Star Words: Episode III, Part 18

During the second half of Episode III, things get very dark very quickly. So it's nice to have a few lighter moments as we're leading up to the heartbreak and tragedy. Obi-Wan provides a number of these during his mission to take down General Grievous. As I've pointed out before, Grievous is never meant to be a truly horrifying threat. He's a distraction to mask the identity of the true mastermind, and to misdirect Jedi like Obi-Wan away from the real danger happening on Coruscant.

Obi-Wan, it appears, isn't too concerned by the threat of Grievous either. He's counting on the clonetroopers arriving as backup, true, but it's still pretty reckless to jump down and confront Grievous and his hordes of battle droids all by himself. (Reckless....hmmm....remember how Obi-Wan acknowledged this shortcoming during a conversation with Yoda in Episode V?)

"Hello there."

First off, a great echo of his first line in Episode IV. Second, it's a marvelously flippant thing to say in such a perilous situation. Putting on a show of bravado to throw Grievous off guard, or just genuinely fearless? Either way, being "a bold one," as Grievous calls it, seems to pay off. Obi-Wan will emerge victorious.

It's really quite intriguing to see a young Obi-Wan after we were first introduced to him as a mysterious old mentor in the original trilogy. He's wiser and sadder by then, but in many respects he's still the same. Still that wry sense of humor. Still ready to charge into action when necessary, maybe with a wink and a witty one-liner.

Next, the Jedi have a inkling of their impending doom, but too little too late....