[Darth Sane]

This scene on mustafar was so uncomfortable that people in the audience started to laugh. Obi-wan just stares at anakins burning, deformed body and after an unbearable uncomfortable moment of silence he just walks along back to his ship. What the F**K?! Great, so he's going to let anakin live so he can go on to brutally terrorize the entire galaxy and hunt down more jedi?! Lucas could have resolved this confusion by simply having obi-wan try to kill him but not be able to emotionally bring himself to do it. instede were left confused Why is this? Can someone help me out here? was obi-wan not callous enough? did obi-wan figure he would die anyway?

[Twig Bear]

Obi-lost did want to kill Anakin, but Lucas wouldn't let him.

[fett]

Their former (loving? brotherly?) connection was too great for Obi Wan to be able to bring himself to kill Anakin. However, I do agree that they could have explained Obi Wan's actions easily and briefly.

[Helena]

Oh, so he couldn't bring himself to kill Anakin directly, but he was quite happy to let him slowly and agonisingly burn to death? Do you have any idea how unimaginably horrific such a death would be? Anyone with a smidgen of compassion would have finished him off as quickly and painlessly as possible.

[CowboyCurtis]

I had always imagined that in this epic battle that Anakin would for the most part have the upperhand, and Obi-Wan gets a lucky strike in, knocking Anakin over a cliff and out of sight. Obi-Wan would try to look for his friend, but the vapor and smoke obscures his vision. He assumes Anakin is dead. Then, later, Anakin crawls his way up the bank, horribly burned and disfigured.

I just can't imagine Obi-Wan leaving him there like that.

[Private Zod]

The novel stated that Kenobi no longer felt that this was Anakin, it was totally Vader. And for his crimes, he deserved no mercy. That is why he left him there to rot.

Did everyone who visits this forum got to the same theater to watch this film? Every post I have read about this film had comments like "People in the theater were openly laughing at this or that". I saw the film twice as did alot of people I know, and not once did I hear anyone cackle about the film while in the theater. The film made $280MM in 2 weeks and the vast majority were pretty happy with the film overall. Yeah, there were some weak points, but cripes...I do not think anyone here would be happy no matter what was shown on film.

[Helena]

The novel stated that Kenobi no longer felt that this was Anakin, it was totally Vader.  And for his crimes, he deserved no mercy.  That is why he left him there to rot. 

Whereas in the movie RotJ, Vader tells Luke that 'Obi-Wan once thought as you do' (i.e. that Vader could be redeemed)... oh, well. Most of us have long since given up expecting Lucas to pay attention to continuity.

[Michel Orla]

I had always imagined that in this epic battle that Anakin would for the most part have the upperhand, and Obi-Wan gets a lucky strike in, knocking Anakin over a cliff and out of sight.  Obi-Wan would try to look for his friend, but the vapor and smoke obscures his vision.  He assumes Anakin is dead.   Then, later, Anakin crawls his way up the bank, horribly burned and disfigured.

I just can't imagine Obi-Wan leaving him there like that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats exactly how it should've happened. But that's expecting too much from Lucas. Remember most characters in George Lucas's Star Wars aren't allowed to feel much compassion for others. There are examples like Luke caring for his father, but strangely he hardly bats an eye when his lifelong friend Biggs dies (at least in the novel he has tears in his eyes)

This post has been edited by Michel Orla: 03 June 2005 - 10:37 AM

[snaithbert]

Whereas in the movie RotJ, Vader tells Luke that 'Obi-Wan once thought as you do' (i.e. that Vader could be redeemed)...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Holy crap, that is a VERY GOOD POINT, Helena.

How did I miss that one?

I guess there are just SO many glaring inconsistencies that a few have slipped past me.

WHEN exactly did Obi Wan think that way? There's no scene where Obi Wan tries to convince Vader to turn back, etc. For my money, it looked to me like Obi Wan wasn't terribly interested in Vader's redemption at all.

It's just another example of Lucas totally ignoring a fact that he himself established 20 years ago. That line exists in ROTJ, so logically we should see it in the ROTS and yet- we don't. And don't give me any of that apologist jazz about how it happened offscreen, etc. It didn't happen at all, most likely because Lucas was just too lazy to back and watch his own movies. Stuff like that is EXACTLY where there's no real synchronicity between the two trilogies. They just don't fit very well. Yeah there are similarities, but when you get right down to it- they don't fit. These two trilogies just don't belong together.

Private Zod, I guess you just got a theater full of somber folks. But trust me, people have been laughing at this flick. They laughed in my theater and I've heard many stories of people overhearing laughter when they went to see it, etc. It's just human nature- people are going to laugh at the very absurd.

[Michel Orla]

Well if you play the ROTS videogame, throughout battling Anakin Obi Wan does try to convince him to return to the light. Once again a videogame can do better than Lucas can do with his own work

[andy_k_250]

This scene on mustafar was so uncomfortable that people in the audience started to laugh. Obi-wan just stares at anakins burning, deformed body and after an unbearable uncomfortable moment of silence he just walks along back to his ship. What the F**K?! Great, so he's going to let anakin live so he can go on to brutally terrorize the entire galaxy and hunt down more jedi?! Lucas could have resolved this confusion by simply having obi-wan try to kill him but not be able to emotionally bring himself to do it. instede were left confused Why is this? Can someone help me out here? was obi-wan not callous enough? did obi-wan figure he would die anyway?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think this scene wouldn't have been so glaring if Obi-Wan had been shown trying to redeem Anakin. In my mind, though, Anakin got what he deserved. Obi-Wan couldn't let him go, but he couldn't bring himself to kill him, either. I see Obi-Wan's actions not as callous so much as just conflicted. He thought that there was no saving him, couldn't let him go free to wreak havoc, but didn't have the real heart to kill him, either. As far as mercy killing, did Anakin deserve mercy? According to the Jedi, the physical world is not what is important, anyway. Obi-Wan believes in The Force, not the physical realm; of course, in cases of human suffering, the Jedi would step in and do something, I think, but at this point, Obi-Wan viewed Anakin as an abomination against nature and not really human - this at least is supported by the OT ("He's more machine now than man.").Also, if viewed from a spiritual viewpoint, Anakin caused his own fate, so why should Obi-Wan change that fate if he believes that the Sith are truly evil? He probably believed that this was the will of The Force. Yes, it's callous by our standards, but not probably by Obi-Wan's. This is a lame example, but here goes - if you could free Satan from Hell, would you? Doing that would be defying God's will that that is Satan's fate, despite the fact that Satan is being tortured. Like Satan, Anakin only brought this upon himself. These are my thoughts, at least. Let me know what you think.

[JW Wells]

This scene killed the movie, and the series for me. Obi-wan lecturing to the crippled Annakin and then walking away as he catches fire is nothing short of monstrous. Perhaps Annakin has to die, but for Obi-Wan to pick up his lightsaber and leave him to suffer is simply inhuman. There's no reason other than naked sadism on Obi-Wan's part. Annakin's suffering is private, there's no reason to believe it would be publicized, so it would have no deterrent effect whatsoever.

There's a creepy resonance in this film in that the Jedi are shown acting on what are primarily theological motives (Palpatine is a "Sith Lord", ergo he is to be executed without trial), Annakin's primary offense is heresy against the Jedi Council, and his punishment is to be burned alive.

Anyway, how Ewan McGregor's Torquemada-like Obi-Wan can be reconciled with the aging knight who is slow to use violence portrayed by Alec Guiness is now rather beyond me.

[CowboyCurtis]

WHEN exactly did Obi Wan think that way? There's no scene where Obi Wan tries to convince Vader to turn back, etc. For my money, it looked to me like Obi Wan wasn't terribly interested in Vader's redemption at all.

Vader says this line when he and Luke are talking on that catwalk on Endor (AT-AT scene---which is still one of the coolest scenes in ROTJ, this vehicle walking through the dark woods...just love it! One of the subtle things that makes ROTJ better than ROTS).

[DragonLord]

When seeing the movie, I was especting the emperors forces to arrive just in time to save Vader so that Obi-Wan had to flee. Didn't think Obi-Wan would just walk away, his mission was to kill Vader. Obviously that didn't happen.

I didn't like most of the scene, mostly the later parts. They were battling over lava like two invulnurable Demi-Gods for like 10 minutes. One of them could just forcepush the other into the lava at any time.

[Helena]

This scene killed the movie, and the series for me.  Obi-wan lecturing to the crippled Annakin and then walking away as he catches fire is nothing short of monstrous.  Perhaps Annakin has to die, but for Obi-Wan to pick up his lightsaber and leave him to suffer is simply inhuman.  There's no reason other than naked sadism on Obi-Wan's part.  Annakin's suffering is private, there's no reason to believe it would be publicized, so it would have no deterrent effect whatsoever.

Absolutely. Much as I loathe Anakin Skywalker, no one deserves such an appalling death as that - and for a Jedi, who are supposed to eschew revenge and cruelty, to act like that is beyond belief. There goes any respect I had left for Obi-Wan...