Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived on Disney+ four years ago, on May 26, 2022. Ewan McGregor returned as the Jedi Master for six episodes, the last of which aired June 22, 2022. The story is set during the reign of the Galactic Empire.
It is a reunion that mostly works, even when the show around it does not.
Trailer, via Star Wars.
A Jedi in Hiding, a Princess in Danger
The premise is simple and smart. Obi-Wan Kenobi is no longer a Jedi Master in any functional sense. He is a man in hiding, watching over a young Luke Skywalker while the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy. When the daughter of an old ally is taken, he is pulled back into a fight he thought he had left behind.
That daughter is Leia Organa, played here by Vivien Lyra Blair as a child. The series builds its emotional core around the bond that forms between the broken Jedi and the young princess. It is the best decision the show makes. Blair brings a stubborn, bright energy to Leia that keeps the middle stretch of the season from sagging under its own gloom.
McGregor, for his part, plays Obi-Wan as a man worn down to the bone. This is not the confident mentor of the prequel films. He is a figure who has lost his purpose and, for a time, his connection to the Force. McGregor sells that exhaustion without overplaying it.
Reva Sevander and the Third Sister
The series introduces a new antagonist in Reva Sevander, also known as the Third Sister, played by Moses Ingram. Reva is driven by a rage that the show takes its time to explain. Ingram plays her with a hard, jittery intensity that makes her scenes crackle.
Reva’s arc is the most ambitious thing in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it is also the most uneven. The show wants her to be more than a stock villain, and it puts in the work to give her a motive. Whether that motive lands will depend on how much patience you have for a story that keeps its cards close for too long.
What works is the tension she creates. Every time Reva appears, the show tightens. What works less is how often the series relies on her to generate momentum when the plot itself stalls.
The Empire and the Weight of the Past
The setting is the reign of the Galactic Empire, when the Jedi are nearly extinct. Obi-Wan Kenobi uses that backdrop well in its early episodes. The Empire feels large and indifferent, which is exactly right for this era.
The series also carries the weight of Anakin Skywalker. The source synopsis for the show says Obi-Wan embarks on a mission to confront allies turned enemies and face the wrath of the Empire. Anakin is the history behind that mission, and the show treats the character with seriousness.
The show uses Anakin sparingly, and that restraint is mostly to its credit. McGregor and Alec Guinness both played Obi-Wan, and the series sits inside a long line of Star Wars storytelling rather than outside it. Guinness’s performance in the original Star Wars earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, plus a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. That is the standard the character carries.
What the Six Episodes Get Right
The strongest episodes are the ones that slow down. When Obi-Wan Kenobi focuses on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Leia, it finds a rhythm that the action sequences never quite match. The show is at its best when it is about two people trying to survive, not when it is about lightsabers.
McGregor is the anchor. He has played this role across three films and now a series, and he knows exactly who this character is. His Obi-Wan is tired, guilty, and still, somewhere underneath, a Jedi. That is a hard balance, and he holds it.
Ingram is the other reason to watch. Reva could have been a cardboard enforcer. She is not.
Where the Series Stumbles
The problems are structural. Six episodes is a lot of time for a story that could have been told in three. The show repeats emotional beats it has already played. Obi-Wan loses his faith, finds it, loses it again, and finds it again. The cycle becomes visible well before the finale.
The action is also uneven. Some set pieces are staged with real tension. Others feel like the show is going through the motions, hitting the beats a Star Wars story is expected to hit.
The series never quite finds a visual identity of its own. It looks like Star Wars, which is not the same as looking like itself.
Ingram does what she can with Reva’s turn. The writing does not always meet her halfway.
The Verdict on Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a good series that could have been a great one. Its best moments — the quiet ones, the ones between Obi-Wan and Leia, the ones that remember this is a story about a man who lost everything — are genuinely moving. Its worst moments are the ones where it forgets that and becomes a standard Star Wars action show.
The published critical score sits at 7.3 out of 10, with a Metacritic rating of 73 out of 100. That feels right. This is not a failure, and it is not a triumph. It is a solid, occasionally excellent, occasionally frustrating piece of television.
What matters most is that the show understands who Obi-Wan Kenobi is. He is not a hero in the traditional sense. He is a man who failed, who is trying to do one last good thing. The series gets that, even when it gets lost in the noise around it.
If you came for the reunion, you will leave satisfied. If you came for a tightly plotted six hours, you may leave wanting. In this paper’s view, the show belongs in the Star Wars canon without sitting at the top of it. It is not essential viewing. It is, however, worth the watch.
The Numbers
- Title: Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Network: Disney+
- Episodes: 6 (1 season)
- First aired: May 26, 2022
- Last aired: June 22, 2022
- Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure
- Cast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Vivien Lyra Blair (Leia Organa), Moses Ingram (Reva Sevander / Third Sister)
- Published critical score: 7.3/10
- Metacritic: 73/100
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