Saber Forum

So what are people’s thoughts on ‘Kenobi’?

Have to say I’m quite impressed so far, story is moving along at a good pace, an excellent variety of locales showing the breadth of the galaxy, all the characters arcs and issues make sense, e.g. Kenobi himself with lingering trauma and admitting openly he is not the man he was - certainly more inclined to use a blaster! the backstabbing ambitious inquisitors, notably Third sister making her own deals behind the Grand inquisitors back/going over his head, but subsequently demure once the real boss is on the scene, and the Galactic situation itself, the bullying presence of the Empire.  And although we know of course which characters survive there are still some suitably tense moments.

Agreed that we're at "so far, so good". There have been some really nice moments visually. However I thought the sets for episode 2 (the urban place) looked a little like a set. The music has been mediocre (I'm a music teacher) & could use some more punch as the JW nods are a little too embedded. I guess when you get nitpicky like this, things ain't that bad :-D. I'm also treading lightly as there was no spoiler warning posted for this thread…& there be plenty fun to spoil.

favorite part so far: *CENSORED* and I also liked when *REDACTED* with the **SPOILER*

I enjoyed the first episode, but then the chase in the second one (cartoonish) and the people starting to teleport without reasons or explanations really took me out of the show... I haven't seen the 4th one yet. But the third was a good contestant for facepalming of the week.
That being said, it was heart warming to see those characters again. Aliens variety is far superior to the disney trilogy of shame. there are really good points to this tv show. But I wish they did a better job at being logical.

I didn't comment because  "If you can't say something nice  don't say anything at all."

Thank you @DarthRondoudou

Point to you because I can't talk about this series without using prohibited vernacular. 

 "No creativity ice holes. Sons of bunches"

It wouldn't be too complicated either IMO.
For the tunnel, just say that it is a maze. That way people can take a longer time than others figuring where to go, and people could theoretically cross each other without knowing... Or show different galleries, or... I dunno. Just stop teleporting people in front of others.
or the laser barrier of sort that he shot to deactivate... I mean... if they were going on foot, he could have just circled the outpost. I mean... we can see it's possible from the shots they put in the episode... Damn it. WHY

So far it appears to drop in quality and intelligence by the episode. I haven't seen the 4th one yet. Kinda dreadful.

Well having seen episode 4 even my patience wears thin. I can accept some level of incompetence on the part of the bad guys so the heroes can win, and of course some impeccable timing and being in the exact right place...but its becoming a bit much now. The Empire now appears as utterly hapless (can't prevent/detect ships leaving a planet, or an air strike on their own secret base!), even the heroes pretty stupid (no attempt to even put on a disguise). I know we can point to A New Hope for a parallel but I forgive more in a movie as there is less runtime so situations have to resolve easier for the heroes. Here its a bit galling.

Over all I still enjoy the overarching narrative and characters themselves but yeah its getting harder to overlook lazy set peices and tense moments resolved so easily and illogical behaviour on both sides.

Obi wan is my favorite Jedi.  That said, this is my third favorite live action SW show.  It seems as though they just slapped together a plot and didn't think things through.  There are serious plot holes being created in regards to established canon (whether it is from the movies or other shows).  The character seem nothing more than plot fodder and there is no real element of suspense since we know the history of the three big characters, and the other "main" characters are not compelling.  Overall, I'm disappointed and a little worried for the future shows.  Mando season 1 was great.  Season 2 was really good, but not as good as season 1.  BoB was pretty good, but not with out it problems.  Now we have Obi Wan which is another step down in quality (not in production, but overall story).  Anyways, back to my cave to wait for my next delivery from Jawa Prime. 

I concur...it really does seem slapped together and with all the hype and time put into it it shouldn't be.  I don't have an issue so much in the direction its going just the execution.

First off: Obi-Wan Kenobi is my absolute favorite Star Wars character.  Next, Ewan McGregor is fantastic in the role, both now and then.

OK, having said that, I also have to state that I WANT to like the Obi-Wan series...

...But there are just so many instances of lazy writing, derivative occurrences, & banal scenes.  Why didn't Vader just walk through the fire (his suit can withstand lava)?  How did Reva/3rd Sister get ahead of Leia?  Why bother with the contrived & convoluted comedy of errors JUST to plant an obvious tracker (when failure was a very real outcome)?  How is it that the Fortress Inquisitorious has seemingly NO defenses/early warning systems/ANY electronic frontier to counter exactly what Obi-Wan did?  And you're telling me that NOT ONE PERSON saw through Obi-Wan's & Leia's "disguise" to even passingly think "That's a little odd..."?

There are too many instances of "THIS had to happen SO then THIS would happen!"  I know that when I'm writing, I TRY to not fall into such pitfalls (one of the reasons that I so appreciate the feedback from everyone, but especially from LSG, Karm, and TR) BUT the entire flow of the series has been terribly derivative.

Reading everyone's posts, I see that what I'm feeling seems to be the general consensus.  Like everyone, I'm disappointed because I believe that this could have been a spectacular project.  Yet--aside from the wonderful Ewan McGregor and the surprisingly enjoyable Vivien Lyra Blair as Leia--I find myself having watched each episode feeling left with an overwhelming sense of "meh" afterwards. 

I hope that this will change because there ARE good things: Ewan, Vivien Lyra Blair, Hayden as returning characters, the production values (as previously mentioned) are outstanding, and there are good ideas embedded within the story (for instance, I'd love to see a live action Quinlan Vos).  Yet everything just seems...average. 

And I think that's the worst of it: nothing truly spectacular, nothing memorable, nothing shocking.  A.  Very.  Middling.  Show.

Again: hopefully the last two episodes will redeem the series.

I'd really like to hear what other people think^^

This!!!!


One of the keys to any fiction is the suspension of disbelief, I think the essence of the complaint we seem to share is this has been stretched then broken.  > NOTE SPOILERS in a detailed break down I’ve spilled out below of my opinions>

The ambitious third sister, looking to gain Vaders favours scours some archives and intelligence reports find a link between Organa and Kenobi, then takes a gamble by hiring some disposable mercenaries to kidnap Organa’s daughter (presumably at a distance so if things go bad she can’t be connected to the kidnapping of a Senators daughter).  And it works, Organa, as he does in a New Hope, rushes to Kenobi due to his characters trust in the Jedi over the Empire. Kenobi himself is haunted by what he did on Mustafar, disconnected from the Force in many ways and just existing, this forces him to come out of his, quite literal, cave.

This set up, from the first episode I thought was a really good one, plausible, interesting and introduced a genuinely intelligent/aggressive antagonist willing to take risks to further her goals. Second episode was fine too, the rooftop battle a little meh, some teleporting characters but all forgivable, Leia uncertain who to trust until Kenobi uses the force was a good touch I thought, solving two tensions in one action, he needs to embrace his Jedi training to save her in my interpretation, and again Third sister ups the game by stabbing the Grand Inquisitor opportunistically (presumably blaming Kenobi, though given the Inquisition is a den of vipers I doubt anyone cares as they are all just jockeying to take his place). 

Escaping the planet was a bit ‘easy’ but I assumed the Inquisition hadn’t time to fully lock down the planet yet.

Much of the third episode too was fine for me, a backwater world, unlikely the troops in the sticks (as opposed to probe droid linked to the Imperial Network) had the memo on needing to look out for a Jedi and little girl…but The Inquisition is hot on the heels, Vader comes down, finds an out of practice, weak, conflicted Obi wan, and then….Then for me the Suspension of Disbelief broke.

He was 10-15 meters from Kenobi, had dozens of troops, presumably a Star Destroyer in Orbit…and somehow Kenobi is lifted by a droid and shipped off world? Vader couldn’t toss his lightsabre through the flames at the droid, didn’t ensure every ship leaving the planet was searched (regardless of the spies Officer Credentials?).

The moment with Vader and Kenobi in the Bacta tanks mirroring each other as episode 4 opened was excellent…the infiltration of the Inquisition fortress fine until Kenobi didn’t bother to don storm trooper armour to disguise himself, even the scene with Indira Varma’s character using her credentials (presumably a last gambit before she is uncovered) intimidating the junior officer to get in was fine for me given the culture of the Imperial Army/Navy especially around the Inquisition where life even on your own side is cheap….some very convenient moments being in the right place at the right time are forgivable, but two rebel ships attacking the Fortress without any aerial response or defence at all? A transport waiting in the clouds?   That broke the suspension for me again, that fortress should be one of the most heavily defended Imperial bases in the galaxy, nothing should get in or out without either being taken in by an Inquisitor/Vader or without massive scrutiny.

For me everything else was forgivable in the regular ‘good guys plot armour’ context, but those two moments….

It’s a shame, as I’ve said, so much of the rest of it was very good, the scene between Kenobi and Leia when she asks is he her father was very touching, it’s so very close to being really great for me, but each time just makes errors that you can’t look past.

And this is before even touching on Canon issues, I am assuming some canon inconsistencies will be tidied somehow in the later episodes...though honestly, I'd rather them leave the inconsistencies than jam in an embarrassingly obvious 'fix' like a head injury to make Leia forget Obi-Wan or something. 

Have a point for this well said piece of opinion. I agree. I would add Reva as a good point. I like the character.

LSG brings up some excellent and salient points: I can forgive the "good guys plot armor" for many things...but for the above criticisms, I--like LSG--can no longer suspend disbelief.  My wife, bless her, then gets an earful.

And sorry not to give warning last time, but <<<SPOILERS!!!>>>

I TRY not to be pedantic (often failing in these cases ::), but the ENTIRE scene with Vader & a defeated Obi-Wan where our favorite Sith Lord HAS our favorite Jedi in his grasp, intent upon torturing him for all of the pain, rage, and loss (not to mention his own convictions against the Jedi as a whole)...

...Just stares as the loader droid (*sarcasm some great foreshadowing there *sarcasm) picks up Obi-Wan and walks (not runs...in fact, more like "ambles") away.  Didn't Vader demonstrate a moment before that he could EASILY pick Obi-Wan up in the air, rendering him helpless?  Why not just do the same before the droid grabbed him?  Or: wait until the droid did and THEN lift them both up (after all, "Size matters not" so doing so should be cake for a powerful Sith)?  Again: poor writing IMO.

I absolutely agree with LSG that there ARE several VERY good scenes as well--excellent example with the juxtaposition between Obi-Wan & Vader in the bacta tank--so I'm not quite ready to give up on the series yet (like how I did for the entire Sequel Trilogy  :().  Here's to hoping that the final two episodes are superior to episodes 3 and (especially) 4.

Thank you, DR^^

And I also think that Reva/3rd Sister is a good addition.  In fact, I believe that there is more to her than just what we've seen on-screen (although she plays the "villain" role perfectly  ;)).

Glad to hear others' opinions regarding this series, regardless if you agree or not^^

Somehow just seeing this thread now, but I agree with what y'all have been saying. So much potential, some brilliantly executed stuff, phenomenal acting from Ewan and a surprisingly good Leia.

It's just that each episode gets worse. *insert Lando meme here*

Episode one was so good. We truly see a broken and destroyed Kenobi. Seeing his daily routine, his relationship with Owen, Alderaan (my second favorite planet after Naboo), and so much other great stuff (minus the chase scene), basically a perfect episode and introduction to a wonderful series about Obi-Wan. 10/10

And then episode two hits. It's not bad by any means. Its just a step down in many ways. 9/10

Episode three, and you have to somehow try and reconcile all the stupid decisions being made (I love that someone else already pointed out that they could've walked around the laser barrier). 8/10

Episode four, and still some good things, but the issues are starting to outweigh the positives. 6.5/10?

I'm still hopeful for the last 2 episodes, but my optimism has been dimmed a bit. The saddest part is that there are so many writers who could've told this story exponentially better. Just look at this forum, Karm, TD and LSG have all become wonderful storytellers (and I haven't been caught up with their works for probably about a year now. I need to fix that). Not to mention the many writers actually working in the industry.

I also feel like as amazing a piece of technology as The Volume is, it is actually inhibiting the creativity of the SW shows at this point. They've become too reliant on it, and it shows.

I also don't like how everyone at Lucasfilm seems to have forgotten that travel time exists. You cannot teleport through space (yet. Maybe at some point after TROS it would be possible), you can only travel at very very high speeds. It is not instantaneous from one place to another. It's also no instantaneous from space onto the surface of a planet. It's fast, yeah. But not immediate. And it gets me every time, because it doesn't make sense.

Part of what always made Star Wars so incredible was that it felt real. Yeah, it is very much fantasy, but there's a level of realism to it that most sci-fi, fantasy, and even non-fiction stories don't have. I want it to be better, and I know it can be, because I've seen what it can look like from someone who knows and loves the world. Star Wars Theory (whatever you may think of him) made a FANTASTIC fan film. Karm, TD, LSG and several others have written stories outside of the Skywalker Saga that feel as true to Star Wars as anything that came from Lucas himself. So why can't the professionals? I don't know (actually, I have some idea, but it doesn't belong on this forum).

Sorry. Ramble/rant over now.


EDIT:
But who's ready for Episode 5 tonight!

I watched the 4th. I wasn't ready. The stupid is strong in this one. from obi hiding when he's in sight of the troopers... to the disguise... I mean. What's wrong with their helmet? They have bad resolution? Things pop up at a fixed distance and is blurred further? Like in old video games? This was painful.
Still a fan of Reva though. Can't believe the actress is being harassed. What's wrong with people nowadays?
Points for everyone that tried to warn me about this episode xD

Alright, well after Ep.5, I'm once again excited for this show! Holy cow was that a good episode!

Thank TR!

Yep Fifth episode was better, the flashback a good way to unite Kenobi and Vader, and it explained why Third Sister knew who Vader was, sorted out her backstory/motives etc.

But still some frustrating issues in making the Imperials looks dumb.  Why charge into the breach with just guns not grenades or behind shields of some kind.  They knew exactly where the rebel base was, why were there not TIEs patrolling in case a ship got out, surely they could track any vessel that left that exact spot from the Destroyer? Must we assume utter hubris and lack of value for Stromtrooper lives (presumably because they want Kenobi alive so didn’t just fire their massive gun into the rebels?) in their approach? 

Vader showed how much of a power house he could be, we need to assume he could only bring down one ship that way (quite reasonable in my mind using the Force is not without strain)…and assume he was so blinded by intent to get to Kenobi he didn’t sense there were no people on board with the Force….still I’m having to come up with justifications myself to fill these holes....

These things would’ve been more forgivable had not episode 3 and 4 endings set poor precedents. As TR says Star Wars is fantasy but also always felt real – space travel is fast but hyper drives break down when you need them most, the Force is powerful, but doesn’t make you immune to a blaster.

Each episode is so close to being great on every other level that it’s really disappointing when these things come up at the end of each episode (a very clear pattern now), mostly it seems to allow Kenobi and co to 'escape' to the next location they need to dumb down the Empire.

Agreed. Still some issues, and each episode is so close to being great, but Ep. 5 is definitely a step in the right direction.

Many good things in the episode. The flashbacks, despite being visibly filmed nowadays, were interesting. Reva is still quite good. I had made the exact hypothesis as to why she knew who he was.
But still, so many plot holes it's hard not to think they want us to play whack a mole.
And... I thought vador broke her saber in halves? yet it's reunited at the end?
And this serve to show that their spinning thingy is ridicule and useless.
Once again they showed Vader as a very powerful being. So there's that. But ugh still.

Points for everyone.

It actually had a quick release coupler on it.  Only 35 credits from Ultrasabers.

Point for the chuckle.

Thanks TR^^  As I said, I really appreciate your feeding, not to mention continuing to read our Forumverse stories  ;D

Now back to the series!

OK, I agree with the consensus that Episode 5 WAS an improvement  :)

The GOOD: I really enjoyed the Obi/Ani dueling scenes (despite some fairly shoddy de-aging CGI, but that's just a nitpick).  And seeing Vader go full-on "Starkiller" with the ship was fantastic; a good reminder that he IS a POWERFUL Forceuser.  Also, his playing with Reva/3rd Sister was demonstrative of his bad@ss credentials  ;)

The BAD: The fact that the story STILL is full of contrivances: Leia has to go find/fix LOLA and the blast doors (just to give her something to do).  Storm Troopers STILL can't hit the broad side of a barn (but, hey, precedent).  Why did the Imperials even bother with the heavy blaster to open the doors when all it took was Reva cutting it w/ her lightsaber?  And why the insistence of overly-complicated "ploys" just to have a payoff moment even though there were better options available e.g. the debacle with Obi-Wan and Reva NOT-teaming-up against Vader or the reveal that--UN-SURPRISE!--the Grand Inquisitor wasn't really dead because "hate does wonders to keep you alive."  This all comes off as lazy writing.  I would've had it that Vader arrives, Reva and Obi-Wan "surprise" him by teaming up...only to have the Grand Inquisitor appear and even the odds.  And I would've had an Imperial contingent attack/secure the blast doors, you know, the ONLY point of egress and escape...where maybe Leia & LOLA could hack into the Imperial database to usurp fire control, which could be used to hold off the Imperial's/Vader while they attempted to set up their decoy.  To me, this would've made for much better drama.  Oh, and Tala's death was as tragic as it was...sorry, who was I talking about just now?  :P

Again: poor writing.

The UGLY: I really have to reiterate this: TOO MANY CONTRIVANCES  >:(

OK, now for shout-outs:
Pretty much ALL of LSG's spot-on assessments^^

Everything DR said but ESPECIALLY the highlighted part  ;)

Wonderful, MJ, wonderful  :D

Ultimately, TR succinctly put it perfectly^^

Here's to Episode 6 being the best part (crosses fingers)  :)

Points for everyone!

Very articulated thoughts and I have to agree with your suggestion as to what could have been a really good fight scene =)
Point

>FINAL EPSIODE SPOILERS<

The opening of Star War A New Hope is memorable for showing the vastness of a Star Destroyer bearing down on a Corellian Corvette, pursuing it and capturing it by using cannon and tractor beam.

Apparently this iconic scene was not accurate. Kenobi Episode 6 has shown, along with the Last Jedi, a Star Destroyer cannot in fact successfully pursue even a civilian unarmed vessel with no hyperdrive. Indeed a Star Destroyer appears a mere status symbol of no practical military use, along with Stormtroopers and, I expect, the absent TIE fighters.

Episode 1 the Phantom Menace key moment was the death of Qui-Gon-Jin, Kenobis master, finder of the Chosen one Anakin Skywalker, when stabbed with a lightsaber.  Apparently this too was misleading, being stabbed with a lightsaber in fact is not seriously damaging, and indeed no barrier to teleporting to Tatooine should one wish to.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was supposedly hiding out on Tatooine, but now walking openly on Alderaan and hugging and Imperial Senators (who is openly skeptical of the Empire) daughter, in full view of at least two guards, is no cause for concern of being discovered by the Inquisition or Empire anymore. I mean why would he worry given their inability to defend their own fortress or capture a barely functional ship full of refugees. 

The sad thing was, when I saw Reva had teleported to Tatooine (with what vessel did the Empire leave her one?) clutching her stomach as the only indication of a wound (why does no one check to see if their opponent is dead in this show, perhaps Vader can be excused with Kenobi a subconscious inability to kill his former Master and Brother…) I wasn’t shocked or surprised.  When the Star Destroyer couldn’t catch that rust bucket I wasn’t either.  I should be shocked, but you know what, I’d become used to it.

I have tried to enjoy this series, I applaud some of the moments between the characters, some of the best saber duels and awesome use of the Force we have yet seen in live action, excellent performances with what they had to work with, and great production values.  

There is a LOT to like about this series, shame about the writing.

I look forward to others views on this.

*FINAL EPISODE SPOILERS*

Again, the lack of travel time is one of the most frustrating things about this show. And it's not that Disney Star Wars doesn't understand that it takes time to travel places (Rogue One where they had to jump to hyperspace in order to avoid the blast on Jedda anyone?), it's just that they conveniently leave it out anytime they can.

If they'd have done something as simple as not made Reva teleport to Tatooine (and yet still somehow end up at the Lars homestead long after Owen and Luke?), and somehow explain that she patched herself up and that there was still a ship for her to use (also, does she even know how to pilot a ship? Not everyone does), then with a little bit of reediting, this entire episode could work. Just make everything that happens between Obi-Wan and Vader take place in the first half of the episode, and then in the second half deal with the Reva stuff. Or better yet, don't include the Reva stuff. It wasn't needed.

Also, what was the point of having the Grand Inquisitor in the show and have it set up that the GI and Reva are supposed to fight, if you don't make it happen? That's just a random aside.

Overall, this episode did a lot I really liked. A bit of reediting and acknowledgement of travel times would go a looooonnng ways to making better though. The battle between Obi-Wan and Vader was good. Not ROTS level great, but decent. I really wish they would've used the environment a bit more in the battle though (not just throwing rocks) but maneuvering around like they did in ROTS, climbing structures, causing things to be destroyed, etc. But the ferocity of the fight, especially things like Obi-Wan smashing in Vader's control box with his saber hilt, were great.

Of course, all the little fanservice moments included hit as hard as they needed to, so that's a plus.

Part of my issue with this finale (and I did quite enjoy it for the most part) was that episodes 3 and 4 were so bad, they didn't give us an emotional connection to anything, and it really hindered the impact of the final episode. A bit better writing, and having every episode be as strong as this would've gone a long way to making this a phenomenal series. As it was it was fine, but it needed to be better. Much better.


EDIT:
The thing I found lacking most in the previous episodes was Obi-Wan dealing with his trauma. We needed to see more scenes of him struggling than just episode 1, a brief flash in episode 3 and a little bit in episode 5. It needed to be the main focus, the main plotline of the entire series. If that would've been there, it would've strengthened the series a lot, thereby making the final fight feel epic, feel earned, and feel impactful. Just like the fight in ROTS.

OK, before we get started: <<<SPOILERS>>>

I have to say that both LSG's and TR's assessments are dead-on accurate.  From the unlikely "Hollywood recoveries" to the instantaneous space travel to the apparent complete lack of support craft to the ineptitude of the Imperials in general (and Vader in particular), the Obi-Wan series ended precisely with the status quo precedent set in Episodes 2, 3, 4, & 5.  And while I'll try not to rehash what my other two fellow Forum-mates eloquently and correctly already pointed out, I hope that you'll bear with me if I do cover familiar ground while presenting my POV. 

Here we go:

The GOOD: Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan.  He absolutely embodies the character, continuing to make it his own as well as giving homage to Alec Guiness with his subtle transition to the man he becomes in A New Hope.  I actually thought that Hayden Christiansen did a remarkable balance between Vader/Anakin-that-was, the emotions apparent across his face (well, HALF of it  ;)) really selling the fact that a large part of Vader's all-consuming hatred seems to include himself.  I believe that such an emotional component gives Vader's character even that more pathos compared to simply "I HATE YOU [Obi-Wan]!"  Now just what the exact motives of his own self-hatred may be, the series does leave up to our interpretation (which is for the good IMO).  And the saber&Force battle between the two was enjoyable, action-packed, and a good representation of what two powerful Force-users could do with their powers in a fight, especially Obi-Wan with the rock-bombardment scene; I thought this was particularly well done and reminded me of a pic I'd come across awhile ago:
(https://i.ibb.co/JxdCW2m/Old-Zearic-dreamscape.jpg)
(Wouldn't this have been a BAD@SS scene?  ;))

The BAD: Again, LSG's and TR's observations are spot-on.  Let me also add that I was completely taken out of the narrative when I saw Vader's Lambda-class shuttle descend from the hanger.  Did no one really check for dimensional references?  An Imperial-class star destroyer's primary hangerbay is supposed to be huge, so much so that it can swallow in it's entirety the Tantive IV, the CR90 corvette first seen in "A New Hope."  Instead, Vader's shuttle looks like it's half as large as one of the star destroyer's three main engines.  Let us not forget, this ship is huge: 1.6km/1 mile in length.  The shuttle should comparatively be a blip. 
And here we also see that Reva's/3rd Sister's story is essentially superfluous: she (somehow) travels to Tatooine to find Luke--which is from MORE lazy writing: really Bail, you have to SPELL OUT to Obi-Wan what is already an "As You Know" Trope, which ultimately leads to Reva figuring it out because (NATURALLY) Obi-Wan had lost the communicator?!?--sorry, I digress, AHEM, FINDS Luke after a tepid battle between Owen, Beru, and Reva, and...gives an unconscious Luke to Obi-Wan, who (as TR pointed out) has teleported there JUST in time...
/sigh
My wife actually had a better idea: the "reveal" *cough not really *cough of Reva should've been moved up in the story to Episode 6 where, just as she's about to kill Luke, she then remembers her own trauma, giving resolution to the pathos that she'd endured for a more organic scene where she hands over a comatose-yet-otherwise-perfectly-healthy Luke to Obi-Wan (or, better still, Owen & Beru; Obi-Wan should still be busy either with Vader OR in transit).
Of course, this isn't addressing the fact that apparently being run through the abdomen with a 1 meter/3 foot plasma blade requires only the most basic of triage.  A band-aid, perhaps...

I think that one of the biggest problems with the overall narrative was that instead of a tight, focused story, we get what amounts to an error of comedies.  Instead of wasted characters like Haja, Tala, and Boken, why not actually GIVE them something to do...maybe they end up forming the core leadership to a rebel cell that re-organizes The Path and continues helping out those marginalized by the Empire?  Think about Tala alone: with her Imperial knowledge and experience, she could have been a boon to the Alliance. 

Alas, she is unceremoniously killed and completely forgotten by the next episode.  By everyone. 

Haja and Boken suffer almost as much: Haja is used for comedy (which is fine for his episode but then he's relegated to "Bystander #23" except for the ONE time that Leia REALLY won't talk to Obi-Wan...and yes, that is /sarcasm.  Sorry), and Boken to...tell people things (?) 

So much potential wasted...

The UGLY: TOO MANY CONTRIVANCES!  Also, the fact that the storytelling was incredibly uneven.  To wit, TR mentioned that Obi-Wan's trauma seemed to be all over the place.  And he's exactly correct: one moment he's paralyzed with fear/uncertainty/trepidation (take your pic), the next he's echoing his old self from the Prequels.  This isn't Ewan's fault IMO, but rather endemic to the poor writing (that LSG rightly mentioned).  Inevitably, we end up with a serious case of mood whiplash. 

Pathos in a story is good; it helps drive the narrative and propels the protagonist(s) through adversity towards a (hopefully) satisfying resolution.  But the series' seems more like a jumble of scenarios that are tacked together as if they were decided upon by committee (which, given Disney, does not surprise me in the least).

Was it good to see Obi-Wan & Vader again?  Most definitely.  Was it a worthy successor?  In a few instances, yes...but overall, I don't think so.  I believe that LSG and TR provided excellent summations:

LSG-There is a LOT to like about this series, shame about the writing.

TR-As it was it was fine, but it needed to be better. Much better.

I'd love to hear others' opinions on this^^

I agree with everything said so far. II'd ust like to add that even the musical score was a giant nothing-burger. Very middle-of-the-road and lacked the extra punnch that Star Wars delivered musically. Chck out the YouTube vids of the Obi vs Vader scenes rescored to Battle of the Heres and Ep 3 music to see just how much extra that music adds to the scene.

Oberall from me the series gets a solid B+ with comment of "Not perforing to potential"

Since your bring the music up, I will add that I was not only hoping for, but expecting to hear Battle of the Heroes (or a remixed version) again in their "rematch". That is basically Obi-Wan and Vader's Theme, and to not have it used at that time was a major wasted opportunity, and another instance of not paying attention to what the story required, what Star Wars required, or what the Fans required.

Seriously, then, I suggrst you watch the YouTube "remixed" version with the Ep.3 music…I would love your opinion(s) on the difference made with this simple "rescoring" of the fight scenes. :-D

Qui-Gon was stabbed higher than the gut... pretty sure it got part of his lungs.  Bit different from the gut which seems to not be a huge issue in SW. 

I honestly am baffled by people irked by "teleporting"  the same thing was talked about with Game of Thrones.  Travel time isn't something that ever really entered my mind when watching a film or show.  If they did that the majority of the show would be scenes of people traveling.


In terms of the duel I much preferred this to the EP III duel.... I have always been very critical of the EP III duel in contrast to the rest of the fandom it seems.  While I agree that the show was not what it could have been bu I seemed to enjoy it more than most. 

There's a reason why LOTR feels so realistic.

Well. I gave in and watched it. Some very good bits, some nostalgia, some epicness and some intense facepalming.
I'm not a travel time nazi. BUT. When you open someone who teleported to a distant planet while a chase is still going on involving people that LEFT BEFORE SHE COULD... Well... That forehead bruise is gonna be huge.
I agree with what most have said.
It seems the script was written by someone named "Goodenough". It feels like a huge amount of shruging was done everytime someone objected to something in the script. IF anyone objected at all, that is.

This could have been a very good show. In the end, it is meh. At best.

Once again, some truly salient points have been brought up^^  VERY much liking this discussion  :)

GREAT suggestion!  I did precisely that and gladly admit that a change in the soundtrack made for a better scene.

While you bring up a good point, I respectfully disagree in that there ARE methods that could EASILY deal with said travel time e.g. editing and simple exposition being two examples that work well.  With editing, one could place a simple scene that could occur either sooner OR even a standard "ship taking off from Planet X" to help with the suspension of disbelief, while even one simple sentence of exposition could also be effective, something like "Thank the Force that Tatooine was so close to (insert location) otherwise I'd never have made it."

Obviously these are mere "bare-bones" scripting examples but you get the idea  ;)

However, I COMPLETELY agree that THIS Obi-wan/Vader fight WAS superior to the Episode III fight.  I never thought I'd say this but in Episode III the swordplay looked too choreographed, too refined...sterile even.  With this fight, I could FEEL the emotion that BOTH combatants brought to their swordsmanship.  Also: I felt that we get another fantastic example of how Forceusers would actually USE the Force to supplement their saberwork, using their environment against their opponent (I'm also reminded in "Empire Strikes Back" when Vader keeps lobbing containers, pieces of stanchion and the like at Luke).  Again, one of the few instances in which the series was actually superior to the movies  :)

TR brings up a perfect example on how one can cinematically show actual travel taking place without taking one out of the narrative  :)

Again, I have to agree with DR's assessments.

Obi-Wan was a series that had some great ideas, even some great scenes...but ultimately failed to deliver on its potential.

Great discussion, everyone!  Points for everyone  :)

Sorry for being late to the game....but whatever.

I actually loved really enjoyed this series. Other than 2 gaping plot holes, it was almost great.

Gaping plot hole #1: In ANH Vader said to OBK "When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master." This implies that they have not seen each other in a long time, and actually brings into question the events of TCW as well as ROTS, as far as whether Anakin had actually graduated to Knight. Anywho...at the very earliest it implies that they haven't seen each other since that fateful day on Mustafar. It makes 0% sense for him to make this statement had their paths crossed any sooner.

Gaping plot hole #2: Leia. Again in ANH, Leia sends a message to ask for OBK's help. This message is clearly not being sent to an old friend that saved her bacon and returned her home as a child. It is addressed to someone that she has only heard of from her dad; it is too formal.

Now, these aside.....WOW!

- I loved watching Vader truly Sith out.
- I loved the mental chess game that went on between OBK and Vader based on their duels in the Jedi Temple.
- I absolutely adored little Leia. She was a pip. I can easily see this child growing into the young woman that we all fell in love with (portrayed by Carrie Fisher).
- I loved how they showed OBK.....surviving and just getting by as a nobody.

- I hated the Inqs, but then....I always hate them. But mainly how far they deviated from the designs of SWR. They shrank Fifth Brother by at least 15", and WTF did they do to the Grand? Did no one watch ROTS to see how a Pau'an
  looks? GRRRR  >:(
- I hated that they didn't get Jason Isaacs to reprise his voice role as the Grand Inquisitor.
- I hated....whatever number sister she was....for reasons I don't feel comfortable discussing.
- I hated the lack of regard of what really happens when a stone hits a human body....armored or otherwise.

I'm also late to the party but, since Darth Logos revived this thread, I might as well add my two cents. I found this series really enjoyable, possibly my favorite of the Disney+ SW shows. No real complaints from me, just a few nitpicky things with the plot holes they introduced, as DL said.


Unfortunately, these are the issues you get with prequel series and movies. They almost never stay 100% true to the original. Really, after suffering a second and even more crushing defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan, Vader's whole demeanor on the Death Star should have been different. But, it wasn't because that fight didn't exist at the time that the original movie was made.

Another one could technically be that Owen's attitude towards Obi-Wan changed towards the end of the series. He invited Obi-Wan to meet Luke, making it seem like he at least was starting to accept Obi-Wan as Luke's protector. Yet, in the original movie, Owen told Luke that Ben/Obi-Wan is just a crazy old man and to stay away from him. Though, I know they're planning to do more seasons of this show, so maybe something else happens to change Owen's attitude again. Or, maybe he just became a grumpy old man.

As a Sith, if I reencountered the dude that handed me my ass, I wouldn't be calm about it, let alone offer banter.

I don't think Owen was as worried about Luke meeting Obi Wan, as he was about Obi Wan trying to indoctrinate him. His fears probably increased as Luke got older and began dreaming of adventure and excitement, and became more rebellious in his pursuits. Something about the Force working in mysterious ways. Droid runs off, Luke chases droid, Luke escapes Imp massacre, Luke joins up with the Jedi.

And he did it twice. Yeah, Vader should have been out for blood.

I'm excluding the Mustafar incident.

I think as Luke grew, it made sense that Owen would become more protective, as he's obviously more likely to be discovered as a teenager than as a toddler. Plus wasn't the Empire slowly beginning to build a presence on Tattoine by that point? Also I can 100% see Obi-Wan dipping much more into "senile old coot" territory as he ages.

Well, Obi-Wan also told Luke that Owen was afraid Luke would follow him on a "damn fool adventure." This got more likely as Luke aged and dreamed of leaving the planet. So, I guess that does explain that part.

Yes that's definitely another part of it, I'd imagine. He wouldn't let him go to the academy for much the same reason me thinks.

Yep, trying to protect his adopted son from the war, but then the war came to their doorstep.

Also maybe a level of "no kid of mine is selling his soul to the fascist regime" mixed in, me thinks.

Let's keep things straight. The Empire is fascist, the Jedi are dogmatic. And clearly Luke was neither. He took a wife, that had tried to kill him, and had a son with her. And his niece is dating the leader of the Imperial Remnant.

I don't honestly think Owen would want Luke to be involved in either, but at the time, all Owen knew that was left of the Jedi was some crazy old man, vs letting him leave his home to jump straight into the Imperial military.

Yeah, Luke built his Jedi Order differently. There were other married couples in the New Jedi Order. That means he probably realized the failings of the old order. The prequel trilogy did a great job of showing how the Jedi Order's downfall was as much their own fault as it was the Sith's fault. Palpatine was brilliant, he played the Republic and Anakin like a fiddle to get what he wanted, but it still wouldn't have been possible without help from the Jedi. Luke surely would have studied the old order and the last years before their downfall and tried to avoid making the same mistakes.


Owen was a farmer, and that's all he wanted to be. That's also all he wanted Luke to be. He used stall tactics and lame excuses to try to keep Luke on Tatooine. You could say it was for Luke's protection, but I think he also wanted Luke to be just like him.

There were other factors involved as well, that I've discussed before.

That was also likely a huge factor.

I've studied the American Civil War for years, decades at this point, and one thing I can tell you, from reading accounts from the time is that this sentiment was common on both sides. "You want to do what?! But I need you to stay and help here, we can't afford to hire more farm hands. Why would you want to go anyway when you have everything you need here?"

It really wouldn't surprise me if that's where George Lucas got the inspiration from. Especially when you factor in that Luke originally wasn't Vader's son and had no real reason to be "hiding' on the farm. As we know, that plot twist didn't come about until production of TESB was well underway. It may be that George based Owen's attitude off of real life American farmers from the Civil War years.

Don't even think it was necessarily based on war times. It's not hard to simply attribute Owen preferring Luke to stay on simply because he was raised there and knows the farm better than a hired hand. That combined with the probable hope that Luke (regarded as a son) would simply take over the farm when the Lars passed. Which does give wonder as to how sincere Owen was when he promised to let Luke go to the academy the following year.


OOOOOOOOOOO!!!! How cool would it be if they made a "What If?..." based on SW, and Luke ended up going to the academy and joined the Imperial Navy?  :o :o :o Luke's flying prowess in a TIE Interceptor.

Indeed, Owen was Luke's adoptive father and it's possible he just wanted his "son" to take over the family farm. There's plenty of that in real life too. I don't believe Owen was sincere about Luke getting to go to the Academy next year. I think he just wanted to keep Luke there as long as possible. Luke's comment "That's what you said when Biggs and Tank left" tells us that it's an old discussion. Had Owen not bought the droids and the stormtroopers hadn't killed Owen and Beru and life had gone on the same way it always had, I think in another year Owen would have invented another excuse to keep Luke home.

Man, this discussion is putting me in the mood to read the original novel again.

I'm beginning to think we need to rewatch Kenobi. Makes me think we need to hear all the exchanges between Ben and Owen. I'm beginning to think that Ben would have told Owen, when he dropped him off, to keep Luke inconspicuous. Anything that would involve leaving the planet would only start exponentially drawing attention to him.

It's funny how people criticize the fact that Owen didn't even change Luke's last name. But, that sort of thing requires paperwork. Paperwork trails aren't something you want to leave when you're trying to remain inconspicuous. Besides, the family homestead was under the name Lars, not Skywalker. And Obi-Wan was able to hide out by keeping the last name Kenobi. You're definitely right that leaving the planet would also have drawn attention to them. More paperwork trails.

Hiding out in plain sight in the armpit of the galaxy is far from the worst plan, no matter what some people think. After all, it's not like the Empire really had a foothold on Tatooine anyway. The Hutts wouldn't have gone for it, and I don't think the Empire wanted to make an enemy out of them. Just think about the price the Empire probably had to pay just to put some Stormtroopers in and around Mos Eisley.

I do want to watch Kenobi again, and I probably should watch Andor and The Mandalorian S3, and I might just have to re-subscribe to Disney+ since the holidays are now behind us. Besides, I have a 3-day weekend, and there are worse ways to spend it than watching some SW.

I think my biggest problem with this show is not the storyline, but rather how poorly executed almost everything was.

Also considering how common it is for unrelated people in our world to have the same surname....can we be sure "Skywalker" and "Kenobi" aren't at least not un-common names? Trillions of beings in the galaxy, names are sure to repeat.

"Luke Skywalker eh? I dated a Hannah Skywalker once, back on Ord Mantel. Know her?"

Yes, I know all about unrelated people sharing not only last names but first as well. I have a common name and it can be a pain in the butt when it comes to criminal background checks. I had really bad issues some years back where I wasn't even finding employment because of the crap that came up when people ran checks on me, and it was nothing I'd done. I had to have all of that cleared out of my background when people ran checks on me. As it is, I still have things like gun purchases delayed due to having a common first and last name.

However, I get the sense in Star Wars that Skywalker isn't all that common. They seem to know Luke is Anakin/Vader's son when they learn his last name. Besides, a Skywalker in connection to Owen and Beru Lars would have been too coincidental for Palpatine or Vader to ignore. So, anything Owen or Beru did to draw attention to Luke could have been a problem.

It's not completely out of the realm of possibility. We know the Chiss called their Force Sensitive navigators (more nuance to it than that) "Skywalkers", and putting 2 words together to signify something is a very common practice. So I definitely don't think it's terribly far fetched that maybe there were more than 1 family of Skywalkers. After all, Shmi had to get the name from somewhere. Maybe it was once more common than it is now, and has died out a bit. Who knows.
But yeah, I definitely agree with SFD about Palps making the connection between a Skywalker and the Lars family on Tattooine if he heard about it.

I rewatched the first 3 episodes back-to-back yesterday. I wasn't going to watch that many at once, but one of the cats joined me and I decided to just keep watching so I didn't have to disturb her. I think this show is even better on the rewatch.

It's a shame Disney doesn't seem keen on putting their SW shows on Blu-Ray, other than expensive a** steelbook "collector" sets. I'd like to own some of their shows, but not at those prices. By comparison, Paramount+ puts a lot of their shows on Blu-Ray (and even DVD) with normal releases and non collector prices. Amazon and Netflix have even been known to put some of their shows on disc, at lower prices than Disney. Disney seems to think everyone wants to pay a premium markup for their s***.  ::)


I mean, anything is possible as far as names go. Like ThreadJack said, it's a huge galaxy. It's just from what we saw in the movies that everyone is certain that Luke is Anakin's son due to the name. Sure, Yoda, Owen and Beru, Bail Organa (and probably his wife) and Obi-Wan know this for certain, but it's a well kept secret. They made it appear that Padme died before giving birth, so that Palpatine and Vader wouldn't be looking for Anakin's kids. So, they had no idea that the children had been born and had survived, yet they were certain Luke was his son.

I do agree. It's definitely set up as not something super common.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

1) Vader didn't know that Padme survived long enough to give birth.
2) Of the umpteen hundred trillion beings in the galaxy, you could have a giant neon sign saying "Son of Skywalker right here. SUCK IT, EMPIRE!" and they still would take some time to find you even if they were looking.

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/9c/94/479c94ba13bdbe1236c24436e7134274.png)

Lesser known fact: The Empire was perfectly aware of the Hutt Cartel's holdings in the outer rim. Despite the Emperor being a noted xenophobe, he allowed the Hutts to continue doing business because of similar methodologies; maintaining control through fear. The Hutts, in return, knew to not interfere when the Empire stepped in.

Meh...I'm currently watching Batman the Animated Series.

Please elaborate. I actually thought that this had far fewer flaws than expected.

Yeah....but, y'know....Disney. >:D

(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ec/4c/dd/ec4cdd11458b8d6647eef2470aa4ec30.jpg)

There's also the fact that SW (sadly) has never had the best security protocols. Something about "It's an older code, but it checks out." Or not being able to look up classified information unless the terminal sees your face? Not even facial recognition, JUST that there is a face. (Maybe it was a take on "I am not a robot.") There's a really good chance that Luke could have made waves on the Holonet by being a stellar racing pilot. Highly doubt that the Empire would be trolling the net for a name, that for their knowledge, no longer exists.

I've talked about it in other places, but I don't remember where (or all my thoughts), but I'll see what I can remember.
The biggest things that stand out to me are Reva's survival several times, and the teleportation. The first series started off strong with Obi-Wan attempting to deal with the fact that he'd killed his best friend, and that the Republic had been destroyed, because he'd trained Anakin. I wish they would've explored that a bit harder, but it was fine. At least it was there.

It's the small details that really get me. Like the kidnappers chasing Leia, the lack of consistency with character designs (Grand Inquisitor), the teleportation (as I already mentioned), the fact that somehow Leia could hide inside Obi-Wan's coat and nobody noticed (even the actress thought that was dumb), and just in general the sets just being extremely confined due to everything being filmed on the Volume. Everything just feels cramped. And I know most of this isn't story things, but it kind of is, because it all affects the storytelling. The ideas being played with, and for the most part the acting, was all really good. They just needed to not confine themselves quite so much, and instead play a little.


EDIT:
Also, the story constantly felt like it was progressing because the plot needed it to. Not because it made sense for the characters, or the story itself. They just needed a way to have 6 episodes, and so they had to force things forwards. Had they been driven by the actions of Obi-Wan, it would've flowed much better.
Also, Obi-Wan's trauma was might near dropped as a plotline. There was a bit of it after the first episode, but not nearly enough to be believable.

One of the best shows ever.

Ugh! Don't get me started on Reva. NTM I am really hating the names of DSW. They are too simple and most times contrived. It really shows how little Disney cares about telling quality stories to the older generations that will continue to carry interest in the franchise.

I don't remember any teleportation. (Time to watch again.)

I think we will get more of those aspects of regret in the second season. I'm also curious as to how close chronologically Kenobi and Rebels is. I sense an appropriate overlap is drawing soon that will show our favorite hell-bent darksider.

Oh no! There's a "formula" for success, and Disney will never deviate. The current corporation is soulless and greedy, and won't risk an original idea. They're gonna play it safe and make their money off the casual fans that don't know how the levels of AWESOME they are not being given.

I can't even remember who was at the heart of Leia's kidnapping. How bad is that? I remember mopey Obi, and some dumbass Inqs, and Vader being a better Vader finally, and an awesome new droid, and some stupidly flimsy rocks.

I know. I can't wait until the next great purge when DSW is regarded as nothing but a series of poorly scripted cad dreams. ;)

Their formula is breaking down and they've been bleeding money this year. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 did respectably, but Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Haunted Mansion, The Marvels and Wish were all bombs. Very expensive bombs. Disney may need to rethink their formula since they had a year of stinkers.

They won't. How many times did they have to prove that their L.A. remakes were complete wastes of time and talent retelling stories that we already know but NOW with 10x less magic? ;D Their formula won't change until Hollywood has a complete paradigm shift to define what is successful.

So what we need to do then is is be that paradigm shift. It starts with us. Those willing to do something about it. Start making good stories. Join me, and together we can rule the film industry as 2 random nerds. XD

But seriously, if you have ideas for original IP, let me know. I can't yet do anything big budget, but I do have connections, and you've got to start somewhere.

I don't remember if I said it already but I agree with most of what was said. Teleportation and stupid plot holes had me banging my head on the wall so hard there's now a mold of my face on it.
As much as I enjoyed the last fight, it made zero sense for them to meet in this show because of how they act when they meet each other in ANH.
I kinda enjoyed Reva. Although she was dumb AF and REALLY delusional if she ever thought she stood the shadow of a chance against vader.

Oh ho! Brother, I've been working on something for years. AND if I get things my way, it will be the first R-rated SW movie.

I'm going to assume that it's R-rated for violence? If so, awesome. If not... I'm not going to like it, but others will.😅

I want the Sith to get their 'mean' on. A small taste: there's a scene where a Sith dives deeper into the understanding of the Force and unleashes lightning (against another Sith) that effectively barbeques them....quickly. None of this "tickle-tickle" crap that Sidious plays with.

That works.

No more pansyfooting with sabers either. You get hit with a saber, you most likely die, or lose body parts.

Good. Certain strikes don't need to kill or seriously maim (like in AOTC), but most should. I recently saw a deleted scene from AOTC where not only does Windu behead Jango, but he also cuts an arm off first. It's just a slightly longer scene than in the official, but it was cool.

I think it's time we curbed this over the SW Thoughts.

Ok finally rewatched ep1. WOW! Quicknotes:

1.) Eopi CGI.....<SPEW!> So bad
2.) I hate what they did with 5th Bro. Like....seriously? You couldn't find someone that's 7' tall and looks menacing?
3.) Really hated how they magically forgot how to do make up for an Utapauan for the GI.
4.) Didn't like how they made OW a cave dweller. Why doesn't he have his house on the high ground?
5.) Loved seeing Flea as the kidnapper. Though I hated that he had a blaster that he had no qualms about killing a guard with, but couldn't just stun Leia and eliminate that painfully cliche small-kid-on-home-turf-"cleverly"evades-badguys-chase.
6.) I did like how Obi knows how to continually keep his head down, even when confronted by another Jedi.
7.) I really hated the ending of the ep. As cautious he had been (and should have remained) he just has to blatantly flash the audience his saber and at least 30 bystanders that would prolly sell him out to the Inqs in a heartbeat.
8.) Had a bit of love/hate with Leia's confrontation with her cousin. Loved how she absolutely owned him with a verbal bitch-slap. Loved how it was presented as more of a Force...."perception" I guess. Hated how it felt premature for her abilities to already be manifesting. But then, that was more in keeping with the old canon, in that it was established in ROTJ that she had always been able to pick up on feelings. May have been a huge contributng factor behind her sucess as a senator.

Moving on:

Ep. 2 pros/cons

1.) Loved the homeless clone. It was a very nice touch to bring notice of a very real problem in this country. (Not sure about other countries.)
2.) I really want the chance to someday ask Mr. McGregor how it felt to have his own daughter try to sell him drugs. For those that don't frequent IMDB, the dust dealer was played by Esther McGregor.
3.) Kumail Nanjiani.                     Nuff said.
4.) I thought Reva's tactic to issue a city-wide bounty was sound in flushing out Kenobi, but the scene where she sees the roof-top firefight was either too close for how much time she spent parkour-ing over the roofs, or vice-versa. I'm inclined to believe the latter.
5.) Still can't stand the abysmal make-up on G.I. and 5^th Bro.
6.) Considering her lack of actual discipline, I doubt that Reva has enough mental discipline to enact...I guess you could classify it as a Force "mind probe."
7.) UGH! Inq. sabers.
8.) I actually found it to be implausible that 3^rd Sis had what it took to get the drop on the G.I.
9.) I feel it was beyond dumb and exceptionally bad writing that Reva knows that Vader is Anakin. Of everyone from the Order that she should have a grudge against, how tf would she work with Vader (the man that ruined her life) to get to a man that.......has done absolutely nothing to her? This might be made more clear as the series progresses, as I could have forgotten that "plot" point.

Ep. 3 pros/cons:

1.) I felt that this is where I actually started to engage in the story. Give an atta-boy to the writers for this one because they actually started getting into some real depth and character development. I loved the "Leia" slip of the tongue and the subsequent confusion cover story.
2.) Hated the bad alien design. Really?!? A mole-man working as a miner? Tres original.
3.) Liked that they're becoming less squeamish about showing the perils of lasers when the trooper got sliced.
4.) Loved the new droid, NED. Strong silent type willing to go up side some troopers. ;D
5.) HOW THE HELL DID REVA GET AHEAD OF LEIA?!?!?! >:( >:( >:( >:( It makes no sense for that tunnel to have any other path.
6.) D. VIDDY GOIN' ULTRA DARK SIDE. <woot woot> I think they are finally starting to understand.
7.) But then they screw it up by not having Vader be able to sense Tala's presence and what she was up to while he's having a barbeque for his old buddy.
8.) Despite my unease about the meeting screwing up everything, it was well written and executed. I felt Vader's recognition and handling of the situation was very in keeping with the character.

Ep. 4 pros/cons:

1.) I have such a love-hate relationship with Imperial security. Either the writers struggle as much as I do with being congruent to practices established in a bygone era, or they openly embrace them for plot armor for weak ass plot points.
   a) the would-be 'Rebels' not only know of the top-secret base of the Inqs, but they know its name? Prolly "read about it in a book." That seems to be the go-to for any bumkin in the galaxy to know things above their pay grade. What makes equal sense is that Tala just happens to know its location. As compartmentalized as the Empire is, this info would be "Need to Know" and precious few officers would have it.
   b) a uniform and chutzpah will get you into any imperial installation. Tala just barges her way into the restricted area and accesses a control terminal and no red flags go up. (NTM all the while speaking suspiciously on a communicator.) It smacks too much of Mando accessing the Imp network by simply showing his face. The computer didn't need to recognize his face though. Is this the SW equivalent of answering "I am not a robot"?
   c) the base has conveniently overridden underwater access doors......because we have underwater......patrols? This point of ingress makes 0 sense.
2.) WOOHOO T-47s! Always happy to see them, more so when they're not exclusively deployed as "snow speeders".
3.) That "UGH!" moment when you see the pilot helmets that look far too akin to the ugly helmets favored by the copycat brigade known as the Resistance. <puke>
4.) Kinda getting really tired of EVERY imperial craft (non-fighter or non-cruiser) having the folding wings. I mean, c'mon.
5.) Not really sure I buy that Leia is skilled enough of a con artist to con an Inq. I know it was an "almost got me" moment, but I think it can be viewed one of two ways. Either it was actually good writing in that it exposes how hell-bent Reva is to fulfill her plans that she could be that easily manipulated, or......we could pretend that I have some eloquent and pithy phrasing to constructively critique the writing staff. ::)

Ep. 5 pros/cons:

This is easily my favorite episode in the entire series.

1.) Let's begin with the good stuff. As I mentioned before, the mental "chess match" that takes place between Kenobi and Vader is probably the best piece of writing that has come out of the Disney canon. The harkening back to a saber duel was particularly classy. I love how they applied the logic Seraph uses in Matrix Reloaded; "You do not truly know someone until you fight them." Absolutely loved this.
2.) Vader Sithing out again. #AWESOME. Slamming the ship to the ground and ripping it to scrap. Love it.
3.) Not entirely sure how feel about L0-LA59 being controlled with just a simple bug. It seems plausible, but to me it would make more sense that a droid would have to be reprogrammed.
4.) I liked how attempted to deepen Reva's motives; that she wasn't after Kenobi, he was just a means to an end. But that's where it kinda fell apart. How did a Force sensitive fail to sense a life among the dead as she hid among the bodies of the slain? More so, how does Vader not sense her intentions for all that time? I'll give credit to the possibility that the comics have fleshed out a personal quirk of that he enjoys seeing people fail when they believe they are within arm's reach of success; similar to him generating wind with the Force so his cape blows and looks cool. IDK.
5.) Too much saber deflection via the Force. Way too much. Like I want to establish something akin to a swear jar for every time they use that ability instead of making saber choreography. UGH! Granted, Vader is far more powerful than any Inq, and he could easily fling her around like the rag-doll she is, but....then do it.
6.) Not sure if Vader has been working on his saber-whoring since his chastisement in the comics (which I actually liked btw), but I felt it took him far too long to draw a saber.
7.) Which leads me to groaning even more about the technological abortion of the Inq saber: it splits now?!? <PUKE> Don't get me wrong, Vader putting her in her place with her own weapon is always a good idea, but Force I hate this saber.
8.) Oh hey! The Grand Inq. isn't dead. [monotone] Shock and awe. I'm getting beyond sick of this trope. I get it though, cuz he's supposed to die in SWR, but.....UGH!
9.) Ending on a high note: it was good to see Hayden again, even if the "de-aging" CGI didn't really do its job.

Ep. 6 pros/cons:

Ok. Last installment. Not a lot to gripe about.

1.) Best.....live action......saber.......fight.......EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dun get me wrong, Duel of the Fates will always be one of the greats, but this time they really knocked it outta the park.
2.) A little too much rock throwing, especially when the rocks aren't that hard. But Vader effectively earth-bending was pretty special.
3.) I was appreciative that they didn't over use "saber push", but there was also a lot of throws. IMO Force adepts should know how to defend Force push/pull attacks reflexively.
4.) I didn't like how they blatantly had Obi-Wan pulling his "punches" as it were. He should have been giving everything in the attempt to kill Vader. I know he's not allowed to for continuity, but c'mon....using the pommel to break his life-support controls? That just felt weak.
5.) I actually didn't mind the "glancing" strike across Vader's back. Normally I would have screamed "THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" but in this case it was. Vader's gorget would have given him the needed protection.
6.) Getting a little sad how many times Disney is ripping off TFU, by letting Vader get his ass handed to him and ending up with severely battle damaged armor, and they don't even recognize it as canon. >:(
7.) I still can't figure out why Reva moved from kidnapping Leia to flush out Kenobi, to simply wanting to kill Luke after receiving a garbled partial transmission about a boy on Tatooine. That was bad writing just so she could have a redemption moment.
8.) Also can't understand why the Lars couple have.....sawed-off blaster rifles?...stashed in a hidey-hole. It's not like the Empire have outlawed blasters. (Biting tongue to make further comments.) I also didn't like how close they resemble the slug-throwers favored by Tuskens. It's not like every blaster on Tatooine has to have wooden chassis.
9.) I'm hoping that there is a better explanation as to why Ben gets home and immediately decides to change residences, beyond "we have to get him to his ANH home." Perhaps it was an allegory of him coming back into the light; not necessarily from the dark side, but from being separated from the Force.
10.) I REALLY didn't understand how Ben had such a hard time communicating with Qui-Gon, when Luke was near death and untrained when he saw Kenobi on Hoth.

All in all, this series was, IMO, one of the best things Disney has produced in the franchise. Even despite my belief that the bar was set pretty low, this was overall very well done.......if you can overlook the 2 major plotholes of Vader's and Leia's tones toward Kenobi in ANH. Leia is far too formal in her plea for help to be addressing a beloved family friend. And considering the count of Kenobi kicking Vader's ass and leaving him for dead now stands at 2 ........Vader is too calm about it on the Death Star. WWWWAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY too calm.

Those are my thoughts. I welcome any concurrence or counters.

Finally getting back to this: Taegin, you said there was something to do with teleportation in this. I never saw anything to do with that in this series.

Teleportation is not what the called it. They call it "hyperspace travel" but it takes 0 discernable time. And the way you can tell is that the character go from one place to another with seemingly no time passing. It could just be bad editing, but that's not what it seems. Especially in that last episode when Obi-Wan is fighting Vader, and at the same time, Reva is chasing Luke. Then Obi-Wan wins and leaves and somehow manages to make it to Tatooine almost before she finds him. Also, Reva went from the one planet where she was stabbed all the way to Tatooine before finding any sort of medical attention, which should've killed her. I'm fine with her not dying from the stab because of where it was, but for the amount of time it should've taken her to get to Tatooine, her body definitely wouldn't be working correctly (if at all) from that would. So therefore, the only reasonable explanation is that it didn't take any time for her to get there. Therefore, Teleportation. 🤷🏼‍♂️
Ahsoka doesn't have this problem, thankfully. Nor did Andor. And I do get from a storytelling perspective, that they didn't want to have to tell what happened during that time, but still. They need to not make it seem like there's no time passing at all.

Bad editing. Typical. Setting is usually more important to them than temporal mechanics. Although, one might consider that they were showing the "exciting" events at the same time, even though they may have been hours or even days apart. I had to gain an appreciation this type of story telling while watching the Witcher S1. In which Geralt's story begins like 15-50 years before Siri's, and moved by leaps and bounds, while Siri's story is "present day" and moves in sequential steps until both stories lines converge. It was awesomely confusing the first time through.

Is Andor really worth a viewing? I hate that character, but I might watch for the sake of everything else.

Witcher was confusing, but it was obvious that that's what it was doing. This is not that. But that still doesn't explain Reva's survival without medical attention.

As for Andor, it phenomenal. It helps that I liked the character in R1, but even without that it has some of the greatest performances in Star Wars, and just tells a good story. I recommend viewing it as a Sci-Fi political spy thriller set in the Star Wars universe rather than a Star Wars show. Because if you're expecting High Star Wars, it's not that. It's a very gritty, intimate story. And it stays away from our-world politics (which is so nice).

Actually it wasn't apparent until you were like half to ²/₃ through the series. And to quote $#!%ty G.I.: "Revenge does wonders for the will to live." <cringe but true>

BAH! Damn you. I'll put it on the docket next. >:( I hate you.

TBH, That was something I really really enjoyed about TBB; it's SW, but didn't have a super deep SW feel, but also didn't feel super separated. I actually loved it. I mean even to a point of getting a punch to the feels when the Empire destroyed Tipoca City. Still getting the punch to the feels remembering it. THAT was good writing.

I need to catch up with TBB. I haven't even finished S2, and S3 is already coming out. I haven't had a ton of time to watch things though, and TBB s2 was airing at the same time as several other things I was more invested in getting to right away, so it got pushed back. Now I'm behind. But I agree. That s1 finale was great.

Steel yourself for the end of S2.