Why Obi-Wan Was INVINCIBLE Once He Got The HIGH GROUND

Опубликовано: 11 Июнь 2022
на канале: Vader's Fortress 2

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As well as being one of the most prevalent internet memes, Obi-Wan achieving the high ground was a pivotal moment in the Skywalker saga. In doing so, Obi-Wan was able to take advantage of Anakin's arrogance and quite literally disarm him, eventually leading to his transformation into the cybernetic abomination that we all know as Darth Vader. But is the high ground actually an advantage? Many critics argue that this is just another stupid thing to come out of the prequel trilogy. In today's video we will rebuke their claims, and show why Obi-Wan having the high ground was such a conclusive moment during their duel on Mustafar. And for the half a million or so people who have already seen my short on this topic, I do apologise, but I think it requires a more in depth explanation.

Anakin Skytwalker clearly had the advantage for the majority of the duel. And that’s not to say that Obi Wan was not holding his own. Nick gillard, the man incharge of choreographing the duel stated that Obi-Wan’s fighting ability is at an 8 while Anakins is at a 9. In my opinion, Gillard did a very good job at portraying Anakins slight advantage. In his fight against Grievous, Kenobi is always in control of the duel, despite Grievouses terrifying flurry of attacks. However on Mustafar, Kenobi is almost always the one retreating and at first glance it seems as though Anakin is very much in control and ultimately destined to win. However, as we shall explore later on, Anakin may not have had as much control as he believed, with his defeat being the result.

But before we explore the intricacies of the pairs fighting styles and how the high ground led to Anakins defeat, we must first go back to basics. So what actually is the high ground and is it an advantage?

On earth, the high ground has long been recognised as an militarily important. In Sum Tzu's, the art of war, military leaders are adviced to take the higher ground and allow the enemy to attack from a lower position. However, this is not really the case during a sword or lightsaber duel as it doesn’t really give you increased range like it would in an actual full fledged war. In fact some fencers I’ve spoken to have said that sometimes it can actually be a disadvantage. Of course, the Jedi fight better than any swordsman here on Earth. Their reflexes are better, they can jump much higher and they have mastery over the force. Despite this though, a fundamental truth still remains. The high ground is by no means a conclusive advantage.

Of course, Kenobis declaration that he has the high gound has a double meaning, suggesting he has both the actual and moral highground, implying to Anakin that he cannot win if he goes down this dark path.

Many claim that this line is an in your face metaphor put in by George Lucas to show the moral nature of the duel, believing that Kenobis physical position of the highground makes little sense. Many cite how plenty of duellests in star Wars have been defeating while having the high ground. Most notably, Darth Maul was defeated by Obi-Wan himself while having the highground, apparently disproving that the highground is indeed an advantage. This however, is not the case.

The Kenobi from the Revenge of The Sith was not Darth Maul. Although powerful and skilled, Maul from the Phantom Menace was arrogant in his abilites and had little experience in fighting actual Jedi. He was also an aggressive form 7 fighter and was not used to enacting defensive counterattacks. Maul had already mortally wounded a Jedi master and believed that he had already beaten a weak Jedi Padawan. He was simply toying with his kill at this point. The last thing he expected was for Kenobi to fly out of the reactor shaft, allowing Kenobi to defeat the Sith apprentice despite the great odds that were stacked against him due to Mauls high ground position.

In addition to this, Kenobi had thought about this duel with Maul thousands of times throughout his life, analysing what Maul did wrong, what he did right and how it could have ended differently.

Kenobi was more than prepared for a situation like this one and knew that if the situation ever arose again, he could win. Kenobi was a master at self reflection and perseverance, arguable the main reasons why he was such as successful Jedi.

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