My interpretation of "I wish I was." line to Leia was that he wanted to spare her from her true paternal parentage rather than alluding to an attraction to Padme. That's just how I read it. The ambiguity is a problem with the script.
I think it all comes down to the person when they hear the line. I didn't even consider for a second that Obi meant he had feelings for Padme until way later when I saw a debate about it on Twitter. I agree that it was meant to come off as him being mournful that Leia will never know her true parents, while her father is now one of the evilest people in the galaxy.
Yeah. I never took it as a "I wish I'd a hit that! She wuh so fiiiine!" type line and Ewan didn't give it that inflection either. To me that's just a nitpick that people "wanted" to find. The script had problems, but that wasn't one of them.
This was absolutely brutal. I loved every minute of it. The thing is, your take is cleanly and clearly obvious. Watching Obi-Wan I thought of most of these plot and continuity problems. I'd think to myself after each episode, "What am I missing that this feels so disconnected? Am I being a bad fan? " So, in this case, what you uncover in the video is patently and pathetically obvious, and it is your delivery of those facts that is brilliant. Thank you!
@@mrillis9259What? But in ep 4 she says “help me OBI WAN KENOBI” your my only Hope, not Ben Kenobi. Now it makes sense how she knows Kenobi, she met him when she was 9/10, remembers him and knows he’s a Jedi, he’s the only Jedi she’s ever met and keeps it a secret
There were a few moments where the music felt a little bit off, mainly in the emotional Obi-Wan vs Vader fight, which is supposed to be character driven, not story driven. But that’s only a small problem. Everything else is fine. Reva dies by the stab, having been consumed by vengeance and Grand Inquisitor lives because of his two stomachs
Michael, regarding the Leia and Obi-Wan story arc, there’s another piece to it that breaks, and this is the one that ruined it for me: In “A New Hope”, Leia’s entire holographic message she plants in R2 for Kenobi is done in a way that explicitly shows she only knows of Kenobi through reputation alone. Like Luke forgetting all about the lightsaber attack on his home, it doesn’t make sense Leia would forget a long adventure with Kenobi. Star Wars has gotten as bad as the numerous Terminator sequels.
Leia could be feigning ignorance, as Obi-Wan asked her to do. Luke never saw Reva. It is possible he simply assumed the homestead was under attack by the Tusken Raiders, which is what the family planned these drills for. Please note: I am not defending the show, but merely offering potential solutions to these situations. :)
@@thestarkknightreturns In her message, Leia exposes herself, her father and her planet as being part of the Rebellion. She also reveals that she not only knows Obi-Wan (who is wanted by the Empire) is alive and knows his precise location, but she is also actively trying to recruit his help against the Empire. Should the droids have ended up in the hands of the Empire, Leia, her father, and the people of Alderaan would have been in deep podoo - Leia and Bail would certainly have been executed, and Obi-Wan would have been hunted down by the Empire - regardless if her greeting had been: "General Kenobi. Years ago you helped me and my family. Now we beg you to help us in our struggle against the Empire.” instead of "General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire.” (Leia, ANH)
I don’t really agree with the idea that prequels need to go off on its own thing due to a lack of narrative tension otherwise. With prequels, the main interesting thing in the story is how we got to that point, the journey being the interesting part. So while we know how it ends, how we got to that ending is what makes us curious. Of course, that very much does depend on whether said journey is of any interest to begin with. Only certain stories are worth having their backstories fully elaborated upon.
To be honest, the line "Now the Jedi are all but extinct..." was always a problem, and symptomatic of the biggest issue with Starwars that cropped up as soon as they started trying to make sequels to the first movie. The background information given in the Original Starwars to explain how the landscape we see in that film came about was not supposed to be thought about too much. It was meant to establish the stakes of the adventure to come, and build up the threat of the antagonists in a single stand-alone adventure story. So you're telling me a single handicapped man, not only managed to eliminate every single force-user IN AN ENTIRE GALAXY, but also did it in less time than it takes for a cut of trousers to go out of style? Everyone? Seriously? How in hell could Obiwan and Tarkin have been so certain about that? You might argue that Jedi are so super special that even in an entire galaxy they would still be a manageable number but then you have to ask how Vader managed to find them at all? Space is big! You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is! I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space! The only way this line isn't an absurdity is if you dismiss it as the limited perspective of one old man, and not the canonical state of the universe... Oh shit, here come the Prequels, never fucking mind!
Almost all of the prequelization of STAR WARS (1977) has only served to assassinate Obi-Wan's character from the original movie. He was tasked with hiding away Luke to safeguard him from Vader and the Emperor, and does so by leaving him with Anakin's step brother on Anakin's home planet, all the while continuing to dress as a Jedi and only bothering to change his first name to Ben. In the original movie, Obi-Wan was only dressed in beige robes because that was desert clothing, Tusken Raiders also wear them, but then the prequels retconned them into official Jedi robes. I guess you could argue that Vader would never want to step foot on Tattooine again, so hiding Luke there is actually clever, but there has to be a pretty big bounty out on Obi-Wan Kenobi by the Empire. Just imagine Vader, in his pod, getting news of a Ben Kenobi who only ever wears Jedi robes, living on Tattooine. It all just makes Obi-Wan look like a huge dumbass.
Tatooine was established as as far away from a bright part of the galaxy as you can get. And Luke had never been to Mos Eisley. The prequels established that Tatooine was outside of the republic's control, and run by gangsters. It's also implied in ANH that Obi-Wan was a hermit. You don't think that Obi-Wan was dressed to resemble a wizard or samurai, as Vader was? It was just pure chance he looked as he did? Obi-Wan is able to take down just about anyone, and mind trick or distract stormtroopers, so there's really no reason for him to dress in disguise, although I agree he could do that. It was also Yoda's idea that Luke be placed on Tatooine - and considering that Anakin suffered from being separated from his family and losing his identity, there is a certain logic in returning Luke to the closest thing he has to family. Everything in the Kenobi D+ show is nonsense, though. As for the 'damage' the prequels did to Obi-Wan, the prequels show that both Obi-Wan and Yoda can learn from their mistakes, and still believe in their ideals even under the burden of so much failure and despair.
It took usa years to find and kill bin lama on one planet. Now, try finding an individual who is in hiding on a galaxy scale who isn't sending video mocking a government that he still alive.
@@bloodysimile4893 Osama Bin Laden didn't move to Crawford Texas, change his name to Osama Ben Laden, and just wander about town dressed exactly like his Wanted poster either. Which is essentially what Obi Wan did because of all the rewriting of his backstory pre A New Hope.
I've had the utmost respect for RetroBlasting since I first discovered your channel. After watching this video that level of respect has only grown. The propeller hats at Disney should assemble a Quality Assurance focus group and have them watch this upload. They could only better their future body of work and themselves by doing so. Kudos to Michael and Melinda and everything RetroBlasting!! 👏👏
I think I've moved on from indifference to star wars to actually hating it. I have respect for the film makers of the original for how they pushed special effects so far forward, and respect for George Lucas for his phenomenal business sense, but I think I hate the actual franchise now.
Another well thought out and great commentary - thanks for putting all of our thoughts into a well summarized video! Closing in on 100k subscribers - congrats on your great success!
I watched the Patterson cut a few weeks ago, it does a sterling job of washing over all that nonsense but as you said those cracks are already too deep to paint over. Disney really does need to take on new bold writers and sidestep from what we already know. It's really refreshing to watch you critique such failures without getting wrapped up in agenda politics and unfathomable hatred. Well done Michael for your level headedness. Goddammit, your good. Would I lie to You clips work a treat too. I'm standing up and clapping you Sir 👏👏👏👏
A skilful dissection of the Obi-Wan corpse, by Michael French for the RetroBlasting Channel. It's a shame that Disney don't hire any scriptwriters as intelligent, or as knowledgeable of Star Wars, as Michael, to work on their Star Wars franchise.
To me, the one thing that makes the Patterson Cut SO much better than the series was one simple line added. Qui-Gon's voice telling Obi-Wan that Anakin is still the Chosen One. It just blows me away how clueless the writer's of the show would not think of that. I figured if there had to be a rematch, something would happen out of Kenobi's control that would prevent him from killing Vader and has to leave him there beaten. But nope. They just do Mustafar again and Obi-Wan does what he must and leaves. Another thing the writers should have done, and I know it probably wouldn't make that much of s difference, they should have made this show maybe 5 years after "Revenge of the Sith" or less. Have it be closer to the fall of the Republic. That way, it makes sense that Vader is still obsessed with finding Kenobi and maybe there are some few remaining Jedi that are being hunted.
"Sith Lords are our specialty" but that doesn't mean inquisitors 🤣. Anyway I heard the Emperor had a few Snokes in a Jar and Michael Burnham on speed dial if Anakin got big blue ghosted.
Completely agree. Michael your patience to go through this step by step is incredible. Amazing work. I am truly amazed at the grade school level of writing Disney seems to continuously hire. Incredible. Inconceivable we are at this point in Star Wars World.
Wow, that was a very well put together, cohesive synopsis of everything that is wrong with the current situation of Star Wars. Your best video to date on the subject. Great video Michael!
I haven't even bothered watching the Obi Wan series. Boba Fett was so boring it drained what tiny amount of enthusiasm I had for anything new from Disney Star Wars.
Michael you took the thoughts right out of my mind on this and brought it to light in another over the top video presentation! Well said, excellently transcribed and 100% factual! To a tee!
The Inquisitors took at times too up too much space in the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon after season one. The introduction and exit of any connection to that group should have ended with the death of the grand inquisotor, in my opinion. The inclusion of the Inquisitors is better suited for a videogame or book setting(novel,comic book) narrative. For example the storyline in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II involving the Inquisotor Jerec and I feel a ramble beginning on my part, so I will just stop now. I also agree with the perspective stated in this video.
The Star Wars franchise is basically Weekend At Bernies right now. Disney is just propping up a corpse to try to cover their asses after the sequel trilogy debacle.
There is this UA-camr named Magog who said a few weeks ago about IP's that we've grown up with and love that we should just let them go. Let them go in the sense that they will never be what we'd like them to be. Disney has no great plan for Star Wars, we all know that way too well these days. Sadly I don't think Disney will ever let the Star Wars IP go because if they did eventually sell it off, they'd have to admit defeat when the next person who owns it actually makes it great. And Disney's ego is too big to ever allow that to happen.
Great video, the problem is as always the risk averse way they approach the property. I'm sure there's lots of stories you could tell in the Star Wars universe some of the video games did this without a problem, but they will not take the risk which is a real shame as there is plenty of room in the sandbox for all kinds of stories to be told.
Is doesn’t read to me that Kenobi was forgetful regarding Leia but that he had no faith at all in her abilities and Yoda did, or perhaps that Yoda may have sensed her latent abilities where Kenobi could not.
SW enthusiasts who understand the OT need to let go of the brand and stop acknowledging shitzney products. Those people don't understand the IP they purchased, and they do not respect the audience, nor the lore. Let it go, friends, let it go...
I stopped after I saw "The Last Jedi". I came back for The Mandalorian after I heard good things (watched it without subscribing for my own Disney+ account, though). Then they fired Gina Carano and I was gone for good.
@@projektkobra2247 Speaking of posters, did you see that shirt Disney made where they "Potato Jesus"-ed the Return of the Jedi poster and replaced "Slave Leia" with Leia in her Hoth outfit (which she obviously never wears in ROTJ)?
The inquisitors in Rebels do not bother me. I see them as force sensitive pawns being used by Vader and the Emperor. It is only natural to have survivors with so many force users in the galaxy. If you have a problem with other force users during the Rebellion era, you are probably not going to like the old Expanded Universe. Where do you think Mara Jade came from? She was a force sensitive Hand of the Emperor. Honestly Michael, Obi-Wan is not bad because of characters like the inquisitors and other force sensitive survivors. The issue with the Obi-Wan show is how poorly the writers utilized the Inquisitors and the terrible direction they took with established old trilogy characters. Rebels did its own thing and only occasionally had appearances by known characters like Leia or Vader. Rebels also made efforts to establish action away from places like Tatooine. When they did involve Tatooine, it was a very small affair with Ben Kenobi, Maul, and Ezra. Very self contained. Disney has made MANY mistakes with Star Wars. The Rebels show is not one of them. I would argue Rebels is the best achievement under Disney's ownership of the brand.
@blaccap Oh really? So tell me what Disney content is better than the 4 seasons of Rebels? It sure as heck is not the Sequel Trilogy or a bore fest like Solo. Mandalorian, Rogue One? Those 2 entries are the only content that could be better than Rebels.
@blaccap Well, I don't disagree with Disney Star Wars having varying degrees of bad. I don't see Mando or Rebels in that category though. Rebels even came out before Force Awakens, so it wasn't like taking a bad ex back. Mando and Rebels made some questionable decisions, but they are still better than certain old Lucas content (see Prequels). They actually attempt to world build outside of the small world view of a show like Obi-Wan. Disney spent billions to acquire Star Wars. I expect them to pump out content and toys. Anyone who expects them to just sit on the IP and re-release the OT and PT is nuts. That said, I will call them out for disasters like Last Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker. I didn't buy a single piece of merchandise related to those shows. I didn't even see RoS in theaters after the disappointment of The Last Jedi. I trust the fans will speak with their wallets. If Rebels had been such a failure, it would have ended long before reaching 4 seasons and 75 episodes of content.
Always had a difficult time getting through the Brian Daley Han Solo novels for some reason having to do with the prose style, but loved both of the EU trilogies focusing on Solo. Anyone else have this experience?
I love this video, I will say I agree with you on how there shouldn't be force sensitives employed by the Empire other than Vader. It just ruins that original film, and ruins the importance of Vader as the Enforcer of the Emperor. It also makes Tarkin look like a wank. But I have tbh, the EU had the same issues, it was the EU that we first got other ex Jedi and dark siders who serve the Empire. This kind of shit started in the 90's, but at least they were fun, now they are all in matching uniform and have red helicopter lightsabers.
I think Tarkin said what he did for several reasons. He knows Kanan is dead, he thinks Ezra is dead with Thrawn, and he’s too stupid to understand the Force or Jedi
Predictability isn't a bad thing. If you know a character well enough, you can predict what they would do in a given situation. If what they do makes sense with who they are, then that's good writing.
whenever I sit down to watch the original trilogy I have completely forget and ignore everything else (including the prequels) in order to truly enjoy them. Star Wars has so much baggage now that reject pretty much all of it.
Excellent video essay! I greatly enjoyed it. As much of a curveball as ROTJ’s “Leia is Luke’s sister” twist is, what’s done is done. Moving forward after that film, Luke and Leia are brother and sister. I personally don’t care if Leia becomes a Jedi after ROTJ, as she was much more interested in politics anyway. JJ Abrams continuing her story/character trajectory as a political/military leader was completely fine with me. That being said, Luke and Leia are now brother and sister after ROTJ, and I can’t believe Luke would abandon his sister and completely give up hope on his nephew. To never adequately explain why Luke would completely give up hope on Ben Solo and abandon his family to clean up the mess he created is, in my opinion, one of the sequel trilogy’s primary failures.
While I commend the Patterson cut for the attempt and enjoy most of the changes he did, the flaws with the series run way too deep. Just make more original stories and stop allowing this franchise to remain creatively bankrupt.
Yeah, it was shockingly bad (the series). It's honestly amazing to me that after all this time and speculation, what they come up with was so shoddy and lazy; it felt as if they had written it literally 2 weeks before shooting. There are some movies and series that just can't be saved by even the most well-made fan edits. It's really a shame, because so many people wanted McGregor to finally have a film/series worthy of him, but even his oddly disconnected performance suggested that he knew it was disappointing.
I wanted to like this series so badly. But, it's missing pretty much all the aspects of good story telling...such as consequences or perceived consequences. The POSSIBILITY of death, for example. We know Obi-wan, Vader, Luke, and Leia can't die. So, all the kidnapping, lightsaber battles, and all that have no tension. I already know Luke isn't going to die when he gets chased down by Reva.
In all of your video essays, your top-tier, meticulous choice of words to convey each and every one of your purpose-filled and righteous statements... is never lost on meeee!!! ♥️
This is why I enjoy RetroBlasting "review" content. Thorough, intelligent takes with respect to the material in all it forms (books, shows, movies). A refreshing change from the usual suspects whining about wokeness and other tired topics in their surface-level analyses. Thanks, Michael!
I think the idea that Obi Wan gets out from Tatooine before ANH, is a bad idea. By my opinion, Obi Wan had to stay on Tatooine while the Empire was searching for him. And his confrontation with Vader should have been happened through some kind of the telepathic connection, the same we've seen in between Rey and Kylo Ren
I think all of the great sci-fi properties(SW, ST, WHO) are well beyond saving. Because those who own those properties, either do not care. Or do not have the understanding of what needs to be done to save those properties. Even if they did, finding the people who can see the changes through. Left Hollywood a long time ago, like you say Michael. "The fans do the best work", it will be up to some of them out there who will one day create original sci-fi IP's for us to explore.
14:10 / 31:07 you know that in comics other jedis survived and also what about palpetines hand Mara Jane, there were more like her under palpetines order, the iqusitors are just a new version of it and all dead when episode 4 starts. think the retcon if it even is one with Tarking is okay its nothing major and when all inquisitors are dead at this point in time its actually no retcon and even when some small retcons like this are okay
Thank you Michael! I have tried making these points to friends of mine but you have done it in such great detail I will be sharing your video. Why do other fans not see what we see?!
28:41....could NOT have said it better myself!! I tapped out when Vader used the Force to stop an escaping spaceship in its tracks (why didn't he do that to the Falcon at Echo Base?!?) All logical sense is out the window.
I disagree with the idea that Obi-wan "forgot" Leia was Luke's sister. The context was Luke being the Jedi's last hope, not the last Skywalker. From my point of view, Obi-wan simply dismissed Leia as incapable of learning how to use the Force, because she hasn't demonstrated any talent for it, rather than being completely ignorant of her heritage. Another thing that I disagree with is the idea that the inquisitors and their prequel era equivalents are inherently out of place. They aren't sith, and are used by their sith masters as weaker tools that could be easily disposed of should they fail or turn traitor. They're also all dead, MIA, undercover, or simply not classified as such by A New Hope that it's understandable that Tarkin would consider Darth Vader to be unique in the galaxy. It's also a concept that predates TCW. I.E. Maul and Starkiller were lowly assassins, Ventress was a distraction, and Mara was a spy. However, Savage Oppress is a lame palette-swapped Darth Maul clone OC that isn't worth defending. (Edit: I'm also not trying to defend the inquisitors as Disney is portraying them, because Disney IS incompetent when writing anything Star Wars.)
Thank you for this. Inquisitors were not creations of Disney LFL.... The Inquisitors and inquisitorium didnt originate in Rebels. Pablo Hildago himself said they pulled the idea for them from the old West End Games RPG modules. They are first mentioned in the 1987 sourcebook and later fleshed out to more extent through the 1990s. The first one mentioned (Who's name i forget atm) wasnt much of a force user and was much more like an Earth Inquisitor, but later in the 90's they became sabre wielding darkside users without going full Master/Apprentice Sith followers. There is a difference between Sith and the Dark side.... few bother to go into this though as an example the Clone Wars Witches of Dathomir. While the Inquisitors werent as cartoony(pun intended lol) as they are in Rebels,... Rebels itself isnt supposed to be super serious. It's budget and gags werent on par with Clone Wars or Bad Batch. While I agree with some of Michael's opinions... like Reva attacking him on the Lar's homestead and Obiwan allowing his powers to wane to a point he can't protect Luke. And again letting Vader live... with that I agree. While some of his other seem... less researched or i disagree with... eh everyone has opions.
I'm certain that Reva was supposed to die in the penultimate episode with her failed attempt on Vader's life ending her story arc. Someone must have sent down word to keep her alive (for either a potential spinoff, a recurring character in their other shows, or just out of fear of killing off the strong black woman they'd hyped up so much), and that's why the finale felt so tacked on and inexplicable. How did she survive? How did she get off planet? How did she do all that and get to Tatooine while Ben is still trying to escape the orbiting Star Destroyer? Who does she think Luke is? Is she trying to get revenge on Vader by killing his son (how does she know this??) or does she just know he is important to Ben so wants to have revenge on him (for what reason?).
I don't disagree that this is all dogshit seasoned with catshit, but the line from Obi-wan to Leia regarding her question of if he was her father, "I wish I could say I was," to me merely meant that he was sorry that her real father was piece-of-crap Vader. I hadn't even considered the possible romantic subtext - which I would have been in favor of back in the day.
Spot on video. I’m OK with Jedi existing between the prequels and the OT provided that those characters maintain a very low profile on the outskirts of the galaxy where their presence was sparse to begin with.
Me too. In fact, that's one of the reasons why the 2008 game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is so popular: It does what Rebels attempted to do by focusing on Jedi heroes after Revenge of the Sith, but it did so in the right way. Even the concept of force wielders working for the Empire is done better! The main character, Galen/"Starkiller", is kept a secret from most of the Empire as Vader's apprentice as Vader saw the potential in him. Of course, ultimately Vader would betray him and send him on the path to becoming the Jedi who singlehandedly kickstarted the Alliance to Restore the Republic in the old Legends canon, but that's neither here or there.
The possibility of there being Jedi in hiding is valid. That the Empire has force users in their employ is utterly impossible. These shows are just fanservice, nothing more.
Great stuff!!! You nailed it. I know Redlettermedia will be proud! Please, can you tell us how to find the Patterson cut? Or the Maple Films Hobbit cut? Thanks!!
Anakin thinking Obi Wan was having an affair with Padme was also in most early drafts and the first shooting script of Revenge Of The Sift. It's why Anakin got so ticked off when Kenobi came down Padme's ship ramp. The unused scene had Palpatine asking Anakin what he wanted and offered him the Jedi Temple as his palace and the most rare of Star Destroyer designs as his personal ship and then Padme's delegation shows up. Then after Palpatine says Anakin's judgement of Padme is clouded and conflicted and can't detect that Padme's commitee is influenced by the Jedi Council. Obi Wan himself has reportedly been seen coming and going from her apartment on several occasions, in which Anakin storms out, goes to Padme's apartment and senses Obi Wan was there like in the movie. As to why Kenobi focuses mostly on Episode 4 'fixes'.....wait till you see the nightmare Ashoka series will bring. Remember in Rebels, Ezra saved her from getting killed by Vader by pulling her into a interdimensional time/space thing....so technically she should have died shortly after Order 66, but instead, she is part of a timeline that should not be there. Without her, the Mandalorian would never have gotten Grogu to Luke.....Disney is creating an alternate timeline so a Thrawn Trilogy can be created as an alternate 7 8 and 9 for those who are anti-sequel trilogy.....These people are finally using some of George Lucas's ideas but in another bad way. can you imagine a Thrawn trilogy with all our original trilogy heroes deep faked faces....Feloni calls Ashoka a religious experience, but trust me, we will all be confused as heck how any of these characters make any sense anymore. Some at Disney want to reboot Episodes 4 thru 6 with Ashoka's new timeline worked into it.....They bought a franchise with no sense of a direction. There really was a 2011 trilogy approved by George Lucas that the series is based on which was not bad like we got. but you know how cruddy everything has been after 2012.....
Always love your in-depth reviews. I feel the same and have had many an discussion with friends about Star Wars and other properties when it come s to their respected universes.
The sad thing is that Disney is slowly chipping away at the quality of every franchise they own because of overexposure. When Star Wars is just a TV show now, it's no longer special. Same for Marvel. If they were thinking big picture and long term, they would "pause" any new Star Wars content for a while AND reduce the amount of merch out there. Then announce (after a few years) the NEW trilogy. Spend that time REALLY nailing the characters and story beats. It's a pipe dream, but if they don't want Star Wars to become a dead brand then they need to be more thoughtful and strategic.
The biggest problem is that the current Lucasfilm creatives don’t recognize the original trilogy as the support bearing story. They should because none of the other media could stand on its own.
4:02 "...and he bursts in through the door, hammered as usual" That made me laugh right out. This is exactly how the writing feels in most Disney Star Wars productions.
One of the problems with the prequel trilogy is that as a kit growing up with the original Star Wars, I always assumed that the empire had been around for quite a while. That palpatine was very old that his rised power happened long before Luke. Now with the prequels the rise of the empire happened roughly the same time as the financial crash of 08. So not much time.
Ouch! But you are not wrong. Certain plot elements that you point out always bugged me. When I bought the book "The Secret History of Star Wars" and it listed out the various rewrites & plot ideas as mentioned in various interviews, quotes, drafts etc. & put them into chronological order, the plot twists started making sense. It didn't make them "right" but it explained why George changed things as he went along.
I’m going to try something different. I never saw this new obi wan show…so I’m going to watch the fan edit without knowing what’s been changed or cut. That way I can judge it with fresh eyes without any contrast to the official it’s fixing.
As unlikely as it was, I had hoped that they would tap into the Marvel Comics extended universe and maybe have him deal with some planets and races only seen there so far. Maybe even fill in some backstories? It would've been exciting for us who grew up as comic fans and still be interesting for the non-comic fans since it would be new and not sealed fate-rehashing and would give the writers numerous years to cull for gems.
I truly think it was cool to see ice cube Jr in the show. His character was enjoyable for what we saw him. As for the inquisitors, they aren’t real sith as I thought. Very much like how Dooku trained an assassin.(ventress) Also the whole tarkin thing makes sense. Do not forget the inquisitors all get bodied by Ashoka, Cal, Vader, Kanan, Ezra, and Maul by the time Star Wars began. After they’re all dead Vader just said what Thanos said(I’ll do it myself) and did away with ALL of them after all the best died. Then began hunting Jedi himself.
I think when an audience member has to go through mental hoops and mental 'rewriting' of plot to make the story work or fit in with any canon, then it's bad scriptwriting.
I honestly don't think it would take forgetfulness for Obi-Wan to omit the prospect of Leia as a jedi. I think it simply means that this an absolutely monumental, insurmountable task & that this was such a desperate situation that you couldn't stand another Skywalker turning to the dark side. It would make Leia's job a whole lot harder if she were to be trained and then pit against the Emperor & Luke, or Vader & Luke. Two Skywalkers
Excellent conclusion!!! ^_^ 15:50 that raises a question . . . Why isn’t Disney doing crazy crossovers with other properties? It could be a cash grab that wouldn’t make people feel abused, but amused. Assuming they use a half decent fan fiction writer.
I really can't argue with anything in this video, however I do think Disney has redeemed itself with Andor, which might be the best writing/acting/storytelling in the entire Star Wars brand (and this is coming from someone who was completely burned out on anything and everything Star Wars). Andor could be and should be a model for all Star Wars shows going forward -- let a great writer/filmmaker like Tony Gilroy assemble his team of writers, actors and directors, and let them do their thing.
Knights of the Old Republic, Dark Forces and many other EU proved you could make new Star Wars characters. The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy proved you take background characters and make a fun story. Disney proved how to mess up every potential, throw away all good will and sink a billion dollar property.
I’m the weirdo whose SW fandom is pegged square between 77 and 80. SW77 (I refuse to call it Episode 4 or A New Hope) is my go-to, my favorite. While I enjoy and appreciate ESB and ROTJ I can also live without them. And that’s my attitude to the Prequels, Sequels, Spin-offs, and ancillary media - I live without them.
As ever, well researched, argued and presented. The inter-trilogy years used to be something of a narrative void in terms of the Jedi/ Sith conflict. The Jedi are crushed at the end of episode 3, then basically in hiding, until Luke comes of age in episode 4. Disney’s continual need to revisit this period and probably some worry that it won’t be ‘Star Wars’ enough without force users, lightsabers, etc. makes it seem that this era is now full of rogue Jedi being hunted by semi-Sith. Return of the Jedi? They’ve hardly been away...
I would like to think that Yoda, being stronger with the force than Kenobi, felt Leia had potential to become a Jedi. Also, since Kenobi was focusing on watching out for Luke, he really didn't try to search for other potential Jedi in Star Wars. Kenobi knew Luke was a good pilot already, and mentioned it when they were at his home talking about the Jedi and Luke's father. As for the last 3 sequel movies, they could have literally written anything since they didn't have their hands tied like the prequels did. Making Rey an already fully developed character with no flaws or obstacles to overcome, doesn't make sense in the Force Awakens. Why would Rey, or ANY character, who already could fight, fly a ship, repair a ship, and speak several languages, including droid, stay on a terrible planet barely surviving when they portray her as someone who wants to leave?? She could have been hired on a ship and left the planet. She could have built her own ship! Now, people will say, "But she was waiting for her parents to return." or, "She was hoping her parents would return and if she left, she would be worried that they would never find her!" Okay. If that is a reason to stay, then why did she leave with a guy she just met 5 minutes earlier??? Because he said he had to take the droid somewhere?? So now it's, "Sorry mom and dad, you had your chance. I'm leaving with this guy now!"
I said it once and I'll say it again, they should have optioned and made The Thrawn Trilogy as the first cinematic trilogy. Then followed it with Lucas' final trilogy treatment. Hiring him as a consultant. Instead Kathy Kennedy wants to prove to the world that Lucas and Spielberg were wrong about her lack of creative talent by reimagining the entirety of all the Lucasfilm productions she was co-producer on.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
"No Luke. I am your father."
"Ooooooh! THAT'S why people kept attacking our house while I was growing up."
"This was your father's lightsaber."
"Wow, I've never seen a BLUE one before. Only that red one that crazy lady tried to kill me with!"
My interpretation of "I wish I was." line to Leia was that he wanted to spare her from her true paternal parentage rather than alluding to an attraction to Padme. That's just how I read it. The ambiguity is a problem with the script.
I think it all comes down to the person when they hear the line. I didn't even consider for a second that Obi meant he had feelings for Padme until way later when I saw a debate about it on Twitter.
I agree that it was meant to come off as him being mournful that Leia will never know her true parents, while her father is now one of the evilest people in the galaxy.
Yeah. I never took it as a "I wish I'd a hit that! She wuh so fiiiine!" type line and Ewan didn't give it that inflection either. To me that's just a nitpick that people "wanted" to find. The script had problems, but that wasn't one of them.
@@MrDrokkul I couldn't agree more.
Given Ewan McGregor's tone when delivering that line, I would think that was obvious, but I guess not.
You gotta hear that with a pretty dirty mind to misinterpret it that drastically from the intended message.
This was absolutely brutal. I loved every minute of it. The thing is, your take is cleanly and clearly obvious. Watching Obi-Wan I thought of most of these plot and continuity problems. I'd think to myself after each episode, "What am I missing that this feels so disconnected? Am I being a bad fan? " So, in this case, what you uncover in the video is patently and pathetically obvious, and it is your delivery of those facts that is brilliant. Thank you!
Why couldn't they just have left Leia thinking he was Ben Kenobi, so that it could almost make sense.
@@mrillis9259What? But in ep 4 she says “help me OBI WAN KENOBI” your my only
Hope, not Ben Kenobi. Now it makes sense how she knows Kenobi, she met him when she was 9/10, remembers him and knows he’s a Jedi, he’s the only Jedi she’s ever met and keeps it a secret
There were a few moments where the music felt a little bit off, mainly in the emotional Obi-Wan vs Vader fight, which is supposed to be character driven, not story driven. But that’s only a small problem. Everything else is fine. Reva dies by the stab, having been consumed by vengeance and Grand Inquisitor lives because of his two stomachs
Michael, regarding the Leia and Obi-Wan story arc, there’s another piece to it that breaks, and this is the one that ruined it for me:
In “A New Hope”, Leia’s entire holographic message she plants in R2 for Kenobi is done in a way that explicitly shows she only knows of Kenobi through reputation alone.
Like Luke forgetting all about the lightsaber attack on his home, it doesn’t make sense Leia would forget a long adventure with Kenobi.
Star Wars has gotten as bad as the numerous Terminator sequels.
Leia could be feigning ignorance, as Obi-Wan asked her to do. Luke never saw Reva. It is possible he simply assumed the homestead was under attack by the Tusken Raiders, which is what the family planned these drills for.
Please note: I am not defending the show, but merely offering potential solutions to these situations.
:)
They can wipe the kids minds like they did the droids.
@@freakshowfilmfestival3591 Epstein was working on similar technology... lol
She was being careful as Obi-Wan told her. They couldn't show familiarity if the droids ended up in the Empire's hands.
@@thestarkknightreturns In her message, Leia exposes herself, her father and her planet as being part of the Rebellion. She also reveals that she not only knows Obi-Wan (who is wanted by the Empire) is alive and knows his precise location, but she is also actively trying to recruit his help against the Empire.
Should the droids have ended up in the hands of the Empire, Leia, her father, and the people of Alderaan would have been in deep podoo - Leia and Bail would certainly have been executed, and Obi-Wan would have been hunted down by the Empire - regardless if her greeting had been: "General Kenobi. Years ago you helped me and my family. Now we beg you to help us in our struggle against the Empire.” instead of "General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire.” (Leia, ANH)
Star Wars was 6 movies. No more, no less.
What if Obi-Wan thought that Leia died when they destroyed Alderaan since that's where he was heading to meet her
Surely he can force sense her right?
I don’t really agree with the idea that prequels need to go off on its own thing due to a lack of narrative tension otherwise. With prequels, the main interesting thing in the story is how we got to that point, the journey being the interesting part. So while we know how it ends, how we got to that ending is what makes us curious.
Of course, that very much does depend on whether said journey is of any interest to begin with. Only certain stories are worth having their backstories fully elaborated upon.
To be honest, the line "Now the Jedi are all but extinct..." was always a problem, and symptomatic of the biggest issue with Starwars that cropped up as soon as they started trying to make sequels to the first movie. The background information given in the Original Starwars to explain how the landscape we see in that film came about was not supposed to be thought about too much. It was meant to establish the stakes of the adventure to come, and build up the threat of the antagonists in a single stand-alone adventure story.
So you're telling me a single handicapped man, not only managed to eliminate every single force-user IN AN ENTIRE GALAXY, but also did it in less time than it takes for a cut of trousers to go out of style? Everyone? Seriously? How in hell could Obiwan and Tarkin have been so certain about that? You might argue that Jedi are so super special that even in an entire galaxy they would still be a manageable number but then you have to ask how Vader managed to find them at all? Space is big! You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is! I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space! The only way this line isn't an absurdity is if you dismiss it as the limited perspective of one old man, and not the canonical state of the universe...
Oh shit, here come the Prequels, never fucking mind!
I really enjoyed your videos it's so much common sense it's very refreshing
Almost all of the prequelization of STAR WARS (1977) has only served to assassinate Obi-Wan's character from the original movie.
He was tasked with hiding away Luke to safeguard him from Vader and the Emperor, and does so by leaving him with Anakin's step brother on Anakin's home planet, all the while continuing to dress as a Jedi and only bothering to change his first name to Ben. In the original movie, Obi-Wan was only dressed in beige robes because that was desert clothing, Tusken Raiders also wear them, but then the prequels retconned them into official Jedi robes.
I guess you could argue that Vader would never want to step foot on Tattooine again, so hiding Luke there is actually clever, but there has to be a pretty big bounty out on Obi-Wan Kenobi by the Empire. Just imagine Vader, in his pod, getting news of a Ben Kenobi who only ever wears Jedi robes, living on Tattooine. It all just makes Obi-Wan look like a huge dumbass.
Tatooine was established as as far away from a bright part of the galaxy as you can get. And Luke had never been to Mos Eisley.
The prequels established that Tatooine was outside of the republic's control, and run by gangsters.
It's also implied in ANH that Obi-Wan was a hermit.
You don't think that Obi-Wan was dressed to resemble a wizard or samurai, as Vader was? It was just pure chance he looked as he did? Obi-Wan is able to take down just about anyone, and mind trick or distract stormtroopers, so there's really no reason for him to dress in disguise, although I agree he could do that. It was also Yoda's idea that Luke be placed on Tatooine - and considering that Anakin suffered from being separated from his family and losing his identity, there is a certain logic in returning Luke to the closest thing he has to family.
Everything in the Kenobi D+ show is nonsense, though.
As for the 'damage' the prequels did to Obi-Wan, the prequels show that both Obi-Wan and Yoda can learn from their mistakes, and still believe in their ideals even under the burden of so much failure and despair.
It took usa years to find and kill bin lama on one planet.
Now, try finding an individual who is in hiding on a galaxy scale who isn't sending video mocking a government that he still alive.
@@bloodysimile4893 Osama Bin Laden didn't move to Crawford Texas, change his name to Osama Ben Laden, and just wander about town dressed exactly like his Wanted poster either. Which is essentially what Obi Wan did because of all the rewriting of his backstory pre A New Hope.
I've had the utmost respect for RetroBlasting since I first discovered your channel. After watching this video that level of respect has only grown. The propeller hats at Disney should assemble a Quality Assurance focus group and have them watch this upload. They could only better their future body of work and themselves by doing so. Kudos to Michael and Melinda and everything RetroBlasting!! 👏👏
I think I've moved on from indifference to star wars to actually hating it. I have respect for the film makers of the original for how they pushed special effects so far forward, and respect for George Lucas for his phenomenal business sense, but I think I hate the actual franchise now.
wow...you nailed this!! the plot holes you bring to light are astonishing...great work.. I knew it was bad....but wow!!
Another well thought out and great commentary - thanks for putting all of our thoughts into a well summarized video! Closing in on 100k subscribers - congrats on your great success!
I watched the Patterson cut a few weeks ago, it does a sterling job of washing over all that nonsense but as you said those cracks are already too deep to paint over. Disney really does need to take on new bold writers and sidestep from what we already know. It's really refreshing to watch you critique such failures without getting wrapped up in agenda politics and unfathomable hatred. Well done Michael for your level headedness. Goddammit, your good. Would I lie to You clips work a treat too. I'm standing up and clapping you Sir 👏👏👏👏
A skilful dissection of the Obi-Wan corpse, by Michael French for the RetroBlasting Channel.
It's a shame that Disney don't hire any scriptwriters as intelligent, or as knowledgeable of Star Wars, as Michael, to work on their Star Wars franchise.
To me, the one thing that makes the Patterson Cut SO much better than the series was one simple line added. Qui-Gon's voice telling Obi-Wan that Anakin is still the Chosen One. It just blows me away how clueless the writer's of the show would not think of that. I figured if there had to be a rematch, something would happen out of Kenobi's control that would prevent him from killing Vader and has to leave him there beaten. But nope. They just do Mustafar again and Obi-Wan does what he must and leaves. Another thing the writers should have done, and I know it probably wouldn't make that much of s difference, they should have made this show maybe 5 years after "Revenge of the Sith" or less. Have it be closer to the fall of the Republic. That way, it makes sense that Vader is still obsessed with finding Kenobi and maybe there are some few remaining Jedi that are being hunted.
"Sith Lords are our specialty" but that doesn't mean inquisitors 🤣. Anyway I heard the Emperor had a few Snokes in a Jar and Michael Burnham on speed dial if Anakin got big blue ghosted.
Damn, was planning on watching his cut, guess Kenobi will remain a Disney supported fanmade, thanks for your sacrifice
Completely agree. Michael your patience to go through this step by step is incredible. Amazing work.
I am truly amazed at the grade school level of writing Disney seems to continuously hire. Incredible.
Inconceivable we are at this point in Star Wars World.
Wow, that was a very well put together, cohesive synopsis of everything that is wrong with the current situation of Star Wars. Your best video to date on the subject. Great video Michael!
Nuff said. Right on the spot as usual ! Cheers !
I haven't even bothered watching the Obi Wan series. Boba Fett was so boring it drained what tiny amount of enthusiasm I had for anything new from Disney Star Wars.
09:30 For me it was time spent wonering 'Where the hell are the many BOTHANS that died to bring us this information?'
Michael you took the thoughts right out of my mind on this and brought it to light in another over the top video presentation! Well said, excellently transcribed and 100% factual! To a tee!
The Inquisitors took at times too up too much space in the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon after season one. The introduction and exit of any connection to that group should have ended with the death of the grand inquisotor, in my opinion.
The inclusion of the Inquisitors is better suited for a videogame or book setting(novel,comic book) narrative. For example the storyline in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II involving the Inquisotor Jerec and I feel a ramble beginning on my part, so I will just stop now.
I also agree with the perspective stated in this video.
The Star Wars franchise is basically Weekend At Bernies right now. Disney is just propping up a corpse to try to cover their asses after the sequel trilogy debacle.
There is this UA-camr named Magog who said a few weeks ago about IP's that we've grown up with and love that we should just let them go. Let them go in the sense that they will never be what we'd like them to be. Disney has no great plan for Star Wars, we all know that way too well these days. Sadly I don't think Disney will ever let the Star Wars IP go because if they did eventually sell it off, they'd have to admit defeat when the next person who owns it actually makes it great. And Disney's ego is too big to ever allow that to happen.
Great video, the problem is as always the risk averse way they approach the property. I'm sure there's lots of stories you could tell in the Star Wars universe some of the video games did this without a problem, but they will not take the risk which is a real shame as there is plenty of room in the sandbox for all kinds of stories to be told.
I like Obi-Wan Kenobi solely for the fact that its ineptitude and failure to link the continuity conclusively de-canonizes the prequels.
Is doesn’t read to me that Kenobi was forgetful regarding Leia but that he had no faith at all in her abilities and Yoda did, or perhaps that Yoda may have sensed her latent abilities where Kenobi could not.
SW enthusiasts who understand the OT need to let go of the brand and stop acknowledging shitzney products. Those people don't understand the IP they purchased, and they do not respect the audience, nor the lore. Let it go, friends, let it go...
I stopped after I saw "The Last Jedi". I came back for The Mandalorian after I heard good things (watched it without subscribing for my own Disney+ account, though). Then they fired Gina Carano and I was gone for good.
@@projektkobra2247 Speaking of posters, did you see that shirt Disney made where they "Potato Jesus"-ed the Return of the Jedi poster and replaced "Slave Leia" with Leia in her Hoth outfit (which she obviously never wears in ROTJ)?
The inquisitors in Rebels do not bother me. I see them as force sensitive pawns being used by Vader and the Emperor. It is only natural to have survivors with so many force users in the galaxy. If you have a problem with other force users during the Rebellion era, you are probably not going to like the old Expanded Universe. Where do you think Mara Jade came from? She was a force sensitive Hand of the Emperor.
Honestly Michael, Obi-Wan is not bad because of characters like the inquisitors and other force sensitive survivors. The issue with the Obi-Wan show is how poorly the writers utilized the Inquisitors and the terrible direction they took with established old trilogy characters. Rebels did its own thing and only occasionally had appearances by known characters like Leia or Vader. Rebels also made efforts to establish action away from places like Tatooine. When they did involve Tatooine, it was a very small affair with Ben Kenobi, Maul, and Ezra. Very self contained. Disney has made MANY mistakes with Star Wars. The Rebels show is not one of them. I would argue Rebels is the best achievement under Disney's ownership of the brand.
@blaccap Oh really? So tell me what Disney content is better than the 4 seasons of Rebels? It sure as heck is not the Sequel Trilogy or a bore fest like Solo. Mandalorian, Rogue One? Those 2 entries are the only content that could be better than Rebels.
@blaccap Well, I don't disagree with Disney Star Wars having varying degrees of bad. I don't see Mando or Rebels in that category though. Rebels even came out before Force Awakens, so it wasn't like taking a bad ex back. Mando and Rebels made some questionable decisions, but they are still better than certain old Lucas content (see Prequels). They actually attempt to world build outside of the small world view of a show like Obi-Wan.
Disney spent billions to acquire Star Wars. I expect them to pump out content and toys. Anyone who expects them to just sit on the IP and re-release the OT and PT is nuts. That said, I will call them out for disasters like Last Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker. I didn't buy a single piece of merchandise related to those shows. I didn't even see RoS in theaters after the disappointment of The Last Jedi. I trust the fans will speak with their wallets. If Rebels had been such a failure, it would have ended long before reaching 4 seasons and 75 episodes of content.
Always had a difficult time getting through the Brian Daley Han Solo novels for some reason having to do with the prose style, but loved both of the EU trilogies focusing on Solo. Anyone else have this experience?
I love this video, I will say I agree with you on how there shouldn't be force sensitives employed by the Empire other than Vader. It just ruins that original film, and ruins the importance of Vader as the Enforcer of the Emperor. It also makes Tarkin look like a wank. But I have tbh, the EU had the same issues, it was the EU that we first got other ex Jedi and dark siders who serve the Empire. This kind of shit started in the 90's, but at least they were fun, now they are all in matching uniform and have red helicopter lightsabers.
I think Tarkin said what he did for several reasons. He knows Kanan is dead, he thinks Ezra is dead with Thrawn, and he’s too stupid to understand the Force or Jedi
Predictability isn't a bad thing. If you know a character well enough, you can predict what they would do in a given situation. If what they do makes sense with who they are, then that's good writing.
whenever I sit down to watch the original trilogy I have completely forget and ignore everything else (including the prequels) in order to truly enjoy them. Star Wars has so much baggage now that reject pretty much all of it.
The cuts to David Mitchel ranting on "Would I lie to you?" are brilliant
Excellent video essay! I greatly enjoyed it.
As much of a curveball as ROTJ’s “Leia is Luke’s sister” twist is, what’s done is done. Moving forward after that film, Luke and Leia are brother and sister. I personally don’t care if Leia becomes a Jedi after ROTJ, as she was much more interested in politics anyway. JJ Abrams continuing her story/character trajectory as a political/military leader was completely fine with me.
That being said, Luke and Leia are now brother and sister after ROTJ, and I can’t believe Luke would abandon his sister and completely give up hope on his nephew. To never adequately explain why Luke would completely give up hope on Ben Solo and abandon his family to clean up the mess he created is, in my opinion, one of the sequel trilogy’s primary failures.
Wasn’t the main thing there to say that Luke fell into the same rut as the old Jedi Order?
While I commend the Patterson cut for the attempt and enjoy most of the changes he did, the flaws with the series run way too deep. Just make more original stories and stop allowing this franchise to remain creatively bankrupt.
Yeah, it was shockingly bad (the series). It's honestly amazing to me that after all this time and speculation, what they come up with was so shoddy and lazy; it felt as if they had written it literally 2 weeks before shooting. There are some movies and series that just can't be saved by even the most well-made fan edits. It's really a shame, because so many people wanted McGregor to finally have a film/series worthy of him, but even his oddly disconnected performance suggested that he knew it was disappointing.
I wanted to like this series so badly. But, it's missing pretty much all the aspects of good story telling...such as consequences or perceived consequences. The POSSIBILITY of death, for example. We know Obi-wan, Vader, Luke, and Leia can't die. So, all the kidnapping, lightsaber battles, and all that have no tension. I already know Luke isn't going to die when he gets chased down by Reva.
In all of your video essays, your top-tier, meticulous choice of words to convey each and every one of your purpose-filled and righteous statements... is never lost on meeee!!! ♥️
This is why I enjoy RetroBlasting "review" content. Thorough, intelligent takes with respect to the material in all it forms (books, shows, movies).
A refreshing change from the usual suspects whining about wokeness and other tired topics in their surface-level analyses. Thanks, Michael!
As usual RB gives form to those of us who can't articulate why we don't like the new direction
I think the idea that Obi Wan gets out from Tatooine before ANH, is a bad idea. By my opinion, Obi Wan had to stay on Tatooine while the Empire was searching for him. And his confrontation with Vader should have been happened through some kind of the telepathic connection, the same we've seen in between Rey and Kylo Ren
Yeah, I cancelled D+ after Gina was blacklisted, and I haven’t regretted it for a second.
I think all of the great sci-fi properties(SW, ST, WHO) are well beyond saving. Because those who own those properties, either do not care. Or do not have the understanding of what needs to be done to save those properties. Even if they did, finding the people who can see the changes through. Left Hollywood a long time ago, like you say Michael. "The fans do the best work", it will be up to some of them out there who will one day create original sci-fi IP's for us to explore.
Flawless analysis. Thank you, Michael, for summing-up our collective soul crushing sadness of what Star Wars has become.
Great video and a excellent interpretation of the mistakes that star wars has. And it all starts with Lucas.
Yes Lucas made mistakes but in my eyes the fact he brought the 6 movie saga to the world overshadows the mistakes made.
14:10 / 31:07 you know that in comics other jedis survived and also what about palpetines hand Mara Jane, there were more like her under palpetines order, the iqusitors are just a new version of it and all dead when episode 4 starts.
think the retcon if it even is one with Tarking is okay its nothing major and when all inquisitors are dead at this point in time its actually no retcon and even when some small retcons like this are okay
Thank you Michael! I have tried making these points to friends of mine but you have done it in such great detail I will be sharing your video. Why do other fans not see what we see?!
29:07
Harrison Ford has facial expression of a man who's thinking ' I am too old for this shit '.
28:41....could NOT have said it better myself!!
I tapped out when Vader used the Force to stop an escaping spaceship in its tracks (why didn't he do that to the Falcon at Echo Base?!?) All logical sense is out the window.
I disagree with the idea that Obi-wan "forgot" Leia was Luke's sister. The context was Luke being the Jedi's last hope, not the last Skywalker. From my point of view, Obi-wan simply dismissed Leia as incapable of learning how to use the Force, because she hasn't demonstrated any talent for it, rather than being completely ignorant of her heritage.
Another thing that I disagree with is the idea that the inquisitors and their prequel era equivalents are inherently out of place. They aren't sith, and are used by their sith masters as weaker tools that could be easily disposed of should they fail or turn traitor. They're also all dead, MIA, undercover, or simply not classified as such by A New Hope that it's understandable that Tarkin would consider Darth Vader to be unique in the galaxy. It's also a concept that predates TCW. I.E. Maul and Starkiller were lowly assassins, Ventress was a distraction, and Mara was a spy. However, Savage Oppress is a lame palette-swapped Darth Maul clone OC that isn't worth defending.
(Edit: I'm also not trying to defend the inquisitors as Disney is portraying them, because Disney IS incompetent when writing anything Star Wars.)
Thank you for this. Inquisitors were not creations of Disney LFL....
The Inquisitors and inquisitorium didnt originate in Rebels.
Pablo Hildago himself said they pulled the idea for them from the old West End Games RPG modules. They are first mentioned in the 1987 sourcebook and later fleshed out to more extent through the 1990s.
The first one mentioned (Who's name i forget atm) wasnt much of a force user and was much more like an Earth Inquisitor, but later in the 90's they became sabre wielding darkside users without going full Master/Apprentice Sith followers. There is a difference between Sith and the Dark side.... few bother to go into this though as an example the Clone Wars Witches of Dathomir.
While the Inquisitors werent as cartoony(pun intended lol) as they are in Rebels,... Rebels itself isnt supposed to be super serious. It's budget and gags werent on par with Clone Wars or Bad Batch.
While I agree with some of Michael's opinions... like Reva attacking him on the Lar's homestead and Obiwan allowing his powers to wane to a point he can't protect Luke. And again letting Vader live... with that I agree.
While some of his other seem... less researched or i disagree with... eh everyone has opions.
I think he ment he wished her father wasn’t Anakin
I'm certain that Reva was supposed to die in the penultimate episode with her failed attempt on Vader's life ending her story arc. Someone must have sent down word to keep her alive (for either a potential spinoff, a recurring character in their other shows, or just out of fear of killing off the strong black woman they'd hyped up so much), and that's why the finale felt so tacked on and inexplicable. How did she survive? How did she get off planet? How did she do all that and get to Tatooine while Ben is still trying to escape the orbiting Star Destroyer? Who does she think Luke is? Is she trying to get revenge on Vader by killing his son (how does she know this??) or does she just know he is important to Ben so wants to have revenge on him (for what reason?).
I don't disagree that this is all dogshit seasoned with catshit, but the line from Obi-wan to Leia regarding her question of if he was her father, "I wish I could say I was," to me merely meant that he was sorry that her real father was piece-of-crap Vader. I hadn't even considered the possible romantic subtext - which I would have been in favor of back in the day.
Great video Michael. Very well thought out and researched. I enjoyed it
Spot on video. I’m OK with Jedi existing between the prequels and the OT provided that those characters maintain a very low profile on the outskirts of the galaxy where their presence was sparse to begin with.
Me too. In fact, that's one of the reasons why the 2008 game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is so popular: It does what Rebels attempted to do by focusing on Jedi heroes after Revenge of the Sith, but it did so in the right way. Even the concept of force wielders working for the Empire is done better! The main character, Galen/"Starkiller", is kept a secret from most of the Empire as Vader's apprentice as Vader saw the potential in him. Of course, ultimately Vader would betray him and send him on the path to becoming the Jedi who singlehandedly kickstarted the Alliance to Restore the Republic in the old Legends canon, but that's neither here or there.
Awesome job RB!
The possibility of there being Jedi in hiding is valid. That the Empire has force users in their employ is utterly impossible.
These shows are just fanservice, nothing more.
Great stuff!!! You nailed it. I know Redlettermedia will be proud! Please, can you tell us how to find the Patterson cut? Or the Maple Films Hobbit cut? Thanks!!
This was an amazing assessment into a baffling Star Wars TV show. Great video!
Anakin thinking Obi Wan was having an affair with Padme was also in most early drafts and the first shooting script of Revenge Of The Sift. It's why Anakin got so ticked off when Kenobi came down Padme's ship ramp. The unused scene had Palpatine asking Anakin what he wanted and offered him the Jedi Temple as his palace and the most rare of Star Destroyer designs as his personal ship and then Padme's delegation shows up. Then after Palpatine says Anakin's judgement of Padme is clouded and conflicted and can't detect that Padme's commitee is influenced by the Jedi Council. Obi Wan himself has reportedly been seen coming and going from her apartment on several occasions, in which Anakin storms out, goes to Padme's apartment and senses Obi Wan was there like in the movie. As to why Kenobi focuses mostly on Episode 4 'fixes'.....wait till you see the nightmare Ashoka series will bring. Remember in Rebels, Ezra saved her from getting killed by Vader by pulling her into a interdimensional time/space thing....so technically she should have died shortly after Order 66, but instead, she is part of a timeline that should not be there. Without her, the Mandalorian would never have gotten Grogu to Luke.....Disney is creating an alternate timeline so a Thrawn Trilogy can be created as an alternate 7 8 and 9 for those who are anti-sequel trilogy.....These people are finally using some of George Lucas's ideas but in another bad way. can you imagine a Thrawn trilogy with all our original trilogy heroes deep faked faces....Feloni calls Ashoka a religious experience, but trust me, we will all be confused as heck how any of these characters make any sense anymore. Some at Disney want to reboot Episodes 4 thru 6 with Ashoka's new timeline worked into it.....They bought a franchise with no sense of a direction. There really was a 2011 trilogy approved by George Lucas that the series is based on which was not bad like we got. but you know how cruddy everything has been after 2012.....
Oh my god that cut to Luke saying “I’m with you too” was so hilariously perfect 😂- haven’t laughed that hard in a while :)
Loving your channel, Brother.
Always love your in-depth reviews. I feel the same and have had many an discussion with friends about Star Wars and other properties when it come s to their respected universes.
Imagine what Kevin Smith’s Obi Snoochies Wan Kenboochies might have been like…
Amazing video truly such an under rated channel
The sad thing is that Disney is slowly chipping away at the quality of every franchise they own because of overexposure. When Star Wars is just a TV show now, it's no longer special. Same for Marvel. If they were thinking big picture and long term, they would "pause" any new Star Wars content for a while AND reduce the amount of merch out there. Then announce (after a few years) the NEW trilogy. Spend that time REALLY nailing the characters and story beats. It's a pipe dream, but if they don't want Star Wars to become a dead brand then they need to be more thoughtful and strategic.
The biggest problem is that the current Lucasfilm creatives don’t recognize the original trilogy as the support bearing story. They should because none of the other media could stand on its own.
4:02
"...and he bursts in through the door, hammered as usual"
That made me laugh right out. This is exactly how the writing feels in most Disney Star Wars productions.
One of the problems with the prequel trilogy is that as a kit growing up with the original Star Wars, I always assumed that the empire had been around for quite a while. That palpatine was very old that his rised power happened long before Luke. Now with the prequels the rise of the empire happened roughly the same time as the financial crash of 08. So not much time.
Death by a thousand cuts. . .
The forensics on this is pretty spot-on!
👍🏾👍🏾💯🔥
Ouch!
But you are not wrong. Certain plot elements that you point out always bugged me. When I bought the book "The Secret History of Star Wars" and it listed out the various rewrites & plot ideas as mentioned in various interviews, quotes, drafts etc. & put them into chronological order, the plot twists started making sense. It didn't make them "right" but it explained why George changed things as he went along.
Outstanding job brother
I’m going to try something different. I never saw this new obi wan show…so I’m going to watch the fan edit without knowing what’s been changed or cut. That way I can judge it with fresh eyes without any contrast to the official it’s fixing.
And how did that work out?
Spot on with you analysis of that mini-series. I was difficult to watch, as it destroyed already established canon from the OT.
As unlikely as it was, I had hoped that they would tap into the Marvel Comics extended universe and maybe have him deal with some planets and races only seen there so far. Maybe even fill in some backstories? It would've been exciting for us who grew up as comic fans and still be interesting for the non-comic fans since it would be new and not sealed fate-rehashing and would give the writers numerous years to cull for gems.
I truly think it was cool to see ice cube Jr in the show. His character was enjoyable for what we saw him. As for the inquisitors, they aren’t real sith as I thought. Very much like how Dooku trained an assassin.(ventress) Also the whole tarkin thing makes sense. Do not forget the inquisitors all get bodied by Ashoka, Cal, Vader, Kanan, Ezra, and Maul by the time Star Wars began. After they’re all dead Vader just said what Thanos said(I’ll do it myself) and did away with ALL of them after all the best died. Then began hunting Jedi himself.
God damn man! Good stuff. Love these.
I think when an audience member has to go through mental hoops and mental 'rewriting' of plot to make the story work or fit in with any canon, then it's bad scriptwriting.
Thank you so much.
On point as always.
I honestly don't think it would take forgetfulness for Obi-Wan to omit the prospect of Leia as a jedi.
I think it simply means that this an absolutely monumental, insurmountable task & that this was such a desperate situation that you couldn't stand another Skywalker turning to the dark side.
It would make Leia's job a whole lot harder if she were to be trained and then pit against the Emperor & Luke, or Vader & Luke. Two Skywalkers
Why are the saber blades so thin in cloan wars? Looks like they’re holding stiff El Wire.
Yes Michael Star Wars has spiraled downward since 2015 so lets make something fun like BIONIC SIX!!!!
Excellent conclusion!!! ^_^
15:50 that raises a question . . . Why isn’t Disney doing crazy crossovers with other properties? It could be a cash grab that wouldn’t make people feel abused, but amused. Assuming they use a half decent fan fiction writer.
Perhaps the "...other" Yoda mentioned is Ben Solo!🤣🤣🤣🤣
I really can't argue with anything in this video, however I do think Disney has redeemed itself with Andor, which might be the best writing/acting/storytelling in the entire Star Wars brand (and this is coming from someone who was completely burned out on anything and everything Star Wars). Andor could be and should be a model for all Star Wars shows going forward -- let a great writer/filmmaker like Tony Gilroy assemble his team of writers, actors and directors, and let them do their thing.
Knights of the Old Republic, Dark Forces and many other EU proved you could make new Star Wars characters. The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy proved you take background characters and make a fun story. Disney proved how to mess up every potential, throw away all good will and sink a billion dollar property.
2:50 "There are probably more fan edits of the 3 Star Wars Prequels than any other film series."
💢✨💨AURALNAAAAUTS !!! 💫💨💥
"We didn't have time to watch the movies because we were busy tweeting, so we watched bad lip reading. We really loved seagulls. Enjoy Obi Wan."
Also, “I will do what I must!”, said by Obi-Wan. So yeh, he spoke an absolute. Soooo, “Only Sith deal in absolutes.” 🤔
I’m the weirdo whose SW fandom is pegged square between 77 and 80. SW77 (I refuse to call it Episode 4 or A New Hope) is my go-to, my favorite. While I enjoy and appreciate ESB and ROTJ I can also live without them. And that’s my attitude to the Prequels, Sequels, Spin-offs, and ancillary media - I live without them.
I really enjoy your movie analysis videos
12:42 Filoni stans: "B-but our savior Filoni started the inquisitors, and he can do no wrong!1!"
As ever, well researched, argued and presented. The inter-trilogy years used to be something of a narrative void in terms of the Jedi/ Sith conflict. The Jedi are crushed at the end of episode 3, then basically in hiding, until Luke comes of age in episode 4. Disney’s continual need to revisit this period and probably some worry that it won’t be ‘Star Wars’ enough without force users, lightsabers, etc. makes it seem that this era is now full of rogue Jedi being hunted by semi-Sith.
Return of the Jedi? They’ve hardly been away...
I would like to think that Yoda, being stronger with the force than Kenobi, felt Leia had potential to become a Jedi. Also, since Kenobi was focusing on watching out for Luke, he really didn't try to search for other potential Jedi in Star Wars. Kenobi knew Luke was a good pilot already, and mentioned it when they were at his home talking about the Jedi and Luke's father.
As for the last 3 sequel movies, they could have literally written anything since they didn't have their hands tied like the prequels did. Making Rey an already fully developed character with no flaws or obstacles to overcome, doesn't make sense in the Force Awakens. Why would Rey, or ANY character, who already could fight, fly a ship, repair a ship, and speak several languages, including droid, stay on a terrible planet barely surviving when they portray her as someone who wants to leave?? She could have been hired on a ship and left the planet. She could have built her own ship! Now, people will say, "But she was waiting for her parents to return." or, "She was hoping her parents would return and if she left, she would be worried that they would never find her!" Okay. If that is a reason to stay, then why did she leave with a guy she just met 5 minutes earlier??? Because he said he had to take the droid somewhere?? So now it's, "Sorry mom and dad, you had your chance. I'm leaving with this guy now!"
Michael I think you would like the Mandalorian show, give it a try.
I said it once and I'll say it again, they should have optioned and made The Thrawn Trilogy as the first cinematic trilogy.
Then followed it with Lucas' final trilogy treatment. Hiring him as a consultant.
Instead Kathy Kennedy wants to prove to the world that Lucas and Spielberg were wrong about her lack of creative talent by reimagining the entirety of all the Lucasfilm productions she was co-producer on.
‘Obi Wan: Into the Dark Years’