I watched the show with my daughter on Friday morning. She was off for an extra day for the holiday weekend since our school had some unused snow days this year. I've got to say that in light of last week's events that opening scene of the first episode was pretty jarring. It didn't really register with me until after the fact, but it didn't make that scene matter less. In retrospect I realize that opening scene could have been terrifying for kids.
I think that scene was really well done. The way it read to me was that it was a reminder of what happened when Order 66 was issued, and as a metaphor for the existence of all Jedi, young and old, from that point forward. They are on the run and in continual mortal danger. Maybe it was the pace of the scene, because it didn't really register with me until I had seen the episode a couple of times that one of those younglings looked exactly like Reva Sevander. I was admittedly a little caught up with how good the Jedi Temple set looked along with the fact that it looked like there were stunt performers in suits playing the 501st Clones.
There was so much to digest in the course of the two episodes. Like "Ben" having a job. I guess even a Jedi in hiding on Tatooine can't get by without a few credits. And carving up that creature (was it a Neebray or a Purgil?) seemed like a major source of sustenance for all - including Obi-Wan's Eopie. Part of me was wanting him to call her Roo, like in the Legends book, but that's a really deep cut.
Obi-Wan's psychology is fascinating to see here. He's clearly in survival mode. He wants to protect Luke, but he realizes that he's in no position to take on the Empire. And his reluctance to help Bail Organa reflects on how much he has tried to bury Obi-Wan and become Ben. I was actually shocked to see that he had buried the lightsabers in the middle of the desert. It was also stunning to see "that scene" on Daiyu. It seemed that Obi-Wan had consciously cut himself off from the Force. And to have to use it as he did seemed like it was a tremendous strain on him. But from a story standpoint it seems like that might have been a transitional point for him.
Then there are the Inquisitors. The Grand Inquisitor looked much better in the show than he did in the trailer. Maybe it was just those particular shots in the trailer that made his head look like an egg? The rivalry between Reva and the Grand Inquisitor is interesting. And it's because we've never really seen that kind of rivalry between Force users - at least not in live action. The Grand Inquisitor is clearly trying to keep Reva in line to protect his own position. It was genuinely shocking to see her run him through. I'm thinking that the writers and show runners were banking on the fact that not the entire audience had seen Rebels.
