'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Episode 4: "Part IV" Recap and Review
A harrowing rescue from the Inquisitor Fortress sews the seeds for Rebellion and War in an action-heavy episode.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
This week we are given what has quickly become a mandatory moment for all future Star Wars properties: the rescue. It’s an easy story beat to extract both drama and action and is reminiscent of the original plot of Star Wars: A New Hope, albeit a little on the nose with Leia being rescued again. But with several episodes of The Mandalorian dedicated to infiltrating Imperial bases and a few reminiscent moments in the spinoff movies and the latest trilogy, the trend is becoming more and more apparent. The formula is a good vehicle for tension and action as any one of these new characters could see their demise and it not effect the larger canon. We also see the beginning of our titular hero slowly regaining his control of the force which he has neglected since the beginning of his self imposed exile. In the end, this episode feels a tad rushed and a little lacking on character moments but managed to squeeze out an episode’s worth of exciting viewing.
As we begin, Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) is being rushed to a rebel base and into a bacta tank to heal after his ill-fated duel with Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). He wakes in a fright and Tala (Indira Varma) explains his current location and situation to calm him down. At the Imperial Fortress, Third Sister (Moses Ingram) intimidates and interrogates the young Princess Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair). With a sense of urgency to rescue the princess Tala takes Obi-Wan to Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) for help but he is hesitant to put the entire network at risk. But Roken changes his mind when he learns that Leia knows too much and underground network known as The Path is already at risk. Together with a pair of pilots they plan a rescue, Tala will go undercover and smuggle Obi-Wan in. On the way we see Obi-Wan struggling to reconnect to the force. Third Sister continues to interrogate Leia about the The Path but Leia refuses to co-operate. Tala approaches in her ship and infiltrates the base with some minor resistance at the gate. She opens an entry port for Obi-Wan to sneak into and after taking out a stormtrooper he finds his way into the fortress. Third Sister tries infiltrate Leia’s mind with the force but Leia resists. After Leia tries to sick her droid Lola on Third Sister she changes tact. She tries to relate to Leia over her droid as Tala guides Obi-Wan through the Fortress, dodging security droids and stormtroopers along the way. Third Sister returns Lola to Leia and tries to appeal to Leia but she again resists. Third Sister sends Leia away to an torture chamber as Obi-Wan comes across a mysterious room. He finds a tomb containing the bodies of former Jedi. In the distance Obi-Wan hears Leia’s calls for help and asks Tala for a distraction. Tala has Third Sister sent for and interrupts before Leia can be tortured. Tala herself talks to Third Sister and claims to be a spy for the Empire. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan breaks Leia out and the two try to escape. Third Sister has a hard time believing Tala but a Droid spots Obi-Wan and Leia and the alarms go off. Tala escapes her captors and heads to them as Obi-Wan fights off droids and Stormtroopers. Trapped on either side of a corridor, Obi-Wan is forced to keep the water from rushing into corridor. Tala finds them in time and Obi-Wan uses the water to take out the remaining Troopers. The three make their way to the hanger in disguise but Third Sister catches up to them and all seems lost. Suddenly two speeders swoop in and blast an opening for the three to escape. Third Sister is on their tail but one of the Pilots sacrifices themselves to guarantee their escape. Darth Vader confronts Third Sister about her failure and nearly kills her, until she reveals that she snuck a tracker onto the group and they will soon know the location of The Path. Aboard the rescue ship the group links up with Roken and they mourn the first casualty of the rebellion and we learn that the tracker is in fact Leia’s droid Lola.
This episode is light on story progress, feeling like a third act rather than full episode. We are finally introduced to O’Shea Jackson Jr’s character Roken who seems to be one of the people running the underground force sensitive smuggling ring known as The Path. We even get a glimpse at his motivation as he revealed that his wife was force sensitive and the Inquisitors tracked her down and took her away. We may have seen her too in the Tomb that Obi-Wan stumbles into. The tomb itself is a chilling visual, Dozens of deceased Jedi seemingly on display in a psudo-trophy room. The show runners are doing whatever they can to paint the inquisitors as blood thirsty Jedi hunters who are willing to add anybody to their trophy room, including children. Third sister is really selling this too, adding the willingness to torture children to her growing list of atrocities. They are obliviously leading to an assault on The Path headquarters where we will hopefully get to see a showdown between Third Sister and Obi-Wan and a reveal of her backstory.
A lot happens in this episode, the pace is somewhat breakneck compared to previous episodes but at the same time, not much happens. The episode highlights the difference between a story and an anecdote. Story signifies some sort of change or progression in the characters as opposed to an anecdote which is something happening to somebody. Make no mistake, anecdote’s can be entertaining as evident by this very episode, but they lack the substance to leave a lasting impact on the audience. The episode is not completely ruined by this. The events that transpire on the Inquisitor fortress are entertaining and the horrific nature of the tomb will be sure to leave a lasting impression but with two episodes left there needs to be some character progress to make the finale feel earned.