polevoi said:
The first Kenobi vs. Vader showdown still bothers me but this is a problem inherent in the material and probably beyond the abilities of an edit to correct. Why doesn’t Vader use the force to pull Kenobi back through the flames or levitate him up and over the flames? Or the stormtroopers could just charge up the sides of the gravel hill and get to the droid (who wasn’t exactly moving fast), take it out, and recover Kenobi. I get that the intent is supposed to be that Vader is in some kind of PTSD moment with the wall of flames (at least I think that is supposed to be the intent–I’m not sure what else would make sense), but this is a digression that relates to the source material.

I interpreted this as Vader playing with his food. He doesn’t want to kill Kenobi just yet, he wants a challenge. I felt like he was making a choice in that moment to let Kenobi regroup with the confidence that he’ll have a more satisfying opportunity to face him later.