Obi-Wan Kenobi's Non-Existent Stakes Ruined The Show For Me

thegamer.com:

Spoilers ahead for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series finale.

There's a lot I love about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney's unimaginatively titled series about the post-prequel adventures of the titular Jedi. Vivien Lyra Blair is brilliantly cast as Leia, perfectly capturing the wit and spark of Carrie Fisher's headstrong princess. Ewan McGregor sells the weariness and spiritual defeat of his character brilliantly. The Inquisitors are some of the most menacing villains I've seen in a Star Wars story. I liked it when that stormtrooper got sliced in half by a laser fence. It's an entertaining show, but one I struggled to get invested in because I knew that most of the main players would live to see another day.

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This is a show where our characters are constantly in danger. Leia is kidnapped by bounty hunters and, later, the Empire. Reva threatens to kill Owen Lars. In the final episode she descends on his farm on a mission to kill Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader and Obi-Wan clash across multiple lightsaber duels. All of this would be fine if I didn't already know the fate of these characters. When Reva came for Luke, I felt nothing. I know he gets away. When Obi-Wan and Vader fought, it rang hollow. Obi-Wan's fate is decided in A New Hope; Vader's in Return of the Jedi. The stakes in this show aren't just low—they're pretty much non-existent.

For the characters the stakes are enormous. Protecting Luke and Leia is a matter of galactic importance for Obi-Wan. Leia is desperate to return to Alderaan. Reva secretly wants to assassinate Darth Vader. From their perspective, everything that happens in the show is hugely important. But for me as a viewer, who is already