Why Disney’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Is Abject Garbage and Star Wars at Its Worst – Opinion

Jeff Charles, my esteemed colleague wrote Monday a strong piece that completely disagreed with me on the notion that Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new Disney/Star Wars series on Disney+ was just bantha poodoo. According to Jeff Charles, the show, despite some issues, is a great success. He was a huge fan of the characters and storyline.

Before you continue with this article, I recommend that you first read the other articles.

Charles is not a scruffy-looking nerf sheder. Charles ranks among my favorites, and not only at RedState, he is also a favorite writer in all the news outlets that I follow. You’ll often see me reading off of his articles during RedState LIVE! However, the right honourable gentleman is flatly wrong. While I give him a spot on my council and do so with the full consent of the members, I refuse to grant him the master rank.

Skywalker, please take a place. I’ll explain why.

For starters, the show is plagued with plot inconsistencies that don’t jive with the canon. For instance, one of the big moments in episode two is Obi-Wan’s discovery that Anakin Skywalker is still alive and is, in fact, Darth Vader. Problem is, both the original trilogy as well as prequel trilogy were clear in stating that Kenobi knew.

This is evident in two instances. Return of the Jedi’s force ghost Kenobi tells Luke about his sister in Return of the Jedi. The Emporer learned that they were hiding it from Vader. Moreover, at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Padme tells Kenobi that there’s still good in Anakin before she dies, implying that they both know he’s still alive.

Moreover, as a force user, how does Kenobi not sense Anakin’s very familiar presence still alive and well in the universe after he left him on Mustafar? The Emperor certainly did, enough so to come to Anakin’s rescue personally. Kenobi was far more acquainted with Anakin’s essence than Palpatine.

Also, Leia didn’t know Kenobi before the events of the original trilogy, just that he’d served her father during the events of the Clone Wars…so how is it that they ran into each other sooner than “A New Hope?” How is it that after Kenobi’s death, you see Leia comforting Luke in a detached sort of way and not sharing in his grief?

It is also puzzling how Reva can get by the Grand Inspector so quickly. Anyone who watched “Star Wars: Rebels” will know this is no easy task, as he’s as deadly as he is cunning, but he’s dropped by an upstart underling like a sack of potatoes while acting uncharacteristically witless? I don’t buy it.

Finally, I found this to be a problem from a storyline standpoint. Bail Organa is an Alderaan Senator. Reva found out he had connections to Kenobi and kidnapped his daughter in order to draw Kenobi out of hiding…so why didn’t Reva just take evidence of the connection to Vader and have Vader or the Emperor so they could force Organa to tell him where Kenobi was? Their mind-reading forces powers are so powerful that they kidnapped Leia. If the excuse is that Reva wanted all the glory, then when Vader found out that Reva had that info and was keeping it from him for selfish reasons, then there’s no way Anakin “youngling slayer” Skywalker wouldn’t have broken her neck.

It’s just bad writing.

The Leia chase scene was just too stupid and got me out of the very first episode. I don’t know why the director and producers thought this was an up-to-par scene. It would have been a good idea to include Loony Toons sound effects for slapstick.

There are myriad more problems that I have with the show, but in the interest of not writing a novel I’ll proceed onto the main issue I have with it, and it’s the portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi himself. For those who haven’t seen it and are curious (I imagine you are if you’re still reading) Kathleen Kennedy and her Sad Batch decided to give our favorite Jedi Master the TLJ treatment and make him a washed-up, sad, and demotivated loser. Apparently, not having learned from doing that to Luke, they Ryan Johnson’d Kenobi.

Charles defends the decision with these words:

We see Obi Wan, a man who has lost his beloved apprentice Anakin Skywalker, in this series. After years of training him and developing a relationship of brotherhood with him, he had to kill him when he fell for the Dark Side.

It was worse that he couldn’t turn Anakin away from the dark side of his personality or remove him. This led to Order 66 becoming a brutal success and almost annihilating the Jedi Order. How can we imagine Kenobi being anything other than a shell of himself ten years later? He not only let his friend down, but he also let down his fellow Jedi, and the universe as a whole, which is now a Galactic Fascist dictatorship under the leadership of a clever Sith Lord. He would, just like all Jedi, lose his former self.

A solid argument, but it’s riddled with holes.

Right off the bat, Kenobi’s fallout from the force doesn’t make sense given his motivations. He was directed to guard a young Luke Skywalker and train under Qui-Gon’s force ghost. Although Qui-Gon will not be making an appearance in this series, it is still interesting. Obi-Wan is required to guard Luke Skywalker and train under Qui-Gon’s force ghost.

He also intends to teach Luke the methods of the force. It is stated in the first episode of the series. How is he going to do that if he can’t use it himself?

But this admittedly doesn’t address the crux of the issue. Kenobi’s force powers are dampened to near non-existence because he has a mental block after the devastating losses he suffered at the end of the “Revenge of the Sith.” It’s a fair thought to have and a good argument to make, but it flies in the face of all that Kenobi has been trained to do and the beliefs he lives by.

Yes, he’s gone through a crushing experience, but he has a reason to keep fighting in Luke. A good writer would have factored in Kenobi’s character and starting motivations. What we might have gotten, instead, is a true Kenobi who is dead-set to keep Luke safe at all costs, not only because he’s the future of the Jedi order but because he’s the only thing left of his brother and the possible key to bringing him back.

Instead, he leaves Luke for Leia to search the planet as inquisitors. It is simply brilliant writing.

A huge failure of the show is that it also that it makes it clear that Kenobi isn’t just wracked with guilt and sadness, he’s also blindingly afraid. As the final showdown of this century approaches, Kenobi flees like a coward. Vader needs to make Kenobi fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtUxZtbcCA

The fight is absurd because Vader wants Kenobi to be captured. He has Kenobi within easy reach. But his force power are stopped by fire. That’s more bad writing, but I digress.

This is an awful lot of negative emotion displayed by Jedi Master. One of the most popular lines from the franchise explains why negative emotions are a bad idea.

It’s yours, Master Yoda.

Kenobi is an intelligent, powerful and highly skilled man. This is the same guy who beat Darth Maul in their final duel by fooling his opponent into believing he was using his master’s saber form. This is the same guy who “Hello There’d” the four-armed lightsaber-wielding cyborg leader of the separatist forces with an honest-to-God smile on his face. The man who orchestrated the events leading to the first trilogy. His skills as a soldier and tactician are well-known. You’re going to tell me a man this seasoned from the harsh realities of war and with these motivations is this guy Disney is trying to sell us?

Nah.

A better idea would have been not to disarm Kenobi but to make it a struggle of maintaining Luke’s secrecy from an ever-searching empire while battling his own personal demons that were birthed by all that happened to him. He would have been able to cope with his rage, instead of becoming weak and fragile from these demons. His battle wouldn’t have been with the sads, but with the dark side itself. Kenobi’s desperation to protect Luke, mixed with his anger toward the empire would leave a Jedi Master who isn’t losing power but is resisting the temptation to become the demons he fought.

Reva was also his target. It should have been difficult for him to kill Reva. Reva is a cocky, self-confident girl. He underestimated her because she had killed other Jedi. She would have found it shocking that Kenobi could so easily manipulate her. This would have helped her start her journey to redemption. They are the only threat to Kenobi, Luke is their threat, which only Vader could defeat in combat. This would further drive Kenobi closer to the dark side to get more power.

It’s a struggle he has to overcome, and it’s a victory that makes him the wise teacher we see by the OT roles around.

So many lost opportunities, but I’ll leave it here and say that my colleague Charles tried his best but failed to make a solid case for the show. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Disney/Star Wars garbage.