Ms Marvel Episode 2 : Spoiler-y Ramble

Ms Marvel Episode 2 : Spoiler-y Ramble

First of all...that was perfect. Marvel outdid themselves. This show has a beautiful blend of culture and religion and I see the Muslim and South Asian creators touch.

KAMRAN has arrived.

Absolutely thrilled that Kamala falls for the Muslim brown boy. I won't stop talking about that. Also I love that Kamran isn't stereotyped in any way. He's just...MashaAllah. Rish is a great Kamran and he and Iman have incredible chemistry. I need to see a lot of him.

Swetshop Boys was also chosen personally by Iman and Rish during their first car scene and it was a win that they convinced Marvel! I am a bit sad Kamran and Kamala aren't family friends because we didn't get Kamran calling Aamir 'Aamir bhai' and Kamran pretending to be the desi golden boy...we all know he's not. But his scene with Aamir was hilarious and I died at Kamala insisting she and Kamran are cousins.

Ok.. So first I thought Kamala was having hallucinations about Aisha and she was trapped in the bangle. I would have found that disturbing and... not ok. But it seems Najma is using her powers to appear to Kamala??? That seems much better. I like that Kamran is being upfront with Kamala. I think we can already make assumptions about what Najma is trying to do. So the US govt/ N.I.C.E... I absolutely loved how they mentioned they are willing to search mosques and target Poc's. This is a huge step in highlighting what Muslim people go through. Sadie seems to be an outright villain so I'm certain Kamala will take her down by the finale. I have a lot of thoughts about the partition discussion and again, I hope people understand how personal it is to South Asians. Especially the discussion of the British and their role.

Nakia was amazing this episode. I love her and Kamala running to pray. I also love that she wants to make changes in her mosque. Women prayer facilities not being created or maintained is a global issue that Muslim women face. I hope people acknowledge this. I also love Kamala mistakenly drinking alcohol! Her discussion with Nakia about hijab. The beautiful 'Eid Mubaraks'. Tyesha and Aamir beautifully greeting each other!!!

I'd vote for Nakia Bahadir any day!!

Now that we have confirmation that Kamala's DNA is activating the powers of the bangle... I want to know MORE.

Also Travina is a perfect Tyesha. Ain't no one like Kamala's bhabi.

Also all the Natasha references!!! We need more!!! Women getting the attention they deserve on this show gives me life. I need Kamala casually doing her moves more

Obi-Wan: can I have some help? any advice? Master? Yoda? someone? anyone in the Force at all? Anakin hallucination: hey Obi-Wan: Obi-Wan: Obi-Wan: that one is on me, I should have known better than to ask for help

I think what really gets me about Maul post-TPM is that he’s the only Star Wars character with true agency. Because of the way the films were made, every character in the prequels is already predestined for a role—Obi-Wan must go to Tatooine, Anakin must become Vader, every person they care about must be lost to them, and every villain but Sidious must die. Maul isn’t constrained by the narrative because he’s already played his part. He killed Qui-Gon; his job is done. He was never meant to be anything more than a one-off villain, so when he’s brought back, he’s without a destiny in the way that so many other characters are not. He has nowhere he needs to end up, no one he needs to be. He alone has the power to escape from the narrative—but he doesn’t. He buys into the narrative, buys into the conflict between light and dark, buys into the idea that he has to participate in it. Maul dies to Obi-Wan on Tatooine because he makes the mistake of going back, of trying to put himself in a narrative that has no place for him anymore.

Thinking about that scene where Leia asks if Obi-wan is her father and he says that he wishes he was. Obi-wan would've LOVED to have a kid guys... like he raised Anakin pretty much and even though he's always annoyed with him, like he loves him and thinks of him as a younger brother right? And that whole thing with Numa... waaa he was so sweet with holding her and talking to her and covering her eyes when her village began tearing apart the droid. And AHSOKA he has such a sweet relationship with her too like they really do have an uncle-niece dynamic (am I still thinking about that "our padawan" line? ...maybe). I mean sure Anakin was her master but Obi-wan was such a good mentor to Ahsoka too. They had sort of a "good cop, bad cop" dynamic now that I think about it, where Anakin is sort of the one that encourages her reckless, break the rules side while Obi-wan encourages her more Jedi-like, be emotionally stable side. And the thing is they both Get her equally, just different sides of her. Anyways, Obi-wan has proven himself to be good with children back to the main point. Obi-wan probably would have loved to raise Luke and Leia. He brings Luke toys-- and eventually takes him on a big "let's overthrow the government" adventure-- and buys Leia the clothes she wants and fixes her droid 🥺 We already know that the space twins remind him of Anakin and Padme... Luke and Leia are like his nephew and niece. They're the only thing left of Anakin, his brother and closest friend, that he has. He would've been such a wonderful uncle figure to them. He would've loved to help raise them. Because if Anakin and Padme aren't there to raise them, then of course Obi-wan would be the next person in line, right? Not only would Anakin (and probably Padme!) want that, but Obi-wan would definitely want to raise Anakin's children. But no no no Palpatine has to ruin everything for everyone

what I enjoy about the obi-wan kenobi show so far is that it's actually using the context these already established characters bring to the show to build tension and develop character. like so much dialogue is laden with rich subtext because we know (and the writers know) about these characters' history. previous cameos from old characters have just been about spectacle whereas this show is interested in actually using characters to create emotional investment. hearing obi-wan say "when I look at her, all I can see is her mother" is so gut-wrenching because of that subtext whereas watching luke skywalker cut down some robots or cad bane fight boba fett felt shallow because they didn't add to the story in any below the surface way.

let's hope the final episodes offer a beautiful catharsis moment with all the suspense and tension they've been building up