“I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete.”
Well, its the end of the Star Wars collection and we finish on a portrait of Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have enjoyed sharing the Star Wars-related art but that will be the last of it for the foreseeable future as I move on to do some more obscure work and will be doing some painting over the next few months. I might release some of the t-shirt art ( AT-AT, Droids, That's No Moon) as lino print at some point, but I have enough Star Wars art to form a small collection.
In 1977 we were introduced to an old man called Ben Kenobi and the villainous Darth Vader in the pop culture changing film Star Wars, almost 50 years later in the series Obi-Wan Kenobi the once master and apprentice are reunited once again on opposites side of the force.
Obi-Wan was charged with looking after a young Jedi by the name of Anakin Skywalker, Anakin eventually was seduced by the dark side of the force. In the subsequent fight, Obi-Wan left Anakin for dead. Guilt-ridden and taking responsibility for looking after Anakin's son from afar Obi-Wan became a hermit keeping out of sight until Anakin who was found and kept alive by the Emperor had become more machine than man, began to hunt him down.
He no longer went by the name of Anakin he was Darth Vader and where he was once the learner he was now the master.
Ending on Obi-Wan seems a good place to stop especially at the moment with the series on Disney+ hitting the halfway point in its limited series run. I must say episode 3 of Kenobi was really good and I enjoyed it a lot. It does confirm what I had mentioned in a previous blog that Star Wars has a Vader problem, he elevates the film or series he is to a whole menacing level and without him it feels flat, Vader is Star Wars.
After a promising start in episode 1 albeit with a slightly dodgy chase scene, episode 2 was a bit clunky but episode 3 was a corker. The relationship between Obi-Wan and Leia has settled down and the writing is less forced (ho-hum), after escaping the inquisition in episode 2 the duo land on a spaceport on the planet Mapuzo. The action scenes in this episode improve greatly and Mcgregor seems to have rediscovered his mojo dispatching storm troopers with ease.
Hunted down by his one time apprentice the episode really heats up The show gets everything right about Darth Vader. He’s both the classic Vader from the Original Trilogy, complete with James Earl Jones's booming voice and Rogue One’s one-man army. He even chokes out innocents while on the hunt for Obi-Wan, offering up a threat as fearsome as any seen in Star Wars. When the two finally do meet, it’s a complete mismatch. Instead of crossing lightsabers, the two exchange words. “What have you become?” yells Obi-Wan. Vader’s reply? “I am what you made me.”
Vader batters old Ben and in a wicked bit of irony and attempts to burn him as Obi-wan once did to him (I told you things were heating up) of course Obi-wan manages to get away but it really does show you without Vader no matter how hard they try, no villain can fill those boots.
In other news off on our travels, next week and will be sharing some artwork which is related to our journey!
Available in new 8", 12” or 20” Giclee prints on 310gsm material.
Kirk Evans
'Now I am The Master' was created on May 28th 2022
- Limited to 50 copies
- Printed using Giclee and Hahnemühle German Etching 310 (gsm) paper for a superior handmade feel.
-Includes 1" border for mounting.