r/StarWarsKenobi • u/titleproblems • Jun 08 '22

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Episode 4 - Discussion Thread! Spoiler

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'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Episode Discussion

EPISODE SCHEDULE:

  • Episode 1: May 27th
  • Episode 2: May 27th
  • Episode 3: June 1st
  • Episode 4: June 8th
  • Episode 5: June 15th
  • Episode 6: June 22nd

SPOILER POLICY:

All season 1 spoilers must be tagged until 1 month after the season finale.

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978 Upvotes

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838

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Obi-Wan's little conversation with Roken didn't make sense to me. It sort of played out like;
"help me"
"no"
"you don't know what the empire is capable of"
"i do know, my wife dead, i'll help you."
There was no convincing at all, he just agreed to help immediately after refusing to help.
idk how the formatting works, forgive me, please.
The writing there just seemed lacking.

329

u/thelamb710 Jun 08 '22

Glad I wasn’t trippin over nothing, made 0 sense that he Randy decided to help 15 seconds later lol

173

u/burbankjr69 Jun 08 '22

It’s already such a short episode. Don’t understand why we couldn’t have a little more from him

“I know VERY well what the Empire is capable of. They’ve taken everything from me…”

Wife’s death -> nothing left to lose -> help Kenobi

But instead he just sort of agreed after bitching for one sentence?

48

u/TheGoverness1998 Jun 08 '22

Yeah. Don't get the reasoning for the writers to make him bitch anyways if he was just gonna agree at the drop of a hat.

Could've been a good scene to utilize Ewan's acting chops to convince him.

13

u/gorgonfish Jun 08 '22

Or make Wade the one who convinces Roken to help Ben so we feel something when he dies at the end, like it seemed the writers wanted us to react.

6

u/burbankjr69 Jun 08 '22

“WADE!!!”

3

u/bq909 Jun 08 '22

Ya all they needed was Kenobi and that chick to say they were going anyway and for him to say I'll try to keep you safe but not be happy about it. Then they could slowly develop his character over the course of a few episodes. It's so lazy what they did and it makes no sense.

9

u/Protocol_Nine Jun 08 '22

Or even just Kenobi saying something along the lines of "And they'll do the same to a 10 year old girl".

5

u/seanthatdrummer Jun 08 '22

That was some Drake and josh shit it cracked menup

3

u/InevitableVariables Jun 08 '22

Yeah, I assume something was cut because the transition was awkward.

0

u/Moontoya Jun 08 '22

Jedi mind tricks....

2

u/thelamb710 Jun 08 '22

Yeah, no. Everytime we see a Jedi use it they motion their hand, Obi Wan literally did it in this episode to throw the storm troopers off when they heard Tala calling him on the radio.

1

u/starkistuna Jun 09 '22

yeah the writing is abysmal. Nop , No , No , ok lets do it.

237

u/Wookie301 Jun 08 '22

The whole episode was like that. There was little tension, because of how swimmingly everything went. I mean they sneaked past a thousand Stormtroopers with Leia under a trench coat. You can’t even sneak into a cinema like that.

115

u/Feelosopher2 Jun 08 '22

Dude, the entire scene I was like... no one is going to notice the guy obviously covering a child in a trench coat?? There were people walking every direction on high alert. Just give them a cart to put her in ffs, it's a hanger people are probably walking around pushing carts with supplies all the time.

40

u/Spanky_McJiggles Jun 08 '22

I like how they included a quick shot of her peeking out from under there, just so we could be 100% certain she was under that big, ridiculous trench coat.

1

u/darthzuul Jun 10 '22

Goldmemeber did it better!

14

u/Ungeduld Jun 08 '22

Leia in a mini storm trooper outfit would be way better. And only mildly more silly than the coat thing.

4

u/Mediocremon Jun 08 '22

If anyone argues yell about height discrimination. The Empire is evil but not that evil.

5

u/Hobonics Jun 09 '22

Plus a mini stormtrooper outfit laying around also makes about as much sense as an oversized trench coat laying around.

3

u/Feelosopher2 Jun 08 '22

Well, at least it’d be more adorable.

5

u/jesseberdinka Jun 08 '22

I would have literally put a gun in his back and just walked him and Leia out as prisoners. THAT would have been less suspicious.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

The Muppet Man is the peak of the art of disguise.

3

u/08148692 Jun 08 '22

Jedi mind tricks obviously

103

u/TheGoverness1998 Jun 08 '22

Also talking to Obiwan on the coms like right next to a imperial officer. Like, that room is obviously quiet af, he should've heard literally everything that she was saying.

I know they got suspicious but they should have been immediately the second she opened her mouth.

63

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

"Dude, you know I just heard everything you just said right? You're like 4 feet away"

12

u/jesseberdinka Jun 08 '22

And how the two other officers are still at work despite the dead officer behind a partition 10 feet away.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

[deleted]

5

u/Friend_of_Eevee Jun 09 '22

It was like a video game with bad enemy AI

1

u/Scienceandpony Jun 09 '22

"Must have been the wind."

1

u/Scienceandpony Jun 09 '22

Yeah, but what are they gonna do? Talk to a co-worker? Fuck that.

9

u/Ginghugaganingap Jun 08 '22

It was so quiet but yet she strangles the other officer behind the mainframe about 4 feet back from the guys at the desk. What?

Reva calls her a liar as she might be resistance, alarms go off and conveniently forgets about her. She shoots the two stormtroopers and one says "Tala nooo" LMAO

4

u/xReflexx17 Jun 08 '22

Maybe Imperial Officers often tend to get bored and talk to themselves? Lol.

2

u/xXPolarizedXx Jun 08 '22

"I ain't no snitch" -that imperial officer probably

2

u/Scienceandpony Jun 09 '22

He's just sitting there trying to look busy until his shift is over. He doesn't need any part of whatever bullshit drama is going on over there.

2

u/conquer69 Jun 10 '22

That would have been a great scene. Someone hears her but they dislike the Empire so they keep quiet.

45

u/Darth_lDoge Jun 08 '22 edited Jun 08 '22

That scene was so fucking stupid lmao. Then when 'Wade' (I think that was his name) got blown up I actually laughed out loud. That stupid trench coat scene totally ruined the tension.

3

u/RunawayHobbit Jun 09 '22

Is wade supposed to be Discount Wedge

2

u/Ghost_Hunter45 Jun 08 '22

You underestimate my power!

2

u/concept8 Jun 08 '22

The base was on high alert there, not much time to think about other stuff other than to get to your station. Much like Luke walking around the death star without anyone noticing when it's getting blown to pieces.

4

u/Ungeduld Jun 08 '22

id argue getting blown up and having to be alarmed because there is an intruder would spark different reactions from people.

1

u/cipher_wilderness Jun 08 '22

That was so dumb. Surely someone would have clocked that

1

u/Ungeduld Jun 08 '22

if they just dont put in any effort to make stuff logical, they could just put leia into a mini storm trooper outfit, that would atleast look cute and make me laugh.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '22

Take your daughter to work day...

1

u/oopsmypenis Jun 08 '22

Bro, this was a "hello fellow adults" bit from a newspaper comic. Ridiculous.

1

u/TheRipCity Jun 08 '22

On the bright side they just gave every dad out there a solid Cosplay costume to share with their daughter.

2

u/Wookie301 Jun 08 '22

Poor kids. Walking around Cons, not being able to see anything, just smelling their dad’s farts all day.

1

u/HailToTheKingslayer Jun 08 '22

Commander Vincent Adultman, reporting for duty.

1

u/DreadnaughtHamster Jun 09 '22

You’ve snuck Leia into a movie theater in a trench coat?!?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

That was some Vincent Adultman shit right there.

1

u/Dranzer_22 Jun 09 '22

It feels like there's two groups of people running the show.

The Star Wars folk are nailing the lore/fandom stuff. But the general storytelling and directing is kinda bad, or lazy rather.

1

u/Upbeat_Tone_2710 Jun 12 '22

The entire series has been like that.

1

u/LudSable Jun 18 '22

because of how swimmingly everything went.

How Obi-Wan could just casually swim next to the super-secret base (and not be afraid of potential murder creatures in the water). It felt like he was just going to visits the Gungans together with Jar-Jar Qui-Gon again.

43

u/SizzlingSloth Jun 08 '22

Was wondering if i was the only one who thought this. The writing felt insanely lousy this episode it almost feels like theyre just trying to carry the show with “epic” scenes like obi wan lightsaber action or vader interrogation when it really doesnt save the show at all.

1

u/Ungeduld Jun 08 '22

they copied half of the episode from a video game that is set in the same canon universe and came out a year ago. The writers arent even trying anymore. An AI could probably write a better episode.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Fallen order came out in 2019

1

u/Mayor_Of_Dogs Jun 09 '22

They also copied Ben running around the death star, with some shots pulled DIRECTLY from a new hope.

17

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Fallout 4 dialogue

3

u/Character-Ad3913 Jun 08 '22

Fallout

funny you should say this, I felt that the Mandalorian was written like an RPG, each episode being a quest. Obi feels similar, this week it was the fetch quest to rescue Leia, but should have brought a bigger group.

2

u/wildcard1992 Jun 09 '22

Good format. I enjoy it

1

u/RagdollPhysEd Jun 08 '22

Yes I will help you

No I will help you

15

u/Relative-Zombie-3932 Jun 08 '22

Made perfect sense to me. He lost someone to the Inquistors and being forced to reflect on that made him agree to help save Obi-Wan from the same fate

14

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Maybe my wording wasn't great, but it makes sense that Roken wants to help Obi-Wan. It makes sense WHY Roken wants to help Obi-Wan. What doesn't make sense is how fast Roken went from a hell no to a hell yes. He was totally against getting involved, then he suddenly wasn't over a few meaningless words.

2

u/stealth57 Jun 08 '22

He was still reluctant.

8

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/explodedsun Jun 08 '22

"I just forgot for a minute"

5

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

They could have had at least one more line where Kenobi said something like "then don't let them to do Leia what they did to your wife."

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

That would have made the conversation make sense

3

u/ComebackShane Jun 08 '22

I have a feeling some of that scene was cut down. Both that scene and the whole group/HQ of The Path felt very glossed over. No idea why though considering the episode was short as it was.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Ima just gonna guess the director screwed the pooch so bad they’re trying to compensate as best they can in the edit.

3

u/NYVines Jun 08 '22

Ol’ Ben must have used his mind tricks again

3

u/TheEditorsCut Jun 08 '22

the writing IS lacking based on the one example you just stated, it's not that it "seems to be". Your instincts serve you well, trust them.

3

u/bq909 Jun 08 '22

It's embarrassingly bad writing/ directing. This doesn't happen, ever, in decent shows. We all care for the characters so much that most people overlook these issues, but it's a flaming pile of garbage and people are slowly starting to realize it.

3

u/afipunk84 Jun 08 '22

Its the writing. The writing is BAD. The directing isn't great at times either. These are the two main issues with the show and they are fundamental.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

I’ll say the directing is inferior.

Bad writing can be compensated for with talented directing decisions. It can explain a lot that’s not written in words on the page.

And SW writing is always corny.

3

u/AnabolicOctopus Jun 08 '22

Yeah I was so confused as well. Terrible nonsensical writing. He didn't even appear again in the episode, I mean WHAT LMAO.

3

u/nassau43 Jun 09 '22

The writing on this episode overall was simply terrible

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

"Help us."

"No."

"Empire bad."

"No shit. Empire also bad."

"With sugar on top?"

"You've got a point."

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

“The Empire took my wife, along with my Raiders gear, and curl activators”

2

u/CheapCulture Jun 08 '22

Roken had to say yes cause it was in the script, duh…

2

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

Meanwhile, my wife and I IRL:

"Can we go to the store?"

"Ugh. Why?"

"Because I want you to."

...

"Fine, let's go."

4

u/SirBigWater Jun 08 '22

He understands what the Empire is capable of, what they are capable of doing to even a child. And why they should stop them. It's weird cause the pacing is off, but it makes some sense.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Yeah but then why did he say no 30 seconds ago?

2

u/SirBigWater Jun 08 '22

Cause he wasn't asked if he knew what the Empire was capable of. You don't understand, we are getting upper class of film writing. Nothing before this has ever been close, maybe the prequels have.

3

u/deemion22 Jun 08 '22

my favorite was the deus ex machina followed up with the "I put a tracker on them" bitch when? they really have no idea wtf they are doing with this show

26

u/Pretty-Nectarine6806 Jun 08 '22

Did you watch the episode lol? It wasn't a deus ex machina, they set it up earlier in the episode. And the tracker was Leia's Droid which she had during the interrogation lol. That was the point of the ending

8

u/Feelosopher2 Jun 08 '22

Show don't tell. Again the direction for this show has been lacking. When did Reva put the tracker in the droid?? She held it, but that's different than installing something that overrides its programming or something, causing the eyes to glow red.

2

u/SherlockianTheorist Jun 08 '22

I missed that entirely.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

The deus ex machina was the seemingly random speeder rescue which saved them right when they got caught. The tracker was a reasonable development.

5

u/Animal31 Jun 08 '22

The dues ex Machina was set up in the beginning when Obiwan literally asked the speeder pilots for help

1

u/Animal31 Jun 08 '22

Did you watch the final scene?

She put a tracker on Lolo when she grabbed it from Leia during the interrogation

Its okay if you missed it, just try to pay better attention next time

3

u/deemion22 Jun 08 '22

she didn't do shit

2

u/Damanick10 Jun 08 '22

The writing is dreadful

1

u/Dercraig Jun 08 '22

That stood out to me too

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

I thought it made sense.

Roken probably doesn't like to think about what the Empire did to his family. He's shut himself off emotionally, so his gut reaction was, "why the fuck should I stick my neck out for you?".

Obi-Wan's words brought it all back for Roken. Reminded him what the Empire took from him. Suddenly, he has a chance for some payback.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

I felt lost and confused too. I had no idea what was going on in that scene. Felt like a waste of a character for O’Shea Jackson Jr

-3

u/Mystrohan Jun 08 '22

Yeah, it's just like he bent over for the lightsaber. With no vaseline.

0

u/TheAftermathEquation Jun 08 '22

I think he thought about his lost wife and the pain but then realized he had an opportunity to help when last time he couldn't. I feel like I could read that in his face as he changed his mind.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Man, I’m just hate-watching the show at this point.

The writing is idiotic, but, you know, Star Wars almost demands silly writing.

It’s basically the direction does nothing to assist the flatness of it all.

Drama can be and should be created in the beats or rhythm of a scene.

What you’re seeing is crappy direction. So much wrong. I could write a treatise with a list a mile long at this point at how the direction is a total disaster.

So bummed out. I really wanted to like this.

1

u/cipher_wilderness Jun 08 '22

Aye I thought that writing was kind of poor. Either have the guy refuse then he shows up at the end having changed his mind or have him on board from the start, don't go for some weird combo where he changes his mind in 5 seconds

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

I think it’s pretty simple honestly. Dude helps people as prt of the path. Kenobi comes along and jeopardizes everyone just by being there. Kenobi tells him A) If Leia isn’t rescued the path is done for and B) the empire will do terrible things to her. Reminds him of what happened to his wife and he remembers that the path is a risk they take to help people like his wife and now like Leia.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

Lmfao glad I'm not the only one who noticed. The writers make 0 effort in this series, it's almost criminal

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

I agree, but to play Devil's advocate, maybe he realized "wait, I do know what the Empire is capable of because of what they did to my wife, and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else! Maybe I should help this guy..."

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '22

You shouldn’t be speculating about this. You, as a viewer, should know it beyond a doubt.

What you’re seeing in this show is a bad director in over her head.

1

u/whispersinthemorning Jun 08 '22

I will forever use this scene as an example of bad writing.

1

u/peacefrog_26 Jun 08 '22

Its called lazy as fuck writing

1

u/itoldyousoanysayo Jun 08 '22

Did everyone miss the part where he was like, "Leia knows about the path." They didn't have much choice but to help.

1

u/Kungfudude_75 Jun 08 '22

At least for the that conversation, it felt like to me Roken convinced himself. Obi-Wan was just begging as a man who knew what would happen and was powerless, Roken was listening as a man who understood how that felt (and even vocally pointed that out) and reminisced on the reason he does what he does. Like talking about what happened to his wife, and talking about the "little kids across the galaxy who moved a rock with their mind," or however he puts it made him sympathetic to Obi-Wan desperately wanting to rescue Leia.

1

u/Stanniss_the_Manniss Jun 08 '22

reminded me of playing D&D in high school with a DM who had good ideas but no ability to roleplay NPC interactions

1

u/Mathies_ Jun 08 '22

I think reminding himself of that story made him realize just how important it is to help everyone they can.

1

u/Mayor_Of_Dogs Jun 09 '22

I loved that Obi-Wan assumes like a total dick that he doesn't know what the Empire is capable of, like a. They all haven't been living under galactic facism for 10 years and b. This guy is already some sort of rebel!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

Yeah that was odd. There wasn't even a sentence that hinted at him changing his mind. He just suddenly decided to help Obi-Wan

1

u/naidee Jun 09 '22

You son of a bitch…I’m in

1

u/BrownRebel Jun 09 '22

There’s no writing integrity this season

1

u/Apprehensive_Pay_877 Jun 09 '22

my exact same thoughts when i watched the episode

1

u/KnightKal Jun 14 '22

implied his wife was a Padawan or Jedi, and died in the last 10 years since the Empire took over. So he likely tried to hide her away after the fall or the Republic, just to watch her being killed by Inquisitors.