Hot & cold on it, but overall not bad. As I’ve said plenty through the years with regard to the entire franchise, I don’t find Vader at all interesting. Not in 1977, not now. That said, he’s been well handled in this series. He looks strong and sounds strong (his voice was off in Rogue One, but that’s for other discussions). He seems very 1977 in this and that’s nice to see.
Also interesting, to me at least, is how much better Obi Wan and Anakin both work as characters at their current ages. I don’t really remember Phantom Menace, but I do remember how I felt about it. Something I thought back then was that Obi Wan would have worked better if we picked up the story when he was older. Same for the kid. I’ve seen a few clips and screencaps to have the same feeling about the other two prequels. Anakin and Obi Wan look too young (to me).
One of the things that most interested me way back when this series was first announced was how perfect Ewan looked now for the role. That has sure been the case now that the series is here. Same for Hayden. I’ve never seen him in anything before, so I’m going in fresh with this series and his portrayal of Anakin looks and feels correct for the character at this point in his journey.
Surprisingly, I thought having that training duel as an ongoing parallel throughout the episode was a very interesting way to show the parallels of who both men have always been through the years. When it first started, my thought was “oh, hell, a Prequel flashback. Not interesting, not interested.” It turned out to be, to me, the most interesting part of the episode. Well done for both characters and by both actors, as well as my first time seeing Hayden in anything. Consider me pleasantly surprised.
The rest of the episode was mostly filler, including the Reva twist. Handled well, Moses on top of her game, but too short and too late. That last 10 minutes felt rushed. It could have been an episode on its own and been a deeper narrative. Leia was hardly in this one, which I think was a good thing. We need a break to keep her from being over-used. This episode wasn’t about her, so it was good they didn’t shoehorn her in unnecessarily. Yes she was valuable to the story, but I doubt she had more than three or four minutes of screen time.
Minor nitpick; Way more civilians should have\would have been killed in that firefight.