[Mild spoilers ahead, my friends.]
It starts with an epic montage of Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship: A reminder of the lost brotherhood that left the galaxy broken into a million little pieces.
We see Qui-Gon dying, Obi-Wan training Anakin, Anakin turning to the Dark Side, and then Yoda telling Obi-Wan to take Luke Skywalker to Tatooine. All familiar moments.
The first scene shows us Coruscant, with younglings practicing in the Jedi Temple. Suddenly, Clone Troopers with the 501st – the personal troops of Anakin Skywalker – burst into the room, firing indiscriminately. Order 66 has been issued, and the time of the Jedi is at an end.
A master ignites her green blade, protecting the younglings, but after a valiant fight, she is overcome by the soldiers. Her younglings flee as a massive battle rages on the steps of the Temple.
The first episode is full of heaviness and drama. It is, in short, the Star Wars I grew up with. Unlike The Mandalorian – which, for all its greatness, is focused on the life of a single man and his Baby Yoda – it has a sense of galactic scale. This is the grand narrative Lucas always gave us, and it is the most "Star Wars" thing I have seen since I watched "Revenge of the Sith" in high school (sorry not sorry to the prequel haters).
The story is not about fan service. It is not about making profits by cranking up the nostalgia (looking at you, Disney), subverting the audience through nonsensical plot points (looking at you, Rian Johnson), or preaching woke doctrine on the silver screen (looking at you, Kathleen Kennedy).
The villains are not cheesy (looking again at you, Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams). They aren't whiney Nazi wannabes with Marvel humor meant for 5-year-olds.
These are hardcore baddies, and the new villain Reva is especially bloodthirsty, with a vicious and compelling nature that I haven't seen from a Disney production in a looooong time (mild spoiler: a hand actually gets severed with a lightsaber in a Disney show!).
This is an adventure told through the eyes of an aging man who represents "the last ember of a dying age" and has spent a decade in the desert trying to forget watching everything he loved be destroyed.
Kenobi isn't the same man, and he shouldn't be. His tormented soul comes through in a way that's much more powerful than what Rian Johnson tried to do with Luke Skywalker in "The Last Jedi." He hasn't forgotten his mission, but he is alone, and he is being hunted. He blames himself for failing to see the rise of the Sith and the destruction of his best friend.
But, and here's the real mild spoiler, he is still needed. There are two children who are crucial to stopping the Emperor, and one of them is in danger.
And it is not Luke.
It is this danger that spurs Obi-wan into the galaxy once again, ready to do what needs to be done to save the future of everything.
(I could talk about the second episode, which is even better, but my goodness just go watch it right now.)
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