20 years after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, audiences are finally catching the real reason Obi-Wan Kenobi was able to defeat Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader on Mustafar. Obi-Wan and Anakin’s Revenge of the Sith battle is one of Star Wars’ best lightsaber duels, not only because the choreography was so brilliant, but also because it was the emotional culmination of the entire prequel trilogy. This was also a key moment in Anakin Skywalker’s Star Wars timeline, as it cemented his commitment to the dark side of the Force and forced him into the iconic Vader suit.
However, there’s still plenty of audience frustration when it comes to these scenes on Mustafar, particularly because of the dialogue. One of the most criticized lines is Obi-Wan’s declaration, “It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground” and the subsequent attack move Obi-Wan pulls off, cutting off all Vader’s remaining flesh limbs. 20 years later, though, audiences have caught on to both why this line made so much sense and how Obi-Wan truly defeated Anakin/Vader in the end.
Anakin Was Trying To Use Obi-Wan’s Own Technique Against Him
This Was Precisely What Obi-Wan Had Done Against Darth Maul
As was recently identified by Royal-Chocolate25 in a Reddit post, Anakin was attempting to use Obi-Wan’s own move against him when he made that leap on Mustafar. Specifically, Anakin was replicating the jump Obi-Wan had made in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, when he managed to defeat (although not kill, despite how it seemed at the time) Darth Maul.
This was undoubtedly one of Obi-Wan’s most iconic moments, as he was dangling seemingly on the brink of death only to use the Force to leap up and over Darth Maul, cutting Maul in half, not to mention the fact that this meant Obi-Wan had just defeated a Sith Lord when he was barely a full-fledged Jedi.
Although the circumstances weren’t entirely the same, as Anakin wasn’t hanging on for his life but rather was standing on a bit of debris in the lava stream on Mustafar, he did attempt the same move of jumping over Obi-Wan. Presumably, his plan was to cut Obi-Wan down in the same way Obi-Wan had once done to Maul. In fact, Star Wars canon has even suggested that this fight between Maul and Obi-Wan was something of an obsession for Anakin, so it makes sense that he would have tried to replicate this move on Mustafar.
Anakin Was Always Obsessed With Obi-Wan’s Defeat Of Darth Maul
Hayden Christensen Himself Has Confirmed This (As Has Canon)
It’s unsurprising that Obi-Wan’s duel with Darth Maul would become so legendary within the Jedi Order, given Maul was the first Sith the Jedi had encountered (to their knowledge) in generations. That Obi-Wan was able to defeat him, especially at his age and experience level, would have made Obi-Wan quite the hero among the Jedi. Evidently, Anakin in particular became obsessed with this fight and clearly wanted to be able to emulate his Jedi Master’s ability.
Anakin in particular became obsessed with this fight and clearly wanted to be able to emulate his Jedi Master’s ability.
Specifically, between The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Anakin directly requested to train with a droid that mirrored Darth Maul’s fighting style. This is particularly surprising given Anakin’s age at that point in the Star Wars timeline, as he would have been a young (and new) Padawan at the time. Regardless, this demonstrates the extent to which Anakin became fixated on the fight between Maul and Obi-Wan and, by extension, how Obi-Wan won.
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Even Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen has weighed in on this obsession for Anakin. Per a video posted by thelegacyofnerd, according to Christensen, when Anakin saw Obi-Wan with the high ground on Mustafar, he immediately recalled the fight between Maul and Obi-Wan and wanted to ‘show’ Obi-Wan.
Of course, in the end, Anakin didn’t show Obi-Wan at all; instead, Obi-Wan anticipated exactly what Anakin was going to do and defeated him, likely in part because he knew of Anakin’s obsession.
Does This Even Explain Obi-Wan’s Controversial “High Ground” Line?
Obi-Wan Clearly Knew What Anakin Was About To Do
Obi-Wan’s line “Don’t try it” has always been notable in Revenge of the Sith for a number of reasons. For one, this makes it clear that Obi-Wan did indeed know what Anakin was about to attempt. Perhaps even more interestingly, it reveals that, even at that point, Obi-Wan didn’t really want to kill Anakin. He was trying to warn him against trying this move, as he knew Anakin would fail.
Ultimately, it’s because Obi-Wan defeated Darth Maul in this way and was aware that Anakin had attempted to master this type of attack that he was able to defeat Anakin/Vader on Mustafar. He knew precisely how he had won against Darth Maul during that battle, so he would of course know how to block the attack as well. Because he was blinded by his arrogance, though, Anakin believed he could defeat Obi-Wan with his own move.
Although there will always be those who dislike the dialogue of the prequels, including Obi-Wan’s warning about having the high ground, this context does make Obi-Wan’s controversial line a bit better. Beneath that warning was an extensive history, which included not only Obi-Wan’s experience with this attack but also Anakin’s fascination with Obi-Wan and Darth Maul’s duel and desperation to master Obi-Wan’s winning move. In the end, this context more fully explains how Obi-Wan Kenobi was able to defeat Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith.
