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Lol!
To be fair, I know a lot of fans had real gripes about the "disappearing Jedi" rules. But I was never one of them. I'd be for cutting the reference too if I thought we could get everyone on board.
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THX: But I do feel that Qui-Gon, sensing he might fail, prepared for the other side in advance, while Maul was held back by the red force-field. It wasn't explicit and could be interpreted in many ways but it was reminiscent of Ben's calm before he disappeared in ANH.
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We haven't gotten to the real "bible" version of Episode I yet, but I'm hoping to exploit that "meditation moment" to establish a link between Qui Gonn and Anakin -- he's reaching out to Anakin there and trying to help the "chosen one" as he battles Maul. He's collecting himself and conserving energy -- not preparing to lose. The big difference between this and Obi Wan's death is Obi Wan had a practical purpose for letting himself be cut down. I think you're suggesting that Qui Gonn is somehow snatching a small victory from the mouth of defeat -- a defeat that was by no means certain since Obi Wan shortly dispatches Maul all by himself.