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Part VI (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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"Part VI"
Obi-Wan Kenobi episode
Promotional poster
Episode no.Episode 6
Directed byDeborah Chow
Story by
Teleplay by
Cinematography byChung Chung-hoon
Original release dateJune 22, 2022 (2022-06-22)
Running time51 minutes
Cast
  • Hossein Mardani as Dardin Shull
  • Johnathan Ho and Oliver Ho as Jedi Younglings
  • Heath McGough as Groff Ditcher
  • Indie Desroches as Corran
  • Crispian Belfrage as Devastator Captain
  • Grant Feely as Luke Skywalker
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Part V" 		Next →
—

"Part VI" is the sixth episode and series finale of the American streaming television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. It follows Obi-Wan Kenobi. It is set in the Star Wars universe, occurring ten years after the film Revenge of the Sith (2005). The episode was written by Joby Harold, Andrew Stanton, Hossein Amini, and Stuart Beattie, and directed by Deborah Chow.

The episode stars Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, who reprises his role from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, alongside co-stars Indira Varma, Vivien Lyra Blair, Moses Ingram, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Maya Erskine, Sung Kang, Rya Kihlstedt, and Hayden Christensen. Chow was hired in September 2019, and following rewrites of the script, Harold became the head writer and showrunner. Both executive produce alongside McGregor, Michelle Rejwan, and Kathleen Kennedy, while the episode is produced by Thomas Hayslip and Katterli Frauenfelder.

"Part VI" was released on the streaming service Disney on June 22, 2022. It received praise towards the rematch of Kenobi and Darth Vader, action sequences, visuals, cinematography, Kenobi and Reva's character development, performances (particularly of Christensen and McGregor), and the emotional weight, but received some criticism for its writing.

Plot

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Reva arrives on Tatooine to find Luke Skywalker, while Darth Vader and the Empire pursue the Path network. Obi-Wan Kenobi eventually decides to confront Vader alone on a nearby planet while the Path safely escapes. A lengthy lightsaber duel occurs between Kenobi and Vader, and Kenobi eventually regains his full connection to the Force. Kenobi incapacitates Vader and slices off part of his mask, revealing Vader's original identity of Anakin Skywalker. Realizing Anakin has completely embraced his identity as Darth Vader, a saddened Kenobi leaves. After arriving at Luke's home, Reva is confronted by Owen and Beru Lars. She subdues them and pursues Luke into the desert. After remembering Anakin's massacre of the Jedi Temple, she decides to return Luke to his family. Kenobi congratulates her for overcoming her trauma and liberating herself from the Dark Side. On Mustafar, a healed Vader abandons his search for Kenobi after his master, Emperor Palpatine, questions his motives and loyalty. Back on Alderaan, Leia Organa finds new resolve in her duties as a princess. Kenobi visits them and affirms that he will help the Organas when needed. Returning to Tatooine, he resolves his conflict with Owen by agreeing to let Luke have a normal life. Having found inner peace, Obi-Wan is finally able to converse with the Force spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Production

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Development

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By August 2017, Lucasfilm was developing a spin-off film focusing Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi from the prequel trilogy.[1] However, following the project's cancellation due to the financial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), McGregor entered negotiations to star in a six-episode Disney limited series centered around Kenobi.[2][3] The series was officially announced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy at the 2019 D23 event.[4][5] Deborah Chow was hired to direct all episodes for the series by September 2019, while Joby Harold became the head writer and showrunner in April 2020 following Kennedy's disapproval with the scripts and subsequent rewrites.[6][7] The series is executive produced by Harold, Chow, McGregor, Kennedy, and Michelle Rejwan. Chow and Harold wanted the series to be a character study for Kenobi, and worked to connect elements from the prequel trilogy and original trilogy. Harold wanted to further explore Kenobi's character following the events of Order 66 and wanted him to deal with issues from his past.[2][8][9] Chow also took inspirations from "gritty, poetic westerns" including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Proposition (2005), and the works of Akira Kurosawa.[10]

Writing

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By November 2021, concept art was released featuring a duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, originally described by Kathleen Kennedy as the "rematch of the century", a claim later reiterated by Hayden Christensen who also confirmed an additional duel would occur in the final episode.[11][12] Chow had felt it was imperative that the episode would "thread a needle" as they wanted the character arcs to align with that of A New Hope (1977) and ensure that the plot had adhered to canon. She had also wanted to ensure that the action scenes had not overshadowed the narrative elements.[13] She had later identified the final scene, in which Kenobi converses with Qui-Gon Jinn's Force ghost, as being her favorite scene in the episode, and "Part VI" being her favorite episode overall in the series.[14] Christensen recognized the importance of the rematch between Darth Vader and Kenobi. To prepare for the scene, Christensen had rewatched the Star Wars Rebels episode in which Vader and Ahsoka Tano fight, which also cracks a part of his mask.[15]

Casting

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The episode stars Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and features co-stars Indira Varma as Tala Durith, Vivien Lyra Blair as Princess Leia, Moses Ingram as Reva Sevander / Third Sister, O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Roken, Maya Erskine as Sully, Sung Kang as the Fifth Brother, Rya Kihlstedt as the Fourth Sister, and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader. James Earl Jones also provides the voice for Darth Vader.[16]

Filming and visual effects

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Principal photography began on May 4, 2021, on the annual Star Wars Day celebration, with Deborah Chow directing, and Chung-hoon Chung serving as cinematographer.[17] The series had used the StageCraft video wall technology provided by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Filming had taken place in The Volume set, the soundstage in which the StageCraft technology is implemented, at the Manhattan Beach Studios.[18] Christensen said that filming the duel between Darth Vader and Kenobi was "emotional", opining that he thought their emotions "comes across onscreen".[15] McGregor had filmed the final scenes of the episode with a practical camel, while Neeson had cried with McGregor when rehearsing their scene together.[19]

Visual effects for the episode were created by ILM, Hybride, Image Engine, Important Looking Pirates, Soho VFX, Wētā FX, Blind LTD, and ReDefine.[20][21]

Music

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Natalie Holt was hired as composer for the series, making her the first woman to score a live-action Star Wars project, while John Williams composed the "Obi-Wan Theme".[22]

Marketing

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After the episode, Lucasfilm announced merchandise inspired by the episode as part of its weekly "Obi-Wan Wednesdays" promotion for each episode of the series, including different figures of Funko Pop for Kenobi, Vader, Reva, Tala and Roken, a Purge Trooper Statue by Gentle Giant LTD, a NED-B toy by Hasbro, a T-Shirt by Mad Engine, and a PopGrip by PopSockets.[23] Additionally, Lucasfilm and Disney revealed posters they had created in a collaboration with artists from Poster Posse for the series.[24]

Reception

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The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 74% approval rating with an average rating of 7.80/10, based on 34 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "If Obi-Wan Kenobi never quite fulfilled its lofty promise, it thankfully sticks the landing with an action-packed finale that's fittingly full of hope."[25]

Simon Cardy from IGN rated the episode a 9 out of 10, remarking the series "saved the best until last". He lauded McGregor's performance, highlighting the scene between Kenobi and Princess Leia. Commenting on Darth Vader and Kenobi's duel, Cardy thought it to be their best duel so far, feeling the set design, choreography, and Holt's music had complemented the scene well. However, he expressed minor complaints with how the editing had distracted from Vader and Kenobi's duel with Reva's pursuit for Luke Skywalker, desiring the series to focus more on the latter.[26] Grading the episode an A , Maggie Lovitt from Collider felt that Chow and Harold's direction and writing had concluded the narrative threads well. She also cited the scenes Kenobi has between Leia and Luke as being good ones, and felt Reva's decision to not kill Luke had provided her with a nice story, albeit being "far from complete". Lovvitt also praised McGregor and Christensen's performances, saying they were able to "breathe new life into the characters with the backing of Harold's strong storytelling and Chow's keen ability to deliver visually stunning and dynamic scene work".[27] In a 4.5 star out of 5 review, Bradley Russell's review for Total Film summarized the episode as being "a rousing concluding episode, one packed with an abundance of fan service, well-earned emotional interactions, and a lightsaber battle that will live long in the memory". Russell opined that the final duel between Vader and Kenobi was worth the wait, deeply enjoying the choreography and its emotional weight, and felt its quality to be augmented by Chow's direction. However, he felt that the episode also contained elements of fan service, with Emperor Palpatine's cameo, Kenobi saying "Hello there" to Luke, and Qui-Gonn Jinn's cameo, the latter of which he enjoyed.[28]

Megan Crouse's review for Den of Geek rated the episode 3 out of 5 stars. She felt that the episode was "repetitive and contrived", opining that the episode didn't effectively conclude its narrative as it was trying to connect to other elements of the Star Wars franchise and indulged in too much fan service. However, she enjoyed that Reva's redemption, deeming it to be a subversion from "the same old trope where the hero steps in to save the villain", cited McGregor's performance as being an improvement to the prequel trilogy, and found Kenobi and Vader's duel to contain dramatic moments.[29] With a C grade, Manuel Betancourt for The A.V. Club noted that many narrative elements would remain the same, including certain characters surviving and Luke and Leia not being aware of their parentage. He also conceded to enjoying Kenobi and Vader's duel, like Crouse, but did not enjoy Reva's characterization in the episode. He summarized the episode as being a "rerun of Star Wars hits" and felt the series did not justify its existence.[30] Writing for Screen Rant, Graeme Guttmann also agreed with Betancourt's sentiment that the series did not justify its existence, enjoying the duel between Kenobi and Vader but also feeling that something was missing, and did not enjoy how the overall series had handled dealing with issues regarding Kenobi's character and how its narrative had led up to their collective duel. Contrary to some other reviewers, he felt that Reva's pursuit of Luke was more exciting than the duel as he had enjoyed her mysterious characterization.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Kit, Borys (August 17, 2017). "'Star Wars' Obi-Wan Kenobi Film in the Works (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Ross, Dalton (March 10, 2022). "Inside the 17-year journey to reunite Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen for Obi-Wan Kenobi". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Kit, Borys (August 15, 2019). "'Star Wars': Ewan McGregor in Talks for an Obi-Wan Kenobi Series for Disney ". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Galaxy Far, Far Away Just Got A Little Bigger…". StarWars.com. August 23, 2019. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Thorne, Will (August 23, 2019). "Ewan McGregor Confirms Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus Series to Shoot Next Year". Variety. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Deborah Chow to Direct Obi-Wan Kenobi Series Exclusively on Disney ". StarWars.com. September 27, 2019. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  7. ^ Otterson, Joe (April 2, 2020). "Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus Series Enlists Joby Harold as New Writer (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  8. ^ Ross, Dalton (April 26, 2022). "How Obi-Wan Kenobi changes the meaning behind a classic Star Wars line". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  9. ^ Ross, Dalton (April 12, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi will focus on 'a time of darkness in the galaxy'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  10. ^ Shepherd, Jack (April 28, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi director reveals the surprise Westerns the series is inspired by". Total Film. GamesRadar . Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  11. ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (December 11, 2020). "Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Footage Description from Disney Investor Day 2020". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  12. ^ Phillipson, Daisy (June 18, 2022). "'Rematch Of The Century' Is About To Happen In Final Episode Of Obi-Wan Kenobi". LADbible. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  13. ^ Zemler, Emily (June 20, 2023). "Deborah Chow made her mark with 'Mandalorian.' Now she keeps it real on 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  14. ^ Arezou, Amin (June 22, 2022). "'Obi-Wan Kenobi': Deborah Chow Talks Telling New Stories With Legacy Characters". Collider. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Amin, Arezou (June 22, 2022). "'Obi-Wan Kenobi': Hayden Christensen Talks The Final Emotional Confrontation Between Vader and Obi-Wan". Collider. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  16. ^ Mathai, Jeremy; Shaw-Williams, Hannah (May 27, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi: Complete Cast & Character Guide For The Disney Series". /Film. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  17. ^ Baumgartner, Drew (May 11, 2021). "Watch Ewan McGregor Confirm Production Has Started on 'Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi'". Collider. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  18. ^ Ehrenhofler, Courtney (June 11, 2022). "The Volume: How the Inventive Star Wars Tech Is Changing the Future of Film". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  19. ^ Leishman, Rachel (September 25, 2022). "Liam Neeson Cried Rehearsing 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Scene With Ewan McGregor". Collider. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  20. ^ Frei, Vincent (May 10, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi". Art of VFX. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  21. ^ "Obi-Wan Kenobi". ReDefine. May 27, 2022. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  22. ^ Burlingame, Jon (May 26, 2022). "'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Score Has 'Loki' Composer Natalie Holt Balancing 'Star Wars' Heritage With Fresh Touches". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  23. ^ "Obi-Wan Wednesdays: Funko's Obi-Wan Kenobi Pop! 5-Pack Revealed and More!". StarWars.com. June 15, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  24. ^ Brooks, Dan (June 30, 2022). "You Can't Escape Poster Posse's Stunning Obi-Wan Kenobi Art Series". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  25. ^ "Part VI". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  26. ^ Cardy, Simon (June 22, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi: Season Finale Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  27. ^ Lovitt, Maggie (June 22, 2022). "'Obi-Wan Kenobi's Finale Duels With the Fates of the Twins | Review". Collider. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  28. ^ Russell, Bradley (June 22, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 6 review: "A fitting send-off"". Total Film. GamesRadar . Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  29. ^ Crouse, Megan (June 22, 2022). "Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 6 Review". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  30. ^ Betancourt, Manuel (June 22, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi's finale feels like a rerun of Star Wars hits". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  31. ^ Guttmann, Graeme (June 22, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 6 Review: Star Wars Finale Can't Live Up To The Hype". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
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