Today’s post is a collaboration with Tina Williams who is an avid Star Wars fan that everyone should follow! She has great content and offers a unique perspective on things such as the animals in Star Wars (great post idea, right?) You can check out her blog right here!

So we came up with the idea to collaborate on a series of posts about the upcoming new Star Wars content announced recently by Disney. We thought it would be fun to discuss and speculate on the possible story lines that might evolve within the series itself.

Our first post is about the Obi-Wan Kenobi series (did you notice the ‘i’ in Kenobi in the image below is a lightsaber!)

What we know about the show so far

Ewan McGregor will be reprising his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lucasfilm has confirmed Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader. We also know the timeline is set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith making Darth Vader around 32 years old. So by this time, we can expect to see Darth Vader as a full-blown Sith lord with his force abilities most likely the strongest they have ever been. Anakin has had 10 years of using the dark side of the force (and 10 years of dark side corruption as well).

Possible flashbacks and what they might be – @TinaWilliams

Since Hayden Christensen is coming back for the series, I imagine that Obi-Wan will have some flashbacks to the time before Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader and shortly after, since anyone can play a man in a suit. It’s logical to assume we’ll be seeing his face now and then. So what might we be seeing in these flashbacks?
I imagine Obi-Wan having nightmares or visions about his last moments with Anakin on Mustafar. The epic battle, the words they exchanged, the horrible final moments when Anakin (or Vader, I suppose I should call him, as that’s who he was at the time) made his move and leapt toward Obi-Wan. I imagine Obi-Wan will never forget the sight of his former friend lying in the ash, arm and legs severed, hair burned off as he catches on fire. The words “I hate you!” echoing in his mind. The pain of that moment must haunt him.
I’m hoping that we also see Obi-Wan thinking back on better times: close moments with his padawan and friend, maybe moments we’ve seen in the movies, or perhaps completely new moments we haven’t. Both Ewan and Hayden are 10 years older now, but it’s amazing what can be done digitally these days–those years can be erased fairly easily. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to see these two in Clone Wars armor? Their animated counterparts were great, but to see Ewan and Hayden fighting the Separatists in live action would be pretty awesome! 

The possible use of other jedi such as Qui-Gon Jinn – @TinaWilliams

I feel like this series would be remiss if it didn’t show Obi-Wan communicating somehow with his old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. After all, towards the end of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda informed Obi-Wan that he had some “training” for him to do in his solitude on Tatooine: how to communicate with Qui-Gon. Based on what we learned in The Clone Wars, Qui-Gon cannot appear as a Force ghost, as he did not learn all he needed to know how to do this. But he can speak with others, as he’s done with Yoda. I think Qui-Gon would be a great comfort to Obi-Wan in his exile, a guide and friend in his loneliness, which I imagine is immense. They could speak of Anakin, address Obi-Wan’s guilt and grief, and perhaps how he might let go of both Anakin and the past. 
What about other Jedi? We know that there are other Jedi out there, survivors of Order 66, though Obi-Wan, of course, has no knowledge of them, or they of him. What if other Jedi somehow ended up on Tatooine in the course of their travels? Would they sense each other? I think it reasonable to assume they would. What would Obi-Wan do? I think Obi-Wan’s mission of watching over and protecting Luke is of utmost importance to him, above all else–even learning of the existence of other survivors–and would avoid them, if possible. And what if, for whatever reason, it’s unavoidable? That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer. Obi-Wan is a fairly famous Jedi, and perhaps instantly recognizable to most Jedi survivors. He’s clever; I’m sure he’d come up with some way of getting rid of them and ensure their silence on his existence on Tatooine. For as we know, from the Rebels series and other sources, that the Emperor, and especially Vader, are specifically looking for him. If another Jedi were caught by the Inquisitors, and they knew of Obi-Wan on Tatooine, that could very well spell disaster. However, knowing that the time line is set nicely between the prequel and original trilogies, we know that Obi-Wan won’t be dying before episode IV.

Will Luke Skywalker be featured?

I’m guessing yes to whether or not they’ll have Luke Skywalker in the show, even though I did read something recently about Kathleen Kennedy scrapping early scripts for the Obi-Wan series because the story line was too similar to that of The Mandalorian (as in the protective father-figure who is looking after a young ward). I can’t see how they cannot link this show to Luke seeing he is the hero of the original trilogy. I don’t know how they’ll factor it in, but given that Obi-Wan is on Tatooine specifically to protect Luke (albeit from afar), it would be strange not to include some scenes of Obi-Wan interacting with a much younger Luke Skywalker before Luke knew who he really was.

How much of Darth Vader will feature in this series?

The announcement about Hayden Christensen coming back to the Star Wars franchise was a big step for Lucasfilm to take. And because of that I think they will be using Hayden significantly in the Obi-Wan series. And depending on how long the series is slated to run (assuming it is as successful as The Mandalorian at least) we could be seeing several seasons of the development of their ongoing relationship and their past relationship during the Clone wars. If this indeed does happen, we are going to be in for a fantastic series. I have no doubt in my mind that this series will rival the success of The Mandalorian and even possibly surpass it.

Will there be another epic lightsaber battle akin to that of ‘Duel of the Fates?’

It is no secret that once Hayden transformed into Vader, he hated Obi-Wan and everything the jedi stood for. And since his hatred for what happened to him on Mustafar has had time to fester, I imagine Vader cannot wait to engage Obi-Wan in another epic lightsaber battle. What we saw of their fight on the death star was really Obi-Wan removing himself from the equation after ensuring Luke’s safety. So my guess is that yes there will be more than one lightsaber duel between these two to wow the fans and give the original and prequel trilogy fans a reason to get back onboard! The Skywalker saga will well and truly be an important focus of the Star Wars cinematic universe once more.

Thanks to Tina for her contribution to this collaboration post and joining me in my ongoing quest into the cinematic world of a galaxy far, far away. If you’d like to collaborate with me on any future Star Wars posts, please leave me a comment and we’ll go from there 🙂

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