Obi-Wan Kenobi, a new Star Wars Disney+ series, tells the tale of what happened when Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi must rescue young Leia after she is abducted while being hunted by Imperial Inquisitors and his former Padawan, now known as Darth Vader. The younger Obi-Wan, played by Ewan McGregor, and Darth Vader, played by Hayden Christensen, both reprise their roles from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The hope for many was that the series would connect all the Star Wars films in a coherent way.
Obi-Wan Kenobi received three Saturn award wins for Best Streaming Limited Event Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series: Moses Ingram, and Best Guest Performance in a Streaming Series: Hayden Christensen. While the series seems to have done pretty well overall, fans are curious if a Season 2 is in the works. McGregor told fans at a convention in August 2022, “There's no plan to make one yet, but I'm pretty sure they're just biding their time. Nobody's approached me yet.”
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the series as a whole so far has received an 82% positive review on the Tomatometer and a 63% positive score from Average Audiences. The question then remains: what do genuine Star Wars devotees and movie reviewers actually think of Season 1? Here are all of Obi-Wan Kenobi's episodes, ranked by their Rotten Tomatoes score.
6 Part IV — 69%
The lowest-rated episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi is "Part IV," scoring 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. While full of details, this is when the series seems to slow down a bit and concentrate on information rather than action. Reva is now questioning Leia for information about the Path while she is being detained in Fortress Inquisitorius, the fortified headquarters of the Inquisitors located on Nur. To save Leia, Kenobi and Tala intend to breach the stronghold. When Tala's cover is blown and their presence is known, they manage to rescue Leia, but are forced to flee. They do so with the aid of Path commander Roken and his guerrilla forces. Reva confesses that she attached a tracker to Leia's companion droid, Lola, in expectation of a rescue, which convinces an enraged Vader to hold off on killing her for her failure. Vulture described this episode as “straightforward, perhaps to a fault” and notes that “this episode sets up a thrilling heistlike operation while only intermittently accessing the buzz of urgent energy that powers the best mission movies.” Yikes!
5 Part VI — 74%
Continuing on from the previous episode, "Part VI" of Obi-Wan Kenobi finds Darth Vader and the Empire in pursuit of the Path network as Reva lands on Tatooine to find Luke. Finally, as the Path safely departs, Kenobi makes the decision to face Vader alone on a neighboring planet. Obi-Wan disables Vader after recovering full access to the Force, but he turns away, disappointed, after seeing Anakin has fully embraced his role as Sith Lord. Reva, after controlling Owen and Beru, who confront her, goes after Luke in the desert. She makes the decision to give Luke back to his family after recalling Anakin's destruction of the Jedi Temple. Space reviewed the episode, “Vader’s vulnerability has hardly been explored on screen, and there was something truly haunting seeing him broken and screaming for his former master,” and called the final episode an, “ending [that] satisfies by setting up a landscape that’s more akin to the equilibrium at the beginning of A New Hope.”
4 Part V — 82%
Things seem to pick back up again in "Part V" of Obi-Wan Kenobi, where we begin to see what the show might be trying to say. As he follows the Path network to Jabiim, Vader thinks back on the lightsaber instruction he had from Kenobi before The Clone Wars. Reva receives a promotion from Vader to Grand Inquisitor, after which she conducts a siege on the Path facility and shuts the escape doors. Kenobi concedes and persuades Reva to murder Vader after realizing they have no chance of victory. She does attempt to murder Vader when she gives him Kenobi, but is defeated and stabbed after a brief fight. When the original Grand Inquisitor shows up to reclaim his authority, she is left for dead. Reva discovers Bail Organa's message on Kenobi's transmitter as the Path network escapes, exposing Luke's whereabouts on Tatooine. In reality, this episode is all about establishing Vader’s belief that he is more than Anakin ever was.
3 Part III — 84%
More trouble arises in "Part III" of Obi-Wan Kenobi as Reva is given the assignment to locate Kenobi by Darth Vader, who has just awoken from a bacta tank. Vader offers to advance Reva to Grand Inquisitor if she is successful. When Kenobi and Leia are found, Imperial forces are dispatched to arrest them. However, they are aided by an Imperial officer named Tala who is a part of the Path, a secret society that protects dissidents and outlaws who are being sought by the Empire. The moment they are about to escape, Vader and the Inquisitors appear and start hurting innocent bystanders to draw Kenobi out. She then leads them to a hidden underground corridor. Reva eventually succeeds in capturing Leia. This episode did a great job of advancing the storyline and continuing the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
2 Part I — 85%
The narrative and foundation for the entirety of Obi-Wan Kenobi is established in "Part I." Retired former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is hidden in a cave on Tatooine, going under the alias Ben, 10 years after Order 66, which resulted in the deaths of the majority of the Jedi Order. Despite Owen's dislike of Kenobi, he keeps an eye on a young Luke Skywalker, the son of his former pupil turned adversary Anakin Skywalker, who now resides with Owen and Beru Lars.
1 Part II — 87%
The action gets hyped up in "Part II" of Obi-Wan Kenobi, when Kenobi learns, from Reva, that Anakin, whom he believed to be dead, is actually still alive as Darth Vader. After "Part I," when Kenobi follows the abductors to the planet Daiyu, he meets con artist Haja Estree, who poses as a Jedi. When Kenobi arrives at Leia's location, Haja directs him to confront the captors and free her. Mercenaries in the city start to hunt for Kenobi and Leia as Reva disobeys instructions and sets a new reward on him. She accidentally lets them escape by stabbing the Grand Inquisitor with her lightsaber as he approaches to capture Kenobi himself. The series really begins to show its true colors with cinematic shots and details that connect the past, present, and future.