Fans rejoice as a familiar face finally returns in the closing seconds of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’

This article contains spoilers for the finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi is now over, having delivered on its promise of reuniting prequel trilogy stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, showed some iconic characters at different stages in their lives, and offered neat insight into what life was like at the height of Imperial rule. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and there are a bunch of very justifiable criticisms, but it was by no means a disaster.

Even better, just before the credits rolled we were reintroduced to a character who’s been absent from Star Wars for 23 long years (okay fine with some minor caveats), and whose return has been teased ever since the finale of Revenge of the Sith. Just as Obi-Wan is about to head to Tatooine, Yoda tells him that “an old friend has learned the path to immortality”. This is The Phantom Menace‘s Qui-Gon Jinn, as played by Liam Neeson.

Yoda promises to teach Obi-Wan “how to commune with him”, though in the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi we saw that the lesson hadn’t stuck. Throughout the show, Ben has referenced his former Master when he’s at a low point and struggled to perceive his presence, though it seems the key to success was simply getting his Jedi mojo back.

As he heads to his new home, he finally sees Qui-Gon’s ghost, who archly says “well, took you long enough…”. Suffice to say, fans are loving it.

Others find Qui-Gon’s first line in 23 years pretty damn funny:

Others believe this may be a teaser for Obi-Wan Kenobi season two:

Star Wars has long been cagey about what a Force Ghost can actually do, so if we do ever get a second season of this show, it’d be interesting to see if Qui-Gon sticks around to explain what being an apparition entails. It’s also notable that it’s apparently taken years for Obi-Wan to be able to perceive Force Ghosts, though Luke manages it without even trying (while freezing to death).

Whether we really need a second season is up in the air, but at least the door is now open for an ongoing plot featuring a fan favorite character.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is available to stream in full on Disney Plus.