Kenobi Ends With the Battle We’ve Waited For

I’m talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker’s battle on the lava planet of Mustafar in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Unpopular opinion or not, the 17-year-old scene remains lightsaber dueling at its finest. It’s an epic, emotional duel: the culmination of the men’s evolution from master-and-apprentice to brothers to, finally, enemies, all while “Battle of the Heroes” vibrates in the background.

It’s not only one of the series’ most memorable and best-choreographed lightsaber battles, but it’s also one of its most recognizable. In recent years, the battle on Mustafar has birthed TikTok trends, merch, and memes galore. It’s only fitting, then, that the final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi—which marks Obi-Wan and Anakin’s first reunion on-screen since Revenge of the Sith—has a battle recalling the pair’s most iconic one as its centerpiece.

There are of course years, plot points, and many changes between the duel that led Anakin to fully transform into Darth Vader and his rematch with Obi-Wan. Even without referencing the other media bridging the gap between the final prequel and this series, Obi-Wan Kenobi does a decent job of depicting just how many vast changes occur in that time. In the series, it’s been a decade of Empire rule and Darth Vader is at his most feared self. He’s in charge of the Inquisitors and the effort to fully exterminate the Jedi and stamp out any hope others may have for their return.

As is the case with a lot of Star Wars lore nowadays, Obi-Wan Kenobi might be seen as nothing more than Disney and Lucasfilm trying to fill in the Skywalker saga’s gaps after the fact. So while fans know that Obi-Wan goes on to become the old hermit Ben by the start of Episode IV — A New Hope, the series took on the challenge of fleshing out how he got to that place. After surviving the Jedi Purge and reckoning with his guilt over once training the now-sadistic Darth Vader, Kenobi’s desire to squash out his Force abil