Page 23 - Star Wars Insider #188

THE SKYWALKER SAGA
08
The film’s beginning showcases
why the Jedi duo have become
standouts in the war. They are bold
and fearsome fi ghters, slipping
through a minimal opening onto
Grievous’ flagship and dispatching
droid troops in the hanger with
relative ease. The scene ends with
them in a back-to-back pose that
will later be echoed by Rey and
Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Last
Jedi’s (2017) throne room battle.
Throughout this opening act,
Kenobi and Skywalker’s bond is
brought to the fore: during the
space battle, Anakin wants to go
back and help his clone wingmen,
but heeds Obi-Wan’s command to
stay on mission; fearing his fi ghter
is lost to buzz droids, Kenobi
implores his apprentice to press
on alone, but Skywalker refuses to
let his master perish in space. His
first attempt at saving his master is
both rash and unhelpful, but once
it is apparent Skywalker isn’t going
to give up on his friend, Kenobi
doesn’t try to press him on the
matter, signaling that he is aware
of his former Padawan’s emotional
limitations as a Jedi.
07
Revenge of the Sith perfectly
threads the needle in Kenobi’s
characterization, balancing his
portrayal as a heroic yet fl awed
man, one who often sees the
moral quagmire he is standing in
but can’t quite overcome decades
of ingrained Jedi dogma. He
rightfully doesn’t trust Palpatine,
but is also troubled with tasking
his apprentice to spy on a person
he knows he admires. Even the
way Kenobi asks Padmé about the
paternity of her unborn twins, a
rhetorical question, suggests that
he has understood the complex
duality of his brother-in-arms. Yet
his love for Skywalker prevents him
from accepting the true extent of
the deeds of which he is capable—
until the holovid of his former
Padawan killing younglings makes
it undeniable. Most of us can relate
to knowing something troubling
about a person close to us, but
overlooking it for the sake of love
or friendship.
A Love Lost
That same dynamic, too, underlies
the tragic love story of Anakin
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