In Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan ultimately defeats Anakin, and leaves him dying on the bank of a river of lava. Everyone knows this all too well, of course. Moments later, we see him back on the boarding platform, greeted by a stressed C-3PO and a dying Padme.

In how he reacts to C-3PO and Padme, and again in the cockpit of the ship, we can see from his expression how troubled he is. In Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader: there is a further scene of Obi-Wan's lingering remorse over Anakin's failure and his "death." In short, he is not feeling too well at all

The movie makes the moment seem fleeting, but take a moment to realize just how long the time between leaving Anakin and just reaching the ship was. During the battle, they had moved away from the facility itself, and traveled a long distance down a river of lava, They ended up at the base of cliffs downstream from the place where they started. Keep track next time you watch the movie, and you'll notice how he was far away down a rocky, fiery mountain. It was no pleasant hike.

Obi-Wan had to walk all the way uphill to get back to the ship. He was alone with nothing but his thoughts, his regrets, and Anakin's lightsaber. Think of what he must have gone through. He's still trekking through the same brutal landscape that he had just engaged his friend in, but this time he is tired and walking, in contrast to the furious fighting of minutes before.

He has time to realize the significance of what had happened. He has time to be affected by the realization that his friend Anakin is truly gone. He is carrying his lightsaber in his hand, knowing what it was, what it was used for, what it meant. The past was a failure, the present is filled with sorrow, and the galaxy has a dark future ahead of it, with only faint glimmers of hope.


He had a long, lonely walk to take after leaving Anakin at that shore.
A long, long walk.