Kenobi - S1E3 (Spoilers)

headcannon

@Ultra
I think you mean "headcanon", but I have to admit your word conjures entertaining images...

As for the episode, I'm just going to come out and say it:

Vader should have never been on that planet and should never have met Kenobi while Kenobi is in this shape. If you want to portray Kenobi as cut-off from the force, fine. What you do is have him lose a fight with 3rd Sister. Anyone can lose a fight to Darth Vader, he's frickin' VADER, people. Showing Kenobi losing a fight to 3rd Sister says more about his pitiful state than losing a battle with Vader could, and if you had Kenobi fighting a lesser opponent, he could make a better showing, still get his tuchus kicked, and there would be far more dramatic tension along the way. With Vader so completely outclassing Kenobi, there's no tension at all: Vader's not going to lose the fight, and Kenobi isn't going to be able to save himself, but someone else is going to save Kenobi b/c we know that Kenobi has to be alive on the Death Star in a few years.

Now, Leia can't do it, b/c if she did it would reveal her force powers (a 10-year old with no force powers couldn't save Kenobi in that spot) and there's only one other person on the planet who has shown any willingness to help.

And to top it all off this completely ruins the scene in Ep4 where Vader specifically says,

I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master.

Except right now it's completely clear that Vader is the master and Kenobi isn't teaching him anything.

Now, if you had to have Vader on the mining planet to have an opponent who could defeat Kenobi, then okay. You have to have Vader present.

But as I said, you don't need to have Vader present. Losing a battle to 3rd Sister says just as much or more about the state of Kenobi's relationship to the force AND it provides an opportunity for 3rd Sister's characterization to develop.

Putting Vader on that planet was a horrible decision by the writers/director. There's no excuse for it. None. It fails in every way, and makes A New Hope worse for having taken place.

Garbage.