This article contains major spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi episode five
A convincing fan theory has been building over Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s run that each episode mirrors the first six movies in the Skywalker saga. For example, the second episode seems to mimic Attack of the Clones in having Obi-Wan journeying through a neon cityscape while trying to protect Leia from bounty hunters, and episode three saw Obi-Wan and Anakin face off in a fiery duel that left one of them badly burned.
But with the fifth episode having obvious parallels with The Empire Strikes Back, the theory may be confirmed. Like the Hoth sequence in Episode V, this week’s adventure sees our heroes trapped in an underground base as the Empire bears down on them, and they frantically prepare escape ships.
Sadly we didn’t get any AT-AT combat, though the final battle in which Darth Vader effortlessly dismantled Reva and left her for dead has strong echoes of his later bout with Luke in Cloud City.
All of which means we can probably expect some heavy Return of the Jedi vibes next week. The closing scene indicated a return to Tatooine, which may lead to a reunion with Jabba the Hutt or the involvement of the Sarlacc. But we may also get some thematic mirroring and, if the showrunners are especially brave, we may even see the beginning of the cracks in Vader’s loyalty that eventually result in him tossing Palpatine down a reactor shaft many years later.
Whatever else happens, we hope they stick the landing. So far, Obi-Wan Kenobi has been good but not great, though a barnstorming finale would go a long way to correcting that.