George Lucas has stated numerous times that Star Wars is for children, yet that doesn’t mean the franchise stays away from dark and mature topics. There’s a reason the Empire is often referred to by fans as “space Nazis,” as its forced dictatorship and ruthlessness reflects the atrocities of World War II. And Obi-Wan Kenobi continues this trend, with Part IV showing off some of the most disturbing Imperial acts to date.
After Leia’s capture, she’s taken to Fortress Inquisitorius for interrogation. With Reva playing mental trickery with a 10-year-old, and trying to force her way into her mind, the interrogation is already bad enough. Yet when Leia refuses to share any information, Reva skips straight ahead to torture, with the young girl being strapped to a devise similar to that seen in The Empire Strikes Back. While Kenobi is able to save her just in time, the potential outcome was leading to one of the most hard-to-watch scenes in the franchise.
While the idea of using torture on a child was surprising to some, it was just one of the many terrible things the Empire has been seen enacting. From the enslaved Wookies in Solo: A Star Wars Story, to the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars: A New Hope, it’s clear the Empire destroyed countless lives during its time in power. The concepts of slavery and genocide are frequent in the franchise, and are never easy to see. However, their large scale can soften the blow, as it’s difficult to comprehend the amount of pain and suffering. Whereas something like child abuse is often looked away from, as it can feel far more personal and disturbing.
Yet Obi-Wan Kenobi fully displays how poorly children were treated. Not only is Leia seen tied to a torture devise, the room leading into the chamber has holds a dead Jedi Youngling suspended in amber. There’s even the opening scene of the series, with the atrocity of Order 66 being shown from a group of Younglings’ perspective, and lasts way longer than the Youngling scene in Revenge of the Sith. And then there are the Inquisitors themselves, which are known to be children who were forcibly turned to the dark side.
While the child-suffering is on display more so than ever before, it’s not the first time Star Wars has delved into the taboo subject. Even before he was Emperor, Palpatine was known to perform horrific experiments on children. As seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he had a number of Force-sensitive babies kidnapped and brought to Mustafar. Here, he attempted to brainwash them, and was seemingly attempting to create the very first Inquisitors. Luckily, Anakin was able to save the kids just in time, but still, the implication of what would’ve happened is terrifying.
Even The Phantom Menace introduced child-slavery as a common practice on Tatooine. But again, the events seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi are by far the most depressing to date, with a 10-year-old dragged to a torture devise being painful to watch. Although, it serves as a reminder of how terrible the Empire really was, and makes its eventual downfall all the more satisfying.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is available to stream on Disney+, with new episodes on Wednesdays.