clearly the pineapple is the slut

Vader stepping on Obi-Wan’s cloak after he dies in ANH is so much more hilarious now in retrospect because he literally had to check to be sure he was actually gone. Because every time he thought he killed Obi-Wan, even burying him under a bunch of rocks, he still came back.

I still can’t get over that the entirety of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series wasn’t about people being awesome and badass, but about cracking them open and showing what they’re really made of at their centers.  That this was a series about showing how hope and compassion leads to the light and that the dark is miserable and will only destroy you from within and without.  That this was a series about people crying because they cared what happened to other people, that their compassion cannot be driven from them fully.  That this was a series about what you choose, what you embrace in your heart, and just a series about feelings.  It’s an incredibly emotional series, one that isn’t afraid to delve deep into the trauma and hurt of it, to show its characters in deep emotional reactions, but also understand that you have to free yourself from carrying it with you. This series understood what Star Wars is all about, that love and compassion will light the way forward for you, that holding on to something that’s not yours to keep anymore will only keep you prisoner in the dark, that emotions are intense and should be faced and acknowledged, because once you understand yourself and let go of the things dragging you down, you’re free. Thank you, Ms. Deborah Chow, for understanding the assignment and knocking it out of the fucking park.  Thank you, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen and Moses Ingram for delivering performances that knocked the breath out of my lungs, gasping at the emotional reveals in all the right moments, and had me sobbing during that final episode. Sometimes Star Wars gets it and this show just fucking got it good.

The way Vaderkin’s voice subtly breaks when he says, “Anakin is gone. I am what remains.” like I am in tears over the way that line is delivered, it’s both a pledge to the dark once more, the monster refusing to be anything but a monster, but also a lamentation for what he is, that he knows he cannot break free of the dark, it’s sorrowful because he doesn’t want to be this, he’s in pain and he hates himself more than anyone.  It is not a triumphant moment of the dark side, it’s a cry for what he has become.

“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it. I failed them. He killed them all, and I couldn’t do it.“ “You haven’t failed them. By showing mercy, you have given them peace.“ I was in tears, Reva going after Luke because she wanted to take away Vader’s family, wanted to kill the child that should have meant everything to him, just like he killed the children that meant everything to her, wanting to avenge her family, but she only sees herself when she looks at Luke passed out, she only sees a  youngling who doesn’t deserve what happened. Contrasted against Vader having a chance to come back to a better path as well, to not be what he’s chosen to be, that Obi-Wan offers him a way back, offers him love and compassion, but Vader rejects it.  Reva cannot reject it, she couldn’t do it, couldn’t kill that part of herself. Because Obi-Wan is right, the other Jedi younglings wouldn’t have been avenged by murdering the child of Anakin Skywalker, it wouldn’t bring them peace.  Mercy brings them peace, Reva’s inability to become what Vader is is everything those Jedi younglings, her family, would have wanted for her.  They would never have wanted her to become him, they would want the light for her. Moses Ingram absolutely destroyed that scene, she had me in tears right along with Reva, this young woman who was so ruthless and lived on her rage and pain, but in the end, she was still Jedi enough to turn back.  She couldn’t do. She will never be Vader.  And her family is at peace for it.