Episode 6 of Obi-Wan Kenobi wraps up the current storyline, obviously, Leia gets back home and there is the "big" confrontation between Kenobi and Vader that reveals a lot of why Ben told Luke what he did about his father in Episode IV, and why he calls Vader "Darth" as opposed to Anakin when they meet on the Death Star. We also see the origin of Leia's holster and get an idea of why she worded the message to Obi-Wan the way she did in A New Hope. Owen and Beru are also featured a lot more in this episode as Reva, who does not die from the lightsaber wound this time either (although she is weakened) comes for Luke to get her revenge on Anakin. It is great to see them doing more than just kind of standing around in the background. Obviously, Luke lives, but how that plays out was well done. And, we finally see Ben being able to commune with Qui-Gon.
The episode was definitely not an hour and a half long as was speculated. It was more like 40 minutes, give or take, excluding the recap and the credits. The fight between Obi-Wan and Vader was what it should have been. Not as good as their battle on Mustafar in Episode III, but much better than their first confrontation when Obi-Wan was weak and scared shitless. It is interesting how the battle ends, which has a lot of parallels to Ashoka's confrontation with Vader in the Rebels animated series, as they are both well aware that the other survives. It is more about Obi-Wan turning his back on the idea of Anakin being alive, and definitely explains his Return of the Jedi line, "he is more machine now than man, twisted and evil".
The only thing that does not get fleshed out much at all is the line "Obi-Wan once thought as you do" which Vader says to Luke when Luke declares he knows that Vader still has good in him. This episode never gives the impression that Obi-Wan has any thought that Anakin can be redeemed or turned back from the dark side. It is more like his suspicion that Anakin is irredeemable is confirmed. It is also interesting that the writers decided to end the battle between the two of them without having Obi-Wan finish off a weakened Vader. Especially since he was resolved earlier in the episode that one of them was going to die in the confrontation. Obviously, for canon, both of them had to survive, but it would have made a lot more sense to have Obi-Wan fake his death at the end of the battle so Vader had no incentive to keep looking for him. I would have preferred that ending even if it meant no second season because it would have perfectly set up A New Hope.
The show definitely leaves open the idea that a second season will be forthcoming. How they will do it, and whether Vader will be included as much as he was in this season, if a second season materializes, will have to be seen. I do not think that there should be any further direct interactions between Vader and Kenobi, and the show sets up a reason why that would not happen via an appearance by The Emporer, with the Emperor basically telling Vader to forget Kenobi. There is obviously another nine-to-ten-year gap between the Kenobi series and A New Hope that leaves a lot of time open for additional stories. I just worry that wherever they would do with additional stories would not be anywhere near as good as what we got this season and/or would be a recycled version of this season. One aspect a second season could explore is what causes the increased animosity by Owen toward Ben. The end of this episode actually seems to leave them on better terms than they were in the first episode of the series. So, Owen's line in A New Hope regarding Ben being a "crazy old man" suggests something happens within the next ten years that pisses Owen off again.
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