Upon completion of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the first knocks against the somewhat universe-bending revelations in Episodes I-III were aimed at the relationship of Obi-Wan and his padawan/best friend/worst enemy Anakin Skywalker, AKA (spoiler alert) Darth Vader.
When Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi meet in A New Hope, Ben describes Luke’s father as a great Jedi, and “the best star pilot in the galaxy.” Supplementary tales to their adventures together, like The Clone Wars animated series kind of back up his claims, but many felt that this pivotal scene in which Luke finally learns about his special heritage was, in a word, a little wonky. The guy only had one pod race win notched in his belt and all of a sudden he’s the best star pilot in the galaxy? C’mon, Ben. You’ve been hanging out hitting those hookahs in the Mos Eisley Cantina, haven’t you?
But this video mashup of Episode IV and the battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader on Mustafar shows Obi-Wan in a different light. Alec Guinness’ performance is thoughtful, sad and damn-near prescient considering the prequels and even sequels weren’t even being considered by George Lucas at the time of shooting.
With some expert editing, Shahan Reviews shows Ben reflecting on his past, while also yearning to protect Luke from the awful truth of what his father became. It’s masterful.
(Via Shahan Reviews)
