Some Star Wars fans had a few minor niggles with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but for the most part, they seemed to agree Lucasfilm nailed Ewan McGregor's long-awaited return as the Jedi Master. His battle with Darth Vader was an epic highlight, with the Sith Lord at full strength in a battle which also showed Obi-Wan in top form.
This Vader was quite a bit more physical than the one seen in the original Star Wars trilogy and that required some changes to his iconic suit, a responsibility which fell at the feet of costume designer Suttirat Larlarb.
"The extreme physical demands of the showdown between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader is what governed our need to re-think how to make Darth Vader for our show," she tells Variety (via SFFGazette.com). "We have other processes that allow for our Darth Vader, a younger one in the 'Star Wars' timeline, to be more mobile and physical, helmet-to-toe."
"The armor he wears needed to move with his body in a way that allowed the fights to happen fluidly - and not prevent him from doing anything that was dreamed up."
Slightly more divisive than Vader's previously unheard-of clash with Obi-Wan was the inclusion of Sith Inquisitor Reva. While there was some unfortunate - and seemingly inevitable - racist backlash to the character's inclusion, reasonable fans simply wondered why a supporting player needed so much screentime.
Ultimately, her arc was important to the wider story being told, and Larlarb revealed an Easter Egg which teases Reva's conflicting loyalties (while she served the Empire, the villain also secretly plotted to take revenge on Vader for the events of Order 66).
"There’s a detail on her leather cuirass which is subtle," the costume designer explains. "[Assistant costume designer] Stacia Lang took a series of sketch lines that I kept drawing over and over down the center front of the armor and developed it into a low and long and sharp ‘fin’ that looked like a front-facing external spine."
"We also had the imperial symbol bonded onto the reverse of her split cape, tone on tone, which I also saw as another way to express her conflicted allegiance."
It's always fun to learn how costume design informs a story and that was clearly the case with Obi-Wan Kenobi. McGregor has said he'd like a second season, though Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy says there are currently no plans to make that happen. As a result, we don't know if or when Reva's story will continue.
All episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are now streaming on Disney+.