'Star Wars' Writer Explains The Empire's Role In 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Series
None of the Star Wars projects coming down the pipeline are more anticipated than the series focusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi. If there was one consistently good factor of the controversial prequel trilogy, it was Ewan MacGregor's portrayal of the iconic Jedi master. He perfectly brought Obi-Wan's wit, wisdom, and charm to the screen. Now that he has a show centered around him, we'll get more of that MacGregor Obi-Wan that we all loved so much, even in the most controversial moments of the prequels.
One of the things that we know about the series so far is that it will feature the evil Galactic Empire. Given that the story takes place between A New Hope and Revenge of the Sith, we'll get to see the Empire in a way we've never seen before: ascending. Now, obviously, it's entirely in charge of the galaxy at this point. The Clone Wars are over, the Separatist leaders are all dead with their armies deactivated, and the few Jedi left have gone into hiding, including Obi-Wan. Since we know the state of the galaxy and what the story holds, none of the tension of the series will come from "will the Empire be defeated?" We know they won't be.
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One of the writers of the series, Jobi Harold, gave us some small insight into what we can expect from the Empire during the show. He said:
"The Empire is in the ascendancy, All the horrors that come with the Empire are being made manifest throughout the galaxy, so everything that was in the prequels has crumbled. The Jedi order are being all but wiped out, and those Jedi that have survived are on the run and they're in hiding."
This sets the stage for a much more brutal show than we've seen so far. We've seen the beginning of the Empire. We've seen it try to hold onto its power. We've seen its ultimate downfall. However, one thing we have not seen is its consolidation of power. Destroying the Separatists and the Jedi is only the first major step to creating a stable empire. Sure, most of the senate was behind Palpatine taking ultimate control, but there is still a large galaxy that won't be happy about the idea that they traded the threat of the Separatists for the oppression of Palpatine. Thousands of systems will not roll over because the scary man in the evil-looking cloak said so. Plus, Palpatine would know that every Jedi still out there is a major thorn in his side, and he knows of at least two.
The remnants of the Jedi order have also given the show the ability to portray the Imperial Inquisitors for the first time in live-action. They're hunting for powerful opponents. There can be no half measures when trying to destroy any Jedi, just as there can be no half measures when subjugating the galaxy. Obviously, we've seen the Imperial military do terrible things before, but it's likely that the newly christened Stormtroopers and especially the Inquisitors have carte blanche to torture and kill whoever they feel to get the job done.
Obi-Wan will have an impossible task before him. The Empire can't even get a vague idea that he's hiding on Tattooine because not only would Vader send out every troop he could spare to hunt down his old master, but doing so would likely lead to the discovery of Luke, something that cannot happen. So Obi-Wan has to do everything he can to help without giving the Empire even a vague idea that he might be on Tattooine.
It will be interesting to see how he does it. If anybody has the intelligence to pull it off, it's Obi-Wan. He'll be trying to resist against an empire that will go all the way to destroy any of their opponents and consolidate the new regime. Obi-Wan will do what he can. Who knows if it will even be remotely enough.
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Source(s): ScreenRant