Obi-Wan Kenobi Double Take: Part IV

The fourth episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi might not live up to the previous, heart wrecking reunion between Obi-Wan and Vader, but it sure provided lots of action and memorable moments. Part IV begins with an emotional anchor from Part III, with Obi-Wan being submerged into a bacta tank after being dragged by Darth Vader into the fire—which almost cost him his life if it weren’t for Tala coming to the rescue. The back and forth between him and Vader in the bacta tank is full of pain on both sides, proving that there is still some unfinished business between the two.

At the Path’s secret base on Jabiim, Obi-Wan changes into some borrowed Jedi robes—a look that just perfectly suits the character, and gives the fans a visual connection to the person he used to be. With the help of Tala and her comrades, Obi-Wan plans a rescue mission for Leia, who was captured by the Third Sister in the previous episode. This rescue plot is very reminiscent of the one we saw last in the season finale of The Mandalorian. There are a lot of similarities between the two episodes, although in this case a Jedi is at the forefront of the mission as opposed to a final surprise at the end of The Mandalorian Season Two.

The rescue of Leia from Fortress Inquisitorious is full of action and easter eggs. First of all, Obi-Wan’s way into the Inquisitor’s base of operations is without a doubt a nod to The Phantom Menace, particularly the journey to Otoh Gunga—the gungan city beneath the surface of Lake Paonga on Naboo he took with Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan swimming underneath the fortress wearing the iconic Jedi breathing device, all the while Nicole Holt’s wonderful score (with subtle but recognizable notes from John Williams’ track for the parallel scene in The Phantom Menace) is a clear homage to the beauty of the prequels.

Meanwhile, Tala is back in her Imperial officer uniform, infiltrating the base from the front door. Her mission is probably more risky and frightening than Obi-Wan’s, but the character’s strong will and experience with the Empire lead her to complete the mission almost flawlessly. It looks like Tala is continuing to play a larger role in the show, and hopefully we’ll be able to get more character development since so far she has been mostly a support for Obi-Wan’s story. Obviously, that’s not the case for Little Leia. Her interrogation with Reva has so many subtle references to Leia’s character later in the timeline, especially in A New Hope. Those scenes were not just a nice parallel to the Original Trilogy, but also have interesting similarities with The Force Awakens. Reva’s attempt to extract information from Leia with the Force is incredibly reminiscent of Kylo Ren’s interrogation of Rey. The Third Sister’s attempt is fruitless, as Leia’s strength in the Force is unexpected. Will the Inquisitor figure out Leia is Force sensitive and find a way to capture her once again?

Leia eventually is rescued, but not before Obi-Wan finds himself in the tomb, where countless Jedi are being preserved in the most horrifying way. We catch eerie glimpses of numerous fallen Jedi, and among them are Master Tera Sinube and a youngling (perhaps the first one taken down by Vader in Revenge of the Sith) being the most memorable. This brings up a question that’s been in everyone’s mind: How many Jedi survived the Purge in this timeline?

Just as Leia was about to be awfully tortured, the alarms go off, and Obi-Wan finally engages in some lightsaber slashing, which could very much be a homage to the The Force Unleashed videogames. Obi-Wan might be a bit rusty, but looks like he is starting to regain some of his abilities! Seeing him swinging his lightsaber, deflecting blaster bolts and using the Force is delightful to say the least.

The escape of our heroes puts you at the edge of the seat, and seeing T-47s (the airspeeders from The Empire Strikes Back) providing some aerial support was super exciting! Reva tries her best to stop them, but she fails and has to answer to the Dark Lord of the Sith. This is the only time we see Vader in the episode—it was probably not as satisfying for some fans (we need all the Vader we can get), but it made sense as the episode was more focused on the other characters. An interesting thing to point out is how Vader is in the same building as Leia (just like in A New Hope), but has no idea about her true identity.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Part IV ends with yet another nice “to be continued” moment as we see that Lola, Leia’s little droid, has been laced with a tracking device—a nice teaser for the next episode. Will Reva and Vader go into pursuit of Obi-Wan and Leia? How will the last two episodes of this incredible limited series play out? We will have to wait until next Wednesday. What did you think of Part IV? Let us know on our social media channels.