This article contains spoilers for the finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi throughout
Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s first season is now complete and fulfilled the promise of showing Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen squaring off against one another for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.
In the end, we got two battles. The first saw a weakened Obi-Wan helpless against Vader’s strength and fury, ending up dragged through flames in a dark echo of their last duel. Today’s finale saw the rematch, with Obi-Wan having found his mojo, warmed up his lightsaber skills, and reconnected with the Force. At the end of this bout, Vader was on the ropes: his life support disabled, helmet smashed open and left gasping for air.
And, seizing his only opportunity to rid the galaxy of a child-murdering tyrant, Obi-Wan corrected the mistake he made on Mustafar all those years ago and finally killed Darth Vader.
Well, that’s what he should have done. Instead, Obi-Wan simply walked away. Again. We all know Obi-Wan kind of had to as if he kills Vader the Skywalker saga doesn’t happen, but fans are calling foul anyway:
Others argue that Obi-Wan could never kill Anakin, even if he believes that his former friend is beyond saving:
For some fans, this emotional moment broke them:
We guess it is a little much to expect Obi-Wan to coldheartedly murder someone they’ve known since they were a child when they can’t fight back. Though, try explaining that to the people of Alderaan a decade or so down the line…
Whatever the case, at least Obi-Wan Kenobi successfully threaded the needle of squeezing in an Obi-Wan/Vader story without directly contradicting the events of A New Hope. Plus, it was nice to finally see Hayden Christensen peering out of that iconic helmet.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is available to stream in full on Disney Plus.