Mini Series Official "Obi-Wan Kenobi" Series Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I think when the original Star Wars was written, communication and travel across the galaxy was intended to be much more limited. Tatooine was so isolated and out of the way Luke having the last name Skywalker would not have been a problem. At the same time Anakin Skywalker was much better known in the original story among those involved with galactic events. The lead X-Wing Pilot at Yavin actually flew with Anakin. It’s because Anakin was such an amazing pilot that he has rookie Luke in Red 5 lead the run in the Death Star.

I think as the series evolved Luke having a famous last name became more of an issue.

I guess we’re to assume what Reva did is not common information. The inquisitors know about it but no one further down the Imperial chain of command. It doesn’t really make sense that Vader doesn’t use that pressure point to draw out Obi-Wan a second time. Unless Vader was not made aware of Leia being used as bait. The other inquisitors aren’t exactly please with Reva abducting Leia. Not sure it makes sense Vader wouldn’t know.

If the Emperor actually knows about Luke and Leia the entire time - maybe that could help explain away some of this not adding up. The Emperor actually wants the twins safely hidden from Darth Vader until one of them is powerful enough to replace Vader. And the Emperor doesn’t use the Force to contact the twins like he does with Ben Solo because he is keeping them away from Vader.

That sure is complicated. Seems like what’s really going on is the story asking us to look the other way.

 

that's why I bring up andor because I'm hoping it shows the empire at least applying pressure to bail and his family, with him having to fend it off, pretending like he knows nothing of jedi or spies. That would create some tension that this show sorely lacked.

 

Is Bail still a Senator in Rogue One or did Leia take over his seat? Maybe there was imperial pressure which forced Bail to resign.

Then again Padme and Jar-Jar appear to share one senate seat. I’m not really sure how the Star Wars senate works.

 

I don't know for sure but I would assume so because I think the first season of Andor takes place 5 years or 10 years before Rogue one so somewhere around the General time of the obi wan show. This would be the perfect time to really introduce politics of how the Empire ran all these planets and star systems and maybe we'll ease some of the burden of the incompetence that's constantly shown on screen in these shows.

 

Remember in a New Hope, Leia being a Senator is seen as beyond Imperial rule. Multiple times it’s mentioned how dangerous holding a senator prisoner is. It’s also mentioned the Senate is needed for the Empire to function.

 

Not with all the treason thats going on

 

I've always assumed the Organa's told Leia more about Padme as she got older; heck, for all we know the unnamed woman who daughter who trained her in combat as a teenager was one of her mothers handmaidens.

The Emperor chews out Vader and stright-up kicks the Inquistors off Coruscant becuase they accidently killed a Senator while fueding in one of the Vader comics, stops Vader from killing Senator Taa in Lords of the Sith and we know from Rebels, R1 ANH that the senate still had influance, could challange Palpatine and it's members can't just be harrased/detained at whim by Imperial authorities without conseqences.

If Vader wanted to use the Organa's to get to Obi-Wan, it's doubtful he be allowed to; *especially* since OWK ends with the Emperor basically telling him to cut it out with the Kenobi obsession.

 

Treason from a Senator could be very difficult to prove at this time in the story. Even more than accusing Tarkin or another Grand Moff of treason later. The Empire can’t just send troopers to take care of it either, There is still the illusion of democracy in the Empire. The Emperor governs with the senate at the will of the people. Or so it publicly appears.

So a senator would have to stand trial. And how does that work when the Inquisitors kidnapped Leia. Who really committed treason here? Does that supersede anti-Jedi laws? Dialogue in A New Hope tells us the Emperor and military need the senate to maintain order. So the senate at this time needs manipulated to believe the illusion of a working democratic system.

Those are reasons not to go after Bail Organa further at that time in the story. Also a reason why Alderaan makes such a good first target for the Death Star later.

But again if the Emperor actually knows Leia’s real identity - that could be the only motive needed to not further peruse Bail. (We don’t know what the Emperor knows about Luke and Leia.)

 

So, I recently re-watched a bunch of scenes of Kenobi on 4K and I’m now convinced that the compression and/or bitrate has changed due to less server draw from the day of airings I watched.

There are a number of different ways to still technically offer a 4K stream that is technically meeting the resolution criteria of 4K but is compressed more than other codecs. This article here does a good job explaining the impact of different codecs on video compression streaming and shows how Netflix uses adaptive concepts and has even adopted their high end codec regularly over the years also.
https://www.vdocipher.com/blog/tech-update-netflix-updates-codecs-use-efficient-encoding/


This Reddit post here also outlines how Netflix’s improved bitrates and lower compression offer better 4K overall.

Spoiler: language

My guess — and it’s only that — is that Disney + servers will attempt to stream out at 4K if your settings are correct and your internet speed can handle it but may offer varying codecs or bit rates depending on total draw during time periods where draw is high.

There were multiple times during the Kenobi roll out for example where I tried to stream first thing in the morning with millions of others and was met with a Disney + notification stating that the entire show was unavailable temporarily. This usually resolved itself within 15 minutes but it does suggest to me that they have different ways to trying to ensure video gets out even if streaming draw is way above norms simultaneously.

Where compression or lower bit rate steams can often be noticed most is in the finest of details related to motion. A great classic example I find is in the movement of water rapids or water falls. The greater the compression, the more detail loss is observed in situations like this. Same for explosions where there’s small particles. Some tracking shots where the camera is moving with a lot of other moving components can also reveal compression issues. Codecs are much improved in 2022 from previous years of finding more visual cheats for situations like this but the less you can cheat in video the more clarity and accuracy you get.

Codecs improve all the time but where compression has always done best is a static close up shot without much movement to it.

All this to say that for whatever reason… the Kenobi episodes appear to be more clear with more detail this week than on launch day to me. Especially in sequences with lots of motion.

If you have a 4K tv, the Disney + app setup for automatic, and high speed Internet without caps, take a moment and pop on the Daiyu market scene again during some of the more chaotic moments. I recommend this one because there’s lots of details in the market. It may end up looking more clear now than when you first watched.

 

One thing that I love is the idea that Kenobi is now the first person to take the high road versus Vader. It doesn’t win him over in the moment but it perhaps gets him to think about it after.

When Luke says similar things to Vader in ROTJ and Vader tells him that Obi-Wan once thought as you did it hits him harder. You can tell he’s thought about it from time to time.

When Luke tells him he’s accepted that he is someone who was formally his father it again likely takes Vader back to his time with Kenobi.
When Luke later says he won’t fight him and won’t be a pawn for Palpatine and that he is a Jedi like his father before him and is prepared to die on the second Death Star it’s almost as if it isn’t exclusively the family bond now that acts as a candle leading Vader out of the darkness.

It’s absolutely part of the recipe that brings Vader back and probably the most important new ingredient to the mix that changes him in a way Kenobi himself couldn’t on his own but it’s more than just that family bond for me now. It’s seeing his son become the Jedi his former master trained him to be opposite the Master he’s come to regret in Palpatine. It’s as though what he sees in Luke isn’t only just himself as a younger man but also what his only real father figure before Palpatine was trying to get him to become also. Luke embodies the true Jedi spirit in this moment and displays a faith in the light side that Anakin had lost and it brings out a kind of fatherly pride in him that reminds him not only of how he used to be but also of the value Kenobi had in his own life and the impact Kenobi had on his own son.

It’s almost as though Vader himself is working through his own issues with Kenobi through Luke now in a more overt way. And the sacrifice that Kenobi makes to become one with the force works better also because it helps set this all up. Kenobi had become this lighting rod for Vader’s rage until Kenobi himself removed himself from being that to Vader and removed Vader’s passion for revenge from becoming a possibility. That changes Vader. It weakens his dark side pull.

He comments on how Obi-Wan has trained him well. That’s the first sign. The next is commenting on how he built his own lightsaber. Something he likely remembers doing with Kenobi also. It’s as if he’s remembering his own time training with Obi-Wan when he sees his son using those same Jedi teachings. It brings him back to a less complicated place and helps him to better appreciate the value of Kenobi’s teachings. Especially opposite the dishonorable behavior he’s witnessing from his present master who he has come to realize was the one who taught him lack of mercy all those years ago by design.


An argument can be made that the prequels alone provide enough to allow for this kind of interpretation of Vader’s eventual return and to that argument I would probably agree. However, because these thoughts are new to me after years of watching and thinking of Star Wars, I would say that the Kenobi show is what personally got me to this kind of head space to see it and for that I am grateful.

 

Again, if the Kenobi show came out before the OT I'd think that Leia and Luke would share stories about Obi-Wan in the OT, Leia might even mention the time that Kenobi saved her from falling to her death by using the Force.

 

Luke and Leia didnt spend too mutch time together in the OT, onscreen.

 

I'd also expect Luke & Leia to not be kissing each other but here we are

 

But it seems like in a trilogy about Luke learning the Force and interacting with Kenobi they'd show Leia and Luke talking about Kenobi and the Force now that we know Leia hung out with Kenobi and had experience being around the Force when she was younger. Oh right, but Obi-Wan told her not tell anybody about this, so problem solved.

My problem isn't the Lucas didn't know in the 1970's what a Kenobi show in 2022 would be about; my problem is that the Kenobi show makes the OT a bit awkward in places by developing a relationship with Leia and Kenobi that isn't followed up in the OT in a meaningful way, but your milage may vary.

 

The more i think about it the more i wish the film trilogy idea had gone forward.

 

I honestly don't find it awkward at all. When would they have this conversation? In the garbage compactor? In the war room when they're planning the Death Star attack? The only quiet time we saw between Luke and Leia on screen is when he's sad about Obi-Wan's death, and Han comes in to alert them of TIE fighters before much is said.

They could've easily discussed this offscreen or between movies. A lot of significant stuff happened in that time gap between ANH and ESB. Vader found out Luke was his son, Han and Leia fell for each other. Adding a conversation about Obi-Wan and Leia's past is not a stretch.

 

The leia kidnapping should have been handled more quickly in my opinion. that could have been the Catalyst for obi to leave the planet for a bit, but it should not have took up the whole series in my humble opinion. that should have been over with by episode 3 and leia should have been back at home discreetly and non the wiser.

 

I've said it before, but Leia being Luke's twin and Anakin's daughter but then not interacting with the family/force storyline for most of the OT always felt like the much bigger imbalance to me than anything OWK does to sorta rectify that

 

Indeed. For a hot second I thought that was going to be the direction they were going in and I would've preferred that. Nope. Instead they had her kidnapped twice! Oh well.

 

I'm pretty sure that soon a whole library of EU material will have Luke and Leia reminisce about Obi-Wan.

 

We never hear Ahsoka mentioned in Revenge of the Sith or on the Obi-Wan Kenobi the series. Not hearing about Leia and Ben in the OT or Chewie and Yoda doesn’t seem like a problem. Perhaps 45 years later it’s a missed opportunity.