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The most shocking surprises in Obi-Wan Kenobi 's penultimate episode
Though Obi-Wan Kenobi started less than a month ago, we've already reached the penultimate episode of the series. While last week's edition felt like a bit of a placeholder, the revelations came fast and furious in this stellar installment. From discovering Reva's (Moses Ingram) real motivation to a surprise appearance by the Rebellion's newest hope, let's dig into the biggest surprises of episode 5.
Hayden Christensen gets to take the mask off
Once it was announced that Hayden Christensen would be joining the show, fans started wondering if he'd have any opportunity to get out from under that infamous helmet. And while we've gotten a few bacta-tank glimpses along with one quick hallucination of him, Christensen finally got some real face time during the flashback scenes that peppered the episode. In the first, he and Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) crossed lightsabers in a training duel on Coruscant set during the time of Attack of the Clones. Despite their terrible trademark haircuts and the obvious fact that both actors are older here than they were at the time, it was still thrilling to see a pre-fall Anakin in live action again, and Christensen channeled both Anakin's cockiness and the encroaching darkness within him with ease.
But their fight was more than just a chance to see Christensen's handsome face again — it also revealed that Obi-Wan still knows his former Padawan well enough to trick him even after all this time. Though Vader believed he had Obi-Wan cornered on Jabiim, Obi-Wan escaped with Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) and all the other refugees on the Path by using Anakin's own arrogance against him, just like he did to win their earlier lightsaber duel.
Lucasfilm Ltd. Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'
Reva reveals both her past and her true motivation
The training duel wasn't the only Anakin flashback in the episode. The second one revealed that not only did he not heed his master's warning that "a Jedi's goal is to defend life, not take it," but that Reva escaped his path of destruction during that horrible night when he murdered all the Jedi younglings. While this confirmed the speculation that Reva was a youngling who later became an Inquisitor, her chilling memory of what Anakin did during Order 66 puts a whole new spin on her character. In an episode chock-full of sad revelations, Reva's "we thought he was there to help us" was one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show, as was her demanding where Obi-Wan was when the younglings needed him most. Though they were talking through a metal door, her conversation with Obi-Wan about her past was a highlight of the episode.
The fact that Reva was a Jedi youngling wasn't exactly a surprise, but it does answer how exactly she knew Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker since that information isn't widely known in the galaxy. The fact that she's been using her position as an Inquisitor to get close enough to Vader to exact her revenge for that night was quite a shock though. But not, of course, to Vader.
"Did you really believe I did not see it, youngling?" he snarled as he easily parried her sneak attack after Obi-Wan escaped. Reva got Vader's lightsaber in the gut for her trouble, but as we've seen, that doesn't mean she's down for the count. Still, what she does with Bail Organa's (Jimmy Smits) holo and the information that there is a child on Tatooine that needs protecting is anyone's guess. Will she shield this youngling to make up for those she couldn't protect years ago?
The (real) Grand Inquisitor lives!
Though Darth Vader named Reva the Grand Inquisitor at the start of the episode, by the end, both her betrayal and the return of the original Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) stripped her of that position. Yep, despite also getting a lightsaber in the gut — in episode 2 — the Grand Inquisitor survived to reclaim his place in Star Wars Rebels canon, where he will still be around to bedevil Kanan Jarrus and the rest of the Ghost's crew further down the timeline.
Lucasfilm Ltd. Ewan McGregor in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'
Pour one out for Tala and NED-B
Indira Varma's brave Tala met her end as she sacrificed herself so Obi-Wan and the refugees could escape Vader's clutches. But before she and NED-B took down a whole bunch of stormtroopers on the way out, she confessed to Obi-Wan exactly why she joined this nascent Rebel cell in the first place. After witnessing the slaughter of four Force-sensitive families, six children among them, she couldn't stand to be with the Empire any longer. Sensing what this particular Jedi has been through, she told him, "Some things you can't forget, but you can fight to make them better." Throughout the episode, and especially after her sacrifice, Obi-Wan finally heeded that advice. Whether it was the Jedi graffiti on the walls, the collection of abandoned lightsabers, or the hanger filled with Force-sensitive families, Obi-Wan knows he's needed now more than ever and promised Roken (O'Shea Jackson), "We'll do whatever we can to help."
This episode was another step in the slow reemergence of Obi-Wan's true character. At the beginning of the series, he was living as humble and hidden a life as he could in the mistaken belief that it would keep Luke and Leia safe. The bravery he's witnessed since has given him the courage to rejoin the cause, and it's been a thrill to watch both the Jedi Master and the war general emerge as he grows in confidence.
Additional Thoughts
Leia took a bit of a back seat in this episode, but it's amazing to learn that she inherited Anakin's technical skills as she worked to get the hanger door open so the refugees could escape.
While it was great to see Kumail Nanjiani's con artist with a heart of gold, Haja, pop up again, he might not be the first person I would think to look after a precious, Force-sensitive princess, a lightsaber, and hololink containing the biggest secret in the galaxy. I know Obi-Wan was in a rush and Haja's on the side of good, but Reva cracked open his brain like an egg! He didn't even want to be her babysitter!
The glimpse of a sleeping little Luke Skywalker made it clear that Obi-Wan will return to Tatooine next week, but who exactly will be joining him? We know Obi-Wan will eventually take up a permanent residence, but will Reva… or even Vader? How long could the latter be on Tatooine before discovering a child with his last name living at his stepbrother's home?
While John Williams wrote Obi-Wan Kenobi's theme song, composer Natalie Holt has been doing truly stellar work scoring the rest of the show. She's taken Williams' established themes and ran with them.
Listen to interviews with Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend and more on EW's new Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.
How well do you know Obi-Wan Kenobi? Take EW's quiz to find out where your Jedi skills rank!"
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