Escaping the Death Star! (ANH 13/??)
Ha, two days instead of six months. I feel so accomplished. Warning for talking about things I dislike about the prequels, though. (I'm starting to feel this is a thing that needs to be warned for.)
This is more like part 12b, as I'm awake now and just continuing beyond the five minutes I managed to cover last time, but-anyway.
Back to the relationship between Luke, Han, and Leia, which is really just getting established at this point, the characters adjusting around the new group dynamic. Han, I think, is the most changed by it. To recap:
Initially, he clashes with Luke all the time-somewhat due to the circumstances, but more to their wildly different personalities and values. That lasts from their meeting to their arrival in the Death Star.
Then, Han addresses him in a maybe-sort of-friendlyish way right after Obi-Wan leaves-by insulting Obi-Wan, which Luke takes badly. Soon afterwards he manipulates Han into helping him rescue Leia, and comes up with a plan for it; Han seems vaguely impressed, though they keep snapping at each other. When Leia appears, Han starts clashing with her, much as he did with Luke earlier. He orders Luke to jump through the wall before him.
When Han shoots the walls of the garbage compactor, Luke and Leia both scream at him (in unison), but Han confines his response to Leia. He bursts into full-fledged panic when Luke is attacked by the dianoga, and from then on, shows a distinct sense of camaraderie-garbage-forged friends!-with him. All the irritation from before seems to have been neatly transferred to Leia. Now with more UST! He also gets to the “grudging respect” faster with her.
At the same time, he repeatedly tries to align himself with the earnest, short-tempered, reckless, impatient, idealistic Luke, in opposition to Leia. It doesn't quite work, since Luke (for obvious reasons) naturally feels more solidarity with Leia, and in any case is intensely focused on the situation at hand. So is Leia, if not quite to the exclusion of all else, and she's even more adversarial than Luke ever was. Luke, despite his focus on Leia, does seems to have warmed up to Han a bit and certainly isn't picking any more fights, but there isn't anything like the change we've seen in Han. So at this point:
Han: actively friendly to Luke, infuriated by/attracted to Leia.
Leia: panicking over/chorusing with/ignoring Luke, infuriated by/attracted to Han.
Luke: panicking over/chorusing with/ignoring Leia, infuriated by/friendly to/ignoring Han.
Now, back to the movie!
Obi-Wan is still skulking around, deactivating the tractor beam by flipping switches by hand (argh!); meanwhile, stormtroopers pass through the hallway. Two stay behind, loudly wondering what's going on and being completely non-menacing. I'm pretty sure they're the stormtrooper version of Shagrat and Gorbag.
Obi-Wan throws some kind of pebble (...again, coming dangerously near them to do so, rather than using the clearly-not-yet-telekinetic Force) and while they're distracted, heads beyond them. Yup. They look at each other as Obi-Wan walks right past them. Apparently stormtrooper helmets have no peripheral vision. God, Palpatine, you deserved to lose against Ewoks.
Maybe I'm not being fair. Let me see what the script says.
With the help of the Force, Ben deftly slips past the troopers.
Oh, the Force did it. Okay.
Obi-Wan continues on his way and baaaack to our trio, hurrying through fortuitously empty hallways to a window which oversees the hangar where the Falcon is parked. Luke is still preoccupied with managing the details, checking up with Threepio, while Han goes “there she is.” Six or seven stormtroopers are guarding it. Hm, that might be a problem.
Though maybe not. Even a bunch of stormtroopers are … y'know, stormtroopers.
Anymore, more adorableness. Luke keeps checking for trouble, while Leia looks out the window at the Falcon and then grabs Han's elbow.
LEIA: You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!
HAN: Nice. Come on.
*ships*
Also, this is pretty much identical to Luke's response back on Mos Eisley. Anyway, they all run after Han, around the corner, and right into a group of stormtroopers. Han shoots one and runs after them, shouting at Luke and Leia to get back to the ship.
LUKE: ...where are you going?
An excellent question, lol.
LEIA, admiringly: He certainly has courage.
LUKE: What good will it do us if he gets himself killed?
Yet again, that sad moment when Luke Skywalker has to be the resident Slytherin. Anyway, he tells Leia to come with him, and they run off hand-in-hand.
Aw.
(Seriously, though, the shipping wars must have been epic. Hugs vs hand-holding, how do you choose?)
We switch to Han, running after a bunch of stormtroopers while … yodelling? Really, he's all waving his blaster and going ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! only then he runs right into a whole ton of them and promptly runs back, still shouting. It's gloriously cracky.
Personally, I think it's the moments like this that make this movie-never wound up to parody or down to deconstruction or breaking the fourth wall or anything, just these fun OTT bits. High fantasy is by its nature somewhat stiff, somewhat overwrought, and done right, a certain (light) amount of self-awareness can give us permission to enjoy the more ridiculous aspects of it without losing the drama and power. SW says “it's okay to love this” and “it's okay to laugh.”
So the stormtroopers are now chasing Han, while Chewie waits, and they run off together and there are still stormtroopers-no, these stormtroopers are chasing Luke and Leia, who dash around a corner and up a stair and holy shit falling into the abyss. Only they manage to balance on the very end, Luke teetering, and Leia pulls Luke back.
LUKE: I think we took a wrong turn!
No, really?
So there are all these lights along the walls, and they go down forever. And they're still in “oh shit” mode when the stormtroopers come around and start shooting at them. Luke shoots back and Leia hits something that lowers the hatch.
Leia, panicked, shouts that there's no lock, so Luke shoots the control panel and they look around. Leia sensibly tells him to find the control that will extend the bridge.
LUKE: I think I just blasted it.
...oops.
Leia screams that they're coming through and Luke's eyes land on some thingymajigs overhead. Across the abyss, laserfire shoots at them, and Luke immediately puts himself in front of the unarmed Leia (who, for the first time ever, is actually cowering a bit in her corner) and shoots back, knocking one stormtrooper into the abyss. His theme music cheers him on.
Luke, apparently having no doubts about Leia's kickassery, hands the blaster to her and takes out a cord/grappling hook thing from his belt. While he unwinds it, Leia continues to cover him, returning the stormtroopers' fire; behind them, the door starts to open. She shouts that they're coming and takes out one of the stormtroopers opposite. Luke, with perfect aim, swings the rope hook around the thingy above them, his music still playing, and puts an arm around her waist; Leia puts hers around his neck. She kisses him.
LUKE: o_O
LEIA: For luck.
Okay, I really can't get the people who are all “what were the Luke/Leia shippers so butthurt over? There was never any support for it, really.” This isn't a fanon ship with maybe-subtext like, idk, Zuko/Katara or Harry/Hermione or something, this is (by SW standards) ship teasing of ridiculous proportions. Honestly, they had every right to be pissed -- not, let me add, that they didn't win, but "surprise! your ship is incestuous!" after this much teasing? Ehhhh.
And it's a bit odd that Luke is consistently more weirded-out than Leia, given that she's the one who knows. Sort of. Apparently.
Anyway, they swing across the ravine abyss on Luke's vine grappling cord, land on the opposite side and take off down another hall.
In a different hall, stormtroopers are … not so much running as trotting past, and Obi-Wan sneaking by. He takes out his lightsaber. Ooh, I think the duel must be coming. Threepio and Artoo, meanwhile, are dutifully waiting and worrying.
A different group of stormtroopers run after Han and Chewie, and close the blast doors in front of him. Han dives through, leaving them staring at the door. Nice job fixing it, villains.
Obi-Wan walks slowly out-and I think I hear some very heavy breathing? Yup, it's Vader, just sort of waiting around with his lightsaber out. Vader marches towards him and Obi-Wan activates his own lightsaber.
VADER: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan.
I bet you have.
VADER: The circle is now complete.
The... circle. Wha-?
Okay, this is like Anakin/Padmé bad. Maybe even Holiday Special bad. It's a badness that is so over the top and so random and just so bad that I can't help laughing every time I watch this scene. It's not even Narm Charm, this goes right into So Bad It's Good.
VADER: When I left you, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master.
He sounds oddly dispassionate. Oddly for him, I mean. I don't know, it's bizarre. Also, my impression from this is that Vader was still Obi-Wan's student when he turned. Like, he's a Jedi, but was never a full Jedi Knight. The way Obi-Wan talked about him earlier, too, seemed to emphasize Vader's youth and subordinate status whereas he talks of Anakin as an older, more equal war buddy (which, while not a lie, is certainly more untrue than not). Obviously that's incompatible with ESB, never mind the prequels.
Still, I'm unsure how Anakin, a full Jedi Knight (a status established here in ANH) could remotely be considered a learner in regard to Obi-Wan at the time of his fall, except in the general way that anybody who isn't dead can be considered a learner. I guess he could mean that he was a learner wrt the Dark Side, but how could he be considered “the master” of the Dark Side at this point?
Really, even this first (brilliant!) retcon squeaks a bit. The only way I can really fanwank it, even ignoring the prequels, is that maybe older Jedi mentored young knights in some capacity, so there was still a sort of teacher-pupil relationship after the master-apprentice one dissolved.
OBI-WAN: Only a master of evil, Darth.
ahahahahahahaha
I'm sorry, this is just so campy that it can only be funny to me. Only a master of EVIL!!
Also: ...Darth? Like, I've heard the argument that he's emphasizing Vader's evilness by using his Sith title-and I mean, in-story, that's got to be it-but meta-wise, that's pretty unconvincing IMO. It's just Obi-Wan referring to his former pupil by the name he knew him by, his first name. Little baby Darth!
Now I'm just thinking of the VW commercial. Moving on.
Obi-Wan attacks him-interesting, that he precipitates the duel, not Vader. The same thing happened/will happen in ROTS. Vader's definitely being threatening, but doesn't actually attack until attacked. There's no way this can be considered a straightforward murder.
So they start, y'know, smacking their lightsabers against one another. Obi-Wan does this weird, awkward, super-slow twirl, but otherwise it's mostly … thwack. Thwack. Thwack. But it's not really funny at all. I'm just sort of sad, because I like Obi-Wan and I love Vader and there's no way this can end well.
My ten-year-old foster-sister, incidentally, was completely blown away at this point. She didn't know anything about SW, hardly (not even the Vader or Leia reveals) and had never seen a lightsaber until watching the movie, and she was just, “Elizabeth! Elizabeth, it's Vader and Obi-Wan FIGHTING! With LIGHTSABERS! That's so cool! But what's going to happen to Obi-Wan? ...Elizabeth?”
I was honestly surprised, since it's so slow to me, and the things I watched as a kid were much slower and cheaper and cheesier than the stuff she's seen. But she didn't seem to care.
So it's...I don't know. Mike Stoklasa, in his Red Letter Media reviews of the prequels, argued that the Anakin and Obi-Wan duel in ROTS couldn't compare to this one. He wasn't arguing that this is better choreographed (lololol), of course, but that we have little emotional investment in their characters or their relationship, so it's all spectacle without emotional weight.
Now, that's obviously subjective; there are certainly people who got attached to prequel Anakin and prequel Obi-Wan, people for whom their relationship was well-established and perfectly convincing. But I'm not one of those people; while I disagree with certain elements of Stoklasa's reviews, I completely share his disappointment with the development of Anakin's character and his relationship with Obi-Wan. For me, the ROTS duel is technically impressive and enjoyable on a “wow, awesome!!” level, but I don't feel a ton more about it than I do about the one with Darth Maul (which I have no investment in at all) until the duel ends. And it's a long time to wait for Obi-Wan to take a turn for the horrific.
This one-well, on the one hand, I care a lot more about Obi-Wan and Vader. I absolutely believe that Obi-Wan feels immense guilt over his training of Vader, I believe that Vader is ridiculously fixated on Obi-Wan and trying to prove himself in some twisted way. I care about the outcome even though obviously Obi-Wan is going to be the one to die. I'm glued to the screen the whole time.
But it's so slow. Obi-Wan's little twirl is pure wtfery. Wow, I wonder how they will thwack lightsabers next? How scintillating!
...Nah, I don't think I can really say that this one is better than the ROTS duel. That one had some emotional impact, if IMO much, much less, the dialogue was slightly better (yes, heresy, I know, but even the redundant I HATE YOU!!!! can't really compare to ~the circle is now complete~), the setting was awesome and it was actually interesting to watch in its own right. So I'm glad Maria liked this one, but-it doesn't quite work for me, sorry.
VADER: Your powers are weak, old man.
Oh, burn.
lol idek
OBI-WAN: You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
So it turns out that he becomes a ghost, and it's become very, very, very common in the fandom (like, along the likes of Luke/Leia jokes “common”) for people to go “seriously? That's all?”
And I'm like, um. Sure, Obi-Wan becomes a spirit advisor, and that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” However. Obi-Wan can affect living people and their actions. He's directly responsible for Luke continuing to train as a Jedi, through his influence on Luke and Yoda. He can interact with the environment, he touches physical things. And he can't be killed.
Vader made him IMMORTAL. And if you're considering the prequels, it's made explicit there-becoming a Force-ghost is a path to immortality. Moreover, Vader's life has been dominated by his abhorrence of death. Everything he did was to find a way to conquer death. Instead, striking down his old master enables Obi-Wan to do so, while Anakin remains shackled to life-support 24/7 while in constant agony and missing a good portion of his body.
Yeah, I think Obi-Wan is completely sincere, here.
VADER: You should not have come back.
This line, on the other hand, is genuinely chilling. ;_;
Switch to Han and Chewie, peering out the door at the hangar bay. Han elbows Chewie.
HAN: Didn't we just leave this party?
I forgive Han a lot because he's just so cool.
Luke and Leia come running up.
HAN, tersely: What kept you?
LEIA: We, ah, ran into some old friends.
I love her completely deadpan expression here. And basically Leia whenever she's snide and sarcastic.
...and when she, you know, exists.
They consult a bit about the technicalities, and then Obi-Wan and Vader's duel takes them right into another, wider entrance to the hangar bay. The duel picks up a bit, mostly on Vader's side; Obi-Wan is obviously struggling to keep up.
In-story, I prefer to think the duel is so awful because Vader is just toying with him and doesn't actually want the duel to end too quickly. He's obviously doing that in ESB, and he's much better there, but Luke is young and athletic-toying with the prematurely aged Obi-Wan, he has to dial it down a bit. A lot of bits.
So the stormtroopers run over to...watch? Or something? Artoo and Threepio, from their alcove, run over to the ship, as do Han, Leia, Chewie, and Luke. I love Leia's dress, by the way-all gauzy and pretty and princessy...with boots underneath.
Luke goes “Ben?” in this sort of bewildered voice, and runs forward in a panic. Oh, Luke, it's going to be okay.
...Wait, no, it isn't. Sorry!
Anyway, Luke halts, an expression of absolute woobieness coming over his face:
Oh, sweetie. Somebody give him a hug or something, okay?
Incidental side note: his nose looks completely different in ANH-sort of narrow and straight, nothing like Leia's or Anakin's (or his own later one, though of course there are out-of-story reasons for that). But this is the movie I watch the most, and this is pretty much what Luke-in-my-head looks like.
(I occasionally see people wondering how girls could possibly have been attracted to him, as they manifestly were-the most common response to any picture of ANH!Luke seems to be “oh my god I was going to marry him.” I don't swing that way, but I totally get it. He suffers so prettily.)
No hugs are forthcoming. Instead, Obi-Wan looks at Luke's stricken face and gives this sneaky half-smile, lifting his lightsaber towards his forehead while Luke looks on. Yup, timing his own death for maximum psychological trauma. That's sort of appalling and sort of hardcore, all at the same time.
Vader is like “you're just giving up? ...okay” and stabs him.
…
…
…
So. Anakin just killed Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan is dead.
:(
Death tolls!
DARTH VADER
KILLS: 3 (Rebel guy; Anakin Skywalker; Obi-Wan Kenobi, in a duel)
OTHER: betrayed the Jedi; helped the Empire hunt down them down; tortured Princess Leia; choked Admiral Motti; bugged the Falcon
HAN SOLO
KILLS: 9 (Greedo, seven nameless stormtroopers, gantry officer's aide)
OTHER: smuggler; works for the crime lord Jabba; shot at a bunch of stormtroopers
PRINCESS LEIA
KILLS: 2 (nameless stormtroopers)
OTHER: spy, sorta; politician; shot at a bunch of stormtroopers
LUKE SKYWALKER
KILLS: 2 (nameless stormtroopers)
OTHER: whines sometimes, shot at people
GOVERNOR TARKIN
KILLS: billions (every occupant of the planet Alderaan)
OTHER: ordered the execution of Princess Leia
CHEWBACCA
KILLS: 2 (gantry officer; unnamed officer; shot at people)
Kissing tolls:
Leia and Luke: she kissed him once, on the cheek
Summary
(1) Obi-Wan doesn't use the Force for telekinesis, even when it'd be very handy to do so, but does use it to make himself unobserved. One would think that'd be a little more involved.
(2) Luke is distinctly practical without being remotely cautious.
(3) Luke/Leia shippers had valid reasons for shipping them, if reasons that can be read as platonic if you squint. Han/Leia, while less blatant at this point, is quietly moving forward, too.
(4) Vader is hilariously pretentious, and the duel is slow and boring, though it helps that I care about the people involved.
(5) Vader implies that he was still Obi-Wan's student when they last met, it's implied in some kind of fight. At no point is it stated that Vader was ever a full Jedi Knight.
(6) Obi-Wan did become more powerful than Vader could imagine, since he's now immortal.
(7) If Luke Skywalker was not intended to star in a gazillion h/c fantasies, I'll eat my hat.
(8) Obi-Wan clearly sets the stage for his own death so that Luke will see his father father's murderer killing his mentor. Sure, it'll reinforce all those completely true facts he told him earlier, but dying for it? That's impressive in a faintly skeevy way.
(9) Bye, Obi-Wan.
This is more like part 12b, as I'm awake now and just continuing beyond the five minutes I managed to cover last time, but-anyway.
Back to the relationship between Luke, Han, and Leia, which is really just getting established at this point, the characters adjusting around the new group dynamic. Han, I think, is the most changed by it. To recap:
Initially, he clashes with Luke all the time-somewhat due to the circumstances, but more to their wildly different personalities and values. That lasts from their meeting to their arrival in the Death Star.
Then, Han addresses him in a maybe-sort of-friendlyish way right after Obi-Wan leaves-by insulting Obi-Wan, which Luke takes badly. Soon afterwards he manipulates Han into helping him rescue Leia, and comes up with a plan for it; Han seems vaguely impressed, though they keep snapping at each other. When Leia appears, Han starts clashing with her, much as he did with Luke earlier. He orders Luke to jump through the wall before him.
When Han shoots the walls of the garbage compactor, Luke and Leia both scream at him (in unison), but Han confines his response to Leia. He bursts into full-fledged panic when Luke is attacked by the dianoga, and from then on, shows a distinct sense of camaraderie-garbage-forged friends!-with him. All the irritation from before seems to have been neatly transferred to Leia. Now with more UST! He also gets to the “grudging respect” faster with her.
At the same time, he repeatedly tries to align himself with the earnest, short-tempered, reckless, impatient, idealistic Luke, in opposition to Leia. It doesn't quite work, since Luke (for obvious reasons) naturally feels more solidarity with Leia, and in any case is intensely focused on the situation at hand. So is Leia, if not quite to the exclusion of all else, and she's even more adversarial than Luke ever was. Luke, despite his focus on Leia, does seems to have warmed up to Han a bit and certainly isn't picking any more fights, but there isn't anything like the change we've seen in Han. So at this point:
Han: actively friendly to Luke, infuriated by/attracted to Leia.
Leia: panicking over/chorusing with/ignoring Luke, infuriated by/attracted to Han.
Luke: panicking over/chorusing with/ignoring Leia, infuriated by/friendly to/ignoring Han.
Now, back to the movie!
Obi-Wan is still skulking around, deactivating the tractor beam by flipping switches by hand (argh!); meanwhile, stormtroopers pass through the hallway. Two stay behind, loudly wondering what's going on and being completely non-menacing. I'm pretty sure they're the stormtrooper version of Shagrat and Gorbag.
Obi-Wan throws some kind of pebble (...again, coming dangerously near them to do so, rather than using the clearly-not-yet-telekinetic Force) and while they're distracted, heads beyond them. Yup. They look at each other as Obi-Wan walks right past them. Apparently stormtrooper helmets have no peripheral vision. God, Palpatine, you deserved to lose against Ewoks.
Maybe I'm not being fair. Let me see what the script says.
With the help of the Force, Ben deftly slips past the troopers.
Oh, the Force did it. Okay.
Obi-Wan continues on his way and baaaack to our trio, hurrying through fortuitously empty hallways to a window which oversees the hangar where the Falcon is parked. Luke is still preoccupied with managing the details, checking up with Threepio, while Han goes “there she is.” Six or seven stormtroopers are guarding it. Hm, that might be a problem.
Though maybe not. Even a bunch of stormtroopers are … y'know, stormtroopers.
Anymore, more adorableness. Luke keeps checking for trouble, while Leia looks out the window at the Falcon and then grabs Han's elbow.
LEIA: You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!
HAN: Nice. Come on.
*ships*
Also, this is pretty much identical to Luke's response back on Mos Eisley. Anyway, they all run after Han, around the corner, and right into a group of stormtroopers. Han shoots one and runs after them, shouting at Luke and Leia to get back to the ship.
LUKE: ...where are you going?
An excellent question, lol.
LEIA, admiringly: He certainly has courage.
LUKE: What good will it do us if he gets himself killed?
Yet again, that sad moment when Luke Skywalker has to be the resident Slytherin. Anyway, he tells Leia to come with him, and they run off hand-in-hand.
Aw.
(Seriously, though, the shipping wars must have been epic. Hugs vs hand-holding, how do you choose?)
We switch to Han, running after a bunch of stormtroopers while … yodelling? Really, he's all waving his blaster and going ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! only then he runs right into a whole ton of them and promptly runs back, still shouting. It's gloriously cracky.
Personally, I think it's the moments like this that make this movie-never wound up to parody or down to deconstruction or breaking the fourth wall or anything, just these fun OTT bits. High fantasy is by its nature somewhat stiff, somewhat overwrought, and done right, a certain (light) amount of self-awareness can give us permission to enjoy the more ridiculous aspects of it without losing the drama and power. SW says “it's okay to love this” and “it's okay to laugh.”
So the stormtroopers are now chasing Han, while Chewie waits, and they run off together and there are still stormtroopers-no, these stormtroopers are chasing Luke and Leia, who dash around a corner and up a stair and holy shit falling into the abyss. Only they manage to balance on the very end, Luke teetering, and Leia pulls Luke back.
LUKE: I think we took a wrong turn!
No, really?
So there are all these lights along the walls, and they go down forever. And they're still in “oh shit” mode when the stormtroopers come around and start shooting at them. Luke shoots back and Leia hits something that lowers the hatch.
Leia, panicked, shouts that there's no lock, so Luke shoots the control panel and they look around. Leia sensibly tells him to find the control that will extend the bridge.
LUKE: I think I just blasted it.
...oops.
Leia screams that they're coming through and Luke's eyes land on some thingymajigs overhead. Across the abyss, laserfire shoots at them, and Luke immediately puts himself in front of the unarmed Leia (who, for the first time ever, is actually cowering a bit in her corner) and shoots back, knocking one stormtrooper into the abyss. His theme music cheers him on.
Luke, apparently having no doubts about Leia's kickassery, hands the blaster to her and takes out a cord/grappling hook thing from his belt. While he unwinds it, Leia continues to cover him, returning the stormtroopers' fire; behind them, the door starts to open. She shouts that they're coming and takes out one of the stormtroopers opposite. Luke, with perfect aim, swings the rope hook around the thingy above them, his music still playing, and puts an arm around her waist; Leia puts hers around his neck. She kisses him.
LUKE: o_O
LEIA: For luck.
Okay, I really can't get the people who are all “what were the Luke/Leia shippers so butthurt over? There was never any support for it, really.” This isn't a fanon ship with maybe-subtext like, idk, Zuko/Katara or Harry/Hermione or something, this is (by SW standards) ship teasing of ridiculous proportions. Honestly, they had every right to be pissed -- not, let me add, that they didn't win, but "surprise! your ship is incestuous!" after this much teasing? Ehhhh.
And it's a bit odd that Luke is consistently more weirded-out than Leia, given that she's the one who knows. Sort of. Apparently.
Anyway, they swing across the ravine abyss on Luke's vine grappling cord, land on the opposite side and take off down another hall.
In a different hall, stormtroopers are … not so much running as trotting past, and Obi-Wan sneaking by. He takes out his lightsaber. Ooh, I think the duel must be coming. Threepio and Artoo, meanwhile, are dutifully waiting and worrying.
A different group of stormtroopers run after Han and Chewie, and close the blast doors in front of him. Han dives through, leaving them staring at the door. Nice job fixing it, villains.
Obi-Wan walks slowly out-and I think I hear some very heavy breathing? Yup, it's Vader, just sort of waiting around with his lightsaber out. Vader marches towards him and Obi-Wan activates his own lightsaber.
VADER: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan.
I bet you have.
VADER: The circle is now complete.
The... circle. Wha-?
Okay, this is like Anakin/Padmé bad. Maybe even Holiday Special bad. It's a badness that is so over the top and so random and just so bad that I can't help laughing every time I watch this scene. It's not even Narm Charm, this goes right into So Bad It's Good.
VADER: When I left you, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master.
He sounds oddly dispassionate. Oddly for him, I mean. I don't know, it's bizarre. Also, my impression from this is that Vader was still Obi-Wan's student when he turned. Like, he's a Jedi, but was never a full Jedi Knight. The way Obi-Wan talked about him earlier, too, seemed to emphasize Vader's youth and subordinate status whereas he talks of Anakin as an older, more equal war buddy (which, while not a lie, is certainly more untrue than not). Obviously that's incompatible with ESB, never mind the prequels.
Still, I'm unsure how Anakin, a full Jedi Knight (a status established here in ANH) could remotely be considered a learner in regard to Obi-Wan at the time of his fall, except in the general way that anybody who isn't dead can be considered a learner. I guess he could mean that he was a learner wrt the Dark Side, but how could he be considered “the master” of the Dark Side at this point?
Really, even this first (brilliant!) retcon squeaks a bit. The only way I can really fanwank it, even ignoring the prequels, is that maybe older Jedi mentored young knights in some capacity, so there was still a sort of teacher-pupil relationship after the master-apprentice one dissolved.
OBI-WAN: Only a master of evil, Darth.
ahahahahahahaha
I'm sorry, this is just so campy that it can only be funny to me. Only a master of EVIL!!
Also: ...Darth? Like, I've heard the argument that he's emphasizing Vader's evilness by using his Sith title-and I mean, in-story, that's got to be it-but meta-wise, that's pretty unconvincing IMO. It's just Obi-Wan referring to his former pupil by the name he knew him by, his first name. Little baby Darth!
Now I'm just thinking of the VW commercial. Moving on.
Obi-Wan attacks him-interesting, that he precipitates the duel, not Vader. The same thing happened/will happen in ROTS. Vader's definitely being threatening, but doesn't actually attack until attacked. There's no way this can be considered a straightforward murder.
So they start, y'know, smacking their lightsabers against one another. Obi-Wan does this weird, awkward, super-slow twirl, but otherwise it's mostly … thwack. Thwack. Thwack. But it's not really funny at all. I'm just sort of sad, because I like Obi-Wan and I love Vader and there's no way this can end well.
My ten-year-old foster-sister, incidentally, was completely blown away at this point. She didn't know anything about SW, hardly (not even the Vader or Leia reveals) and had never seen a lightsaber until watching the movie, and she was just, “Elizabeth! Elizabeth, it's Vader and Obi-Wan FIGHTING! With LIGHTSABERS! That's so cool! But what's going to happen to Obi-Wan? ...Elizabeth?”
I was honestly surprised, since it's so slow to me, and the things I watched as a kid were much slower and cheaper and cheesier than the stuff she's seen. But she didn't seem to care.
So it's...I don't know. Mike Stoklasa, in his Red Letter Media reviews of the prequels, argued that the Anakin and Obi-Wan duel in ROTS couldn't compare to this one. He wasn't arguing that this is better choreographed (lololol), of course, but that we have little emotional investment in their characters or their relationship, so it's all spectacle without emotional weight.
Now, that's obviously subjective; there are certainly people who got attached to prequel Anakin and prequel Obi-Wan, people for whom their relationship was well-established and perfectly convincing. But I'm not one of those people; while I disagree with certain elements of Stoklasa's reviews, I completely share his disappointment with the development of Anakin's character and his relationship with Obi-Wan. For me, the ROTS duel is technically impressive and enjoyable on a “wow, awesome!!” level, but I don't feel a ton more about it than I do about the one with Darth Maul (which I have no investment in at all) until the duel ends. And it's a long time to wait for Obi-Wan to take a turn for the horrific.
This one-well, on the one hand, I care a lot more about Obi-Wan and Vader. I absolutely believe that Obi-Wan feels immense guilt over his training of Vader, I believe that Vader is ridiculously fixated on Obi-Wan and trying to prove himself in some twisted way. I care about the outcome even though obviously Obi-Wan is going to be the one to die. I'm glued to the screen the whole time.
But it's so slow. Obi-Wan's little twirl is pure wtfery. Wow, I wonder how they will thwack lightsabers next? How scintillating!
...Nah, I don't think I can really say that this one is better than the ROTS duel. That one had some emotional impact, if IMO much, much less, the dialogue was slightly better (yes, heresy, I know, but even the redundant I HATE YOU!!!! can't really compare to ~the circle is now complete~), the setting was awesome and it was actually interesting to watch in its own right. So I'm glad Maria liked this one, but-it doesn't quite work for me, sorry.
VADER: Your powers are weak, old man.
Oh, burn.
lol idek
OBI-WAN: You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
So it turns out that he becomes a ghost, and it's become very, very, very common in the fandom (like, along the likes of Luke/Leia jokes “common”) for people to go “seriously? That's all?”
And I'm like, um. Sure, Obi-Wan becomes a spirit advisor, and that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” However. Obi-Wan can affect living people and their actions. He's directly responsible for Luke continuing to train as a Jedi, through his influence on Luke and Yoda. He can interact with the environment, he touches physical things. And he can't be killed.
Vader made him IMMORTAL. And if you're considering the prequels, it's made explicit there-becoming a Force-ghost is a path to immortality. Moreover, Vader's life has been dominated by his abhorrence of death. Everything he did was to find a way to conquer death. Instead, striking down his old master enables Obi-Wan to do so, while Anakin remains shackled to life-support 24/7 while in constant agony and missing a good portion of his body.
Yeah, I think Obi-Wan is completely sincere, here.
VADER: You should not have come back.
This line, on the other hand, is genuinely chilling. ;_;
Switch to Han and Chewie, peering out the door at the hangar bay. Han elbows Chewie.
HAN: Didn't we just leave this party?
I forgive Han a lot because he's just so cool.
Luke and Leia come running up.
HAN, tersely: What kept you?
LEIA: We, ah, ran into some old friends.
I love her completely deadpan expression here. And basically Leia whenever she's snide and sarcastic.
...and when she, you know, exists.
They consult a bit about the technicalities, and then Obi-Wan and Vader's duel takes them right into another, wider entrance to the hangar bay. The duel picks up a bit, mostly on Vader's side; Obi-Wan is obviously struggling to keep up.
In-story, I prefer to think the duel is so awful because Vader is just toying with him and doesn't actually want the duel to end too quickly. He's obviously doing that in ESB, and he's much better there, but Luke is young and athletic-toying with the prematurely aged Obi-Wan, he has to dial it down a bit. A lot of bits.
So the stormtroopers run over to...watch? Or something? Artoo and Threepio, from their alcove, run over to the ship, as do Han, Leia, Chewie, and Luke. I love Leia's dress, by the way-all gauzy and pretty and princessy...with boots underneath.
Luke goes “Ben?” in this sort of bewildered voice, and runs forward in a panic. Oh, Luke, it's going to be okay.
...Wait, no, it isn't. Sorry!
Anyway, Luke halts, an expression of absolute woobieness coming over his face:
Oh, sweetie. Somebody give him a hug or something, okay?
Incidental side note: his nose looks completely different in ANH-sort of narrow and straight, nothing like Leia's or Anakin's (or his own later one, though of course there are out-of-story reasons for that). But this is the movie I watch the most, and this is pretty much what Luke-in-my-head looks like.
(I occasionally see people wondering how girls could possibly have been attracted to him, as they manifestly were-the most common response to any picture of ANH!Luke seems to be “oh my god I was going to marry him.” I don't swing that way, but I totally get it. He suffers so prettily.)
No hugs are forthcoming. Instead, Obi-Wan looks at Luke's stricken face and gives this sneaky half-smile, lifting his lightsaber towards his forehead while Luke looks on. Yup, timing his own death for maximum psychological trauma. That's sort of appalling and sort of hardcore, all at the same time.
Vader is like “you're just giving up? ...okay” and stabs him.
…
…
…
So. Anakin just killed Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan is dead.
:(
Death tolls!
DARTH VADER
KILLS: 3 (Rebel guy; Anakin Skywalker; Obi-Wan Kenobi, in a duel)
OTHER: betrayed the Jedi; helped the Empire hunt down them down; tortured Princess Leia; choked Admiral Motti; bugged the Falcon
HAN SOLO
KILLS: 9 (Greedo, seven nameless stormtroopers, gantry officer's aide)
OTHER: smuggler; works for the crime lord Jabba; shot at a bunch of stormtroopers
PRINCESS LEIA
KILLS: 2 (nameless stormtroopers)
OTHER: spy, sorta; politician; shot at a bunch of stormtroopers
LUKE SKYWALKER
KILLS: 2 (nameless stormtroopers)
OTHER: whines sometimes, shot at people
GOVERNOR TARKIN
KILLS: billions (every occupant of the planet Alderaan)
OTHER: ordered the execution of Princess Leia
CHEWBACCA
KILLS: 2 (gantry officer; unnamed officer; shot at people)
Kissing tolls:
Leia and Luke: she kissed him once, on the cheek
Summary
(1) Obi-Wan doesn't use the Force for telekinesis, even when it'd be very handy to do so, but does use it to make himself unobserved. One would think that'd be a little more involved.
(2) Luke is distinctly practical without being remotely cautious.
(3) Luke/Leia shippers had valid reasons for shipping them, if reasons that can be read as platonic if you squint. Han/Leia, while less blatant at this point, is quietly moving forward, too.
(4) Vader is hilariously pretentious, and the duel is slow and boring, though it helps that I care about the people involved.
(5) Vader implies that he was still Obi-Wan's student when they last met, it's implied in some kind of fight. At no point is it stated that Vader was ever a full Jedi Knight.
(6) Obi-Wan did become more powerful than Vader could imagine, since he's now immortal.
(7) If Luke Skywalker was not intended to star in a gazillion h/c fantasies, I'll eat my hat.
(8) Obi-Wan clearly sets the stage for his own death so that Luke will see his father father's murderer killing his mentor. Sure, it'll reinforce all those completely true facts he told him earlier, but dying for it? That's impressive in a faintly skeevy way.
(9) Bye, Obi-Wan.