Here are your no-frills Obi-Wan Kenobi episode recaps of Part I – III, now showing on Disney+
Although this cinematic event will only run for six episodes, don’t let that number fool you: Each episode boasts a lengthy run time lasting between 40 – 60 minutes, and they don’t spare a single second on the screen. Ever since the teaser trailer came out, fans have been anticipating this key chunk of storytelling in the Star Wars universe.
Whether you don’t have the six hours to dedicate to this Star Wars epic or you just need to catch up on the lore before you embark on another galactic journey, we’ve got you covered.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 1 Recap
Screenshot: Disney
The first episode, “Part I” of Obi-Wan Kenobi opens on a group of younglings being trained by Jedi Master Minas Velti. During their training, a group of clone troopers bursts into the room and Master Velti jumps into action, defending her students.
They rush through the halls of the building, where other Jedi defend themselves against hoards of clone troopers. Master Velti shields the younglings from the crossfire, taking down one trooper after another. But her winning streak does not last long—she is shot in the abdomen. The children decide to make a run for it. What we are witnessing is Order 66.
Jumping forward in time, we are transported to the desert planet that may lack shade but is certainly shady—Tatooine. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is working in what appears to be a meat packing plant as he hides out from the Empire, performing labor under harsh conditions for little pay.
Screenshot: Disney
It is here on Tatooine that he watches over Luke Skywalker from afar, waiting for the young boy to come of age so that he may train him, despite this being against the wishes of Owen (Joel Edgerton), Luke’s adoptive father.
Obi-Wan carries the heavy weight of Anakin Skywalker’s “death” as his own personal failure, and Owen doubles down on this sentiment.
Obi-Wan is troubled by his past, suffering nightmares about Anakin’s downfall and the carnage that followed. He has lost not only hope in himself but also in the Jedi.
Tatooine is far from safe for our Jedi protagonist. The Empire is aware that Order 66 was not entirely successful—some Jedi managed to escape, and they are hidden in plain sight on planets across the galaxy. Sent to hunt the surviving Jedi is a group known as the Inquisitors, led by the notorious Darth Vader.
Screenshot: Disney
The Inquisitors land on Tatooine frequently to search for Jedi, their most ruthless and fearsome imperial inquisitor being Reva Sevander (Moses Ingram), an overzealous huntress who is often reprimanded by her superior for going too far. She is also known as Third Sister.
She has made it her personal mission to track down Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it seems as though she is motivated by revenge. But revenge for what? We don’t know … yet.
She is often accompanied by Fifth Brother (Sung Kang), Fourth Sister (Rya Kihlstedt), and their superior, the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend).
On the planet Alderaan, we are introduced to the adorably rebellious and ever-intelligent Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blaire). She is only 10 years old, but she is wise beyond her years. She lives a comfortable life as the daughter of Senator Organa, but she resists the stuffiness of royal life.
Screenshot: Disney
While her adoptive mother, Queen Breha Organa (Simone Kessel), urges Leia to be more obedient, her adoptive father, Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits), seems to empathize more with her rebellious nature.
She loves to play out in the woods near the palace, often finding sanctuary there when she is avoiding what she considers to be boring royal duties. But one day, she is met there by a man who has been awaiting her arrival. Vect (Flea), a man who appears to be a mercenary, and his goons surround Leia. She sprints into the forest, evading them by slipping through small cracks in the trees, but her efforts are futile. She is caught!
On Tatooine, Obi-Wan receives a hologram: It’s the Organas. They inform him that Leia is missing and they need Obi-Wan’s help to track her down and bring her home safely. He declines, claiming that his duty is to protect Luke on Tatooine.
He tells the Organas that he is not who he used to be and that they should find someone more capable for the job—it’s clear that he no longer believes he can be the hero he once was.
Screenshot: Disney
Refusing to take “no” for an answer, the Senator travels to Tatooine to urge Obi-Wan to reconsider. Senator Organa tells him, “you couldn’t save Anakin, but you can save her.” Obi-Wan replies, “but what if I can’t?”
As Obi-Wan and Bail Organa discuss his redemption, we see Leia bound to a chair on a spacecraft. She attempts to escape by employing the help of her flying bot companion, Lola, who has been resting in her pocket.
Lola flies out, and just as things began to look up, Vect enters the room. He crushes Lola to the ground, and Leia defiantly informs him that she is not scared of him because her father will send an army to find her.
Vect leaves the small room where Leia is held hostage to answer a hologram. Reva Sevander appears, and her plan reveals itself: She is employing mercenaries to kidnap Leia, she has set the perfect trap to finally capture Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Screenshot: Disney
We see Obi-Wan on Tatooine, hesitantly boarding a rusty spacecraft. He has accepted his mission to save Princess Leia, walking right into Reva Sevander’s trap.
As he approaches the ship, we catch a glimpse of something flashing on his hip—a lightsaber. He dug it up from somewhere deep in the deserts of Tatooine—and with it, he has resurrected himself.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 2 Recap
The second episode, “Part II” of Obi-Wan Kenobi opens on the planet Daiyu, marking the first time we have seen this planet in the Star Wars universe. The landscape of the planet is urban and dark. It is highly populated but seemingly unfriendly.
Obi-Wan Kenobi lands on Daiyu, traveling from Tatooine as we saw in the previous episode. When he disembarks the planet, he notices that he can no longer track the ship that holds Leia captive.
Screenshot: Disney
He is informed by an attendant at the port that all signals in or out of Daiyu are blocked, as “people like their secrets out here”.
Under his breath, Obi-Wan says, “If I ever needed guidance, Master, it’s now.” He is speaking to his late Master Qui-Gon Jin, who he has been seeking contact with from the great beyond (unsuccessfully).
A young boy on the street tells Obi-Wan that there is someone who can help him find Leia—a Jedi. But of course, as with all things on Daiyu, it will come at a price.
Reluctantly, Obi-Wan follows him. He observes the “Jedi” as he helps a mother and her son who are seeking asylum from Daiyu. He “mind controls” a guard at a nearby port via radio, taking credits in return for ensuring their safe departure.
Screenshot: Disney
When they have left, Obi-Wan confronts the “Jedi”, revealing that his operation is a sham pulled off with magnets and bad acting. His name is Haja Estree (Kumail Nanjiani), and Obi-Wan demands that Haja assists him in finding Leia.
With a tip from Haja, Obi-Wan travels to a location that appears to be a lab. Disguised in a coat and goggles, he eventually finds a back room where Leia should be. But he walked right into Reva’s trap! Leia isn’t there, but Vect and his goons are. They hold him at gunpoint and it dawns on Obi-Wan that Reva has led him here.
Just as all hope seems lost, Obi-Wan throws a vial of gas (swiped from the lab) onto the ground, and a plume of toxic smoke filled the room. As Vect hacks and chokes on the smoke, Obi-Wan makes his escape.
Obi-Wan finds Leia and carries her out to the street. She is skeptical of Obi-Wan but trusts him (for now). The pair head into the crowds of Daiyu, but they won’t make it off the planet easily.
Reva is enraged by Obi-Wan’s escape and determined to find him herself. As she combs through the city, she is stopped in her tracks by the Grand Inquisitor. He has discovered her transgression and declares that he will bring in Obi-Wan himself. Instead, Reva informs every bounty hunter in the city of Obi-Wan’s presence and offers a reward for his live capture.
Leia and Obi-Wan creep through crowds of people, and Leia sees the bounty for Obi-Wan’s head. She’s scared that he’s a threat to her, and bolts into the night. Obi-Wan chases her onto a rooftop, where a bounty hunter waits for them! He shoots from the adjacent building and Obi-Wan opens fire.
Screenshot: Disney
Obi-Wan lands a shot in the abdomen of the bounty hunter, but just as he does, he sees Leia standing on the edge of the building. She is trying to run from him and the only way out is over a wide chasm. He yells after her, but it’s too late. She jumps, missing the ledge entirely. Just as Leia is about to hit the ground, Obi-Wan reaches out and uses the force to float her safely to the ground.
Leia is in awe, realizing that Obi-Wan truly is a Jedi. Soon after, Haja Estree stops them, but he’s not after the bounty. Instead, he offers to help them. He tells the pair that there is an automated cargo ship that travels to Mapuzo. This will be their only hope since all passenger ships have been blocked. He gives them a key and a set of coordinates, telling them that there will be an ally waiting for Obi-Wan and Leia on Mapuzo.
To buy the pair time, Haja attempts to distract Reva Sevander, but his plan backfires when Reva reads his mind, thus discovering their escape plan.
Obi-Wan and Leia have nearly reached the ship when Reva arrives at the port. Obi-Wan ducks behind shipping containers and tells Leia to run for the ship with the key and to continue on without him if he doesn’t arrive.
Reva paces the port, menacingly calling out to Obi-Wan as he hides. It all seems typical until she drops the bomb on him: “Lord Vader will be pleased. You didn’t know? He’s alive, Obi-Wan. Anakin Skywalker is alive. And he’s been looking for you for a long time. And I will be the one to deliver you to him!”
Screenshot: Disney
Obi-Wan shakes as he struggles to process this, mind racing and heart rushing. Just then, the Grand Inquisitor rushes in, interrupting Reva’s plan. He orders her to stand down so that he may pursue Obi-Wan. To which Reva replies with a lightsaber to the gut.
Screenshot: Disney
As she kills her superior, Obi-Wan makes a run for it. He joins Leia on the cargo ship and they fly off just in time. But, not all is well. On the ship, Obi-Wan is still in shock at the news of his apprentice’s survival. After a decade of carrying the burden of Anakin’s killing, he is confronted with the horrific reality that his actions may have created a fate worse than death.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 3 Recap
Screenshot: Disney
The third episode, “Part III,” starts on the cargo ship that episode two closed on, where Obi-Wan sits privately on a lower deck. Seeming to be in a state of meditation, he calls out to Qui-Gon Jin for guidance in his time of great uncertainty. But the only voice he hears is Reva Sevander’s, repeating the shocking news of Anakin’s survival.
Flashbacks of Obi-Wan’s traumatic past replay through his head, knowing the past will catch up with him. Obi-Wan is all too aware that Darth Vader is coming. Obi-Wan repairs Leia’s bot companion, Lola, before their ship descends onto Mapuzo. They sneak off the ship and begin their journey through the savanna-like plains, headed for Haja’s coordinates.
Screenshot: Disney
On Mustafar, Darth Vader surveys the bubbling magma where his death and rebirth took place at the hands of Obi-Wan. Via hologram, Reva Sevander has framed Obi-Wan for the Grand Inquisitor’s death, but Vader makes it clear that he doesn’t care about the Inquisitor. He only cares about Obi-Wan.
He closes the call by telling Reva that if she captures Obi-Wan, he will name her the new Grand Inquisitor. If she doesn’t? He’ll take her life.
Reva informs Fifth Brother that she is now spearheading the search for Obi-Wan, and orders all probes to be sent out to Mapuzo. This displeases Fifth Brother, who is next in line for Grand Inquisitor.
After a long walk through the plains, Leia and Obi-Wan reach Haja’s coordinates. But no one is waiting for them there. Reaching a dead end, Leia waves down a vehicle in the distance. The driver pulls up, and Leia launches into a fabricated story, introducing herself as “Luma” and explaining that Obi-Wan is her father. Obi-Wan is taken aback by her ability to think on her feet.
Screenshot: Disney
The alien driver agrees to give them a ride, and they board the vehicle—but not before Obi-Wan notices an Empire emblem on the back of the truck bed. They get in anyway, and the driver speeds off.
The truck approaches an inspection point, making Obi-Wan nervous. He is ordered to step out of the vehicle and a probe prepares to scan his face. He knows if this happens, it’s over.
Instead, he whips out his blaster, taking down the probe, the stormtroopers, and the driver. The pair charge ahead, but are met with a vehicle full of troopers and an imperial officer.
Obi-Wan knows that he is outnumbered and he drops to his knees, prepared to give up the fight. He closes his eyes and hears the sound of a blaster, but he remains alive. So who was shot? This imperial officer was not an officer at all. She is Haja’s ally, just in time to save Leia and Obi-Wan.
Her name is Tala (Indira Varma), and she tells the two that she will lead them to a port where a pilot has agreed to fly them home. In a village, she takes them to a bot repair shop. They meet her bot, NED-B, and are shown a secret tunnel in the shop that will lead them to the port.
Obi-Wan notices writing on the walls of the tunnel, realizing that it is the writing of Jedi. Tala explains that the tunnel has long been used as an underground railroad of sorts, a secret passageway for fugitive Jedi to escape the Empire and find safety.
Just as they are about to venture through the tunnel, Obi-Wan is overcome by a consuming sense of alertness and terror. It is the Force warning him of something. The look in his eyes says it all.
It could only be Vader.
Obi-Wan tells Tala to take Leia, and he sets off to lead Vader away from the tunnel.
Screenshot: Disney
Darth Vader sweeps the village, killing residents as he passes them. He is ruthless and devoid of empathy more than he was before. The years of isolation, brooding, and the Sith’s influence have made him more dangerous than ever before.
Obi-Wan runs into the fields of Mapuzo, attempting to lead Vader as far away from the village as he can. But Vader is two steps ahead, already waiting for Obi-Wan there. Obi-Wan continues to run and Vader tells him that it is futile.
Obi-Wan comes face to face with Vader, getting his first good look at Anakin’s new bionic form. He is appalled and horrified by what he sees, questioning what he has become. Vader has a simple answer: “I am what you made me”.
Screenshot: Disney
They engage in a duel, but Obi-Wan is very rusty. Vader mocks him, taking pleasure in Obi-Wan’s weakness. Anakin has waited a long time for this: The moment where he proves that he is more powerful than Obi-Wan could ever be.
Meanwhile, Tala has a feeling that Obi-Wan may need her help. She tells Leia to continue on without her, and Leia reluctantly agrees.
Reva enters the bot shop as she sweeps the village. The tunnel is exposed, and Reva enters. Upon entering, she notices the Jedi markings on the wall and practically foams at the mouth knowing that her hunt has just gotten more interesting.
In the fields, Obi-Wan struggles to gain the upper hand against Vader. Vader lifts Obi-Wan into a force choke—classic! He ignites a scorching fire that covers the ground between them. In a moment of perfect revenge, Vader uses the force to dive Obi-Wan against the flames, holding his writhing body against the searing flames.
Screenshot: Disney
Careful not to kill him, it’s clear that Vader has further plans for his old friend. The fire ceases, and storm troopers move in to collect his injured body. But someone from above shoots nearby mechanical equipment with a blaster: It’s Tala! As a wall fire erupts between the troopers and Obi-Wan, NED-8 moves in and carries Obi-Wan to safety before the Empire can detain him.
Screenshot: Disney
Meanwhile in the tunnel, Leia reaches the port. Standing in the doorway is a figure, but it’s not the pilot. It’s Reva Sevander. Leia at first believes her to be an ally until she catches a glimpse of the pilot’s body out of the corner of her eye. She turns back down the tunnel and sprints.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episodes on Disney+
Screenshot: Disney
If you don’t plan on finishing the series or just need a refresher before diving into the new episodes, follow along with our Obi-Wan Kenobi episode recaps to stay in the loop with the latest galactic lore!
Obi-Wan Kenobi aired three more episodes to complete the six-part cinematic event, with new episodes airing Wednesdays on Disney+. Here are your recaps for Parts IV-V and for the series finale.
%20Issue%20Bundle&url=https://www.wdw-magazine.com/product/welcome-to-dlr-magazine-bundle/&media=https://www.wdw-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DLR-2023-Collection-Bundle.jpg){kind=link}
