If this was a 10 or 12 episode season, I think this episode would have been fine, but we have only 6 episodes and Obi-wan just fought Vader and was nearly killed. Instead of the emotional impact and ramifications this should have had on Obi-Wan, we have to deal with ANOTHER Leia rescue mission. These writers are awful. Zero creativity and lazy.
I completely see your point, but I would rather argue that Episode 2 is the true filler episode and that Episode 4 is the better-crafted episode with increased stakes and emotional weight, way more deserving of it’s place.
It should actually be Episode 1 -> Episode 4 -> Episode 3 -> Episode 5&6
If anyone wants to do a more radical edit then I think trying to remove one of the “Save Leia” plotlines, preferably Episode 2’s, could be a very interesting and perhaps immensely successful approach. For this edit, though, that would feel fanedit-y and perhaps break immersion for most, so I think that reducing the time spent on Episode 2 and increase the time spent on Episode 4 would be ideal. But again, this completely depends on the overall pacing of the fanedit - I might find myself having to remove most of this episode, only keeping the opening in the Bacta Tank and the end of Obi-Wan and Leia as suggested above.
As for now I will edit the episode into my timeline as “canon” for the edit, but I will definitely remove it if the last two episodes are immense (and important at that) in content.