All six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are now out in the world and we still have questions. Which is to be expected, of course. The very nature of Star Wars these days is to answer some questions while creating even more and, in most cases, those answers then come in subsiquent stories. If that will happen with Obi-Wan Kenobi remains, as of today, the biggest question.
This week’s finale seemed to put a fairly definitive bow on things at least in relation to the main character but, could there be more? Sure. And maybe if that happens, some of what follows will be answered. But for now, here are 12 questions we have now that Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ has concluded.
When did Obi-Wan get so old?
This is one of the biggest questions people seem to want to have been answered by Obi-Wan Kenobi. After all, most of us saw the original Star Wars when we were young, so when we think of Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, he seems incredibly old. The fact is though, Guinness was only 63 years old when the film was released. And, right now, Ewan McGregor is 51. There’s about 10 or so years between Obi-Wan Kenobi and the start of A New Hope, so there’s actually a surprising bit of alignment here for the age of Obi-Wan’s two actors.
That said, in 2022, modern technology can make the way people look later in life much younger so the jump from McGregor to Guinness might seem extreme — but hey, you spend a decade in the desert and see what happens.
What’s next for Reva?
Coming out of Obi-Wan Kenobi, however, this is the actual biggest question. Reva, by far, had the most interesting story in the entire series and that she survived being impaled by Darth Vader leaves so many options on the table. Will she become reclusive? Will she continue to serve the dark, or was her choice the first step on the path back to the light? We honestly don’t know. But the Inquisitors probably would like to have a word with her, would they not? And if she truly wants to honour her fallen youngling friends, there are plenty of ways to do that in the galaxy around this time. Hopefully, we see more of her in the future.
How will Roken continue to lead?
One of the more out-of-place moments in the Obi-Wan finale was the extra time spent so that Obi-Wan could tell Roken he’s a great leader and should continue to do so. “I’m just getting started,” he says. We tend to believe him but who will he lead? Where will he lead? We don’t know. Maybe he’ll meet up with Cassian Andor?
When did Leia give up Lola?
Eventually, children always give up their favourite toys (Says the guy surrounded by toys from his childhood). But Leia and Lola seem to have a special bond. We wonder what happens that makes the Princess turned Rebel leader give up her closest ally and friend. Please don’t make us think if Lola was left on Alderaan by the time of A New Hope!
Was that the only time Obi-Wan and Luke met?
When The Phantom Menace was released, a stand-out moment was seeing the first time Obi-Wan Kenobi met Anakin Skywalker, the young child he’d eventually chop into pieces. Now, we got to see the first time Kenobi met Anakin’s child, Luke, whom he has a much healthier relationship with. That’s nice and all but once we get to A New Hope, Luke seems pretty aware of “Old Ben” who lives out in the desert. That can’t just be from this one awkward meeting, right? We know that in the comics at least, Obi-Wan crossed closer paths with the young Luke a few times, but the boy was largely unaware of Obi-Wan’s involvement in those moments. We wonder what other circumstances drew the two Jedi together over the years, especially since Owen asked that Obi-Wan keep his distance.
How often do Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan talk?
If ever there was to be an Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2, the way to do it is minimal. It’s Obi-Wan and Force Ghost Qui-Gon, sitting in a hut, discussing all of the facets of the Force. Period, greenlight, let’s go!
But seriously, we wonder just how long Qui-Gon stayed with Obi-Wan to teach him how to remain in the Force or would only show up on occasion, like Obi-Wan did with Luke — there’s a story in the 40th Anniversary anthology From a Certain Point of View where we get to see one of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s later chats, when the latter has spent much more time learning his vast potential ability as a Force Ghost. Not that it matters but, we’re curious.
What happened to all of the Jedi/Force-sensitive people on the Path?
One of the storylines that got wildly underdeveloped on Obi-Wan Kenobi was the idea that a bunch of like-minded individuals risked their lives to transport and save Force-sensitive people as well as Jedi. That in itself is fascinating. But then… what happens to all of these people? Do they just sit on a remote planet in hiding and lift rocks? Did they ever want to get into the fight to save the galaxy? Obi-Wan calls the group he saves “The Future” but we’ve seen decades and decades into the future and outside of a few stragglers, there don’t seem to be a lot of Force Sensitive people out there.
This really should be where Star Wars Episode X starts, right? Rey finds these people, helps hone their skills, and then some of them go off on adventures? It’s very clear they are out there. Broom Boy? Hello? I digress.
Will Haja attempt to fulfil his dreams?
Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced us to so many fun new characters but one stand out has to be Haja, played by Kumail Nanjiani. Haja starts as a grifter but becomes a trusted confidant of Kenobi, who entrusts him to get Princess freaking Leia back to the Organas on Alderaan. But…what then? Did he stay there and die when the Death Star arrived? Did he maybe go back on the Path and try to actually develop a relationship with the Force? Maybe one day we’ll find out.
Why doesn’t Obi-Wan kill Darth Vader for good?
One the one hand you’ve got the real life realities of Darth Vader is in the other movies so he can’t kill him. But that’s obvious and not really the issue we’re discussing.
Back on Mustafar, Obi-Wan was ready to kill Anakin. In fact, he thought he did kill Anakin. And now that the two are fighting again, we get the sense this fight starts the same way. Obi-Wan is ready to end him. By the end though, we see a crucial manifestation of Obi-Wan’s conscious. He’s less inclined to kill “Darth Vader” than he is “Anakin” and since Vader says he’s killed Anakin, Obi-Wan sort of sees that as sad win.
And yet, this is a crucial mistake. Obi-Wan has no problems killing Sith. He’ll kill Darth Maul again in a few years time, this time for good. But his sympathy for the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker here results in an inability to finish the job and, as a result, doom the lives of billions, especially if you think about Alderaan. So we know why he didn’t kill him, but that was a mistake.
When did Darth Vader go from learner to master?
This is an interesting one. So, obviously, in A New Hope Vader says to Kenobi “I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner, now I’m the master.” Well, in the finale we saw the “learner.” Vader got crushed. So how does he become the Master? Well, Vader goes through a lot around this time. Lots of it can be seen in the Charles Soule Marvel comics where he explores the nature of the Force, he ends up showing down with his old apprentice Ahsoka Tano a few years later on Rebels, and lord knows what else has happened. You also get a glimpse of it just a few days before he kills Obi-Wan in his Rogue One appearance. Vader is clinical by that time. Focused. Brutal. A master.
How many helmets does Darth Vader have?
OK, we’re joking a little, but seriously… who makes these things? He seems to have a new one pretty quickly here on Obi-Wan Kenobi and, as we mentioned on the last slide, Ahsoka messes up the helmet good a few years later. Does Vader have a set of ugnaughts on constant call? Seems like something maybe a Dark Lord of the Sith would do.
Will Obi-Wan be punished for stealing all that meat?
This is only partially a joke. In the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, it’s made very clear that Obi-Wan is stealing meat for his eopie and that his bosses would not be happy about it. Of course, he then gets sidetracked and goes off on this adventure. But assuming he gets his job back, will he keep stealing from his employer? That’s not very Jedi-like!