Obi-Wan Kenobi - 10 Things You Missed

3. It’s A Thermal Detonator!

obi wan kenobi darth vader
Disney+

In Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia infiltrates Jabba's Palace by pretending to be a bounty hunter. To give her leverage while she tries to bargain for Han Solo, she threatens Jabba with a thermal detonator. Because everyone cowers in fear upon seeing the spherical explosive, we knew this device was packing some serious firepower.

Despite the fact this was a cool moment, we never saw what sort of damage the thermal detonator could actually do. Sure, this bomb has been triggered in The Bad Batch, Rebels, and The Clone Wars, but we've never seen it used in live-action.

Until now.

In Episode V of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tala realises her allies are running out of time to escape from Vader's forces. To buy them some time, she blows the Stormtroopers up with a thermal detonator, killing herself in the process.

Because the detonator looks more modern, some viewers didn't notice it was the same weapon that first appeared in Return of the Jedi. But those that did recognise it appreciated this moment since we've been waiting 39 frickin' years to see that bomb go kaboom in live-action!

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows