The newfound appreciation for the Star Wars prequel trilogy is truly something to behold. Critically panned and deemed franchise-tainting upon their original releases, Episodes I, II, and III have slowly become crowd-pleasers over the last 16 years, ones that now elicit massive applause at conventions. The internet is rife with reconsiderations of these films, especially following the most recent set of Star Wars trilogies and side stories. It’s an unexpected, but well-deserved, change of pace.
No wonder, then, that the return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in—get ready for it—Obi-Wan Kenobi is one the most anticipated Star Wars projects in the last decade. The new Disney+ show marks the first time McGregor has appeared on-screen as the legendary Jedi since Episode III. For the character, whose ultimate fate we have long known, to come back for a new story is something that fans back in 2005 never expected would happen.
And McGregor isn’t the only familiar cast member coming back for the show. He’s joined by Hayden Christensen, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Christensen earned a hefty load of criticism for his angsty Anakin portrayal upon entering the series in Episode II. But he’s now held in comparatively high esteem by Star Wars prequel fans—and nonetheless, it’s exciting to see the actor get to take one of the most famous characters in history for another spin.
McGregor and Christensen’s on-screen reunion as Star Wars’ most iconic frenemies is reason enough for Kenobi to seem like an automatic slam dunk. It follows an easy and obvious formula of a much-loved hero played by his original, equally beloved actor, in a setting that brings good ol’ (and very powerful) nostalgia for a majority of fans.
But what if you’re excited to watch but not obsessed with the prequel movies? Or perhaps you just need a new show to watch on Disney+? Or maybe you haven’t seen the massive catalog of Star Wars content featuring Obi-Wan or that’s otherwise helpful to understand this time period in a galaxy far, far away? No matter which potential Kenobi viewer you are, we’ve rounded up the top things you need to know as you dive into it.
Kenobi takes place at the mid-way point between Episode III and Episode IV
At the end of Episode III, a.k.a. Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan left a murderous, Dark Side-aligned Anakin ablaze on Mustafar and brought Luke Skywalker to his step-family on Tattooine for safekeeping. That movie came out in May 2005, which is exactly 17 years ago.
But, according to the official Star Wars site, the series will take place not 17 years later, but a decade after the fall of the Republic and Anakin’s fateful turn to Darth Vader. To put that in nerd-speak, Kenobi is set to take place around the year 9 BBY, since Revenge of the Sith is in 19 BBY. A New Hope, the fourth Star Wars film (and final appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a character), takes place nine years later, in 0 BBY/ABY.
The plot actually sounds pretty straightforward … for now
Disney’s official logline for Kenobi emphasizes that Obi-Wan is still dealing with the effects and trauma of surviving the Jedi Purge (aka Order 66). As one of the only Jedi to make it out alive, there’s not a lot of people who he can relate to right now. Not to mention he had to fight his former padawan and the guy who’s as close as he has to a brother, Anakin “Darth Vader” Skywalker.
In an interview with Vanity Fair about the series earlier this month, director Deborah Chow teased that Kenobi will be more akin to a character-forward drama, as opposed to action-focused.
“I really tried to look at it as a character story,” she said. “Who is important to this character? Who has been important in his past, and will be in his future?”
The most obvious, immediate answer to those questions is our boy Anakin. His return will be vital to Kenobi’s, and Kenobi’s, overall arc.
As for the finer details in between all this, what it means, and where it leaves Obi-Wan and Anakin off at the end—well, that’s for the six-episode series to fill in for us.
Obi-Wan’s contending with bad guys beyond just Darth Vader
For anyone jumping into Kenobi after only seeing the Star Wars movies, the appearance of dark, foreboding figures with red lightsabers might be a total shock or totally confusing. You see them in the trailer, but you might not know that they’re called Inquisitors if you didn’t already go look them up.
These Red Blades are very well-known foes within the Star Wars canon, particularly to those who have watched the Disney+ animated series Star Wars: Rebels. Darth Sidious, ever the planner, established the Inquisitorius, which was a program that trained Force-sensitive individuals to hunt down any remaining Jedi. The goal was that straggling survivors of Order 66 would be slain, making the Jedi go completely extinct.
Sidious, with the help of Cad Bane (the blue outlaw that showed up in The Book of Boba Fett, but who is a fan-favorite from The Clone Wars), took Force-sensitive children before the Jedi could and trained them to do this task, along with gathering up any other enemies of the Empire. This is why they have red lightsabers—because they can wield the Force but are also bad guys. (Darth Vader has a red lightsaber too, you may recall.)
Even though Darth Sidious planned this all out, Darth Vader was the one that ended up in charge of running the Inquisitorius. This, of course, could be a way to connect Kenobi and his former Padawan, if the Inquisitors get close enough to finding him.
As for why they’re not around during A New Hope and onward, aside from the obvious fact that they didn’t exist yet in the established canon, once the Galactic Civil War came around (the war that is ongoing through Episode VI), Sidious felt that the majority of Jedi were gone, and there was no more need for Inquisitors.
There’s always a chance that Star Wars’ reunion with Obi-Wan could mess around with previously established storytelling
OK, with Kenobi and Vader bound to reunite and have yet another duel for the ages, how does this fit into the films and shows that already exist after this time period? Will this retcon things?
We aren’t yet sure how Obi-Wan Kenobi’s years in the desert are going to fit into this missing portion of his life. However, when Obi-Wan and Darth Vader face off in Episode IV, viewers were made to believe that it was their first encounter since Anakin broke bad. If you’re a staunch defender of this reading, then the inevitable reunion between the two in Kenobi might not be to your liking.
However, it is important to note that, aside from Vader saying to Kenobi that they “meet again, at last,” and that the last time Obi-Wan saw Vader, the Sith Lord was “but a learner,” Episode IV pretty vague on when the “last time” they saw each other actually was. Vader also tells Kenobi that he “should not have come back,” for instance. Come back where, Vader?! The fact that they’re on the Death Star could insinuate a showdown on said space station in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But, of course, George Lucas couldn’t have predicted in 1977 that Star Wars would become what it has become today. And considering that fact, it might be best to not get too invested in seemingly concrete canon timelines until they’re fully solidified—Star Wars fans have been burned before.
With six hour-long episodes in the mix for the miniseries, Kenobi’s fate will become clear sooner than we may even be ready for.
