Thinking about this scene and, sure, it's a reference to the line "a more civilized age" in the original trilogy but also I really fucking love it as a metaphor.
The Jedi are known for using their lightsabers, the weapon that is nearly synonymous with them, the one that takes a lifetime of training and the kind of precision that can only come from someone using the Force, that a lightsaber is a constant reminder that a Jedi must have care with everything they do because of their abilities, the things they can do. There's a reason the story group commented that, almost any time a lightsaber ends up in the hands of non-trained Force-sensitives, it ends badly.
Here you have the final fight of the clone wars, this is General Grievous, this is the end of this war that has dragged them all through hell for the last four years, Obi-Wan was specifically sent because, with Dooku dead, Grievous was the last one standing that could rally the Separatists, this was it, this was the end.
This is how the Clone Wars ends--with a Jedi stripped of his precise, controlled weapon and grasping for a less than perfect solution because this needs to finally fucking be over, he needs to goddamned finish this.
I love this as a metaphor for the Jedi's position in the war--if Obi-Wan doesn't grab that blaster, Grievous is going to hit him with that Electrostaff and he's going to die. His lightsaber is flat-out not an option. The Jedi's choices are whittled down to: Imperfect solution or die.
So he chooses the imperfect solution because it's better than death, it's better than letting Grievous go, and there's still so much to be salvaged from this. He doesn't use his Jedi weapon, but it's not like he's suddenly no longer a Jedi because of it, he will still be a Jedi at heart and will still go back to doing his best to hold up their ideals.
This is why Lucas says, "Are [the Jedi] going to stick with their moral rules and all be killed, which makes it irrelevant, or do they help save the Republic?“ (Star Wars Archives 1999-2005)
I like this moment as a metaphor because I see it as illustrating the point of the Jedi's involvement in the war: It's not perfectly the Jedi way, it's them stripped of their preferred methods, but the heart of the reasoning is the same, that if they don't fight, if they don't take the less shitty option, then everyone dies.
Obi-Wan ending the war with a blaster rather than a lightsaber, because it was either that or die, is a fun callback to the OT, but also shows the two paths placed in front of them, the lack of options available, and just what exactly was on the line.
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