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The Kenobi Movie Show (Spoilers) — Page 61

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yotsuya said:
In comparison to what Trek has done, no Star Wars fan has anything to complain about.

I agree on principle as a casual ST fan myself who hates Discovery and Picard (jury’s still out on Strange New Worlds), but to me the Obi-Wan show is about as close to a Discovery for me as it can get. But I at least see some common ground on some of the things you complain about, I’m not a fan of a good chunk of the EU either and was okay with seeing it mostly wiped, and I have similar issues with the prequels and TFA. I do like the current Marvel comics runs though (up to a point, I haven’t really caught up in about a year, but the early 2015 stuff was great imo. The Darth Vader comics have all been especially brilliant.)

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My overall investment in current Star Wars is low enough that I don’t get in my feelings about it, but I can’t help but think that this show is one of those major missteps that will be mourned by fans in the future. When Disney bought the rights, one of the earliest and most common requests was ‘bring back Ewan as Obi-Wan’. He is a great actor and a great pick for that role, something that practically everyone agrees on regardless of their thoughts on the PT. It was a tremendous waste to have him return for this show, an opportunity that will forever be squandered.

It’s like how some fans feel about the original cast in the ST, though I would argue that at least in that situation there was advancing age as a factor which limited what could be done.

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BedeHistory731 said:

So, what’s the TL;DR of your DS9 criticism? I’m curious.

War. Star Trek is supposed to be about avoiding a conflict. I felt at the time and still do that DS9 was copying B5. B5 was about a war. What led up to it, the war itself, and the aftermath and I feel that DS9 decided to copy that. They’d already copied the format. B5 was offered to Paramount before WB picked it up. But the whole DS9 war storyline just felt contrived and against the principles of Star Trek. Plus, I really felt Star Trek fell off after TNG season 5. They divided the creative team and both series suffered. And when Trials and Tribbleations aired I just had this realization that it was sad that the best episode of DS9 was a callback to TOS. I stopped watching not long after.

My problem with Discovery is that they changed everything for change sake. And season 1 is about war. Not just that, but a war started by a student of Sarek. The first episode just felt like a common war SF with a Trek skin. And I just couldn’t get into season 2 and haven’t tried since.

I love Picard. I think it is the perfect follow on to TNG. Loved everything a out it. I love Strange New Worlds, but it is so obviously a reboot, but they went back and are telling TOS and TNG quality stories. I haven’t had a chance to watch the finale yet.

So my enjoyment of Obi-wan Kenobi probably parallels my enjoyment of Picard. The funny thing is that I’ve encountered so many people who love Discovery and hate Picard. I find that baffling on some levels, but on others it makes sense. As a 40 year Star Trek fan it just doesn’t make sense. But when I see what some fans say about various parts of Star Trek, I can see that there is some logic to it. They aren’t looking at it the same way I do. I’ve been trying to find what lies behind my differing views from many of you about TLJ, TROS, and now Kenobi.

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yotsuya said:

BedeHistory731 said:

So, what’s the TL;DR of your DS9 criticism? I’m curious.

War. Star Trek is supposed to be about avoiding a conflict. I felt at the time and still do that DS9 was copying B5. B5 was about a war. What led up to it, the war itself, and the aftermath and I feel that DS9 decided to copy that. They’d already copied the format. B5 was offered to Paramount before WB picked it up. But the whole DS9 war storyline just felt contrived and against the principles of Star Trek. Plus, I really felt Star Trek fell off after TNG season 5. They divided the creative team and both series suffered. And when Trials and Tribbleations aired I just had this realization that it was sad that the best episode of DS9 was a callback to TOS. I stopped watching not long after.

My problem with Discovery is that they changed everything for change sake. And season 1 is about war. Not just that, but a war started by a student of Sarek. The first episode just felt like a common war SF with a Trek skin. And I just couldn’t get into season 2 and haven’t tried since.

I love Picard. I think it is the perfect follow on to TNG. Loved everything a out it. I love Strange New Worlds, but it is so obviously a reboot, but they went back and are telling TOS and TNG quality stories. I haven’t had a chance to watch the finale yet.

So my enjoyment of Obi-wan Kenobi probably parallels my enjoyment of Picard. The funny thing is that I’ve encountered so many people who love Discovery and hate Picard. I find that baffling on some levels, but on others it makes sense. As a 40 year Star Trek fan it just doesn’t make sense. But when I see what some fans say about various parts of Star Trek, I can see that there is some logic to it. They aren’t looking at it the same way I do. I’ve been trying to find what lies behind my differing views from many of you about TLJ, TROS, and now Kenobi.

The explanation is elementary, old friend. You are a masochist, who likes the emotional torment of watching bad films and shows. 😉

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Not often main-stream media talks about a fan edit. IGN, ScreenRant, Variety, and others have all done an article on Kai Patterson’s Obi-Wan Fan Edit. He cut it down to a 2 & a half hour movie. He removed the goofy stuff with Leia being chased by bumbling grown men. Rearranges the Jedi scene on Tatooine so Obi-Wan meets the Jedi first, the Inquisitors kill him in the bar (he doesn’t escape), and then Obi-Wan sees him hanging in the city. he also gives Obi-Wan a good reason to let Vader live after their second duel. What I like the most is the John Williams Star Wars music added throughout.

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I’ve been trying to find what lies behind my differing views from many of you about TLJ, TROS, and now Kenobi.

I can honestly understand defending TLJ to a degree. I hate the Luke thing, and Snoke was a joke, but it’s the most creative and exiting of the sequels. What I find baffling is defending Kenobi and, most of all, TROS.

Even in terms of cheap fan-service that you like so much Kenobi failed to deliver on its potential. Virtually no Vader until the very end, no actual real inclusion of Qui-Gon in the story, no learning from Yoda, and absolutely zero connection or mention, let alone flashback, of The Clone Wars.

And TROS shits all over TLJ and retcons every character and plot thread in that film. How can one like TLJ and not hate TROS? Plus, there are enormous amounts of evidence of the fact that everyone who worked on that film hadn’t the slightest clue what they were doing.

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exitzero said:

Not often main-stream media talks about a fan edit. IGN, ScreenRant, Variety, and others have all done an article on Kai Patterson’s Obi-Wan Fan Edit. He cut it down to a 2 & a half hour movie. He removed the goofy stuff with Leia being chased by bumbling grown men. Rearranges the Jedi scene on Tatooine so Obi-Wan meets the Jedi first, the Inquisitors kill him in the bar (he doesn’t escape), and then Obi-Wan sees him hanging in the city. he also gives Obi-Wan a good reason to let Vader live after their second duel. What I like the most is the John Williams Star Wars music added throughout.

I am also really excited to check it out - albeit not for any interest in the story, but rather just to see how he fixed some of the problems from an editing standpoint. I’ve seen amazing fan edits do wonders for the original material and the SW community always keeps them coming.

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ADR14NAT1ON said:

exitzero said:

Not often main-stream media talks about a fan edit. IGN, ScreenRant, Variety, and others have all done an article on Kai Patterson’s Obi-Wan Fan Edit. He cut it down to a 2 & a half hour movie. He removed the goofy stuff with Leia being chased by bumbling grown men. Rearranges the Jedi scene on Tatooine so Obi-Wan meets the Jedi first, the Inquisitors kill him in the bar (he doesn’t escape), and then Obi-Wan sees him hanging in the city. he also gives Obi-Wan a good reason to let Vader live after their second duel. What I like the most is the John Williams Star Wars music added throughout.

I am also really excited to check it out - albeit not for any interest in the story, but rather just to see how he fixed some of the problems from an editing standpoint. I’ve seen amazing fan edits do wonders for the original material and the SW community always keeps them coming.

https://ew.com/tv/obi-wan-kenobi-fan-edit-turns-series-into-movie/

I’m keen to compare it to Spencers Kenobi movie edit.

“We Are What They Grow Beyond” - Yoda


My Prefered Saga Viewing Preference:
Ep. III - Revenge of the Sith Special Edition (StankPac Edit) * Rogue One - A Star Wars Story (Hal 9000 Edit)
Ep. IV - A New Hope D+77 (OohTeeDee Edit) * Ep. V - Empire Strikes Back D+80 (OohTeeDee Edit)
Ep. VI - Return of The Jedi OTD83 (OohTeeDee Edit) * Ep. VII - The Force Awakens Restructured (Hal 9000 Edit)
Ep. VIII - The Last Jedi Legendary (Hal 9000 Edit) * Ep. IX - The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant (Hal 9000 Edit)

💡 Save confusion & express your comments with Markdown Emojis here 💡

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DrDre said:

I think it is also important to consider, what a Jedi is supposed to do with Vader, if they are not allowed to kill their enemy once defeated. Particulary in the situation, where there is no option to bring him to justice, since the Emperor controls all branches of government. ROTJ makes it clear, that Obi-Wan and Yoda don’t believe Vader can be redeemed, so how is Luke supposed to stop/conquer them, if he cannot kill them? So, let’s for the sake of argument say Luke defeats Vader and the Emperor, and they are at his mercy. What then?

I’ve given this topic a lot of thought lately, and I think that fundamentally, it’s always a question of context. While I believe that the Jedi code would disapprove of killing a defeated enemy in all but the most extreme circumstances, the fact that Yoda challenges Sidious with the full intention of killing him seems to show that certain circumstances do exist that would allow a Jedi to execute their foe. But a Jedi can never strike down an enemy out of fear or anger/hate. And in the context of RotJ, I actually do think the strength of the Rebellion finally allows Luke the possibility of imprisoning the Emperor and/or Vader, a possibility that no longer existed for Yoda. So I think Luke striking down Vader and the Emperor would have been motivated entirely by his own fear or anger, and that’s exactly what he was struggling with during the entire throne room confrontation. I think that’s why Lucas makes it clear that the optimistic side of Luke believes that the Empire ends today with or without his involvement, and that he has to fight the nagging fear that he may be wrong (and should kill the Emperor to prevent the loss of the fleet). I think it would have taken the defeat of the Rebel fleet to bring the possibility of actually executing the Sith into the realm of being defensible, but even then, the only way Luke could do that without falling to the dark side is if it wasn’t motivated by fear.

So to answer your question, I could conceive of an alternate reality where after Luke fully achieves Jedi status, the Emperor manages to fend off Vader’s attack and kills him. Let’s imagine Luke would recover his lightsaber to defend himself from the Emperor, and soon after, Luke can see that the Rebel fleet is routed in retreat. Would Luke strike down the Emperor after defeating him and would it be justified? I think the answer could be yes to both, but only if the execution came from a place of serenity, which wouldn’t be a trivial thing for Luke to achieve in that moment. And even if he went through with it, I could see him being burdened by uncertainty about what he had done.

Tangentially, when it comes to how Obi-Wan and Yoda view the situation, I think there’s nuance that tends to be overlooked by fans who think that they’re essentially sending Luke on an assassination mission. It’s fair to say that Obi-Wan and Yoda have lost hope that Vader can be redeemed at this point, but I don’t think that means they think that Luke has to kill him at all costs. I like to frame it this way, do fans really believe that when Luke is standing over Vader, that Obi-Wan and Yoda want Luke to kill Vader in that moment? If that were the case, then why is that what the Emperor wants Luke to do? Instead, Luke throws down his lightsaber and declares that he’s a Jedi. That’s what Obi-Wan and Yoda want him to do, because they’re Jedi themselves. Not fallen, corrupted Jedi who have lost their way, but true Jedi. It’s what Yoda knew Luke had to do before becoming a Jedi like them; that’s what the conversation in the hut about confronting Vader was getting at. Luke had to prove that he could face Vader without giving into fear, which is the foundation of being a Jedi.

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idir_hh said:

Some very interesting tidbits about Darth Vader’s Original Role in Obi-Wan Kenobi

https://thedirect.com/article/obi-wan-kenobi-darth-vader-final-battle-exclusive

Why does this sound so much better then what we got?

My film began with Vader taking on five Jedi at once and killing all of them, you know, so it established that he is the big Jedi killer. The Inquisitors are capturing them, but Vader is the big daddy who comes in and just lays waste to any Jedi all while hunting Kenobi.”

Bruh why the fuck did they get rid of this guy this is literally everything I’ve ever wanted. Vader fighting and killing five Jedi? FUCK YES!!!

“In mine, Vader won the fight. They were fighting on this space station. It was falling apart in the atmosphere of this big planet and Obi-Wan basically fell off. Vader pushed him off and they separated. They didn’t get the chance to find Obi-Wan, basically. But what was going through Obi-Wan’s mind is the same thing which is, ‘My brother is truly dead. He’s gone. And while I absolve of that guilt because I didn’t kill him, Vader killed him, I’m still just devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.’”

“In mine, he really did believe that Kenobi was dead at the end, which was the thing that allowed him to finally let Kenobi go and focus on ruling the galaxy with an iron fist. Because it always seemed that in [A New Hope] he was shocked when he was like ‘I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since…’ Why do you stop talking to yourself? It’s because you’re that shocked, you know?”

This makes so much more sense why didn’t they go with this?!

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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The sea weed is always greener in somebody else’s lake.

After being beaten and battered by prequel hate, I promise not to be that to the next generation.

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That’s literally what I wanted to happen in this show before it was released though. I wanted a scene of Vader killing Jedi, I wanted Vader to think he was dead, etc.

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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My film began with Vader taking on five Jedi at once and killing all of them, you know, so it established that he is the big Jedi killer. The Inquisitors are capturing them, but Vader is the big daddy who comes in and just lays waste to any Jedi all while hunting Kenobi.”

“In mine, Vader won the fight. They were fighting on this space station. It was falling apart in the atmosphere of this big planet and Obi-Wan basically fell off. Vader pushed him off and they separated. They didn’t get the chance to find Obi-Wan, basically. But what was going through Obi-Wan’s mind is the same thing which is, ‘My brother is truly dead. He’s gone. And while I absolve of that guilt because I didn’t kill him, Vader killed him, I’m still just devastated. I’m absolutely devastated.’”

“In mine, he really did believe that Kenobi was dead at the end, which was the thing that allowed him to finally let Kenobi go and focus on ruling the galaxy with an iron fist. Because it always seemed that in [A New Hope] he was shocked when he was like ‘I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since…’ Why do you stop talking to yourself? It’s because you’re that shocked, you know?”

Sounds like a lot of missed opportunities.

I think I also prefer the standalone film format rather than series which are broken and up and much longer, so I may be biased in favor of Kenobi the “planned film” over Kenobi the “streaming service limited series.”

Either way, it’ll be another one of those things where what happened happened, and those like us who didn’t enjoy it just move on to other projects. (I’m trying to express my opinions and not be labeled a “hater” about anything. Internet discourse is weird.)

Move along, move along.

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It’s just a shame because we will never get a do-over. This show is the ‘definitive’ version of these events. The only way out is to ignore it even happened. I can’t help but be upset.

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Kaweebo said:

It’s just a shame because we will never get a do-over. This show is the ‘definitive’ version of these events. The only way out is to ignore it even happened. I can’t help but be upset.

For what it’s worth there is a fairly decent Kenobi novel written by John Jackson Miller that tells a much smaller scaled story but still hits a lot of the grief and trauma Ben is dealing with.

Move along, move along.

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of_Kaiburr_and_Whills said:

Kaweebo said:

It’s just a shame because we will never get a do-over. This show is the ‘definitive’ version of these events. The only way out is to ignore it even happened. I can’t help but be upset.

For what it’s worth there is a fairly decent Kenobi novel written by John Jackson Miller that tells a much smaller scaled story but still hits a lot of the grief and trauma Ben is dealing with.

Oh sure, I read that back when it came out. But a book is never gonna have the same appeal as a live-action show, naturally.

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idir_hh said:

Some very interesting tidbits about Darth Vader’s Original Role in Obi-Wan Kenobi

https://thedirect.com/article/obi-wan-kenobi-darth-vader-final-battle-exclusive

Wow, I always had a problem with the idea of Obi Wan and Vader meeting before ANH but what he said about that line in ROTJ is very true. It opens the door for an encounter. What’s ironic is that despite that being the only real strong argument I’ve heard for this story to even exist and a really nice way to not only resolve a plot hole but give depth to a line of dialogue in the OT, they completely forgot about it. OW never attempts to redeem Vader.

Stuart Beattie’s reasoning for this story was giving Obi Wan an opportunity to attempt to save Anakin and deepen the idea of Vader killing Anakin “from a certain point of view”.

The producers of the show only wanted a cool fucking fight. What a waste.

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Tacofop said:

DrDre said:

I think it is also important to consider, what a Jedi is supposed to do with Vader, if they are not allowed to kill their enemy once defeated. Particulary in the situation, where there is no option to bring him to justice, since the Emperor controls all branches of government. ROTJ makes it clear, that Obi-Wan and Yoda don’t believe Vader can be redeemed, so how is Luke supposed to stop/conquer them, if he cannot kill them? So, let’s for the sake of argument say Luke defeats Vader and the Emperor, and they are at his mercy. What then?

I’ve given this topic a lot of thought lately, and I think that fundamentally, it’s always a question of context. While I believe that the Jedi code would disapprove of killing a defeated enemy in all but the most extreme circumstances, the fact that Yoda challenges Sidious with the full intention of killing him seems to show that certain circumstances do exist that would allow a Jedi to execute their foe. But a Jedi can never strike down an enemy out of fear or anger/hate. And in the context of RotJ, I actually do think the strength of the Rebellion finally allows Luke the possibility of imprisoning the Emperor and/or Vader, a possibility that no longer existed for Yoda. So I think Luke striking down Vader and the Emperor would have been motivated entirely by his own fear or anger, and that’s exactly what he was struggling with during the entire throne room confrontation. I think that’s why Lucas makes it clear that the optimistic side of Luke believes that the Empire ends today with or without his involvement, and that he has to fight the nagging fear that he may be wrong (and should kill the Emperor to prevent the loss of the fleet). I think it would have taken the defeat of the Rebel fleet to bring the possibility of actually executing the Sith into the realm of being defensible, but even then, the only way Luke could do that without falling to the dark side is if it wasn’t motivated by fear.

So to answer your question, I could conceive of an alternate reality where after Luke fully achieves Jedi status, the Emperor manages to fend off Vader’s attack and kills him. Let’s imagine Luke would recover his lightsaber to defend himself from the Emperor, and soon after, Luke can see that the Rebel fleet is routed in retreat. Would Luke strike down the Emperor after defeating him and would it be justified? I think the answer could be yes to both, but only if the execution came from a place of serenity, which wouldn’t be a trivial thing for Luke to achieve in that moment. And even if he went through with it, I could see him being burdened by uncertainty about what he had done.

Tangentially, when it comes to how Obi-Wan and Yoda view the situation, I think there’s nuance that tends to be overlooked by fans who think that they’re essentially sending Luke on an assassination mission. It’s fair to say that Obi-Wan and Yoda have lost hope that Vader can be redeemed at this point, but I don’t think that means they think that Luke has to kill him at all costs. I like to frame it this way, do fans really believe that when Luke is standing over Vader, that Obi-Wan and Yoda want Luke to kill Vader in that moment? If that were the case, then why is that what the Emperor wants Luke to do? Instead, Luke throws down his lightsaber and declares that he’s a Jedi. That’s what Obi-Wan and Yoda want him to do, because they’re Jedi themselves. Not fallen, corrupted Jedi who have lost their way, but true Jedi. It’s what Yoda knew Luke had to do before becoming a Jedi like them; that’s what the conversation in the hut about confronting Vader was getting at. Luke had to prove that he could face Vader without giving into fear, which is the foundation of being a Jedi.

Exactly, you nailed it.

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One more thing on that, I found a quote from Vision of the Future (number 2 in the Hand of Thrawn duology by Timothy Zahn) that touches on this.

Page 405
(referring to Mara Jade) "She grimaced. ‘Besides, I keep remembering stories about how the last step to becoming a Jedi is usually making some supreme and rather ugly personal sacrifice. I’m not crazy about that one, either.’

‘It’s not always as bad as it seems,’ Luke said, and Mara could sense his discomfort as unpleasant memories of his own floated back to the surface. ‘Just before he died, Master Yoda told me that before I would truly be a Jedi I needed to face Vader again. I jumped to the conclusion that that meant I had to either kill him or let him kill me. As it turned out, it didn’t happen either way.’

‘But you had to be willing to make that sacrifice if necessary,’ Mara pointed out. ‘Thanks, but I’m not interested.’

‘Then you automatically limit your capabilities,’ Luke said."

This accurately reflects the pre-1999 view of what happened. Before the prequels, this is what the original trilogy actually shows and its interpretation.
To become a Jedi, someone needs to make a final, spiritual sacrifice.
In Luke’s case, he had to face Vader.
Like many viewers, Luke incorrectly assumed that this could only mean a fatal duel to the death and Yoda was sending him to either kill or be killed.
The reality, under the influence of the Force, was more complex than that. Yoda could have foreseen this or known that it was more nuanced, because again it was about a spiritual confrontation for Luke to finish becoming a Jedi, not about destroying the Empire.
However, Luke had to be willing to go through with it, if it did mean kill or be killed, which is what Obi Wan tells him. If he wasn’t willing, he was limiting himself.

Now, the prequels ignored this final sacrifice concept. They might be alluding to it with “the Trials” but the Trials are never explained or shown. Perhaps in Obi Wan’s case it was losing Qui Gon. Either way, after The Phantom Menace, it’s dropped. After the prequels, a lot of people assume that Luke is just on an assassination mission like with Yoda and Obi Wan trying to kill Vader and the Emperor in Revenge of the Sith, when that’s not the case. (Also worth noting that in the Zahn books before the prequels, it’s established that Yoda and Obi Wan could have wiped the floor with Vader and the Emperor if they wanted to, but they chose not to, both to avoid abusing their power and to give Luke and the rebellion the real victory.)

You can say oh well, that book is obsolete because the prequels superseded it, or because it’s from the old EU and not the Disney canon (for me it supersedes both,) or because you just don’t like it. Whatever the case, the point is that this was the understanding that people had before the prequels or other material came in, just going off of what is actually shown and said in Return of the Jedi.

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I was listening to the Original 1977 soundtrack yesterday and the track “Ben’s Death and Tie Fighter Attack” came on and I was picturing the scenes and thinking about that duel and something occurred to me about the Kenobi finale duel. Using the force can be exhausting. What we see both those men do in that duel would require great effort. A casual viewer might assume that Kenobi is still in a position to fight, but consider this, his withdrawl after leaving Vader injured and kneeling is because it has been fought to a draw. Neither has energy to continue the fight. Obi-wan is not positive he could take Vader at that moment because he is drained and trying not to show it. He leaves in victory, but only because he momentarily bested Vader and give a chance to recover there is a real chance Vader would win if the duel continued. And it is not the Jedi way to strike down an opponent when they have been bested. Dealing a death blow in combat is different, but cutting your opponent down when they are kneeling and reeling from your attack is not the way things are done. Civilized and honorable are the hallmarks of a Jedi. They fight by a code that has rules and it is uncivilized to break those rules. So Kenobi walks away from the duel in the Kenobi finale because he is at the end of his energy and needs to rest and he has fought Vader to a draw and left him reeling from that final attack and unable to, at that moment, continue. So rather than debating why Kenobi let Vader live, I think that it was both Kenobi following the Jedi code of combat in a duel and that he used so much power in that attack that he knows he cannot keep going. And while Vader still possesses his lightsaber, this is at the same point where Luke turns from facing Vader and confronts the Emperor.

The other thing is that I love Alec’s portray in ANH. There are so many subtleties that play into the saga as it expanded. He expression when he tells Luke about his father and his expression when he looks over at the three younger people as they are ready to board the falcon. None of it was known at the time, but now that the saga is complete (following Ep III) it looks like he is uncomfortable with the tale he is about to tell Luke and then pleased that the twins are back together. And Vader didn’t believer him when he boasted of becoming powerful. That look of peace on his face as he raises his saber to leave himself vulnerable to Vader’s blade. Alec was a master and gave a future proof performance. Too bad he didn’t win the Oscar he was nominated for.

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Anchorhead said:

VegetableMan said:

Anchorhead said:

Well then, guess that explains why he was trying to avoid him in the quarry. 😉

I have noticed you said you never watched the prequels and I wonder. Is it because you don’t want them to taint how you view the OT or are you just not interested?
I’m not blaming you or anything I’m just really curious.

Little of both I suppose, but mostly because I’m not interested. I saw Phantom when it was released, thought it was terrible, and have all but forgotten it. I remember a few scenes, but it’s not something I can recall other than how non-OT it looked and felt.

I haven’t seen the last sequel film either. Same reason. I’ve also only seen ROTJ twice that I’m sure of. Once in the theater and I wanted to walk out it was so stupid. I know I saw it again about 20 years ago when we did a lunchtime theater marathon of the OT where I worked. It’s possible there was a third time somewhere along the way, but I can’t be sure. That lunchtime theater was also the last time I saw Empire.

I don’t have a problem skipping what I don’t care for. I don’t battle the franchise the way some people do. They’re just movies. I watch what I like and skip the rest. It’s not difficult at all.

Sorry for the late reply, I only just now logged back in.
That’s a very unusual take but very instersting, and basic when you think about it. Don’t watch what you don’t care for! Simple. I think we get so caught up in Star Wars as a cultural phenomena that we forget that they’re just movies and we don’t have to watch them all. Like any movie, if you’re not interested you don’t have to watch it.

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That’s it exactly. It’s really very easy. It also makes the stuff I like more emotionally peaceful when I’m watching it because I’m not trying to unsee or head-canon-fix stuff I don’t want.

I’ve done it for decades with films that are my very favorites. The sequels to Alien - never even considered seeing them. Jaws, also no way. Back To The Future, again no. Ghostbusters, still no way. For sure there are others I can’t recall at the moment. Those stories were perfect as told. I have zero interest in whatever came after.

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You never saw Aliens? It’s incredible.

Anyway I’ve no time for this show, so I watched the above fan edit. It was pretty dull, but the laughable nonsense everyone got upset about was (mostly) excised. It reminded me of when I saw the Essential Edit of Indiana Jones 4. Less cringe but ultimately not good in any meaningful way.