends with Vader being crippled and left for dead once again by his old master.
  • In their first fight, Vader lifts Obi-Wan with the Force and uses it to drag him through flames, showing how the latter's connection to the Force was frayed. In this fight, Obi-Wan throws Vader around, showing that not only has he returned to full strength, but he's stronger than Vader.
  • The first scene that introduces Leia shows her being dressed by servants like a princess (and it turns out it's not even her). Leia's last scene begins with her dressing herself, in clothes befitting an Action Girl.
• Broken Faceplate: Obi-Wan manages to cut Vader's helmet open with his lightsaber during their duel, revealing half of his ravaged face. It also causes Vader's voice modulator to malfunction, and Obi-Wan hears the voice of his old Padawan once again.
• Brought Down to Badass: Reva survived being stabbed in the gut by Lord Vader and somehow found her way to Tatooine to kill Luke. Despite her injury (which Owen exploits), she's still a terrifying presence that no one on Tatooine wants to fuck with. Except Beru.
• Buried Alive: Vader uses the Force to make a sinkhole beneath Obi-Wan, then fills it with rocks to kill him. Obi-Wan is able to create an air pocket with the Force before throwing the rubble back out of the hole.
• Call-Back:
  • Once again, Vader's premature assumption that he has won has allowed Obi-Wan to defeat him, just like in their practice duel in the flashback last episode. Still a Padawan learner, Vader is. Vader's "When I left you, I was but a learner" remark also makes sense fully as Kenobi defeated him again in battle.
  • Many of the camera angles during Vader and Obi-wan's duel are identical to the camera work in Revenge of the Sith. A good amount of the swordplay is similar too.
  • Reva's Heel Realization is triggered when she sees that she has become the thing that she hates — a Dark Force user In the Hood seeking to murder a child.
• Call-Forward:
  • A rebel transport carrying Leia Organa is being chased by a Star Destroyer. The transport also has a damaged hyperdrive and has to do wild maneuvering as the Destroyer fires at it.
  • This won't be the last time Vader gets half his mask sliced off, revealing his face. Ahsoka will do the same in the season 2 finale of Rebels (which takes place about six years after this series). Similarly, Vader speaks through the broken mask in the voices of both Vader (James Earl Jones) and Anakin (Matt Lanter and Hayden Christensen respectively). Quite appropriately, Vader delivers the same ultimatum to both of them — the two people he valued most (beyond Padmé) when he was still a loyal Jedi Knight.
    Ahsoka: I won't leave you! Not this time.
    Darth Vader: Then you will die.
    
    Obi-Wan: I will do what I must.
    Darth Vader: Then you will die.
  • Vader asserting to Obi-Wan that he killed Anakin Skywalker evokes the tale Obi-Wan tells Luke about how his father died ("a certain point of view") in A New Hope, as well as the assertion Vader made to Ashoka in Rebels, and the one Kylo Ren made to Han Solo in The Force Awakens.
    Darth Vader: [to Obi-Wan] Anakin is gone. I am what remains. [...] You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker... I did!
    Darth Vader: [to Ashoka] Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him.
    Kylo Ren: [to Han Solo] Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father, so I destroyed him.
  • Additionally, Obi-Wan's first words to Luke here are the same as his first words spoken in A New Hope — "Hello there." This doubles as both a Call-Back to Revenge of the Sith and an Ascended Meme.
  • Luke says "I'm not afraid" to Uncle Owen, which is the same thing he would later say to Yoda.
  • Upon his chest-plate life-support system being damaged, Darth Vader's usual Vader Breath changes to the strained wheezing heard during his last moments in Return of the Jedi.
  • After cutting open Vader's mask and rendering him defenseless, the sight of his true physical state makes Obi-Wan freeze in shock and halts their duel, which would be repeated by Luke after he takes off Vader's hand.
  • The attack that cuts open Vader's helmet and leaves a visible gash on his head is implicitly the scar that appears when Vader is unmasked in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
  • Obi-Wan proclaims that his friend is truly dead, which is what Luke says to Darth Vader (albeit using father instead of friend) in Return of the Jedi, and matches how Obi-Wan describes his perspective in the same film. Also, Obi-Wan's final words to Vader are "Goodbye, Darth", which is how he would address Vader in A New Hope.
  • Vader yells "Obi-Wan! OBI-WAN!!!" similarly to the way that Maul says "Kenobi... KENOBIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!" in Rebels.
  • When Leia asks if she and Obi-Wan will ever see each other again, he replies they will if she ever needs help, calling forward to her plea for his help in A New Hope.
  • When Vader tells Palpatine that he will dedicate every resource to tracking down Kenobi, the Emperor wonders if Vader's thoughts on the matter are clear, much like he will in Return of the Jedi.
  • Palpatine's dismissiveness of Vader affirming his hunt for Kenobi manages to recontextualize his first appearance in Rebels, where he expressed doubt that Kenobi still lived. Instead of No One Could Survive That!, it now comes across more as Palpatine still being annoyed that Vader hasn't let go of his vendetta towards Kenobi even after having lectured him about it more than once. Indeed, Ian McDiarmid's read of the line (heard on the digital release of "The Siege of Lothal") sounds irritated, supporting this.
  • Darth Vader's statement that Anakin is dead, and that Darth Vader killed him, makes Obi-Wan's initial Metaphorically True statement about Darth Vader killing Luke's father reinforced by admission.
  • During the scuffle between Reva and the Larses, Reva knocks Owen off the walkway and he lands on his leg, injuring it in the process. This could be the explanation as to why Owen walks with a limp in A New Hope.
  • Luke is knocked unconscious by Reva before she moves to kill him with her lightsaber, and so he never sees her with it ignited, which explains how he still doesn't know what a lightsaber is when Obi-Wan gives him Anakin's in A New Hope.
  • During the duel with Vader, Obi-Wan holds his lightsaber with two hands in front of his chest with the blade pointing straight forward, much like the stance he would take before dueling Vader for the last time.
  • Bail responds to Obi-Wan telling him "If you ever need my help again, you know where to find me." with "Let's hope that day never comes.". That day will come, and it will launch the darkest hour of the Empire's rule.
• The Cameo:
  • Darth Sidious is seen speaking with Vader on Mustafar, the latter making his intent on hunting down Obi-Wan quite clear, while Sidious tells Vader in no uncertain terms to forget his former Master and move on, lest he face unpleasant consequences.
  • Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan's deceased master, makes an appearance as a Force Ghost at the end, telling his former pupil there is much to be done. Liam Neeson is not credited for this appearance.
• Captain Obvious: Darth Sidious mockingly notes that Vader seems "agitated". This is after Vader has passionately (for him) vowed to destroy everything that gets between him and Obi-Wan.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: Obi-Wan senses Luke's distress through the Force and flies back to Tatooine, but arrives long after Reva's assault on the Lars homestead. Owen and Beru are fruitlessly calling into the night for Luke, and all Obi-Wan can offer is to comb the Dune Sea for any trace of him. Fortunately, Reva cannot bring herself to murder Luke in cold blood and brings him home.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • Both Vader and Kenobi don't hesitate to fight dirty to gain the advantage. Vader rams Kenobi's face with his shoulder in a sudden and throws rocks at him while also clashing swords to catch him off-guard, at one point even punching Kenobi's face while locking blades. He also uses the Force to win their first round after seeing his former master can still match him in swordplay, crumbling the ground and burying him within rocks. Too bad he got lost in the moment and didn't properly finish him off. After Kenobi gets his second wind, he pays back Vader's initial pragmatism a lot more harshly: He uses his empowered state in all the ways he can, throwing Vader around to stun him and pelting him with large rocks to damage his suit, and not only returns the slamming technique Vader used with his cybernetic arm before with his lightsaber's hilt, but even damages his life-support with his lightsaber to weaken him.
  • As soon as Owen notices Reva's gut wound, he goes straight for it.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When Vader asks if Obi-Wan has come to destroy him, Obi-Wan responds "I will do what I must," as he did prior to their duel on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith.
  • Before crossing blades with Vader, Obi-Wan adopts the iconic Soresu stance, which he most famously performed before his duel with Grievous on Utapau.
  • Obi-Wan tries to collapse a stone spire onto Vader, like Count Dooku did to both of them with a column on Geonosis.
  • As in the previous episode, Vader raises his hand and uses the Force to stop his opponent's blade, but it's much less effective against Obi-Wan than against Reva. On the other hand, Vader can still sense someone sneaking up behind him and parries Obi-Wan's attack, even though Obi-Wan doesn't try to be a Screaming Warrior like Reva.
  • After collapsing the ground beneath him, Vader takes a moment to loom over Obi-Wan before burying him alive and leaving him for dead, an inversion of their duel ten years prior. In the end, like that duel, Vader and Obi-Wan's rematch ends with the former defeated, barely able to move, and screaming at Obi-Wan in impotent rage.
  • A subtle one. When Vader mentions that he will destroy everything in their path until they find Obi-Wan, Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious reins in Darth Vader's rage against Obi-Wan by telling him to let go of his past. The Sith Master has already reined in his apprentice's rage in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith with his "galaxy of the dead" lesson.
  • A humorous one. The meatpacking site's bullying Mean Boss from the first episode who got in Kenobi's face and mocked, "Something you want to say?" turns up again and bullies someone else, repeating the same line from before. This time, Reva throws his line back at him and bullies him into frightened submission.
  • A small one. Leia still has the gloves that Obi-Wan bought for her and puts them on, along with Tala's holster, when she's back home on Alderaan.
  • Obi-Wan using the Force to telekinetically throw Vader into a stone pillar during their duel brings to mind Satele Shan slamming Darth Malgus against a cliff with the Force during their duel in the trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Obi-Wan fully gets his groove back, he beats the absolute crap out of Darth Vader by telekinetically bombarding him with rocks, smashing his life-support systems, and slicing off part of his helmet.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Owen and Beru obviously weren't going to defeat Reva in a fight, but they manage to get a few good hits in. Her injury in the prior episode helps their case.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Ever since the Disney canon came to be, Vader has been a nigh-unstoppable engine of destruction few can stand a chance against, let alone actually beat. Obi-Wan manages to, with a great deal of effort, decisively defeat him; factoring in Revenge of the Sith, he can claim to have been one of the only few who can say he's beaten Vader more than once.
• Deus Exit Machina: Kenobi is away fighting Vader when Reva arrives to kill Luke, meaning Reva is effectively unstoppable considering her foes are moisture farmers and her target is a child. Beru even lampshades just how much they could have used Kenobi in these scenarios.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: After burying Obi-Wan under tons of rubble, Vader remarks "Did you truly think you could defeat me? You have failed, Master." After Vader walks away, Obi-Wan gets a Heroic Second Wind, breaks free from the rubble and thoroughly kicks Vader's ass.
• Doomed by Canon: Subverted with Reva. She manages to survive her stabbing at Vader's hands in the last episode and, after coming to terms with her trauma and failure to save her friends during Order 66, as well as receiving some words of encouragement from Master Kenobi, she eventually leaves to make her own luck.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Though she's healed enough to get around, Reva's gut wound clearly hasn't completely healed and is an obvious liability, allowing Owen and Beru to slow her down a couple times by attacking it, instead of getting curbstomped.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • If Reva killed Luke as a Revenge by Proxy on Obi-Wan without knowing the boy's relation to Vader, she would have accidentally gotten proxy revenge on Vader also. Of course, Vader still has no idea that his children are even alive, and also attacked a ship his daughter was aboard (which would be repeated years later).
  • Obi-Wan leaves believing that Anakin is Beyond Redemption after hearing Vader boast of how he killed the friend he once knew. In the next scene featuring Vader, Darth Sidious tells his apprentice that his failure to kill Obi-Wan is due to still having an emotional attachment to his former master deep down. In other words, Obi-Wan only lived because there was still enough Anakin to prevent Vader from killing him.
  • Likewise, Obi-Wan interprets Vader's declaration as the final word on Anakin and believes his friend is gone forever. He's so focused upon Vader's sadism and cruelty that he doesn't realize Anakin does briefly manifest and the absolution he offers Obi-Wan is genuine. It proves there is still a piece of Anakin buried under the armor and darkness (and indeed it's this internal conflict that Luke will pick up on 13 years later and convince him Anakin can be saved).
• Evil Is Petty: Downplayed; after collapsing the ground beneath Obi-Wan, Vader takes a moment to loom over his former Master as if to say "now I have the high ground" before burying him alive.
• The Final Temptation: Palpatine's final words to Vader are a question: are his thoughts clouded by his feelings for his former master? Is his dedication to the Dark Side falling victim to his love for his father, his brother, his teacher? Vader assures Palpatine that, no, his feelings are clear. He abandons his last dedication to Kenobi and devotes himself to the Empire. Like his grandson, Kylo Ren, Vader is no longer tormented by the call of the Light. Or is he?
• Foregone Conclusion: Obi-Wan obviously won't be able to redeem Vader at this point as he later advocates Luke to kill him in "Return of the Jedi" and advocates That Man Is Dead, which Vader (seemingly) proved to Obi-Wan in this episode.
• Foreshadowing: Reva doesn't inflict lethal harm on anyone as she makes her way to find Owen and then Luke — not even on Owen and Beru when they battle to stop her — unlike the previous visit to Tatooine, revealing that her murderous resolve is cracking.
• Funny Background Event: When Vader insists on following Obi-Wan's ship instead of the ship filled with Force-sensitives, Grand Inquisitor can be seen biting his lip and sucking his cheeks in silent frustration in the blurred background.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: When Vader says "You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker, I did," his face is lit on one side by his own red saber and on the other by Obi-Wan's blue saber. As Obi-Wan reacts to this, he lowers his blue saber, leaving Vader's face fully illuminated in red.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Emperor shows up in the final Darth Vader scene, reminding the audience that in spite of Darth Vader's role as the Big Bad of this series, he is still just The Dragon to Darth Sidious.
• Ground Punch: Vader slams his hand into the ground, creating a sinkhole that swallows Obi-Wan.
• He Who Fights Monsters: As she stands ready to kill an unconscious Luke, Reva hallucinates her own younger self in his place and flashes back to her own helplessness at Vader's hands, realizing how close she's come to becoming just like the man who slaughtered her friends. She chooses to spare Luke and return him to Owen and Beru unharmed.
  Reva: [tearful] I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I failed them. He killed them all, and I couldn't do it.
  Obi-Wan: You haven't failed them. By showing mercy, you have given them peace. You have honored them.
  Reva: Have I become [Anakin]?
  Obi-Wan: No. You have chosen not to. Who you become now... That is up to you.
• Heel–Face Turn: With Reva choosing to spare Luke after having him at her mercy, Obi-Wan gives Reva some reassuring words, possibly pulling her back into the light after having fallen in her desire to get revenge against Darth Vader.
• Heel Realization:
  • When Reva approaches the unconscious Luke, ready to kill him with her lightsaber, she suddenly starts seeing visions of her younger self in the same position as Luke, with horrific flashes of Order 66 replaying in her head over and over again. The visions make her realize that she is becoming just like Anakin.
  • Following from his sad story about the family he never knew, having been given to the Jedi Order as an infant, Obi-Wan seems to realize that the Jedi practice of taking infants is the wrong path, telling Owen that Luke "needs to be a boy".
• Heroic Sacrifice: Obi-Wan offers to fly himself over to Vader's Star Destroyer, buying enough time for Roken to repair the hyperdrive and get the refugees to Tessen. Fortunately, he realizes there's an alternative and instead lures Vader to a nearby planet for a duel, allowing him to win and subsequently escape.
• Heroic Second Wind: Buried alive and tormented by his guilt over Anakin's fall, Obi-Wan, inspired by memories of Luke and Leia, summons the strength to escape and goes after Vader with a renewed vigor, defeating the Sith Lord and bringing him to his knees.
• He's Back!: "Your strength has returned." Obi-Wan is indeed at full strength, and he manages to send Vader, a Sith Lord at the height of his powers, flying using the Force before pummeling him with a barrage of rocks.
• Hidden Badass: Of course moisture farmers on the edge of Tusken territory are accomplished fighters. Owen and Beru manage to hold off Reva for a significant amount of time, with Owen even spotting her gut wound and using it against her.
• Hourglass Plot: Reva's situation is now completely inverted compared to her backstory as an Order 66 survivor. Instead of an adult Skywalker hunting down a young Reva, it's an adult Reva hunting down a young Skywalker. Thankfully, when Reva sees Luke's innocent face, she realizes she's becoming the very monster in her nightmares.
• I Can Still Fight!: Despite his life support system being smashed, his mask slashed open, and being forced to his knees, Vader keeps his lightsaber ignited and promises to kill Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan just leaves this pathetic monster behind.
• Idiot Ball: Vader made the unwise decision to send the Star Destroyer after Obi-Wan and let the Path's transport go. He could have piloted a Lambda-class shuttle to go after Obi-Wan himself (which is what he ended up doing) and left the Star Destroyer to pursue the Path. He also could've ordered TIE fighters to pursue the Path while the Star Destroyer went after Obi-Wan. And while we don't know what happened to the Star Destroyer, if it had stayed near the planet where Obi-Wan and Vader fought their duel, it might have been able to shoot down or capture Obi-Wan after he left.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: When Reva is about to kill young Luke, she has a flashback of Anakin slaughtering Jedi during Order 66, realizing this is not who she is/should be.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: This would appear to apply to the gunnery of an Imperial Star Destroyer also, as Vader's Destroyer seems incapable of significantly hitting the two tiny, minor ships it is chasing. (Though their gunnery seems very improved in Rogue One and A New Hope.)
• Implied Death Threat: The Emperor implies that Vader may find himself as replaceable as his predecessors if he can't let go of his obsession with Obi-Wan.
  Darth Sidious: I wonder if your thoughts are clear on this, Lord Vader. Perhaps your feelings for your old master have left you weakened. If your past cannot be overcome...
  Darth Vader: ...Kenobi means nothing. I serve only you, my master.
• Important Haircut: Reva changes her hairstyle when going to Tatooine, getting rid of her forward bun that underlined her arrogance and overall time as an Inquisitor. It's precisely the one journey that will cause her Heel Realization when she'll attempt to kill Luke.
• In-Universe Catharsis:
  • Having been tormented by the guilt of having failed Anakin for the past decade, Obi-Wan finally manages to free himself from that guilt by confronting Darth Vader here. After being defeated and hearing Obi-Wan's apology, Vader (perhaps sincerely) tells Obi-Wan that he isn't his old master's failure and that Vader, not Obi-Wan, killed Anakin. Although heartbroken to realize that his old friend is truly gone, Obi-Wan is, as he later tells Reva, finally free from Vader's shadow. Obi-Wan's catharsis is further symbolized when he finally sees Qui-Gon's Force ghost, with Qui-Gon telling him that Obi-Wan was finally ready to see him again.
  • Reva spent years plotting her revenge against Darth Vader, and in doing so, hurt and killed a number of people herself. After being defeated and left for dead when her attempt to kill Vader failed miserably, she tries to take her revenge against his son instead. However, when the moment comes, she finds herself unable to murder an innocent child (as Reva and the friends she sought to avenge once were) and instead brings him home to his family. In showing mercy, Reva has, like Obi-Wan, who points this out, freed herself from Anakin, proven herself a better person than he is, and is now free to make her own future.
• Ineffectual Death Threats: Vader vows to destroy Obi-Wan, just as he killed Anakin. As Vader is thoroughly defeated and can barely stand up, Obi-Wan takes this as less of a fearsome threat and more as confirmation that Anakin is truly gone, regretfully leaving Vader to stew in his helpless rage.
• It Was with You All Along: Obi-Wan spends the series struggling to contact Qui-Gon — and now Qui-Gon appears before him, revealing that he was always there but waiting for when Obi-Wan was ready.
  Obi-Wan: [stunned] Master Qui-Gon!
  Qui-Gon: Well! Took you long enough!
  Obi-Wan: I was beginning to think you'd never come.
  Qui-Gon: I was always here, Obi-Wan. You just were not ready to see. Come on, we've got a ways to go.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When Luke and Owen walk into the salvage shop looking for a new belt for the speeder, Owen remarks that someone broke it and the shopkeep replies "You're lucky your uncle is a patient man." Owen grumps, "Not that patient." The fact is, though, that he let Luke cheerfully start the conversation with the shopkeep, and he's barely even play-acting the angry father.
• Jerkass Realization: At the end, Owen realizes that he has been too harsh towards Obi-Wan and allows him to formally meet Luke after Obi-Wan promises to leave Luke to his care and not push for his Jedi training.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • The Tatooine worksite manager who enjoyed bullying all his workers (including Obi-Wan) cuts in line for water and bullies the water-seller, then makes the mistake of mouthing off to Reva who makes him lose that water and then shrivels the Dirty Coward cringing to the ground.
  • Whether intentional or not by Reva, the sins of Vader has visited his son. Darth Vader killed many of Reva's childhood friends and nearly young Reva herself during Order 66. This is nearly repaid with Reva trying to kill Vader's own son as a child. But the cycle of revenge is stopped once Reva realizes she's becoming like Anakin and instead spares the boy. Her mercy to Luke ensures a new hope for the Jedi to arise and avenge her fallen comrades.
• Lean and Mean: Vader's appearance beneath the mask is really sunken-in, particularly his eyes and cheeks, giving him an emaciated look. Though, given that he most likely can't eat proper food, and gets his nourishment through other means, it makes sense.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When Obi-Wan starts overpowering him in the start of their duel, Vader decides to hold his lightsaber with both hands and keeps it that way for the rest of the duel as he realizes that Obi-Wan has regained his strength and isn't some random Jedi survivor he can beat and kill easily so he has to stop holding back against him.
• Little Miss Badass: Leia fully embraces this role, accepting her duties as a princess and a Skywalker, donning an outfit combining bits of both. She wears a gorgeously embroidered pantsuit of state along with work gloves, cavalry boots, and Tala's holster.
• Love Redeems: Though Obi-Wan becomes convinced here that Vader is Beyond Redemption, Palpatine can sense the conflict within him that proves Luke was right all along. Vader was driven to hunt Obi-Wan out of love for his former teacher as much as for hatred of the man who destroyed his body.
  Palpatine: Perhaps your feelings for your old master have left you weakened.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: At the Emperor's Implied Death Threat, Vader backs down and accepts his master's wishes, clearly aware that, no matter how much he wants to keep pursuing Obi-Wan, he cannot defy Palpatine without serious consequences.
• Mama Bear: Beru, although normally much more even-tempered and sweet-natured than her husband, is instantly ready to fight when she learns that Reva is looking for Luke. She even convinces Owen, who wants to flee, to stand and fight the ex-Inquisitor.
• Manly Tears: After beating Darth Vader for the second time, Obi-Wan openly weeps when he sees what's behind the damaged mask and laments that Anakin is truly gone.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Was it the Force itself making Reva see visions of herself in place of both Luke and Anakin, to make her stay her hand from killing Luke and allow him to survive to become the future hope of the Jedi and the Galaxy? Or was it her own long-repressed childhood terror and survivor's guilt, compounded by the torment of having absolutely failed to avenge her murdered friends and that every horrible thing she's done to get there has been All for Nothing, just overwhelming and breaking her at that very moment? Or both?
• Mighty Glacier: Obi-Wan normally favors a one-handed defensive style or a more graceful offense approach. Here he is both on the offensive and favoring strength over dexterity, because he's fighting Vader, who is basically a stomping linebacker thanks to his armor and cybernetic limbs.
• Musical Nod:
  • The Imperial March once again makes an appearance, being used to send off Vader's appearance in the series.
  • Princess Leia's Leitmotif from the Classic Trilogy plays when Obi-Wan tells her how she's like her biological parents.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Obi-Wan gathers an immense amount of debris and uses it to repeatedly pummel Vader. Players of Star Wars: The Old Republic may recognize this as an amped up version of an ability from the Jedi Consular player class (which Obi-Wan in his older age would likely count as, if one were to attach player classes to main series characters) where one of their specializations focuses on using force-thrown projectiles — including a constant stream of thrown rocks.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Obi-Wan once again has Vader beaten and dead to rights, yet once again doesn't finish him off. While the previous instance could be reasonably excused by the fact that he left Vader near-limbless and completely immolated by the heat of Mustafar, to the point that he needed outside aid from Palpatine and his medical droids to survive, here Vader is comparably in much better shape and yet Obi-Wan simply leaves him that way, free to cause more death and destruction in the Emperor's service later on.
• Noodle Incident: Exactly what did Luke do to break the speeder's belt?
• "Not So Different" Remark: After Reva returns Luke to Owen and Beru, Obi-Wan comforts her, saying that, like him, she has freed herself from Anakin.
• Not So Invincible After All: Throughout the series (and much of the Disney canon), Vader has seemed all but unstoppable, tossing around other Force-users like they're nothing and easily besting Obi-Wan when they fought in Part III. Here, Obi-Wan, back on his game, manages to overwhelm Vader, besting every attack against him and not only winning his duel with Vader, but leaving the Sith Lord immobile, battered, and pathetically screaming in rage.
• Not So Stoic: Vader's stoic façade finally shatters after Obi-Wan cripples him once again, and leaves him to his fate, screaming after him in a blinding rage.
• Not Worth Killing: Obi-Wan gets the better of Vader, but simply leaves him rather than trying to go for the kill, having bought the Path the time they need — and ultimately not wanting to kill what little remains of his friend.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • It's subtle, and not verbally spelled out, but pay attention to Obi-Wan during his duel with Vader. Obi-Wan is a master (or, according to Mace Windu, "the master") of Soresu, the most defense-oriented lightsaber style. He defeated Anakin on Mustafar by playing defense until Anakin made that crucial mistake and launched an attack that Obi-Wan countered. This time, however, Obi-Wan is explicitly on the attack. It shows how much he has to defeat Vader to protect Leia, Luke, and the fleeing refugees.
  • Darth Vader goes from wanting to set up a massive manhunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi, which he's been unusually obsessive with as it stands, to immediately standing down as soon as Darth Sidious threatens him.
• Oh, Crap!: Obi-Wan is horrified (and so is Ewan) to see what has become of his old friend. He has to stop himself from weeping.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Liam Neeson's natural Irish brogue slips in quite heavily during his brief cameo as Qui-Gon Jinn, though this was also true in The Phantom Menace.
• Papa Wolf: Owen, a normal human with no proper weapon, personally fights Reva, a powerful Dark Side Force-user wielding a lightsaber, to keep her from getting to Luke.
• Parallel Conflict Sequence: Obi-Wan and Vader duel it out while Owen and Beru team up against Reva.
• Pet the Dog: While it comes in the middle of a threat to Obi-Wan, Darth Vader tells his old master not to blame himself for his own fall to the Dark Side, in contrast to his earlier statement that his current state is the direct result of Obi-Wan's actions (or at least some of it). In doing so, while also boasting that he, and not Obi-Wan, killed Anakin Skywalker, it allows Obi-Wan to come to terms with what happened and emotionally heal.
• Plot Armor: The Path's transport is blatantly protected by this during the episode, given that the captain mentions that their shields can hold for a while against an onslaught of Turbolaser fire from an Imperial Star Destroyer, despite those same Star Destroyers being perfectly capable of annihilating the Nebulon-B Frigates and Corellian Corvettes used by the future Rebel Alliance in seconds in Rogue One, both of which are significantly better protected and equipped than the transport in question.
• The Power of Love: As Obi-Wan is trapped under a pile of rocks, he despairingly stews in thoughts of how he failed Anakin and the hatred-filled machine his padawan has become. However, his thoughts then turn to Luke and Leia, the children he has grown to care for as if they were his own, and remembering that they need his help, he is filled with a new resolve allowing him to escape and defeat Vader.
• Pragmatic Villainy: As always, we can chalk up Palpatine's order for Vader to stop pursuing Obi-Wan as this. As it is just about ten years into the rule of the Empire, there are still a lot of pacification and intimidation it had to do to consolidate its rule throughout the known Galaxy. In Palpatine's view, Vader being distracted by pursuing this vendetta is a massive waste of resources that stalls their work — something that the Emperor is likely frustrated that Vader, despite years of being in power and leadership, still hasn't learned.
• Properly Paranoid: Of course Owen and Beru have weapons and know how to use them. They live on the outskirts of a Wretched Hive on the one hand and a Wild Wilderness full of The Savage Indian on the other.
• Psychotic Smirk: Vader pulls one off underneath his half-destroyed mask as he tells Obi-Wan that he killed Anakin.
• Redemption Equals Life: Reva is the only known Inquisitor in the current canon to not only be redeemed but also have a chance to truly live again, which is more than can be said for other Inquisitors or really Dark Siders in general, considering the usual fate for them if they choose redemption. Likewise, since canon sources indicate the Inquisitorius was disbanded (probably killed by Vader and Palpatine) before the original film, she may even have outlived them.
• Revenge Before Reason: Vader's fixation on Obi-Wan causes him to ignore the Grand Inquisitor's advice to pursue the Path instead, allowing them to survive, and Vader's decision to face Obi-Wan alone leads to Obi-Wan being free to leave unimpeded once Vader is defeated. It is obsession that draws ire from Emperor Palpatine, who threatens Vader to be replaced if he continues his hunt for Obi-Wan.
• Revenge by Proxy: Reva targets Luke to get revenge, though it is unclear whether her revenge here is on Vader (his father) or Obi-Wan (for her failure to kill Vader despite his promises). Ultimately, she doesn't go through with it, returning Luke to Owen and Beru.
• Saved by Canon:
  • Obviously Luke Skywalker isn't going to be killed by Reva. The whole franchise wouldn't have existed if he had died before it ever begun. Same with Leia.
  • The duel between Vader and Obi-Wan must end with both of them surviving.
  • Owen and Beru must also survive the fight with Reva, because they don't die until A New Hope.
• Say My Name: Left defeated and barely mobile in his old master's wake, Vader once again screams after Obi-Wan in impotent rage.
  Darth Vader: Obi-Wan! OBI-WAN!!!!
• Tempting Fate: Having buried Obi-Wan alive, Vader gloats at the pit where his former master once stood. Not only is Obi-Wan still alive, but he gets his second wind, escapes the pit, and proceeds to give Vader the thrashing of a lifetime.
  Darth Vader: Did you truly think you could defeat me? You have failed... Master.
• That Man Is Dead: Vader, yet again.
  Obi-Wan: (tearing up) Anakin...
  Darth Vader: Anakin is gone. I am what remains.
  Obi-Wan: (sobbing) I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Anakin. For all of it.
  Vader: ...I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did. The same way I will destroy you!
  Obi-Wan: Then my friend is truly dead. Goodbye, Darth.
• Tranquil Fury: Upon dealing with a frustrated Vader vowing to persue Obi-Wan, Sidious is merely coy and polite, noting his apprentice seems distressed, though adding in an understated grave tone that it may have repurcussions if his obsession with Obi-Wan becomes a hinderance. When Vader quickly relents and affirms Obi-Wan is nothing compared to his servitude to him, Sidious merely smirks and approves, having made his point clear even with that one tacit observation.
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot: The previous episode ended with the Path's ship facing pursuit from Vader's Star Destroyer with a disabled hyperdrive preventing escape, and Reva finding out about Owen and Luke back on the surface with no immediately apparent means of transport. Here, the Path's ship is still being chased by Vader's Star Destroyer, while Reva has already gotten to Tatooine searching for Owen. Later, when Obi-Wan departs in his escape ship for Tatooine, the Star Destroyer is absent somehow, so he gets there unhindered.
• Uncertain Doom: While Reva does survive throughout the series, only time will tell if she'll be healed from her injuries before they take their toll on her.
• Underestimating Badassery: Vader does this twice. He assumes Obi-Wan is still weak and faces him alone. When he learns Obi-Wan is back at full strength, he still leaves him for dead, instead of confirming it.
• Unexplained Recovery: In the time between the Path leaving Jabiim and Darth Vader's pursuit of them, Reva has somehow recovered (to an extent), found transport offworld, and reached Tatooine.
• Villainous Breakdown: Vader completely breaks down after Obi-Wan cripples him, then refuses to kill him, screaming his old master's name, too weakened by their duel to go after him.
• Villain Respect: Reva is genuinely impressed by how hard Owen and Beru fight to protect Luke.
  Reva: You really love the boy... like he's your own.
  Owen: He is my own.
• Vocal Dissonance: After Obi-Wan slices Vader's helmet in half, his vocoder malfunctions, making his voice a garbled mashup between the youthful-sounding Anakin and the voice his suit creates for him. It's quite jarring to hear what is clearly Vader speaking through the voice he had as a Jedi.
• We Do Not Know Each Other: A variation when Leia asks Obi-Wan if she'll ever see him again. Obi-Wan promises to help if she ever asks for it. But he also warns her they must be careful; no-one must know, lest it endanger both of then. This neatly explains in-story why Leia, despite meeting Obi-Wan and bonding with him during this mini-series, acts so formal in her message during A New Hope. It also explains why she acts like she's never met the Jedi Master before, yet clearly knows who Ben Kenobi is when Luke mentions him during their first meeting. It was a precaution to protect both of them from the Empire in the event Artoo was intercepted (not that it ultimately did them much good, as Leia's cover had been blown).
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Where did the Star Destroyer (with the Grand Inquisitor likely in command during Vader's absence) go and why did it leave?
• What the Hell, Hero?: A brief one. After Owen points out to Beru that Ben is gone and can't protect them from Reva, Beru asks him whose fault that is, implicitly calling him out on being so cold and standoffish to Ben.
• What You Are in the Dark: Reva has the chance to kill Luke, but ultimately can't bring herself to be the same kind of monster that ruined her life, despite worrying that she's become exactly that.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • Subtly the case with Vader; Now that Obi-Wan is back on his game, Vader clearly takes him much more seriously, shifting from trying to at first toy with him to immediately using the cold rage and calculated dueling skills as soon as his former master makes it clear he is now a match for him. At first, Vader seems still capable of handling Kenobi... but just as he actually gains the upper hand in the first half of the duel, he doesn't fully capitalize on it and blatantly turns his back on Obi-Wan and believes him beaten after he is buried in rocks. He winds up paying badly for it, as Kenobi gets his Heroic Second Wind and quickly overpowers him. Palpatine even calls Vader out on letting his feelings for his former master affect him like this, outright declaring they weakened Vader.
  • Also Reva, still badly wounded after her duel with Vader, to the extent that a couple of middle-aged farmers are able to hold their own against her.
• Would Hit a Girl: Owen has no qualms about hitting Reva to protect Luke.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Ultimately played straight. Despite making her intentions of killing Luke known, and knocking him unconscious in Beggar's Canyon, Reva couldn't go through with it. She sees too much of her younger self in Luke, and realizes that she doesn't want to be a child murderer like Anakin. She instead brings Luke back to his family unharmed.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Even after she's spared Luke and returned him to his family, an emotionally exhausted Reva believes that she has failed to avenge her dead friends and wonders if she has become like Anakin. Obi-Wan assures her that, in showing mercy to Luke, she has given her friends peace and made a choice to not turn into him, leaving Reva free to choose her own path going forward.
• You Have Failed Me: Implied by Darth Sidious during his talk with Darth Vader. He suggests that Vader's obsession with Obi-Wan stems from his emotional attachment (a.k.a. love) for his former master, and it has gravely weakened his power. But before the Emperor could list out the penalty for this obsession, Vader immediately swears that "Kenobi means nothing" to him and reaffirms his loyalty to his Sith master.

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