In Obi-Wan Kenobi, we’re confronted with a broken hero who’d like nothing worse than to remind himself of what he left behind 10 years ago, when he chose the name of Ben and wandered the deserts of Tatooine in search of tranquility.
It stands to reason, then, that Lucasfilm’s job in this new narrative was to bring him to face exactly what he’d avoided in that time. Regardless of how you may feel about the new Star Wars show on Disney Plus, or whether you believe it’s managed to stick the landing, the writers have done a brilliant job of depicting the trauma Obi-Wan carries around on his conscience, not only feeling like he’s responsible for Anakin’s fall to the dark side, but also the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order too.
That’s precisely what scriptwriter Joby Harold was aiming for with that garish Jedi tomb scene in episode 4. As he explained it in an interview with Inverse,
“We wanted something that felt like Obi-Wan was being confronted by the galaxy that he had been hiding from when he was in his cave. The horrors of the empire and the hunting of the Jedi were suddenly visually represented a foot from his face. Getting to see that imagery in a dialogue-free way and watch him be profoundly impacted by it felt like an important companion to the character.”
Harold also says it was crucial for Obi-Wan to remember his duty as a Jedi beyond looking over a teenage boy, on whose shoulders admittedly rides the fate of the entire galaxy.
“It’s also important because he is coming out of the cave and seeing the extent of what has happened and the responsibilities of the Jedi beyond his responsibilities looking over Luke. It was important that we had something visual that felt impactful and that spoke to this specific time in the timeline.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi returns tomorrow on Disney Plus with its penultimate episode.
