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Smugglers Rants
date posted: Oct 05, 2006 5:04 AM  |  updated: Oct 05, 2006 5:17 AM
The Sharp End
It's the final few minutes of Revenge of the Sith. The Star Wars saga, after almost 30 years, is about to conclude for us here on Earth, but for our characters though, there is plenty yet to play for.

Obi-Wan and Anakin are nearing the end of their duel on Mustafar, and after an arduous battle atop the flowing lava fields Obi-Wan has leapt from his hovering platform and taken higher ground.
Anakin, fuelled by rage, determination, betrayal and murderous intent slows and glowers at Ben.
"It's over Anakin. I have the high ground." Ben gestures to his higher position.
But pause and think about the next scene, and the thinking behind it. In fact, go back to about 20 minutes before.

Anakin has turned to the dark side. Devastated and horrified, Ben begs Yoda to allow him to face the Emperor. But the Jedi Master says no. Yoda will face Palpatine, and Ben will hunt down Anakin.
Hunt him down to kill him, to end the threat he poses to not only the Jedi but to the galaxy.

Fast forward to Padme's balcony. Ben visits to gently question her, and to inform her of Anakin's fall. Padme, in denial, refuses to help and as Ben departs the truth dawns on her.
"You're going to kill him, aren't you?"
Ben cannot deny it - it's the truth. After asking about the identity of her childs father he looks sadder than he ever will again in the saga.
"I'm so sorry."
Kenobi, the man who practically raised Anakin since age 9 and into adulthood, now carries the burden of having to end his young padawans life.
He has essentially become a Jedi assassin. Perhaps the long years in isolation not only gave him chance to watch Luke and train with Qui Gon, but to pull himself back from the brink of the darkside himself...

Back to Mustafar. Ben knows Anakin inside out. They know each other, having fought alongside each other as equals during the latter days of the Clone Wars. Ben knows that Anakin's arrogance and pride, and knows that in his current state Anakin will not be able to simply leave the fight alone.
But Ben is there to kill Anakin. "He has become a very grave threat." Ben said it himself. And he knows that his "High ground" line would seem like a taunt to Anakin.
And Darth Vader fell for the trap, just as Obi-Wan planned.
Something Yoda couldn't have accounted for was Ben not killing Anakin entirely. Up until this point Kenobi had been a model Jedi, the go-to man of the Jedi Order. But when it came to the crunch 'attatchment' as Yoda put it, or 'unconditional love' as Anakin may have worded it, stopped Ben from finishing his young charge.

Here's an alternative idea. What if Yoda had heeded Ben's request and allowed Ben to face the Emperor. Kenobi would certainly have perished, but look at the other situation. Yoda would have faced Anakin.
Sideous himself said that "Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us." And Yoda knows full well of Anakin's skills, weaknesses and potential. Yes, the Jedi Order didn't quite know what to do with him, or how to best contain him. The Prophesy was turned inside out by the actions of that day.
But Yoda would have almost certainly prevailed against Anakin, and that threat would have been ended. After all, in the long term, what was the bigger threat? Vader potentially overpowering his master Palpatine and taking the galaxy as a fit, healthy Sith, or an ageing Emperor with no apprentice ready to stand by his side? After all, he'd sacrificed Dooku in order to gain Anakin from the Jedi.
Yoda could have taken Anakin, leaving himself prepared (and that's the key word, Yoda was not prepared for his clash with the Emperor, it was sprung upon both him and the Order - Palpatine had "waited a long time for this moment.") to clash with the Emperor and possibly defeat him.

But that didn't occur. Yoda fought Palpatine to a draw and fled into hiding, and Kenobi couldn't bring himself to complete his mission, presumably leaving Anakin to die on the lava shores, and consequently threw the galaxy into even more darkness.

On that Mustafar platform Anakin wasn't there to kill Kenobi. Ben could have walked away and lived, at least for the time being, until he'd pushed Anakins buttons and lured him into conflict. But Ben was always there for one purpose - to end the Sith threat and eliminate Skywalker.

Unfortunately for the galaxy, he didn't quite have the stomach for it.

vadersgirl33
vadersgirl_reflections
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 6:49 AM
Interesting way to put things. Yes, I believe Kenobi could not come to terms with killing Vader. He was hurting too much (emotionally) from his padawan's betrayal. Kenobi was hoping the lava bed would finish the job. Unfortunately, Vader's anger kept him alive long enough for the emperor to come rescue him. I also believe that the saga would have turned out differently if Yoda and Kenobi had fought the other's adversary. Good job.

vadersgirl33
The Stooge
Star Wars Joke-A-Day
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 7:05 AM
Compelling thoughts, but I dunno -- Obi expressed plenty of misgivings about his mission even before his meeting with Padme. And since he talks to Anakin before they duel, I wouldn't say he had made up his mind about the killin' even then.

I think Obi-Wan presumed that Anakin would die from being fried alive, and that it was an easy out -- Vader dead, but not by his hand. So Obi-Wan just grabs the lightsaber (apparently Mustafar didn't have any souvenier shops) and walks away...
amidalooine
The Emotional Galaxy
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 7:06 AM
Unfortunately for the galaxy, he didn't quite have the stomach for it

Thank the maker he didn't have the stomach for it, as he said from minute one. Obi-wan may have had the Jedi smarts and skills to plan a perfect trap, as you point out, but he knew from the very first second that he couldn't kill Anakin. More evidence of the Force, and destiny, at work in the GFFA.

Wonderful entry!
janlomona
Smugglers Rants
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 7:24 AM
Cheers for the kind words guys.
It's wierd, despite Ben being pretty much my favourite character in the films (especially the prequels) I also think he is manipulative, tactically brilliant and more than willing to word things in certain ways to get what he wants. Out fo all the characters, I see him as by far the most duplicitous, even more than the bad guys (who, if you look at it, often tell the stark, cold truth.)
janlomona
Smugglers Rants
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 7:27 AM
Vadersgirl and Stooge, I agree - Ben likely hoped the lava would finish Anakin off. Otherwise why not decpaitate Anakin instead of chopping his remaining real limbs off, and leaving him with only his artificial arm? Sure, he was devastated with what he had to achieve, but in the end he bottled it (as us Brits say) - he didn't have the killer instinct to finish the job, and the galaxy paid dearly for that act.
Amidalooine, good point. The Force had plans for both Ben and Anakin, but if the roles had been reversed then Palpatine may have been easier to get at without Vader as his fist.
  Oboe-Wan
Oboe-Wan's Hive of Scum & Villainy
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 11:53 AM
He has essentially become a Jedi assassin. Perhaps the long years in isolation not only gave him chance to watch Luke and train with Qui Gon, but to pull himself back from the brink of the darkside himself...

Wow. I never thought of Ben as an assassin. I always thought he was tormented by the thought of having to kill his friend, but the word "assassin" never crossed my mind. I know you're right & poor Ben for having to be in this position. He didn't ask to be one of the few surviving Jedi & have this put on him to accomplish. I can't imagine those years alone on Tatooine, how he did actually forgive(?) himself for not killing Anakin.

  Oboe-Wan
Oboe-Wan's Hive of Scum & Villainy
date Posted: Oct 05, 2006 11:55 AM
Or maybe, what if he wasn't sorry he didn't kill Anakin? If he & Yoda could foresee Luke's future, they must have known even Luke wouldn't "kill" Darth Vader.

If we listen to Gandalf's advice to Frodo concerning Pity & not being eager to deal out death as a punishment, the Ben did the right thing. Allowed Anakin's punishment to play itself out instead of sitting in judgment of his friend.

In that respect, then, Ben is absolved of guilt & comes out looking like he did the absolute right thing.


GREAT blog!
  Lord Nightstalker
date Posted: Oct 10, 2006 7:42 AM
I have to disagree somewhat. Obi-Wan didn't want the job at all. In fact, he wanted only a chance to try and turn Anakin back. Even when he was defending his life he still believed up to a point that Anakin could come to his senses.
  Fish1941
date Posted: Nov 14, 2006 1:23 PM
If we listen to Gandalf's advice to Frodo concerning Pity & not being eager to deal out death as a punishment, the Ben did the right thing.

But Obi-Wan didn't spare Anakin. He had left Anakin on that lava bank to die . . . slowly. Was that pity?
  Tar_Ranth
Bounty Hunters Pride - the ramblings of Louis Turfrey
date Posted: Nov 15, 2006 1:43 AM
Obi-Wan was indeed a great tactician, and a ruthless leader - when the Force required him to be. We could argue that Obi-Wan, in intending to eliminate Anakin, was following the greater good and using his powers in an attempt to protect the galaxy - all of which fall under the remit of the Jedi.

  Tar_Ranth
Bounty Hunters Pride - the ramblings of Louis Turfrey
date Posted: Nov 15, 2006 1:44 AM
In the end, I think it was his attachment to Anakin that forced him to leave him there on Mustafa, and possibly his concern for Amidala as well. Remember, at this point Anakin was no longer a threat, and as far as Obi-Wan was concerned there was an as-yet unborn child and its mother to rescue. Why would he take the life of somebody that no longer offered any menace? It wouldn't be the Jedi way. Yet Yoda had instructed him to eliminate Vader, and so by leaving him to what might be a long and ugly death - he fulfilled his obligations to his master and the Force.
  Tar_Ranth
Bounty Hunters Pride - the ramblings of Louis Turfrey
date Posted: Nov 15, 2006 1:49 AM
He could not have imagined that Sideous would know of Vaders defeat, and that he would have both the time and the medical facilities with which to perform a rescue.

Even so, had the Emperor told Vader that Padme had survived, Vader might yet have hesitated in his performance of his duties. By closing off that chapter and telling Vader that Padme was dead, then the Emperor forced Vader to confront his actions and fuel both his dispair and his now potent hatred of the Jedi. This rage no-doubt empowered his Dark Side abilities and made him a more maleable pawn of the Emperor.
  Fish1941
date Posted: Nov 15, 2006 12:03 PM
.Why would he take the life of somebody that no longer offered any menace?

Because killing Anakin would have been a more merciful death than leaving him to die SLOWLY on a lava bank.
  Tar_Ranth
Bounty Hunters Pride - the ramblings of Louis Turfrey
date Posted: Nov 16, 2006 3:27 PM
Would it? Did Obi-Wan think that Anakin was going to die, or was it all a matter of which was the most pressing emergency. Padme was injured, possibly dying - and the future of the Jedi dying with her. Anakin was immobilised, and no longer a threat. Plus, at this point he hadn't slipped down into the Lava.
It probably would have been more merciful for Obi-Wan to have killed him then and there, but he was in a rush and every moment counted.
  Tar_Ranth
Bounty Hunters Pride - the ramblings of Louis Turfrey
date Posted: Nov 16, 2006 3:29 PM
Oh, and Mark mate - it was 3720 - 1.
janlomona
Smugglers Rants
date Posted: Nov 17, 2006 4:39 AM
Yes Louis, it was, and if you'd put the DVD on last Friday you would have seen it there and then instead of bottling it.
Dude, I've had ESB on audio tape at work since the Special Edition, I know the audio inside out.
Ahh, much to learn you still have :p
  Fish1941
date Posted: Nov 20, 2006 10:21 AM
Would it? Did Obi-Wan think that Anakin was going to die, or was it all a matter of which was the most pressing emergency.

What pressing emergency? All Obi-Wan had to do was spear Anakin in the chest with his lightsaber. Or decapitate the latter's head. It would have taken him seconds. And yes, Obi-Wan believed that Anakin would die. Which is why he was suprised to learn that Anakin was alive in "The Dark Lord" by James Luceno.
janlomona
Smugglers Rants
date Posted: Nov 20, 2006 11:24 AM
Fair point Fish1941, but was Ben really the right man to send to kill Anakin anyway? He told Yoda himself that he couldn't bring himself to kill Anakin, and lopping his limbs off was about as far as he could bring himself to go.
As Tar Ranth says, there were other concerns. Padme's health (remember, Ben knew she was with child), the approach of Palpatine, which surely Ben would have sensed, and the fact that he would have believed Anakin practically dead anyway. He was sent to kill Anakin, but he couldn't do it.
Yoda should have been the one to eliminate Anakin. He wouldn't have felt guilt, mercy or much of anything else. Ben was too close to Anakin.
  Fish1941
date Posted: Nov 21, 2006 8:53 AM
Fair point Fish1941, but was Ben really the right man to send to kill Anakin anyway? He told Yoda himself that he couldn't bring himself to kill Anakin, and lopping his limbs off was about as far as he could bring himself to go.

And yet, not only did Obi-Wan try to kill Anakin during the duel, he left Anakin to slowly die on that lava bank. All this talk about Obi-Wan being unable to kill Anakin doesn't mean much to me, because of his willingness to leave Anakin behind to a slow and agonizing death.
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