#and obi-wan can't say anything else because beyond the fear and the exhaustion he is once again devastated by anakin's fall

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Thinking again about the line "I am what you made me" and how it's an example of really thoughtful and quality writing despite what angry fanboys might say because it simultaneously means "You cut me down and watched me burn and left me to die. You did this to me. You made me," and "You and the Jedi Council restricted me and suspected me and failed me and called it teaching. I am who you trained me to become. You made me." It's an attack on Obi-Wan on every front, reinforcing every aspect of his guilt, and beyond that demonstrates to Obi-Wan and the audience that Vader takes absolutely no accountability for his own actions. It's an incredibly clear picture of the depth of the hatred Vader has for Obi-Wan, and all it took was six words. That is how you write.

#kenobi series spoilers #kenobi series #obi wan kenobi #meta #anakin skywalker #star wars #and then i could go into why it's so perfect that the only thing obi-wan could say is 'what have you become?' #he's never seen vader in this form before--this terrifying spectre of death who is so utterly evil even in appearance #this stiffer more brutal robotic being who kills without question and without any purpose beyond causing pain #who still somehow feels exactly as obi-wan remembers. who is still *anakin* but yet is so utterly not #and how obi-wan doesn't know what vader has done or even what he's capable of. he didn't know he was even alive #he's entirely in the dark and is terrified to learn what horrors vader has inflicted on the universe #horrors that are obi-wan's fault. vader is an instrument of terror that obi-wan created #so that lack of knowledge and absolute dread of what vader has done and what he will do make obi-wan ask 'what have you become?' #while simultaneously he also is asking 'how have you fallen so far? how could you who i once knew so well now be so unrecognizable?' #'what have you become' instead of 'what have you done.' not merely doing evil but becoming it #'what have you become' instead of 'who.' not only is he someone obi-wan doesn't know he has become something less than human #and obi-wan can't say anything else because beyond the fear and the exhaustion he is once again devastated by anakin's fall #it's the mourning for lost potential. for lost goodness. for lost intimacy and friendship and love twisted into vile and bitter hatred #a recognition and a reminder of everything that was as well as a despairing denouncement of everything that is #all of that in four words. and the equally devastating response takes only two more. these are men who know how to hurt each other #and that kind of knowledge can only come because they once knew how to love each other just as deeply as they now wound each other. #everything they do is so wrapped up in everything that came before and it is one massive and neverending explosion of agony #because most of all--vader hates every fiber of obi-wan's being. but he can tell in obi-wan's words that obi-wan still loves him #nothing is more painful than hatred met with love. #quality meta seal of approval #my meta posts #kay can i just catch my breath for a second #kay has a party in the tags #the tragedy of darth vader