“You Were The Chosen One!”

Revenge of the Sith

We’re 40 moments down, with 10 to go as we enter the my top 10 Skywalker Saga moments – at least to date. I’d be astonished if this time next week, The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t introduce several additions in the premium tier of the great Star Wars moments.

That could well mean that Obi-Wan Kenobi’s emotional outburst to a beaten Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar might soon be squeezed out of the top 10, albeit great value for it’s place in the pecking order.

There is a very valid argument to suggest that Ewan McGregor is at the heart and soul of the Prequel Trilogy. He brought great life to the role of Obi-Wan throughout the three movies, hitting the emotional beats where required and delivering the type of by-the-book wisdom that perfectly fitted the character description.

Like Hayden Christensen and Ian McDiarmid, McGregor’s Star Wars contribution no doubt peaked in Revenge of the Sith. To cap what was a truly brilliant performance, Kenobi’s reaction to seeing his former apprentice Skywalker – or should I say Vader – writhing with pain and anger on the floor, after being cut down by a high-ground occupying Kenobi, is one of the saga’s most emotional scenes.

“You were the chosen one. It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.

“You were my brother Anakin. I loved you.”

You can read Kenobi’s melting pot of emotions in this scene. His own anger at the dark deeds committed by Anakin since his turn to the dark side, and his frustration in that the Jedi had wrongly pinned their hopes on this so-called chosen one. But it’s also a window into Kenobi’s pain having lost a brother in Anakin. It almost feels like an admission from Obi-Wan that he himself had effectively contravened the Jedi code, becoming too attached to his apprentice and being potentially blind to his vulnerabilities.

It’s obvious that Kenobi blamed himself for Anakin’s fall. Perhaps he considers that if Qui-Gon Jinn had survived to train Anakin, the young Jedi would not have fallen to Palpatine’s temptations. After all, Qui-Gon’s approach to the Jedi code was drastically different to Obi-Wan’s and a less straight-laced mentor might have served Anakin better.

That’s a thread that I hope is pulled in the Kenobi Disney Plus series. It’s great to have McGregor back in action for that project as scenes like this demonstrate his incredible talents and their pitch perfect execution in the Star Wars universe.