How 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Mimics The 'Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy

The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped today, following the continuing adventures of the legendary Jedi Knight during the "smelly drifter working in a revolting meat factory" phase of his life. And while everyone was expecting a ton of references to the prequels (Hellooo, Jimmy Smits!), the show is also, surprisingly, crammed full of symbolic homages to the recent sequel trilogy, AKA the foundational texts for most rageful YouTube videos.

For starters, Obi-Wan working a crappy job for little-to-no pay followed by solitary desert meals distinctly recalls how we meet Rey in The Force Awakens.

And obviously, Luke's controversial arc in The Last Jedi follows the pattern of previous exiled Jedi masters, like Obi-Wan and Yoda – but here, the show takes the opportunity to have Obi-Wan's story mirror what we've seen of Luke's. We literally get a scene featuring a young Jedi offering the dispirited Obi-Wan a lightsaber, which he refuses.

Obi-Wan even remarks that the Jedi's time is "over" – not unlike how Luke claims that it's "time for the Jedi to end."

Plus, we later see that Obi-Wan's lightsaber is buried in the Tatooine desert, which calls to mind the final moments of The Rise of Skywalker, in which Rey does the same with Luke and Leia's sabers (before straight-up lying to a senior citizen).

Like Luke, Obi-Wan has withdrawn from the Force, but out of survival – and similarly, he agonizingly rejoins the Force in order to save Leia.

Structurally, too, Obi-Wan Kenobi borrows from The Last Jedi, upending our expectations by bumping off the apparent villain of the series; The Grand Inquisitor is killed by his subordinate, Reva, just as Snoke was surprisingly bisected by Kylo Ren. Whether or not audiences will take this as a continuation of George Lucas' famous penchant for "rhyming" narratives, or as a more self-serving attempt to meld Disney's sequels into the spirit of the larger mythology, remains to be seen. Let's just hope that if this trend continues, it means that episode three will find General Kenobi palling around with Babu Frik.

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Top Image: Lucasfilm