By Mac
Ok so first things first: I do still mostly like Kenobi as a show, and I think it still has a lot of promise. These first 3 episodes are leagues better than those of Mandalorian Season 2, and even moreso the Book of Boba Fett. Now, another thing to be clear about - I'm not here to write about many of the common criticisms like the inclusion of Leia, or Moses Ingram's acting (Which tbh is pretty good considering the other Star Wars shows and the stilted dialogue she's given) or even Obi-Wan's poor regression as a character.
What I do want to talk about is how Episode 3 of Kenobi was perfect at showing how Star Wars is cannibalizing its own canon.
I'm of generation zed, so I've only ever known the Star Wars universe with at least 6 movies. I am sure that my little cousins will grow up with at least 10 or 11 in their base memory of Star Wars. But here's the thing, there are a lot of people are out there that still remember Star Wars as being a standalone film. Sure, they're probably pretty hot for Episode V: The Empire Strikes Bad, and fine on Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and have ambivalent opinions on everything after that, but for them Star Wars is still that original story that came out in 1977. Even younger people that watched the films in cinematic release can maybe release to the point I'm about to make.
If you think back on Episode IV: A New Hope, you know that its easily the simplest film of the saga, but that it carries certain charms. Being the original, it's really the lynchpin of the whole universe, and everything that happens after it is a response to Episode IV. The story of Luke, Leia, Vader, Han, Obi Wan and the rebels vs the evil empire informs every Star Wars installation since. If all of Star Wars was a building, this movie is its foundation.
So now back to Kenobi. Episode 3's big reveal was a confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader on a desolate mining world. The fight was very cool to watch, and we got to see Vader torture Obi-Wan in an ironic faction by trying to burn his face off in fire. But maybe I'm not alone in feeling something was off. Obi-Wan and Vader meeting, speaking about what befell Vader, and Vader demonstrating how his powers have grown? We've seen this encounter before. It's actually the first encounter we've ever seen these two characters interact together in. In 1977, we were led to believe it has been 20 or so long years since Obi-Wan and Darth Vader met, and that "Where I (Vader) was once the learner, I have now become the master". Then, almost 28 years later with Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, we thought we saw this epic confrontation: The moment that Anakin was still not at his full strength to defeat his old master and paid for it dearly. It fits perfectly well with Vader's line in New Hope " I sense a presence I have not felt since..."
But now we are led to believe that this encounter Vader and Obi-Wan reference in A New Hope is some showdown after Vader has already been shown to defeat Obi-Wan? And even if this isn't the last time that Vader and Obi-Wan meet in Kenobi, we know that Obi-Wan can never fully "defeat" Darth Vader as he did back in Episode III, and that at best he can just forestall the fate that awaits him in A New Hope. In many ways, Kenobi has taken away the power of the encounter between Obi-Wan and Vader in a New Hope -- Vader knows he is stronger than Obi-Wan, and Obi Wan has seen his old apprentice in the flesh/metal since their battle on Mustafar --
Now, repetition has always been a staple of Star Wars (I don't need to pull out the George Lucas 'rhyme' quote) but sometimes you can't tell the same story twice without the question "Then why did you even tell it the first time?". Kenobi has been so anticipated; I can't blame its writers for wanting to relive A New Hope. What I can blame them for is cannibalizing the old story to such an extent that the new canon begs the question why the events of A New Hope need to happen at all. So far, shows and movies in the imperial period have been careful to not breech the continuity of the original trilogy so as to keep this lynchpin of the universe afloat, and made clever additions like in Rebels and Rogue 1. But when the additions reach critical mass and you start having to question why the original movie happened the way it did because of these additions, it becomes too much. I'm still looking forward to Kenobi, but I do hope Disney will eventually learn to take more care of continuity rather than going for the most awes and cash they can.
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