Star Wars has this ability to have women at the forefront without making me cringe over the Girl Power™ moments—because their “girl power” moments are earned and show us the power that each of these characters has. They did what they had to do for the rebellion (or, later, the resistance), and they weren’t afraid of what it would mean for them. They’re all complicated and unpredictable and in “Part V” of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and they’re the ones who step up and save the day.
Not to say they do it alone. The men of the rebellion are strong in their own way (and we know that Darth Vader is a strong antagonist), but this episode was a true highlight of how strong the women of Star Wars consistently are, and it was wonderful to see.
**Spoilers for the first five episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi lie ahead.**
There was a lot to unpack in “Part V” because we learned a lot about Reva, watched as the rebellion fought back against Vader, and saw how much Anakin and Obi-Wan had to deal with the trauma of their past. But what was a standout highlight for me was the way the women of this show use their abilities to help without thinking about it.
Reva
Yes, she’s the antagonist and someone who isn’t on the side of the rebellion, but this week, we saw the complexities of Reva and the struggle she faces with her own pain and trauma from the past that she’s using as her driving force. Everyone’s theory from the first episode came true when we learned that Reva was one of the younglings that escaped from Anakin’s slaughter, and she’s never quite been on Vader’s side. Instead, she wants her revenge but is biding her time.
What we learn in “Part V” is that she isn’t going after Obi-Wan in support of Vader. She’s doing it to get close to him, and she’s too far into it to care who she hurts along the way, to get Vader back for what he did to those she knew. But when the time comes, she faces off against him, and while not successful, she does it because of what Ben said to her when he realized who Reva was.
“I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone,” she says, and it comes from a place of having to survive on her own for so long. She survived the attack on the younglings. She was alone, and now she’s begun her hunt on Vader because she knew who Anakin was, and she’s determined to do what she has to.
Tala
A surprising character has been Tala. Someone who used her connection to the Empire to her advantage to try to help the rebellion from the moment we meet her, she has always seemed to know what to do to get everyone to safety. And she didn’t care what happened to her in the process. That is made abundantly clear in her final moments.
When Reva and the troopers make their way towards the team, everyone begins to fight back, and Tala is shot, her loader droid sacrificing itself to protect her, but she knows that the only chance of survival they all have is for her to detonate the bomb while she’s still taking their power, and she shuts Ben away and blows up the troopers in her area.
Leia
In the midst of everyone fighting for their lives, Leia is doing her part, too. When they need someone small enough to go and fix the controls, Leia volunteers, and while some question whether or not she should do it, Obi-Wan says that he trusts her, so she climbs up to the panel and begins to work on getting their escape route opened and ready to go.
There, she finds her L0-LA 59 droid and sees what Reva did to her and quickly fixes her before she climbs back down to escape with Obi-Wan and the rest of the crew. So, without Leia and Tala, the rebellion would have never escaped, and without Reva fighting Vader, they might have been instantly followed and attacked by the Empire.
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I can’t wait to see what happens with the end of the show. Having Reva get the message about Tatooine and having Luke be the last thing we see gives us a feeling of unease, and now we have to wait a whole week for answers.
(featured image: Lucasfilm)
