Honestly, looking back at the six Obi Wan Kenobi episodes on Disney+, it’s wild how much of a rollercoaster they were for people. You’ve got this massive, decades-long anticipation of Ewan McGregor returning to the desert, and then the reality hits. Some folks loved every second of it. Others? Well, they’re still arguing on Reddit about shaky cam and "The Chase" in the woods.
It wasn't just a TV show. It was a bridge. It had to somehow connect the broken, grieving Obi-Wan we see at the end of Revenge of the Sith to the serene, "Hello there" wizard played by Alec Guinness in A New Hope. That’s a tall order for any director, and Deborah Chow definitely took some big swings.
The Problem With Expectation in Obi Wan Kenobi Episodes
The thing about the Obi Wan Kenobi episodes is that they had to fight against the "mental movie" everyone had been playing in their heads since 2005. We all thought it would just be Ben Kenobi sitting in a cave, eating space-jerky, and talking to Qui-Gon Jinn’s ghost.
But Disney went a different way.
They gave us a road trip. By the time we get to Part II, the show flips the script. Instead of staying on Tatooine, we’re off to Daiyu—this neon-soaked, cyber-punkish planet that feels more like Blade Runner than Star Wars. It was a choice. Seeing Obi-Wan out of his element, struggling with a lightsaber that he’s basically forgotten how to use, was painful for some fans. But it was realistic. The guy had PTSD. He wasn't the hero we remembered; he was a shell.
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- Part I: The slow burn. We see the monotony of his life.
- The Leia factor: Vivien Lyra Blair’s performance as a young Leia Organa was the catalyst nobody saw coming.
- Reva’s role: Moses Ingram’s Inquisitor was a lightning rod for criticism, though her backstory eventually tied back to the temple massacre in a way that actually made sense for the broader lore.
That Rematch in Part VI
If we're being real, the main reason anyone tuned in to these Obi Wan Kenobi episodes was the "Rematch of the Century." The hype was almost too much. When Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen finally stood face-to-face in the finale, the stakes were sky-high.
The choreography in that final duel was different. It wasn't the flashy, over-the-top gymnastics of Mustafar. It was heavy. Brutal. You could feel the weight of every strike. When Vader’s mask breaks—revealing that sliver of Anakin’s eye and that distorted, haunting voice mix of James Earl Jones and Hayden—it’s probably one of the top five moments in the entire franchise.
"I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did."
That line changed everything. It gave Obi-Wan the closure he needed. It stopped him from being a man haunted by a ghost and turned him back into a Jedi. Without that specific beat in the final episode, the transition to the Ben Kenobi of the original trilogy doesn't work. It’s the emotional glue.
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Production Hurdles and the Volume
We have to talk about the look of the show. Some of the Obi Wan Kenobi episodes suffered from what fans call "Volume fatigue." Using the StageCraft LED tech is great for some things, but in certain scenes—especially the outdoor chases—it felt a bit cramped. You could tell they were on a set.
Comparing this to Andor, which used massive practical sets, the visual difference is jarring.
There's also the pacing. Because this was originally supposed to be a movie, you can sometimes feel where the story was stretched to fit a six-episode TV format. Some of the middle chapters, like the infiltration of the Fortress Inquisitorius, felt a bit "video gamey." Go here, flip this switch, escape the base.
- The score: Natalie Holt brought a fresh sound, though many missed the classic John Williams themes until the very end.
- The cameos: Seeing Liam Neeson finally show up as Qui-Gon was the "finally" moment every fan needed.
- The flashbacks: The sparring match between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Part V was a masterclass in using subtext to explain a character’s current flaws.
Why the Story Matters for the Future
Despite the nitpicks about the CGI or the weirdly slow chase scenes with a ten-year-old, the Obi Wan Kenobi episodes succeeded where it counted: character growth.
It humanized the Jedi in a way the prequels didn't always manage. We saw the cost of the war. We saw that even the greatest masters can lose their faith. By the time the credits roll on Part VI, Kenobi isn't just hiding anymore. He’s watching over Luke, but he’s also found peace with himself.
If you're planning a rewatch, pay attention to the colors. The show starts in dull grays and browns and slowly introduces more light and color as Obi-Wan regains his connection to the Force. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
To get the most out of the experience now that the dust has settled, watch the series as a single four-hour movie. The pacing issues tend to disappear when you aren't waiting a week between cliffhangers. Focus on the parallel between Obi-Wan's grief and Vader's rage; the show is essentially a dual character study disguised as a space adventure. Map out the emotional beats of the Anakin/Obi-Wan relationship across the prequels before hitting play on Part V to see how perfectly the flashback mirrors their final confrontation. Lastly, check out the "A Jedi's Return" documentary on Disney+ for the behind-the-scenes context on how Hayden and Ewan prepared for their reunion, which adds a lot of weight to their on-screen chemistry.