#i do see the irony of her being so like Anakin when she was young and then growing up to be like Obi-wan though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sleepymarmot · 2 years

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Attack of the Clones rewatch (liveblog & opinions)

This... slapped actually?! I didn’t expect that after TPM.

The premise is so fucked up. The Jedi aren’t enough, so they’re going to need help from... an army? First, that is very enlightening information on what the Jedi are. Somehow I didn’t expect the movies to bluntly confirm that they’re the special ops in service of the government. Also, the Republic didn’t have an army at all? That’s wild. Do they have no neighbors in the galaxy? Does the Outer Rim not count?

Palpatine’s actor is the only one giving his all in this room. Noticeable green screen on him, though.

“So have you. Grown more beautiful, I mean. For a senator, I mean” Omg lmfao. This is even worse than his line in TPM. Good writing, though. I gotta give it to them, they established Anakin’s feelings very clearly and firmly from the get-go. “Ani, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine.” Girl don’t be so hasty with the friendzone :D

I thought Obi-Wan would chastise Anakin for being overly familiar — it was very awkward of him — and instead they start a public squabble over their orders. The scene is ugly and ends in Obi-Wan bluntly telling Anakin to “know his place”, which is a sign he doesn’t have Anakin’s trust and respect. It’s Obi-Wan who sounds overly aggressive and insecure, not Anakin.

Afterwards, in a very harsh, annoyed tone: “You’re focusing on the negative, Anakin. Be mindful of your thoughts.” And then he bothers to voice agreement with what Jar Jar has already said, and what Anakin actually needs to hear: “She was pleased to see us.”

“She covered the cameras. I don’t think she liked me watching her.” Uhh.....

“My young apprentice” for like a fifth time so far. It’s obvious Obi-Wan is metaphorically puffing out his chest and trying to present himself as an authority over Anakin by constantly reminding him of his youth and the difference between their ages. All without a hint of irony. Dude, I get he’s your first student, but shouldn’t have you been over this shit years ago? You’ve been teaching him for a decade.

Anakin: *has the highest midichlorian count ever, is considered the Chosen One* Anakin: *has constant nightmares about his mother* Obi-Wan: eh it’s probably nothing :)

“I’d much rather dream about Padmé. Just being around her again is intoxicating.” “Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin. They betray you. You’ve made a commitment to the Jedi order, a commitment not easily broken.” Excuse me, having a commitment to the Jedi order means a 19 year old isn’t allowed to be horny????

Why the fuck is Obi-Wan distracting Anakin with his moralizing when he needs to concentrate on watching the fucking room

BWAHAHA OBI-WAN JUST DIVING OUT OF THE WINDOW ONTO THE DRONE that’s an awesome action shot and also very funny

Finally, a good fucking action sequence!!! (Afterwards, looking at the gifs, I realized why I like it so much and what it reminds me of. The rescue from RotJ! A fun, lighthearted scene where a confident Skywalker gets to show off his skills at the beginning of a new movie and there’s just no fear of failure. But also, of course, it’s just a much more thrilling and engaging type of action scene than most.)

And after that exciting chase where they worked seamlessly as a team, Obi-Wan is back to bullshit lecturing. I’ve heard he was nicknamed “the Negotiator”, but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s so bad at using words he needs to stop doing that altogether.

This would have been a great time for Obi-Wan, as Anakin’s mentor, to step in and diplomatically say “How about the two of us swap jobs” without revealing Anakin’s gigantic crush on Padme

Anakin to Palpatine: “Your guidance more than my patience.” Oh so Obi-Wan distrusts Palpatine and yet allowed him to interact with his apprentice to the level of “guidance”? “I have said it many times. You are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met. I see you becoming the greatest of all the Jedi, Anakin, even more powerful than Master Yoda.” Oh so Palpatine knows the value of praise, unlike Some People

“His abilities have made him, well, arrogant” says Mr “Pathetic life-forms” Obi-Wan has the second chance to do what I said above, and completely blows it.

Wh... why is Padme assigning Jar Jar of all people as her representative? He may be a war hero, but surely even in-universe he should be considered a lucky idiot genius at best?

“Sometimes we must let go of our pride and do what is requested of us.” Huh, did he notice that Padme liked Obi-Wan, and tried to copy him?

“Anakin, you’ve grown up.” “Master Obi-Wan manages not to see it.” :( It’s kind of sweet he feels safe enough with Padme to vent at her. On the other hand, that implies he has nobody else :((

“But I am grown up. You said it yourself.” *tries a smouldering look* OH MY GOD BABY NO. Why doesn’t he have someone in his life who’d explain or show him how talk to girls? Obi-Wan should give him some advice, he clearly has no problem being smooth.

Btw, Padme’s wardrobe doesn’t look as copy-pasted from museum pieces in this one, nice. She’s very bad at being inconspicuous, though.

Aaand the party is split! Here we go.

“Well, if droids could think, there’d be none of us here, would there?” Um.

“Or be with the people that I love.” Ani....... Alright, so about this line. I’ve seen it used as defense that the Jedi don’t forbid love, only attachment. But Anakin very clearly says that the Jedi can’t be with the people they love, while being obligated to be compassionate — “So you might say that we are encouraged to love,” he adds clearly as one of his awkward flirty lines.

Yoda is being... cool? What is this

I don’t understand why Padme is hiding on her own home planet

Oh I thought Anakin said “hold on a minute” because she referred to him as a not-Jedi, but it was because she had her own ideas for where to hide... Nice she didn’t tolerate that. Oh look, Amidala’s argument was that she had special knowledge and not that Anakin was too young and unqualified — and he swallowed his pride and didn’t argue. It’s that easy!

Wow, this water looks like jelly. Is this on purpose? The special effects have been good so far.

“We used to come here for school retreat.” What is her background?! Was he super-rich before becoming a politician?

“Here everything is soft” says he, looking at her boobs Really, I get him, but I don’t get her. He’s so damn young! Girl what the fuck are you doing!

Oh, here go the cringe lines again :D Oh kiddo. “Believe me, I wish that I could just wish away my feelings, but I can’t.” Oh. This is genuinely sad. That’s his whole problem, isn’t it. And he’s telling her that by asking him to ignore his feelings, she’s acting like his Jedi mentors. Note how neither of them is saying “Well, we could have a fling or even a romance without Attachment(tm), that wouldn’t be against the Jedi rules”. Because that’s not true.

Why did they shoot the scene of Anakin’s mom begging him for help in a nightmare in such an objectifying way? “Jedi don’t have nightmares.” Baby :(

The staging of this fight was a bit hard to understand.

Oh here goes the antisemitism. This entire sequence proves again and again that 1) Anakin has never contacted Shmi, 2) it wasn’t for the lack of love for her Interesting that Anakin gives Watto a stern look and he obeys immediately. We know the force tricks don’t work on him, so what is it? Being afraid of a Jedi that might have a grudge against him?

I’m enjoying the movie a lot, but it’s really way too long. I’m exactly halfway through, 1:10, and I’m already very tired.

Once again shout out to Padme who knows how to support him. Is this the first hug he’s gotten in years? Especially as a sign of quiet respect for what he must do and for his capability do it?

“The separatists are inherently evil, just look at them! Don’t worry about it.” — George Lucas, probably

Shmi doesn’t even look that badly injured. I’d chalk it up to child-friendly rating, but Anakin’s burns in the next film will be horrifying. And don’t the Jedi have any healing skills? What’s the point of these kinds of “peacekeepers”? “Pain, suffering” oh come on, what we’ve seen on screen was all beheadings. Way more merciful than what they did to Shmi, or what Obi-Wan will leave Anakin to. Oh, they’re talking about Anakin’s pain. Okay. And how about the fact you could have been able to prevent this altogether? “What’s wrong, Ani?” Girl, his mom was tortured to death... Read the room God this Imperial theme playing here is so annoying.

Alright, there’s a lot to unpack here. To start with what’s happening in-universe: 1) Cliegg says: “Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters.” There are several interpretations: he’s objectively correct, and the Tuskens are a non-human species predisposed to violence and cruelty, which happens in sci-fi; Cliegg is semi-correct: not all Tuskens as a species are like this, but this group objectively is; Cliegg is venting his frustration and grief, and these misdeeds are the responsibility of only several individuals and not representative of the behavior and values of even that specific group; Cliegg is completely wrong and all of this has been a set-up, the Tuskens are actually innocent. 2) Anakin refers to the Tuskens as “men”, “women” and “children”, like humans. 3) Anakin immediately says “They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals!” He is in hysteria, trying to defend his actions. If he had thought of the Tuskens as subhuman by default, he wouldn’t be reaching for this excuse in such desperation. 4) He also immediately says “I hate them” in a very similar tone he will use at the end of ROTS. An immediate reaction to pain, not an expression of his worldview.

On the Doylist level, the whole thing with the Tuskens is racist writing. On the Doylist level, it’s a white man mass-murdering a group of indigenous people in revenge for a white woman, and the writing judges him for the murder but also insists those people truly are inherently cruel and subhuman. I’m returning to this paragraph after completing the movie and reading online that this whole thing was based on The Searchers, the most vile piece of racist garbage I’ve had the misfortune of seeing in my entire life, which makes me even less willing to take this scene at face value. Nevertheless, on the Watsonian level, I don’t think it’s fair to judge Anakin as a person existing within the world as written in the same way we’d judge a real white man committing a similar-looking crime against actual people and not ugly parodies of them. I’ve seen some discourse on this scene on Tumblr, and it seems like some people criticize its writing and others respond with the Watsonian-level reasoning, which just derails both arguments.

Padme is definitely having an underreaction to his announcement that he has killed children, though. Which brings me back to the previous points. I think we all agree that the correct response here would have been to make Anakin take responsibility for his crime. So why does Padme not do that? Well, here’s a horrible thought. Nobody would recognize it as a crime. Tatooine is a planet outside of the Republic’s jurisdiction. The local community seems to regard the Tuskens as subhuman and wouldn’t bat an eye at what Anakin did. Anakin is the only one who sees the horror in this, to understand the gravity of what he did. His capacity to be horrified by what he has done is the same thing that drove him to do it in the first place: the intensity of the emotion. So, the Jedi council might not find him guilty of murdering innocent people, because they might not see them as people in the first place. But you know what they would definitely judge him for? Losing his temper. To the Jedi, the emotion itself is the problem. In this light, Padme’s reaction and the following exchange make perfect sense. “To be angry is to be human.” “I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” She, once again, voices the normal human position that emotions happen sometimes and their mere existence is not a sin; Anakin, once again, recites Jedi dogma at her, knowing how much he doesn’t live up to it.

Oh look, an OT callback. Look at Padme being proactive, hell yeah!

Dooku addresses Obi-Wan as “my young Jedi”. Ha!! Have a taste of your own medicine!

Oh god why was the theory of Jar Jar the supreme Sith never brought to canon... That would make so much sense...

Padme when she hears the news presumably: I tried so hard and got so far and in the end it doesn’t even matter... Kind of incredible not a single person says something like “I think buying a slave army is morally wrong actually” Like remember the arguments that the Jedi couldn’t just buy Shmi because they can’t buy slaves or something? Well...

“Don’t worry. I’ve given up trying to argue with you.” Lol Ani what was that. Why did Padme put on that cape other than “look like a superhero” “For a mechanic, you seem to do an excessive amount of thinking.” Hey, remember that earlier line from Obi-Wan? Speaking of slavery... And the droids also have a lovers’ spat! Damn, does Padme have the force? That’s some impressive timing. Also I bet she’s regretting that cape right now. Oh look, Anakin’s trademark move! Hold on, R2 can fly?! I thought R2 would fly her out just before the metal is poured in, but I guess this makes more sense. “Not again! Obi-Wan’s gonna kill me” How many lightsabers have you destroyed, Ani? This action sequence was too stressful despite the lack of stakes, if that makes sense. Not too bad, but not among the strongest action sequences of the movies either. “I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life.” I see Ani doesn’t have the monopoly on awful romance lines! “I love you”? Girl really? You’ve known him for a few days as an adult. “Truly, deeply” too? Damn.

I know we all love Obi-Wan’s sarcastic “Good job”, but the comedy of Anakin’s deadpan “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” with Padme actively getting out of her handcuffs in the background should not be so underrated. If we have to give the main female character a revealing outfit for a rescue action sequence on a sand planet, I’d take a neat crop top over a slave bikini any day.

Alright this has dragged on for way too long. Why are we going straight from one action scene to another?

The golden ring bracelets on the evil fly guy...

It’s very funny how Anakin wants to stop to pick up Padme and Obi-Wan chastises him with the line “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way”. Protecting Padme has been his mission this entire movie! His number one job right now is to be her bodyguard, and as far as I know the instructions haven’t changed!

Charging Dooku alone: dumb move on Anakin’s part for no reason. Creating cinematic darkness I see :D “My old padawan” is a fun twist on the phrase Did Padme really kiss him in front of everyone? So much for the secrecy...

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This film was way too long and I also had to take a lot of breaks, which means by the end I was completely out of steam! Nevertheless, this was a much better experience than I vaguely remembered from the previous viewings and the fandom osmosis, or expected after the trainwreck of The Phantom Menace. The plot is interesting, the CGI is serviceable (even if dated — happy 20th anniversary!), and I’m old enough to see Anakin’s awkward moves as endearing cringe comedy. No, he’s not a dreamy romantic hero, he’s a poorly socialized, unloved teenager who can’t stop putting his foot in his mouth in front of a crush he’s been yearning for for a decade, who also happens to be the only person in his life to treat him as an equal.

Speaking of Anakin being unloved: Obi-Wan’s behavior in this film is fucking bizarre. I was just thinking how messed up it was that his entire adult life revolved after Anakin. He was entrusted with an unwanted child in his twenties, had to jump from being an apprentice straight to teaching his own apprentice, wasted the rest of his youth on raising that child, had his heart broken by him, spent another decade mourning him, rescued one of his children, spent another decade watching the other, then died to protect both. And yet. For all that effort. What we see as a result of the biggest period of time they’ve spent together is a fucking disaster. Obi-Wan keeps repeating the same boring lecture over and over. No positive reinforcement, no praise. Not a smidge of physical affection for someone who at this point is essentially his son. As one reviewer on LB put it, “so much of what we know to come in the future of this series can be traced back to Obi Wan’s catastrophic ignorance of Anakin’s need for more hugs”. When Padme hugged Anakin I was shocked because I didn’t realize it was, like, possible in this world. Are we supposed to see Anakin’s complaints as unreasonable after watching this trainwreck? Their scenes together are so painful I felt relief when they separated. The only times they actually work in harmony are during action sequences, when Obi-Wan is too busy to be patronizing. No wonder this kid has psychological problems. Give Obi-Wan a “you tried” star. I understand, this is his first mentorship experience, but he must have learned something by year ten! Watching this, I was impressed with how well the pseudo-flashback in the OWK TV show recreated the dynamic; I was just as angry with Obi-Wan during the movie as I was in reaction to those scenes, and for the same reasons.

Back to the romance. After my previous viewing, I made an annoyed post about Anakin’s sleaziness. This time I am focusing on the actions and customs of the Jedi as an order, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that his inappropriate behavior is at least as much the fault of the upbringing as a product his personal flaws. Obi-Wan launches an unhelpful lecture at the drop of a hat, yet gives no advice on how to successfully navigate a social situation. He has ample opportunity to nip the affair in the bud, which he doesn’t. By the time the lovebirds leave for Naboo, Obi-Wan is fully aware of how Anakin feels and, worse, how he goes about it, and offers no comment to Anakin (but does so to Padme’s guard, wow, so helpful of him). He has no problem having an argument in public, but when Anakin says something that sounds fishy even in private, like “She covered the cameras. I don’t think she liked me watching her”, he doesn’t take a second to explain why that sounds bad?! He’s not just a teacher in force and sword techniques, he’s Anakin’s mentor in life, which he never fails to remind Anakin of — so he should act like it!

Secondly, if we’re blaming the characters... Padme’s the adult here. She’s 24, he’s 19. What is a grown woman like her doing with a teenager who is immature even for his age? She is a politician who has ruled a planet for two terms and currently represents it in the galactic government, he went from slavery straight into a conservative religious order where he’s currently an apprentice with no social standing. She is unquestionably the party with more social power. At any point she could have told him to knock it off fully and forever, and even asked for a different bodyguard. She should have! It’s the adult’s responsibility to recognize when the situation is inappropriate and reject a younger person who doesn’t understand what they’re doing! And yet she didn’t. Because on a Watsonian level, they’re both in love and they’re both making a mistake. And on a Doylist level, George Lucas can’t write romance. Come on, we’ve seen the original trilogy, right? Anidala: still a better love story than that.

To continue with my Anakin apologism. His naive and abstract belief that a strong authoritarian leader could save the state is viewed as a unique personal failing of his... Except the plot of the entire trilogy and this movie, too, is that not only the Senate but also the Jedi Council are perfectly fine with putting this into practice! Anakin has this argument with Padme because Padme is the only one among the major characters who actually disagrees! Hm, I wonder where Anakin could have gotten these ideas, must be his inherently evil nature speaking.

I continue not to see what everyone finds so wrong about Christensen’s performance. Are you sure you don’t just hate the character he chose to play? If anything, it’s Padme, Windu and Dooku whose delivery I found flat at times; as I’ve said in the liveblog, Christensen sells his side of the romance right from the beginning, it’s Portman who doesn’t pull her weight.

All of the reasons I see for why this is supposed to be the Worst Movie Ever drive me up the wall. “Ugly and distracting CGI”? No worse than the practical effects in the OT. “Anakin is unlikeable” — sounds like a you problem, I like him just fine. “Unnaturally written and delivered dialogue” — this is Star Wars; do you think the dialogue of the “I am your father” scene in ESB sounds natural? “Anakin comes on too strong” — I won’t hear a word of this from the same fandom that worships H@n/Leia and insists H@n is not a misogynist. “He even talks over Padme in that one scene” — yes, impatience and lack of self-restraint are supposed to be his major character flaws, glad you noticed! also he shuts up as soon as she explains she’s not just pulling rank like everybody else does. “Anakin/Padme is a rushed and flawed relationship” — once again, this is on purpose; what’s next, are you going to point out “the Jedi Council and the Senate are not functioning well” as a flaw of this film?

So, I guess I’m officially a prequel apologist now. In a way it’s validating — my previous opinions mostly hold up! — but it’s also kind of alienating when most of the fandom views them very differently.

#star wars #blah blah blah

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gffa · 4 years

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I KNOW THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF CONTENTION OVER THIS SCENE, but within the episode itself, so far I’ve actually genuinely liked it a lot, and so much of that comes down to who Rafa Martez is and unreliable narrators in the Star Wars universe. Rafa is a character that I actually like very much, she’s incredibly fun to watch and there’s a heart somewhere in there, but this scene also doesn’t come without context. She’s a hurt young woman who is not a good influence on her sister, even within this single arc she’s been shown over and over again that she thinks she can handle dealing with the Pykes, she drags Trace into trouble and justifies it, she has to admit by the end that she was wrong. Does this mean her hurt at the lack of what she felt from Luminara wasn’t genuine? Of course not! For all that “The Force will be with you.” is incredibly meaningful to Jedi and even within the context of the movies, that blessing is incredibly meaningful.

"The Force will be with you” is important enough that it’s one of the biggest bookends for Luke’s entire journey with the Force, as a Jedi. It’s one of the last things Obi-Wan says to Luke on the Death Star before he dies. It’s one of the last things the Jedi say to Rey on Exegol to help her rise up to defeat Palpatine again. This isn’t an empty platitude to the Jedi, nor within the context of Star Wars as a whole, it’s incredibly touching! The idea that Luminara saying them to Rafa is empty and cold, on a meta level, is to then also say that Obi-Wan’s words to Luke and Luke’s words to Rey, are empty and cold and meaningless. That Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost wasn’t still there encouraging Luke, that Luke’s Force Ghost wasn’t still there encouraging Rey, and we see those are a huge part of the grandness of Star Wars. THESE WORDS HAVE MEANING TO US AND TO THE JEDI. But that doesn’t mean that Rafa has to take comfort in them, especially as a Force-sensitive, that there is absolutely room for both of these points of view within Star Wars and one does not negate the other. Rafa doesn’t feel the Force in the same way that Luminara does, even though it’s a demonstrable, provable thing that the Force exists, even though Luminara is giving her something that has meaning to her and to us, Rafa herself can’t do much with it, she can’t find comfort in it. This doesn’t make either one of them bad or wrong! Luminara’s not great at comforting non-Force-sensitives (nobody is obligated to be good at comforting, this is not some terrible sin), but also the specific use of Luminara does not come without context on how people misjudge her and misinterpret her.

Even Anakin Skywalker, a fellow Jedi misjudges her and what she’s actually saying! She’s not saying to abandon Barriss--we see her helping, we see the concern on her face, we see her joy at seeing Barriss alive again, we see her praising Anakin’s faith in Ahsoka, even as she maintains that being willing to accept the possibility that they can’t be saved is something Jedi must prepare themselves for. And why’s that important? Oh, right, because THAT HAPPENED IN THE ARC JUST PREVIOUS TO THIS ONE, TOO.

That is the arc we just watched, where Anakin Skywalker, the character who misjudged Luminara’s heart being prepared to mourn Barriss but let go of her, to celebrate her life, to accept what’s happened to her, is now telling the same exact thing to Rex about Echo. Yes, it’s a moment of irony, considering that we’re this close to Revenge of the Sith and the episodes don’t come without context that Anakin’s basically going to be like “ha ha yeah I’m not absorbing any of my own advice” once he fears Padme’s life is in danger, but it’s still part of the bigger context. --> Luminara’s point isn’t to give up, but that they must accept the possibility that they’ll lose their Padawans --> Anakin’s advice to Rex isn’t that they give up, but that they must accept the possibility that Echo is already gone --> This arc doesn’t exist without context of Revenge of the Sith looming on the horizon --> Luminara being the one to talk to Rafa about the loss of people she cares about does not come without context of all of the above ALL OF THIS TIES TOGETHER. This doesn’t undercut Rafa’s hurt or loss being genuine and valid, but it doesn’t make Luminara wrong, either. Especially when look at how else Rafa is contextualized within this episode--she’s fun, she’s exciting, that moment in the holding cell is genuine feeling, but how does that scene literally end? With her being willing to sell Ahsoka out to torture, rather than herself.

Ahsoka is defending her, saying the Pykes won’t touch Rafa! Rafa’s immediate response is, “Yeah! She’s right! Take her instead!” and pushes Ahsoka forward. She’s still hilarious, she’s still a blast to watch, but maybe Rafa isn’t the best person and that throws her status as a reliable narrator a lot closer to being an unreliable narrator. So much of her actions clearly come from a place of being hurt, her willingness to do all sorts of shady things, her willingness to drag Trace into all of this, her willingness to overlook the spice that’s going to actively destroy lives, but as long as Rafa gets hers, it’s fine, her willingness to actively sell Ahsoka out or abandon her, is the context of where Rafa is coming from. Hurt, anger, and selfishness of someone who experienced tragedy and let it color her view. And that is also the source of what she says about Luminara. Not coming from a place of evil, but of someone who let tragedy color her view of the galaxy and the way she relates to people. I mean, look at how she treats Ahsoka, someone who has constantly been trying to help both her and her sister, that she’s ready to ditch Ahsoka constantly, even when Ahsoka hasn’t even tried to get across the bridge, she’s ready to just ditch her and leave her to the Pykes.

Literally five minutes after the conversation in the cell, we have Ahsoka talking to her about her relatonship with Trace--not just that Rafa drags her sister into these missions without recognizing that Trace really kind of couldn’t say no to her, but specifically in the context of, “Trace would never believe you don’t have her best interests at heart.” Rafa genuinely, clearly cares about Trace! But Ahsoka is our reliable narrator in this arc and we can trust a lot about what she asks, the points she makes--and she’s pointing out that Rafa is not actually coming from a place of reliability or true care. That she speaks to Rafa with softness, rather than anger, also speaks to that she recognizes Rafa’s hurt, but that doesn’t mean she’s not spot on about how Rafa isn’t actually thinking about Trace, that she’s justifying and rationalizing a lot of things, that Rafa is not the reliable narrator she presents herself as.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s still more! The way Rafa treats the Gotal who asks her for credits is dismissive and uncaring. It isn’t that she has to give him money, but the way she tells him to buzz off, the way Rafa treats people in the galaxy (and maybe once upon a time she was a sweet girl, I could easily see that! but now she’s not acting out of an unbiased place, all her actions/words are coming from a place of bias now) DIRECTLY leads to the Gotal telling the Pykes about them. Attitudes towards people and reliability as a narrator have direct consequences even within a single episode!

And, finally, the thing that made me clutch my heart was Ahsoka’s words about why she’s doing what she’s doing, especially as it’s also directly tied to Rafa’s treatment of Trace, that that was the conversation right before this moment: “In my life, when you find people who need your help, you help them, no matter what.”

This is a Jedi right in front of Rafa. For all that Ahsoka isn’t a Jedi any longer, this arc is her struggling to find her place in the galaxy, to find the path forward for herself as someone who was raised by the Jedi, who believes in their teachings, who is the person they helped her become, that is a good person because she herself is a good person, but also because that’s how Anakin and the Jedi taught her to be. It’s about Ahsoka struggling to accept that not everyone sees the Jedi in a positive light, but Star Wars is not a series that’s about straightforward or even honest narratives, from the very beginning it’s been baked into the foundations that the propaganda in the galaxy is a huge, huge factor, that misunderstanding who the Jedi are (and thus being willing to overlook a literal genocide against them, against their children, who were murdered just for being Jedi, to overlook that you can’t even talk about the Jedi or practice their culture without “disappearing”, it’s the literal definition of a genocide) and that what we’re told versus what we’re shown is often two entirely separate things and that these things ARE NOT CLEARED UP. These things are let go and never made right. The galaxy’s view of the Jedi is never cleared up. The galaxy’s view of the clones and the horror that happened to them with their minds being taken away from them is never cleared up. So we, the audience, know these things that the characters don’t always know and maybe won’t find out, ever. Thus seeing Ahsoka with our own eyes vs Rafa telling us her experience--an experience that is real from her point of view, whatever else is coloring it--fits in with the bigger structure of Star Wars pretty damn well and it’s up to the audience to remember the context, because the show won’t, as that’s not really how SW works. And none of this makes Rafa bad, she’s a valuable, worthwhile character and I adore her, she’s so much fun and we can all feel there’s a heart in there and I want good things for her! But this arc is illustrating that the galaxy is a complicated place--as Trace says, “This life I lead? It’s not how I was raised. It’s how it is.” is about the entire galaxy, not just one small sub-corner of it.

#ahsoka tano #rafa martez #luminara unduli #jedi order #meta #tcw spoilers #long post #really long post

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ariainstars · 3 years

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Congratulations, We Fell for Another Love Bombing or Thank You, Disney, You Did It Again

Sigh. Luke Skywalker is back. And Din Djarin and his child had to say goodbye. I never thought I would curse and say “Oh no!” when Luke appeared in that fateful corridor.

I wonder why the Disney studios are doing this - trying to "make up” for the oh-so criticized sequels, I suppose?

The Jedi have made their time. It was shown and proven over and over again that their attitude is wrong and needs to change, and Luke was the last of the old school Jedi. Again, a Force-sensitive child is all but kidnapped by a Jedi: he obviously did not like to go. Mando is no longer the hero of the story, he was stripped of his agency and all of his personal choices were questioned and valued for null and void. But the Dark Saber is in his hands now, so he’s the heir to the throne of Mandalore I guess. Like he ever wanted that.

This show, which grew to be so well-beloved in only a few episodes, now is not “The Mandalorian” any more. Its new title is “Luke’s Skywalker’s Comeback”. Hardcore fans may be out of their minds with joy, but for us, who admired Mando both as a badass hero and as a father figure and loved the dynamics between him and Grogu, the whole purpose of the show is destroyed. And here I naively had thought The Rise of Skywalker was bad enough to teach the studios not to repeat its mistakes.

~~~ more under the cut ~~~

Star Wars ought to be a fairy tale. It is and always was one. I can understand that the prequels had to end in a tragedy, we all knew that from the start, but why the sequels? And now, why must this generally acclaimed and beloved tv show again appease hardcore fans of old with Luke coming to save the day, cancelling in a matter of minutes what the story had built up within two entire seasons - the relationship of the two protagonists, heart and core of the narrative, as it had been with Rey and Ben Solo? And when both of them had their relationship just getting started - Rey and Ben kissing, Din calling Grogu by his name and the latter seeing him and touching his face? Why make Rey a queen without her king, and Din a father without a son?

Again, a Force-user is denied having a home: „Jedi training” matters more. By Luke of all people, the guy who never was trained in the first place (only very briefly), who except for a few lessons with Obi-Wan and Yoda was self-taught in the Force, and never understood that his strength lay with his compassion and his connection with other people, not with his alleged „superpowers”.

Think back to how Anakin, Luke and Rey were before they met the Jedi: unaware of their powers, compassionate, idealistic, brave. The Jedi mindset tainted their characters and lives, making them believing that they are (or have to be) untouchable and invincible, compelling them to live for duty instead of love, condemning them to a lifetime of loneliness. Will the Jedi never learn?

Though I practically grew up with the classic movies, I loved The Last Jedi; I can accept that Luke failed, and also that Han and Leia did. Nobody is perfect, and the Jedi mindset as well as the universally accepted idea that „Jedi” is a synonym for infallible saint-like hero was wrong in the first place, else the Empire never would have risen. Making Luke not the cavalry who came to save the day - until the battle on Crait, that is - but a man who failed and picked himself up again was much more meaningful, and I know not a few fans who felt inspired by this. Luke had saved his father choosing love over power, not the contrary. Some fans just never get it. To appease them, why not simply give him a new storyline of his own, instead of making him intrude in other Star Wars related shows? Why stop the new stories in their tracks just to bring him back?

Instead of seeing Luke as the grand kickass hero in a tv show that never had anything to do with him until now, it would have been more to the purpose to finally shed light on the thirty years between his father’s and his nephew’s death, to explain us where the Jedi and the Skywalker-Organa-Solo family failed to make such an outcome possible - the granddaughter of Palpatine taking over with their own blessing. There must have been a huge build-up between the end of the original saga and the fateful night at the temple when Luke briefly panicked looking into his nephew’s mind. Many fans still are convinced that „Kylo Ren just chose to be bad” because we hardly know how the relationship between these two was in the first place. (A very easy plot twist would e.g. have been Snoke warning Ben that his uncle sooner or later would turn on him, frightened by his power. The fulfilment of that prophecy would have made the night at the temple much more impactful.)

I understand that the studios want to tease us, to make us watch the other shows, too. But honestly, I’m getting tired of feeling duped. Tired of getting attached to new heroes to have their purpose smashed just so the Star Wars dudebro fans can sleep quietly at night because „some Jedi will take care of it”. First the characters from the sequels, now the ones from The Mandalorian. You get to love the new characters, you root for them to find happiness or at least some closure, and then, at the last moment, poof!, the hero of old comes back and the story development stops right there.

It is not right and it never was for the Jedi to take Force-sensitive children away from home, to enforce „you have to become a Jedi, like it or not” on them, to teach them not to have attachments, to make them focus on the Light Side thereby bringing the Force out of its much-needed balance. While Ahsoka saw that Grogu has formed a strong attachment to Din Djarin, Luke obviously did not, or he did not care. The irony is that he always wanted a father, and knows the pain of losing a father you’ve just found.

The Mandalorian felt like a consolation after Episode IX, a blessing for the fans for whom heart and soul are more interesting than nostalgia and „Jedi superheroes”. Now it’s just another kick in the guts. It’s painful and embarrassing to get to love characters so much, to get invested in their story so deeply, and then to realize again that they seem to mean nothing in the shade of the heroes of old. Ben Solo died young and miserable and Din Djarin and Grogu can now, I suppose, be miserable too. Can someone please explain to me why after the classics, no Star Wars film or show had an uplifting ending any more? With the possible exception of Solo, which was a nice filler but not a really important storyline. (I do not count Episodes I and II, they officially had a happy ending but it was tainted by the knowledge of what was to come.)

Fans are not blind. We saw the parallels between Darth Vader and Din Djarin as well as the differences - both being cool and tough but the latter not disdaining to be a caring father at the same time. The entire show lived from the dynamics between the gruff but kind bounty hunter and the innocent-looking powerful child, ever from the first episode. Two years of build-up for nothing, as it was with the four years of the sequels. Mando has to relinquish Grogu, Rey loses Ben. What was all that for? Both Mando and Rey are fighters, they have done nothing else their entire lives. What is to become of them now that they have nothing to fight for any more, nor anyone to live for? Except staying on a planet that is foreign to them and, for all they know, inhabitable or at least inhospitable?

With Rey and Ben Solo, the situation was different: she had proven good intentions but bad attitude (arrogance, violence, judgement) over and over, unable to deny her heritage, and even impaled her „antagonist” once while he was only defending himself. He had been the head of a criminal organization for years, and had committed patricide. Of course there are nuances to these characters and I still believe that they would have deserved another chance; I understand however that would have been unfitting to let the sequels end giving them a happy ending.

But in the case of Din Djarin, a man of honor, who has made friends and brought peace wherever he went throughout the galaxy? Grogu, the last surviving padawan of the old Jedi temple, who saved both his and Greef Karga’s life despite the danger for himself? What did they do to deserve being ripped apart like that?

So, all I can say: thank you, you did it again. And, once more, just before Christmas. I wish at least these depressing endings would be released at some other time.

I would dearly want to see a galaxy that finally learned from its faults, where family and attachments and Balance and free choice are not contrary to being a Jedi. I am in my late forties and I’m beginning to give up hope that I will live to see it. By now I am wondering whether George Lucas himself will live to see it.

I always loved Luke. He is one of my favorite heroes. But now he’s become an insensitive know-it-all who suffered from his own daddy issues to the point that he almost died crying out to his father for help, yet did not learn not to separate fathers from children and vice versa and, on the contrary, is doing it over and over again. He did not even tell Mando his name, or where he could reach him. We don’t have a clue as to if, when and how the Clan of Two will meet again.

I get it that since this show is set five years Return of the Jedi, it would have been difficult to ignore Luke’s existence altogether. And of course, we can rest assured that Luke will do his best for Grogu. But still: he has made his time. I wanted to see the new heroes going their own way, not hanging on the sleeves of the former generation. Mando is a man of honor, he had promised to bring Grogu to his own kind and he relinquished him despite his own wishes. (Not to mention that technically, since he identifies as a Mandalorian, by being a Jedi Luke is his enemy.) Why did Luke have to take the child away? His greatest strength always was that he was first and foremost himself and only in the second place a Jedi. What became of his trademark compassion?

Before The Mandalorian, we have never seen a healthy and working father-son relationship in the saga. It was incredibly refreshing and heart-warming to see these two traveling through the galaxy and living through adventures together; also, contrarily to Yoda, Grogu saw a lot of the bad things happening in the galaxy with his own eyes, which certainly was good for his character development.

But in the end, both he and his „father” did not go anywhere. Like Rey in Episode IX, they found a) power and b) a surrogate place, but neither got what was actually his heart’s wish - a home. I can’t understand why. Deliberate cruelty? We never knew whether Han and Leia and Ben felt how painful it was to break up their little family for the sake of „Jedi training”. You bet Din and Grogu did feel that pain and loss.

Both as a person with a heart and a brain and an almost lifelong Star Wars fan I am sickened by the readiness of the studios to end all that this well-made show had built up, for the appeasement of Jedi worshippers who just don’t want to see that the Jedi mindset needs urgently to change. It can’t be that difficult to renew them for the better; there is no necessity to erase the Jedi completely and there is nothing bad with making them grow wiser and stronger by finally understanding and accepting the importance of attachments and family ties. Yes, I realize that being a father also means learning how to let go; but here we are speaking of a literal child, not of a young adult who chose his own way in life.

I thought that George Lucas knew why he sold his franchise to the Disney studios, given their tradition in telling stories about family and friendship. This development is not a triumph, it is unworthy both of the studios and of the entire Star Wars saga. I’m tired of producers bowing down before fans who see every shred of the saga through „Jedi are always right”-tinted glasses respectively who value coolness over compassion even though it always was the saga’s central message.

Whatever happens in Season 3, countless fans will only be watching it asking, „Where’s Luke?” If Grogu should choose to join Mando again, everybody will be like, „But how can he want to leave Luke Skywalker of all people?” Some already see Grogu die prematurely, killed by the oh-so-bad guy Kylo Ren, for no other reason than to just to further prove how evil he is. In which case both Ben Solo and Grogu will have lived and died for nothing except for leaving a lot of heartbreak behind.

There must be another and better way to honor the legacy of both Luke Skywalker and the original trilogy than to think up new heroes and then destroy their purpose for the sake of old times’ glory. Lucas himself had said that Star Wars is basically for twelve-year-olds. It seems not: it’s for the fans who were twelve years old forty years ago, when the first movies hit theatres.

There are enough voices crying out for the sequels to be erased from canon. Who knows? This may be the next step into the past instead of the future. The sequels were hinting at a better future (Balance), Grogu was, too (family). But the grand past is so reassuring. The sequels tried to tell the audience to grow up and learn to do without their heroes, to see that even they were flawed and that the new heroes could grow beyond them. Fie on them, said the hardcore fans. Now it’s the turn of the younger generation, who got to know and love the saga with the sequels or The Mandalorian, to be like „WTF”.

Rogue One also had been a huge disappointment to me. Not that I found it badly made, but I went into a depressive mood for three days for the same reason: I did not like that I had grown so attached to all of these characters only to see all of them die. The infamous Darth Vader scenes and the design with the huge hints at the classic movies were no consolation. Nostalgia does not make me happy. Heart does. Rogue One, the sequels and The Mandalorian were all, in the end, deprived of all human feeling except loss and regret and many, many thoughts about what might have been.

The Mandalorian was an excellent story on its own. It did not need Luke Skywalker. It is and ought to be Din Djarin’s story, who lost or gave up everything because he was afraid to lose the child: and now he did. It’s not comforting that he lost him to the alleged Good Guy. Luke of course won’t turn a hair on Grogu’s head, but he can’t offer him a home, we already know that. Ahsoka saw the attachment between the two and she knows the dangers of it; Luke does not know what drove his father to his terrible fate. If the sequels remain canon, then we already know that Luke will not allow his pupils having and keeping healthy attachments. And that does not promise well for the child’s future.

Unless the studios commit the madness of officially erasing the sequels and starting the saga anew, we can only hope that the child will not stay with Luke for long since it’s a good five years before he will start his own Jedi temple. Maybe he will die of a broken heart, poor little guy. And Din Djarin might become the new ruler of Mandalore, though sad and alone. But who cares: Luke is back. Please: I did not subscribe to Disney+ wanting to see Schwarzenegger movies. The lonesome hero can ride into the sunset for all I care, out of sight and of mind. Star Wars’ greatest strength always was its heart.

My own take was that Grogu is meant to be a healer, and since Luke is not, there is no way he can teach him this particular skill in the Force. Anakin was a pilot and a mechanic, Luke and Ben also were pilots. None of them were Jedi by choice. Grogu is older than Luke and he was already trained at the old Jedi temple: he’s more likely to be a teacher to Luke than the other way around. Grogu as the first Force-user who values attachment and family over power and Jedi training, that would indeed have been a new hope. This backpedaling is shallow and useless. Even if Luke sends Grogu back to Din Djarin, this won’t teach him not to take a child away from its home, since only a few years later he will do the same thing to his nephew. (Although it would admittedly be an interesting plot point to see a small Ben Solo interacting with Grogu for a while.)

Please give us back The Mandalorian the way it was, with its characters and dynamics. The themes and messages of The Last Jedi already were almost all aborted in The Rise of Skywalker; we didn’t sign up on Disney+ to see the exact same thing happen with The Mandalorian. I for my part am fed up with this kind of love bombing followed by a quick and coldblooded let-down. Star Wars may be a cult, but it need not be the kind of cult where you get hooked and then unwittingly follow a carrot hanging before your eyes. I thought the exaggerated Jedi cult was mostly made by the fans: the studios did not need to jump on this ship. This is not the Way.

Now everything I feared is flaring up again - fans jubilating because “the Jedi are taking matters in hand” instead of accepting the failure of the Jedi mindset at last; and even insisting that since things are going so well, all Disney needs to do is to cancel the sequels from canon and everybody can be happy again.

Please, please, give this tormented galaxy a chance to heal at last. We don’t need Luke Skywalker to save the day by killing all the bad guys. We don’t need the oh-so-powerful and perfect Jedi. We need faith in the Force. We need a home. Don’t take it away from us again. Thank you.

P.S. If we see Luke again in Season 3, at least give the role to a live actor. That digital “rejuvenation” made him look wooden. Luke’s best trait, apart from his compassion, always was his smile.

P.P.S. What’s with Boba Fett claiming Jabba’s throne? I thought Jabba had a son. What in the galaxy happened to him?

P.P.P.S. I don’t mind kickass women, but honestly, I’m getting somehow tired of them. What became of the ladies of Star Wars, the diplomats, the good queens, the loving mothers, the accurate librarians, who contribute to the galaxy without killing (or hurting) anyone? I’m feeling kind of underrepresented here...

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radioactivepeasant · 4 years

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Star Wars Wednesday’s Doom Vader au is eventually going to get to The Reveal, but I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to pull it off. Excuse me while I throw a couple ideas at y’all to see what sticks.

Scenario 1:

“Th- “ Luke’s voice failed him utterly. Luckily, the princess’s voice was still in fine working order.

“There must be some mistake,” she said firmly. “My parents would not have adopted just one of us and left the other behind.”

Obi-wan massaged his temples and looked as though he’d aged twenty years in a single day. “Not if they’d had a choice, they wouldn’t have,” he agreed. “It was...it was a conspiracy. I confess it freely, it was a conspiracy. But not what you think. Bail Organa was a dear friend of your birth mother. I...well, I suppose I could say I grew up with your birth father. When we thought both were dead, our only thought was to keep the emperor from ever knowing you existed.”

Luke’s hands trembled, and he clenched them into fists. “You should have told us, Ben,” he croaked. “At least you should’ve told Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru!”

Han, having walked back to see what the yelling was about, very slowly backed out of the cabin to return to the cockpit.

Scenario 2:

It was quiet in the hold. The smuggler had offered the use of his cabin to give the princess space and privacy to mourn. Kenobi had gone to meditate in the gun turret -- conspicuously out of the way of any Skywalkers past or present -- and the droids were...well, who knew where the droids were at this point.

Even if they hadn’t been the only two sentient beings in the hold, even if they hadn’t been strong in the Force, Vader would have known the boy was watching him. For a time, he ignored the stare in favor of cleaning and maintaining his flamethrower. If only fixing families were as simple as fixing machinery.

“Are you familiar with this kind of equipment?” he asked. This was, now that he thought about it, the most he’d spoken aloud in close to three years.

“Not the real thing,” Luke answered after a long pause. “I made a pretty crude one out of scrap metal and a broken droid arm for my uncle’s birthday once. It breaks every other month.” Owen kept it by the door, next to his favorite rifle, anyway.

“That is still...impressive,” Vader said slowly. “Is Owen...are they well?”

Luke grimaced. “Um. I’m...I’m not sure. We um, we’ve been a safehouse for people escaping Jabba for a while. There’s always a risk when you do that.”

Scenario 3:

It was a wonder he’d managed to get into the gun turret at all. But then, the Falcon had been modified with a wookiee in mind. Darth Vader settled into the seat and wondered if that was why Chewbacca had made that sympathetic expression when he’d ducked through the doorway.

Vader stared out into the stars and contemplated the dizzying series of turns his life had taken in the last several hours. Obi-wan was alive, and remorseful. Padme had been carrying twins. Twins.

The girl’s face rose to mind and he suppressed a scoff at the irony. He had crossed paths with his own daughter at least twice, never guessing their true connection. The princess seemed to regard him well enough, given their shared interest in destroying the Empire. If she were willing to stay in some kind of friendly contact with a relative stranger, Vader decided he would be content with that.

But he would never be able to look the queen and viceroy in the eye and ask them himself why they had chosen to take the risk of raising Amidala’s daughter. What it had been like to see her grow up. He would never have the chance to ask why they’d left Luke. He would never have the chance to thank them for protecting this young Angel. Just as Anakin had once had everything ripped away from him, piece by piece, so had Leia lost everything and everyone she’d ever known and loved. He would have comforted her, if he’d remembered how to comfort.

Scenario 4:

Vader stared out into the stars and contemplated the dizzying series of turns his life had taken in the last several hours. Obi-wan was alive, and remorseful. Padme had been carrying twins. Twins. How Kenobi planned to break the news to the pair of them Vader did not know, but he didn’t envy him the task. There was enough raw emotion down there to open four holocrons.

The Nemesis had nearly fallen into a light meditation when he sensed a presence at the base of the ladder. He didn’t need to look to see who it was.

“Sir?” Luke asked, sounding a little smaller, a little younger than he was.

After a short internal debate about what he was able to handle at that given moment, Darth Vader swiveled the seat back away from the ladder and made a short motion.

“Come.”

Cautiously, Luke climbed up and sat on the top rung of the ladder. His thunderstorm of emotions was almost physically painful to sense. If the boy was a padawan, he hadn’t been one for long.

“Is...um, Ben told me- Obi-wan, I mean. Obi-wan told me you...um.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to steel his nerves. “Is...is it true?”

“Is what true?”

In barely a whisper, Luke asked, “Are you my father?”

#doom vader au #doom vader #scribblings #rough drafts #can't decide which version to go with #luke skywalker #darth vader #leia organa #obi-wan kenobi #poor han did not sign up for this #Leia has a much more positive association with Vader in this universe #she'll eventually come to view him as a mentor/avuncular figure #star wars wednesday #i kind of like scenario 4 but i also like 2 #star wars au #star wars fic

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padawanlost · 4 years

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What's your opinion on Mace Windu? I feel like despite being a good warrior, he wasn't that great of a person and his views caused more harm than good in the end

I like Mace. Look, like every other Jedi we know of, he made mistakes but I don’t think it’s fair to single him out as a bad person. There’s a difference between being bad and being wrong. Mace was wrong about some things but he was NEVER a bad person. If Mace was bad then so was Obi-wan, Plo Koon and all the other Jedi the fandom love to makes excuses for.

And Mace’s ‘views’ were the Jedi Order’s views so, again, it’s unfair to put this only on his shoulder. If you have a problem with how the Jedi Council dealt with Anakin, Ahsoka or anything else, you should be pointing a finger at Yoda. He’s the one who enforced the Jedi ‘views’. Most of their decisions and behaviors can be traced back to him. Mace is one man, Yoda was their master for over 900 years.

‘Mace nodded silently. One did not argue with Master Yoda; in the Jedi Temple, this was learned in infancy. No Jedi ever forgot it.’ Mace Windu in Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover

Mace wasn’t cuddly but he wasn’t bad either. He was strict, yes, but never as stricj as the fandom says he was. In fact, he was much nicer than fan-favorite Yoda.

"You seem to be ganging up on this boy." "It could be worse," Mace said. "Most of the Council are away today. Yoda would be much harsher-" "That big-eared tree stump knows nothing about human children. And for that matter, neither do you. You've never married, Mace! I have. I have many sons and daughters, on many worlds. Sometimes I think you should all take a break, as I did, and sniff the real air, see how the Force manifests in everyday life, rather than mope around learning how to swing lightsabers." Mace's smile became one of delight. "It is wonderful to have you with us, Thracia, after so many years." There was not a hint of irony in his tone. He was, in fact, pleased to have her in the room, and seemed even more pleased that she had surprised them. "What do you suggest for young Skywalker?" [Greg Bear. Rogue Planet]

He was human, he had regrets and doubts. And we shouldn’t use the fact he had more serious personality against him.

“I am a Jedi. I have been trained since birth to trust my feelings. But which feelings should I trust? When I faced the choice to kill a former Jedi Master, or to save Kenobi and young Skywalker and the Senator…I let the Force choose for me. I followed my instincts. I made the Jedi choice. And so: Dooku escaped. And so: the galaxy is at war. And so: many of my friends have been slaughtered. There is no such thing as a second chance. Strange: Jedi I am, yet I drown in regret for having spared a life. Many survivors of Geonosis suffer from nightmares. I have heard tale after tale from the Jedi healers who have counseled them. Nightmares are inevitable; there has not been such a slaughter of Jedi since the Sith War, four thousand years ago. None of them could have imagined how it would feel to stand in that arena, surrounded by the corpses of their friends, in the blazing orange noon and the stench and the blood-soaked sand. I may be the only veteran of Geonosis who doesn’t have nightmares of that place. Because in my dreams, I always do it right. My nightmare is what I find when I wake [Matthew Stover, Shatterpoint]

Yes, he wasn’t friendly to Anakin but it’s quite a leap to say he was a bad person. Speaking of Anakin, let’s not forget Mace, depisde their cold first meeting, supported Anakin’s training by Obi-wan. Only later he started having doubts (and all those moments of doubt happened in association to Yoda who was known for not wanting Anakin there).

Mace had supported the training of Anakin Skywalker, though it ran counter to millennia of Jedi tradition, because from the structure of fault lines in the Force around him, he had been able to intuit the truth of Qui-Gon Jinn’s guess: that the young slave boy from Tatooine was in fact the prophesied chosen one, born to bring balance to the Force. He had argued for the elevation of Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mastership, and to give the training of the chosen one into the hands of this new, untested Master, because his unique perception had shown him powerful lines of destiny that bound their lives together, for good or ill. [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

Was Mace wrong of being so detached? Yes but so was most Jedi. Was Mace guilty for falling victim of Palpatine’s trap? Yes but so every single jedi, senator and citizen of the GFFA. Did Mace said the wrong things sometimes? Yes but so did Obi-wan ‘pathetic life-form’ Kenobi. Did he give bad adive? Yes but so did Yoda. Was he guilty of plotting against the Republic? Yes but so did the rest of the Jedi Council.

TBH, despise his many flaws, I cannot think of a single thing that Mace did that makes him a worse person than other member of the Jedi Council.

#ask #anon #sw meta #meta: mace #mace windu #txt

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aces-to-apples · 5 years

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May The Fourth Be With You (And Also With You)

I don’t have anything ready to post for May the Fourth this year, boo!, but instead I’ll steal Dharma’s idea of posting a snippet of all my applicable WIPs, yay!

“Sugar and Spice” aka The Nika Fic aka genderbent AU crosses over with canon-verse a la Universe Collisions by Sroloc_Elbisivni

The Jedi took a couple more shuddering breaths. “Anyone else need a top-up?” she asked, voice steady but gaze fixed on the dank rock wall.

Rex exchanged looks with Kix, who straightened and surveyed his patients, clearly weighing who among them could use the help. The men themselves—Onyx, left hand useless from taking a swing at a clanker when his power-pack ran out; Honeycutt, nursing a couple cracked, possibly broken, ribs; Fives, unable to stand on his right leg—shared a non-verbal conversation of their own.

“Onyx can't shoot and Fives can't walk.” Honeycutt gave up the names with vicious pragmatism, ignoring both men as they silently threatened to space him once they were back on the Vigilance.

The Jedi looked between them with a small smile—at Fives who was stubbornly trying to get to his feet in protest, at Onyx who gripped his deece in his non-dominant hand like he was contemplating bludgeoning Honeycutt with it, and at Honeycutt himself with his arms crossed over his chest, one hand subtly nursing the injured ribs. “What about you, tough guy? Need a hand?”

“I can walk and I can fight,” Honeycutt said defiantly. He jerked a thumb at the other two. “That's more than these idiots can claim, and you're the one who asked.”

“True enough,” was her easy reply, but her eyes held a challenge. “How well can you breathe, though?”

He bared his teeth at her. “Well enough to argue with you… sir.”

Rex was prepared to step between them, to apologize for Honeycutt’s disrespectful attitude, but held back another beat. As half of him suspected she would, the Jedi threw her head back and cackled.

“Oh, I like you,” she announced with a grin, the color swiftly returning to her cheeks and her eyes sparkling. “You got a name, tough guy?”

“… Honeycutt,” he replied, looking from her to Rex and back. Rex couldn't do more than shrug, because he didn't know either. “Corporal Honeycutt.”

“Pleased to meet you, Honeycutt. I'm Nika.” She held out a hand to him, palm up, and watched his eye it distrustfully, shell-pink lips curved to one side. After a second, he took it and she hauled him to his feet. “Now, let’s see what we can do about those ribs, shall we?”

(Working title:) “Friends, Foes, and Telling the Difference” aka part three of “A Non-Comprehensive Guide To Force-Sensitivity”

The boy watched their interaction with the same lackadaisical interest the young Zabrak had demonstrated during their journey. “What does the Force feel like to you?” he finally said, blinking owlishly as Dooku refused to choke on his Tarine tea and delicately cleared his throat. “When Ben talks about it, it’s all very mystical-sounding. Cool winds and noiseless whispers, like a friendly ghost or a helpful spirit. Feelings and stuff. But when Maul talks about the Force, it’s more like instincts and heightened senses. It’s more physical than, I dunno, spiritual. So I wanted to know what it’s like for you.”

“That,” Dooku replied, placing his teacup on the table just so, “is a very personal question, young Skywalker.”

Anakin tilted his head innocently and said, “Oh, is it?” but his even his shields—well-made and well-maintained both from within and without—do poorly to contain the bright, bubbling amusement he was polite enough to hold back. Clearly, he knew very well what he was doing, and Dooku had to admire the tenacity of a such a young boy teasing a Jedi Master whilst genuinely seeking information.

He hummed pointedly and stared the unrepentant boy down, but considered the question in earnest. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge was a worthy pursuit. “Your brothers,” Dooku said the word carefully, weighing its meaning as he met the boy’s eyes, “were both correct. The Force can manifest in various ways, and it’s likely different for every being who experiences it. For many, whether they purposefully follow the ways of the Force or not, it acts in a more passive manner: a feeling of wrongness when danger is near, a keen sense of distrust when one is being deceived, or even just a quiet knowledge of where to go or what to say at a certain moment.”

Young Skywalker nodded thoughtfully, his eyes far away. “That’s very interesting, sir,” he said after a moment. “I think Ben will like you, if you ever meet. You both talk the same way, like you’ll get a prize at the end of the day for how many questions you can avoid answering. That, or he’ll hate your guts. It’s hard to say with Ben.”

Queen Amidala smothered a giggle.

“Well,” Dooku drawled, picking his tea back up, “Maul seems determined to dislike myself and my companion, so I think not.”

The boy shrugged and gulped down the rest of his milk with a grin. “Maybe, maybe not,” he cheerfully declared. “Those two disagree so much, I think it’s on purpose. Mom says they were like two tomcats until I was born, always arguing and hissing at each other, so Ben might decide he likes you just to be contrary.”

“An interesting way to raise a child,” Dooku noted, dry as the desert air outside. “If they disagree so often, you must have quite a bit of conflicting information on a great many topics.”

“Dab’ika Vaar’kara” aka the Camp Half-Blood AU an anon accidentally requested when they combined “summer camp” and “magical accidents” during a trope mash-up ask meme

“Now, as new arrivals, you're given a certain amount of leeway when it comes to the rules, regulations, and realities of living in the Godsworld.” Rex fixed the little ones—nearly fourteen and just barely scraping in under the wire in regards to the required claiming age—with a hard stare. “After orientation, you will be expected to either figure out what you don't know yourself or keep your trap shut. Understood, cadets?”

It was a blatant lie, of course; Cody could already see Kix’s bunk littered with sheets of flimsi covered in drawings, diagrams, and written explanations. Still, it was the spirit of the thing, yeah? A’sev had scared them witless when they’d first arrived at camp, and now that he was off doing Paladin shit, it fell to them to keep the tradition alive. It was a beautiful cycle, really, and watching the tiny shinies straighten up and shout “sir, yes, sir” like Rex was a fucking drill sergeant was hilarious.

“First off,” Rex continued, beginning to pace rather impressively in front of the duo. Cody had a hard time not joining the boys in their next snickerfit. “Congratulations on surviving your first monster encounter—besting an abaia while it’s got a home-field advantage is no easy feat. You did yourselves, and all your brothers, proud.”

The rookies straightened up that much more under the praise and Cody felt his need to smirk warring with the impulse to coo. “Whose idea was it to get it to charge into the rocks?” he asked curiously. They'd taken bets, watching from the shore.

“Mine, sir,” the one with the crew-cut said, taking a small step forward. A ripple spread through the cabin as they all noticed he'd subtly placed himself between his twin and Rex. That kind of body-language, combined with the late claiming, didn't bode well.

“Well done,” Rex acknowledged with a nod. “It was reckless, but well-executed. Just the kind of thinking we need in Mandalore Cabin. You got a name, shiny?”

“Ferdinand, sir,” the kid said without any hint of irony. They all winced in sympathy, because yeesh. “This is Emrys.”

Seeing that Rex didn't quite know how to phrase it, Cody asked, “You boys got nicknames?”

Their reaction was… worrying.

“Sir, no, sir,” Ferdinand—poor fucking kid—immediately denied, panic well-hidden to anyone not used to reading every variation of the face the Mand’alor’s poor decisions had stuck them all with. “We’re proud to carry these names and would never—”

“Anyone here calls me Emrys, I’ll break their fucking nose,” the long-haired twin cut in, stepping forward so that they stood shoulder to shoulder. “Got it?”

“Blood On The Ice” aka the Skyrim AU that I’ve world-built wayyyy more than I’ve actually written

The first glimpse of Coruscant—snow-dusted, crumbled stone reeking of despair—holds true as Ahsoka enters the city proper. Barrels of supplies do little to mask its deepening poverty when the cobblestones themselves shift beneath her feet.

A little Human girl, clad only in a threadbare red dress, entreats her to buy a wildflower and Ahsoka’s heart breaks at the girl’s gratitude when she agrees. She’d heard of Skyrim’s civil war back home, but had thought the children would be spared from adult pettiness. In Valenwood, the Green cares for younglings nearly as much as their parents; in the home and hold of the Storm-Hand, it seems, children shiver and starve. Not yet an hour in his hold, Ahsoka finds herself unimpressed with the rebellious Human king.

Unsure which path to take from her ingress, she chooses randomly and goes right.

Lined with homes and shops in various states of disrepair, Ahsoka regrets her choice until she spots an older gentleman lingering in a doorway. Her shoulders slump with relief to see one of her Twi’lek cousins, even bundled in the furs and leathers needed in the harsh Skyrim climate, rather than colorful Morrowind silks.

“Greetings, nerra,” she says warmly, stepping closer and holding out a hand.

The man appears nonplussed for a moment but replies with an affable, “Welcome, numa,” and clasps her forearm. “Are you new to Coruscant, gida?” he asks, nodding at her bow and daggers. “Most elves know better than to appear before the Stormhands so armed.”

untitled time-travel fic currently referred to in-house as “first battle of geonosis time-travel fic” aka this fic

And on it goes, a litany of ghosts and brothers lost to the stars. He matches numbers to names as they speak through the darkness: Fives and Echo, Jesse, Hardcase, and Kix, Onyx and Honeycutt, Razzy, Ringo, Tup—even Dogma, quietest and most hesitant of all. The barest bones of Torrent Company; eleven dead men walking, and Rex makes a full squad.

Numbers are and ever will be your greatest strength, your keenest advantage, he recalls the woman saying at one point, somewhere between his failed intruder alert and the imperious wave of her hand that sent him to his knees, heaving.

“Where the frip’s my bucket,” a voice gripes—Ringo, by the sound of it. The only reply he receives beyond repetitions of the same question, “Prob’ly right where you left it,” comes from Razzy, no question. It's both a relief and a punch to the gut to hear Ringo gripe, “Umbara, then, with the rest of me.”

“Oh, hey, mine too,” Hardcase pipes up, saying it like a joke, like it was funny. “Anyone else kick it on that sith-hole?”

“Yeah, Krell,” Five answers into the uncomfortable silence. It sounds like he’s smiling; the smile doesn’t sound very nice.

“Ori’haat?” Hardcase says, intrigued and vaguely impressed. “You do the honors?”

And finally, “chasing a dream” aka the summary and first couple sentences of the Treasure Planet AU that I absolutely forgot I was going to write at some point

Her name isn’t Hawkins. The cyborg isn’t silver. And the closest thing she has to a father isn’t a caninoid species. They’ve got the makings of greatness in them all the same.

Ahsoka is six years old when she meets her very best friend in the whole wide galaxy. He's a Guardian—only a little one, though, like she's only a little Jedi—and he's got the same warm brown skin and golden-brown eyes that his brothers do, but he's also got a bunch of bright yellow hair.

#may the fourth be with you #by apples #star wars #the clone wars #fic bits #skyrim au #treasure planet au #camp half-blood au #nika fic #a non-comprehensive guide to force-sensitivity #time-travel

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spectral-musette · 5 years

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Hey! Ik you aren’t taking requests, this is just me asking your verbal opinion. Do you think the storylines would be any different if Satine and Padmé switched planets? Like, Satine is permanent Queen of Naboo but the Nubian culture and plotlines stayed the same and Pads was the elected Duchess of Mandalore and then its Senator after, but everything else about Mando culture is the same. Do you think their fates would be different based on their political situations?

(For the record, I just haven’t had a chance to fill requests in a couple of weeks. I do hope to get back to it; I’ll address that a bit more in a later post!)

Interesting question!

I always liked the striking irony of Satine being raised to be a warrior and choosing to become a pacifist compared to Padme being brought up in a peace-loving society and leading her people to a military victory at such a young age. But here’s some thoughts on a planet-swapping AU:

Would TPM have gone differently with Satine ruling Naboo? Satine’s stance against violence is strong, but the Trade Federation invasion is a pretty impossible situation. Also, I think Satine’s uncompromising views are largely a result of her upbringing during a bloody civil war, so, without that background, she might not be as extreme. If she couldn’t resolve the Trade Federation conflict diplomatically (and we have no reason to think she’d have any more success than Padme did), I think she ultimately would’ve taken a similar course of action. One key change might be that I’m not sure she would’ve gone along with voting Valorum out of office. Satine is stubborn as hell, and at that time would’ve been a bit older than Padme, so she might’ve been less prone to defer to Palpatine’s advice (not that I’m criticizing Padme here; she was 14 years old, doing her best, and had no reason to believe that Palpatine had any motivations outside the best interests of Naboo). But Palpatine undoubtedly had other plans in place to become Chancellor, so ultimately it probably wouldn’t have kept him out of power for long.

Also things with Obi-Wan (romantic things) might’ve resolved differently if Satine’s culture hadn’t been traditionally at odds with the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan choosing to leave the Order is still a significant hurdle. But I think one of the big things that kept them apart in canon is Satine thinking (probably correctly) that most Mandalorians would never accept a former Jedi as her consort, and that marrying him would destabilize her fledgling government and result in more turmoil and violence. Without that factor keeping them apart, I think Satine would be more likely to ask him to stay with her. Whether or not he would say yes might hinge on what else changes? (Of course the events of TPM are much shorter than the year he spent protecting her in canon, so maybe their romance doesn’t proceed as far? Maybe with all the mortal peril it still does?) If Qui-Gon lives, Obi-Wan might very well stay with Satine. If Qui-Gon still dies, Obi-Wan is left in a very emotionally vulnerable state, but would still feel bound to train Anakin and thus remain in the Order. But, as in canon, his feelings for Satine would be ripe for rekindling when they crossed paths again later (during the Clone Wars?).

So let’s shift gears and think about Mando!Padme for a moment. Like Satine, I still think Padme would work to end the Mando civil war and to promote peace and rebuilding. She just might not be so extreme about it? Padme is better at compromise and more pragmatic than Satine, so I think she might work more within the confines of Mando warrior culture and try to get the various clans to form alliances and work together.

So then Anakin would be meeting Padme for the first time either circa AotC or later during the Clone Wars. Despite the lack of their childhood bond, I’m sure Anakin would still be head over heels for her, and Padme wouldn’t be dealing with the “but I still see you as a little boy” awkwardness. But it’s their romance that would now be doubly forbidden. But if any Jedi could win over the Mandalorians, it would absolutely be “The Hero WIthout Fear”. And if he’s in that rebellious phase when he’s pushing against Obi-Wan’s authority and deeply grieving his mother, I kind of wonder if Anakin might take the Mando point of view a little bit to heart, like... Relationship with the Jedi Order Ended: Becoming Mando Is My New Goal in Life? Anakin leaves the Order, marries Padme, is adopted in Mandalorian society? Anakin wields the Darksaber and leads an army of Mandos against Dooku? Wild Times.

As for their ultimate fates:

Revenge-obsessed Maul targeting Satine as a means of hurting Obi-Wan might still be a thing, but he’d have a much harder time getting to her if she’s the popular ruler of an affluent planet with the protection of the Republic. If Maul is determined, it would probably involve stealth, perhaps a kidnapping. And rather than having Obi-Wan vastly outnumbered and subdued as in The Lawless, it would probably just culminate in another one-on-one duel; well, we know how those always turn out... I think Satine is more likely to survive that scenario.

Anakin’s fall hinges on Palpatine’s access to him and Palpatine’s ability to manipulate Anakin’s fear of losing Padme. I think the key change might be that if Palpatine still tipped his hand about being the unknown Sith, an Anakin who was no longer a Jedi wouldn’t bother to report to the Council, but would fight him then and there, and would very probably win. If Anakin never falls, Padme doesn’t die in childbirth, Luke and Leia grow up as Force-using Mandalorian warriors???

Of course this is just a few threads of speculation, and there’s dozens of ways this could all go...

#Anonymous

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sobiwanfan · 5 years

Text

Second Chances

‘What’s that noise?’ whispered Saché, her fingers twiddling over the holster of her royal pistol. Sabé, Ellé, Moteé and she had been serving in the Alderaanian court since Senator Padmé Amidala’s death as Princess Leia Organa’s personal body guards. ‘Hush,’ Sabé said, waving her silent, her own pistol in her hand. It just after the second hour of the morning, pitch dark clouds overhanging the mountains surrounding the capital. There were rumours that the year-old princess’s life was at stake ever since Viceroy Organa made another offensive motion against Emperor in the senate. Footsteps plodded in the hallway and then two blaster shots fired. Saché fell without a sound. ‘Captain, he’s here,’ Sabé called into her comms. There was no time to mourn her fellow handmaiden, for the princess’s life was threatened. Swiftly, Sabé entered the princess’s chamber, just as another shot hit the door. The invader was coming and within a matter of seconds, the door was broken down. She was prepared for the bounty hunter, but her shots bounced off his armour. The bounty hunter fired at her, but she ducked and rolled, hitting his leg between the plates of armour. He cried out just as she tripped him. He fell forwards and fired up his jet pack. Sabé fired another round of shots, causing his jetpack to overheat. He stripped off the pack before it exploded, sending it hurtling across the room and blasting a hole in the wall on the far side. He fired at her again, hitting her straight in the torso. Clutching her middle, she fell to the ground. Assuming she was dead, the bounty hunter moved back to grab the child. Sabé laid there for a moment, but would not give up. She would not fail Padmé. Sabé struggled to her feet and took hold of a heavy metal tray. With all of the strength she possessed, Sabé tottered towards the bounty hunter and swung straight for his head. The blow was so hard, it knocked his helmet clean off and he toppled to the floor. Tears from the pain clouded her vision, but Sabé wouldn’t be satisfied until he was dead or the royal guards arrested him. She stood over the fallen body, aiming her pistol, but before she could fire, the bounty hunter got to his knees and with a great force, took a swing at her. Sabé was sent flying backwards and before she hit the floor, she heard a sharp crack in the arm she had used to prevent her head from slamming into the wall. The wind knocked out of her, she collapsed with a cry of pain. Now the blaster wound to her abdomen ached so fiercely she was slowly losing consciousnesses. The bounty hunter rose to his feet and made for the young princess once more. Sabé fired at him continuously, barely able to focus on her target, but she refused to pass out until she knew she had successfully prevented the bounty hunter from abducting Padmé’s daughter.

It had been over a year since his arrival on Tatooine, delivering Senator Padmé Amidala’s firstborn into the hands of his aunt and uncle. Still overcome with penitence and grief over the loss of his former padawan, Obi-Wan had learnt to commune with the spirit of his former master, though he didn’t feel he was progressing as he should. The irony that Qui-Gon said he needed to be patient, that guilt and grief would ebb away in time, only caused it to sting all the more. He had so often rebuked Anakin for his lack of patience. But this evening, Obi-Wan’s dreams were disrupted by haunting images of Padmé’s other child being kidnapped. This vision was superseded by a ripping ache in his abdomen as if it had been torn apart from within. In less than a minute, Obi-Wan was up and making sure Qui-Gon’s spirit would be able to watch over Luke once again in his absence. It was not long before his ship was coming out of hyperspace in the Alderaan system. His security codes and the fact he was flying a Jedi Starfighter lent him little wait before being allowed to land in the city centre. Much like his former apprentice, Obi-Wan jumped out of the ship and was flying past the guards, sensing his way towards the quarters of the baby princess. He hoped it would be under control and that this flight had been needless on his part, but he was compelled by the Force to come here. Shots were being fired from within the princess’s chamber, so he was forced to ignore the fallen handmaiden outside the door. He stepped through the destroyed entrance, lightsaber at the ready. Obi-Wan charged at the bounty hunter and took his life. Padmé’s daughter cooed in her sleep, seemingly unaffected by the tussle. It was then he noticed another handmaiden, sprawled on the ground, pistol in hand. With her royal robe and hood shadowing her face, he didn’t recognise her, but as he stooped over her form to see if she was still alive, he knew her to be Sabé. Sabé felt someone checking her pulse and blinked her eyes open. It had to be a dream. She hadn’t seen him in ages. ‘Obi-Wan…’ she mumbled. ‘Protect…Princess…’ ‘Save your energy,’ Obi-Wan instructed, examining her torso where blood was seeping through her gown. His hand hovered over the wound, straining to close it with the Force. He had never been particularly talented with healing though he could nudge someone’s mind to persuade them with the Force without blinking an eye. He closed his eyes in order to focus. He didn’t know how long he remained in a healing trance though he could vaguely hear voices buzzing in the background. The blaster wounds were too deep, he felt, though it only compelled him to concentrate harder. He would not give up. Peace. Calm. He repeated the mantra in his head, straining to clear his thoughts as he strove to heal her wounds, but his mind kept wandering. His trance gave way to dream visions. He saw a house, larger than his current hut on Tatooine. There were flowers in the garden and some sort of device hanging from one of the larger tree branches. He approached it, testing it for...durability. He heard a young boy squealing as he ran past him. ‘Come back here, Laic!’ came the voice of a young girl. ‘I'm gonna get you!’ Laic looked up at Obi-Wan, ‘Don't tell, Ami!’ he ordered, before dashing behind the tree. The frustrated young girl, hands on hips and her cheeks red from exertion, demanded when she arrived, ‘Where did he go!’ The girl was probably no more than a few years older than Laic. ‘Oh, I don't know. Haven't seen him,’ Obi-Wan replied. The girl closed her eyes. ‘Nuh-uh! You know but you're not telling me!’ ‘No fair! Trying to read my mind!’ cried Obi-Wan. This child was Force sensitive, extremely so. And that's when it dawned on him. These were images of his children. Ami knew exactly where Laic was all along, but was playing along with her little brother. She wandered by the tree, just close enough, but looked in the opposite direction. ‘Where could he be... Oh well, I guess I'll just have to eat all of the chocolate cakes by myself...’ ‘Here I am!’ Laic revealed himself in a grand gesture. The two of them laughed and Ami went over to Obi-Wan. She placed her small hand in his, her large, dark eyes open, loving and trusting as she looked up at him. Obi-Wan broke his trance, finding himself extremely overheated and sweating. He felt a tremendous connection to the children as if they were…his own. If this was a vision of a possible future, sweet and innocent as it was, on the other end of the spectrum was extremely frightening. How could this be if he didn't give up everything he had been raised to believe, everything he had worked so hard to achieve? Surely it wasn't real. After Sabé was taken to the medical centre, the queen’s guards informed him that the queen wished to speak with him. They escorted him to her chambers. Obi-Wan entered to see Queen Breha Organa seated on a platform surrounded by her bodyguards and holding the princess in her arms. He bowed to her. ‘We are indebted to you, Master Kenobi,’ she said, thanking him regally. ‘Security has been tightened. We hope to never experience such an invasion as this ever again.’ ‘As do I,’ he replied. He calmly waited for her dismissal, figuring he was no longer needed. ‘Before you leave, Master Kenobi, I have one final request.’ She handed the baby to one of her handmaidens, rising to her feet to approach Obi-Wan as an equal. ‘Handmaiden Maberrie is to be relocated to Delaya and hard as this news is to bear, I request the galaxy’s best Negotiator to inform her of our decision.’ ‘Relocated? You mean to discharge her?’ Despite his usual tranquil demeanour, Obi-Wan was on the border of outrage on behalf of Sabé. He had always known this woman to be fiercely loyal to her mistress. Now she was being ripped away from what gave her life meaning. ‘Surely her injuries will heal soon enough for her to resume her duties here,’ he said. ...with Padmé’s child. ‘We couldn’t ask that of her. She’s suffered so much already and we feel it is in everyone’s best interest, especially Leia’s, for Sabé to be relieved of her duties.’ How could she? thought Obi-Wan, but he reminded himself that this was the queen and he wouldn’t be able to persuade her differently. He decided to try a different tactic. ‘And the other handmaidens—those from Senator Amidala’s entourage—what will happen to them?’ Though this certainly wasn’t any of the Master Jedi’s concern, Breha answered his question regally. ‘They have been reassigned elsewhere, away from the palace.’ Obi-Wan bowed and turned to leave. But then, with a flash of inspiration or lunacy, he spun around, saying, ‘Sabé Maberrie has served Senator Amidala under the harshest of circumstances as her decoy and handmaiden since her days as Queen of Naboo and now you’re taking away her life! To serve—’ Though he had forgone his Jedi calm, he would not betray the memory of Padmé and his former padawan. Breha sent her staff away with a swift, but not harsh, order before answering the Jedi whose passionate words were not to be ignored. ‘You must understand, Master Kenobi, that we must disassociate ourselves with anything having to do with Senator Amidala.’ Obi-Wan chided himself for his outburst. Of course the queen was acting consciously to protect Leia. He had no place questioning her like this when it had nothing to do with galaxy-wide matters. ‘I understand,’ he said, regaining his composure. Breha thought on the loss of Master Kenobi’s apprentice. No doubt his death had affected the Jedi profoundly, whether they acknowledged such emotions or not. Before dismissing him, she added, ‘You are to give her this once she’s recovered,’ handing him a recording and a pouch containing a good sum of credits. ‘It should be more than enough to compensate her for her years of devoted service.’ ‘Thank you, Your Excellency,’ he replied, bowing. The temporary accommodation on Delaya wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Sabé’s quarters in the palace on Alderaan, but it was a very nice piece of land. Sabé was transported there once the medical droids finished her bacta regiment and were satisfied with her healing. Due to the various pain medications, Sabé was in and out of consciousness for a few days. Once the last of the medication left her system, she was finally able to notice her surroundings were not in fact the medical wing of the palace. Sabé’s arm ached when she attempted to move it within the tight bandaging. With a bit of resistance to her healing torso, she urged herself to a sitting position and then swung her feet over the side of the bed. Where am I? She found her familiar handmaiden robe. The bandages around her torso creased uncomfortably as she drew it around her shoulders before heading out of the small room, finding herself on a balcony. It was either early evening or early morning by the position of the sun. She wasn’t alone. ‘My lady, you should be resting.’ Obi-Wan stood facing away from her, able to sense her movements without looking at her. He was watching the sun rising. The taste of bacta fresh on her lips, Sabé turned carefully to the familiar low voice. ‘Is the princess safe?’ These were the first words out of her mouth and Obi-Wan was burdened with the task of informing her that the princess’s life was no longer her concern. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Thanks to you.’ ‘And the bounty hunter?’ ‘He will no longer harm anyone,’ he replied sombrely. She recalled vague memories of the Jedi’s face hazily stooping over her fallen form. He was speaking to her, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Padmé’s daughter was safe and though Sabé thought she was facing death, she was glad at the thought she would die in service to her former mistress. Now, however, she had a second chance at life thanks to Obi-Wan, for she knew now he had saved her. Unable to express her gratitude verbally for fear she would speak out of form, inappropriately, she approached him, her hand touching a cloaked arm, half-embracing him from the side. He turned to face her. ‘My lady—’ His tone of voice was laced with remorse and she recognised this, releasing his arm and taking a step back. ‘I was instructed to bring you here to Delaya and here you are to remain.’ Sabé was confused. ‘What? I do not understand. Are they bringing the princess here for her safety?’ ‘No, they asked me to tell you that they are no longer in need of your services. The queen asked me to give you this.’ He withdrew the recorded message and the credits, handing it to her undamaged arm. He knew this matter shouldn’t wait any longer than necessary to give the woman time to express her sadness and move on. He was not prepared for the effect, as he was not the best judge of female reactions. ‘I’m sorry.’ Feeling as though she had failed, Sabé silently took the pouch from him and went back indoors to watch the holovid. Despite her passive demeanour, Obi-Wan could feel the waves of emotions radiating from her, the confusion, anger, disappointment, and ultimately sadness. He hadn’t watched the recording, but he had a good idea about what they would say. It would be a brief message relating their thanks for everything she had done in their service, perhaps a hint without saying directly why they wanted the rest of Padmé’s former handmaidens away from the palace, and a mention of her payment. After a few minutes, he peered inside to see the outward façade of calm disappear. The holovid projector was off and the former handmaiden’s body was wracked with sobs. He felt the urge to go over to her and take her into his arms, allowing her to cry into his chest, but instead he stood there watching her a moment longer before turning away. Things like this happened, especially during such dark times as these. Whether she knew someone was watching her or not, Sabé let her guard down and cried freely. She thought sarcastically that Master Kenobi ought to have let her die, for death was better than this. Banished. Though they hadn’t used that specific word, it’s basically what they meant. The Organas didn’t want her anywhere near the princess. I would have resisted the urge to tell her about her mother! I just wanted to serve her as faithfully as I did her mother. That is all. To watch the girl grow up…to protect her…to love her… Now she felt she had no purpose. What was she supposed to do here on Delaya? She didn’t know anyone or where anything was… The generous severance pay could in no way compensate her loss of duty, purpose, and belonging. She didn’t want to leave what little she had left of her former mistress and best friend. She didn’t want to leave the comfort and safety of Alderaan and it’s new no weapons tolerance law. When Master Kenobi brought something for her to eat, Sabé had dried her eyes and firmed her resolve. ‘I wish to go back to Naboo.’ ‘Naboo is under the control of the Empire, my lady.’ ‘I cannot stay here. I don’t belong here. People will speak of the royal family I am no longer able to serve and protect. I will see the princess from afar, but not be able to—’ Despite her attempt to remain in control of her emotions, she choked back tears. She took a breath, finally meeting his eyes when he moved to sit next to her where she sat on a settee. ‘I feel like I’m failing her,’ she said. Obi-Wan knew she meant Padmé, figuring to say her name would bring her further pain. ‘I do not know what to do.’ she said, her voice despondent. ‘I am lost.’ Lost. The word haunted him, causing him to recall his exchange with Anakin at his fall. He conceded to her request of returning to Naboo. ‘Before I return to my own exile on Tatooine, I will take you wherever you wish, my lady, but should any spies report I’ve been spotted—’ ‘I understand,’ she replied solemnly. Exile...because of Former Supreme Chancellor now Emperor Palpatine’s order to kill all of the remaining Jedi… He shouldn’t have to be alone. ‘You should eat something,’ he suggested, standing to leave. ‘You’ll feel better.’ It wasn’t much, but it was all that he could offer her. ‘Master Kenobi…’ He turned back, waiting. ‘Why Tatooine?’ ‘Leia’s twin brother,’ he replied, drawing his cloak a bit tighter as he left the chamber. He knew he could trust Sabé with the information only Senator Organa, Yoda, and himself were privy to. With her writing hand broken, she had a bit of difficulty picking up a fork. Though she was still overwrought with emotions, once she took a bite, she realised how hungry she actually was. Tatooine, she thought. Leia’s twin…Padmé had twins… A boy and a girl… If I am not able to protect Leia, then perhaps I can look after her brother. The thought heartened her and she resolved to ask Master Kenobi about this. Only a few days later, Sabé’s arm and torso were fully healed. She spent a good while merely watching Master Kenobi in his meditation. She didn’t even notice how long she watched him, yearning for that peace he seemed to so effortlessly attain. She wondered what it would be like to be able to feel the Force, to be able to reach tranquillity. ‘Step aside, Jedi.’ Clutching his lightsaber defiantly, Obi-Wan stood his ground. ‘This is a peaceful village. We don't want any trouble.’ The rain continued falling at a steady pace. The Dark Jedi reached out towards him, saying, ‘I call upon the power of the Sith!’ he cried, lightning shooting outwards. Obi-Wan blocked the attack. Flashes of light darted out, the fog inhibiting his sight. Other cloaked figures were on either side of him. Obi-Wan took out his two unarmed accomplices with ease. The Dark Jedi’s distractions, using the Force to toss logs and boulders at his opponent, failed to make a difference as Obi-Wan agilely deflected them. Their lightsabers met, blue on red. The energy of the Dark Jedi’s manipulation of the Force invaded Obi-Wan's thoughts, trying to convince him it was futile, that he would lose…that all would be lost. Delving into the Jedi's mind, the Sith Lord saw his late padawan, Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader. He saw the disappointment, the fear, and used it to his advantage. Dark Force lightning flashed through the fog. Then the red blade shot forward aimed for Obi-Wan's throat, but with his superior lightsaber skills, he dodged to the left, slicing at the Sith Lord's hand. ‘Don't make me kill you.’ ‘Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!’ ‘If you are not with me, then you are my enemy.’ ‘Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.’ When the Jedi missed, the Dark Jedi cackled, ‘Surely you can do better!’ Obi-Wan swerved around, avoiding another attack and came at him again. The Sith Lord parried and thrust before releasing another wave of Dark Force lightning. Obi-Wan's blade blocked the lightning as the Dark Jedi lashed out with several critical strikes. With each blocked attack, the Dark Jedi mocked him. ‘It’s a wonder Vader let you live this long.’ He brought forth waves of the most recent painful memories. ‘You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!’ ‘I hate you!’ ‘You were my brother, Anakin.’ Obi-Wan fought against the memories, struggling to remain in the here and now as his blade once again met with the Sith Lord’s. ‘I HATE YOU!’ The Dark Jedi rapidly came at Obi-Wan with a hard chop, but the Jedi parried and spun, cutting at the Sith Lord with the backslash. The Dark Lord blocked the strike, but Obi-Wan took his spilt second of uncertainty to slice the Sith Lord in half. ‘I HATE YOU!’ Anakin's voice echoed in his head as he fell to his knees. His lightsaber turned off automatically as it dropped next to him, abandoned. He couldn't help the tears coming to his eyes as he knelt there, head bowed over the mangled body of the Sith Lord in the mud. ‘I've failed. I’ve failed you...’ He saw Anakin crawling with his mechanised arm, clawing at the rocks on Mustafar, hate brimming in his eyes. Spitting, snarling, cursing him... Obi-Wan broke his trance to find Sabé staring at him. Sabé averted her eyes self-consciously. ‘How is your arm feeling?’ he asked, rising to his feet and moving towards her. It was much easier to focus on the here and now with her by his side. Always thinking about other people, she mused before saying, ‘It is much better today. Do you think that perhaps—’ she paused, her eyes cast downwards for a moment before she allowed them to creep up his Jedi tunic. ‘Perhaps I could have the supportive bandages removed from my arm?’ She sought his eyes nervously. The innocent query brought him back from the thoughts of Anakin. He looked at her for a moment, thankful for her presence and the peace of mind she brought to him. ‘Yes, your bandages... Let's have a look and see then, shall we?’ He walked over and dropped next to her on the settee. ‘Does this hurt?’ he asked after removing the bandages and testing the newly exposed flesh. ‘Are you able to move it?’ When he turned to look at her, he noticed just how close she was sitting to him and the room suddenly felt like it was much warmer. Overjoyed that she now had a functional arm, she squeezed his hand to illustrate how well her arm had healed. ‘There is no pain. It is as if it never received any damage.’ Her elation enveloped him, folding warmly around him like a quilt. He watched her moving her arm, grasping his to prove its strength, so unbelievably soft and sth under his calloused hands. Now he knew it was time for him to leave. During his intense meditation session, he had seen a possible vision of her future here. She would be an educator and marry a good man, but there would be no children. She would wait for the parades to catch a glimpse of Leia, but each time they met each other’s glance, Leia would turn away since this woman meant nothing to her, leaving Sabé heartbroken. But this, Obi-Wan reminded himself, was only one possible future and the decisions she made would alter that course of events. He stood to leave. ‘I want to go with you,’ she exclaimed, also rising to her feet, ‘to Tatooine.’ You want to go with me? What does that mean? ‘Certainly life here would be more like that on Naboo,’ Obi-Wan replied, trying not to reveal his surprise. ‘You have been to Tatooine before and you’ve seen what a sandstorm is like…but if you wish it, I will take you there.’ ‘I do not mean to impose,’ Sabé added, bowing her head again, willing herself to take control of her life for once. Though it had only been a few days, she had mulled over her choices and resolved to do this. ‘I do not mean only to accompany you to the planet, but to also—’ He waited patiently for her to continue, unsure as to where her train of thought was going. She took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I would be your perfect cover, Master Kenobi.’ ‘What do you mean?’ He folded his arms in his cloak, looking at her curiously. ‘Who would suspect you for the former Republic General and Jedi Master if you were to change your name and live as a poor moisture farmer with your loyal wife?’ ‘Wife?’ Obi-Wan couldn’t believe the words he was hearing from this steadfast, reserved former handmaiden, but this talk of Tatooine and the two of them reminded him strongly of the few days they’d spent there together when she was acting as decoy queen. ‘That is of course, if you’ll have me. I can cook and clean…run errands for you so you won’t be seen…’ She wandered over to the small knapsack of belongings which had been packed for her when she was unconscious and withdrew the royal Alderaanian embroidered pouch. ‘I have plenty of credits…’ She poured some credits into her hand and outstretched it towards him. ‘No,’ Obi-Wan said automatically. ‘You are meant for a better, more comfortable life here on Delaya.’ He approached and closed her hand which held out the credits. ‘I cannot take this opportunity away from you and—’ ‘And the Jedi aren’t allowed any attachments, I know,’ she replied, disappointment seeping into her voice. ‘But this would merely be a cover, a way to protect you, a way to protect her son.’ Nothing else mattered and she would not be deterred. Obi-Wan recognised the defiance in her as well as the passion in her voice when she spoke of Padmé’s other child. ‘I cannot hold you to live as a lie.’ ‘I have done so before,’ she said, satirically adding with a hint of teasing, ‘have you forgotten?’ ‘You would live a life far away from any greenery such as this,’ he remarked, gesturing to a nearby potted flower. ‘I know.’ He repeated what she already knew, shaking his head. ‘The Jedi Council expressly forbids attachment of any sort.’ He knew then that he was already in love with her. He had been for quite some time and this new arrangement she presented would be so incredibly tempting. Was it truly the will of the Force that brought Sabé to him? Or was it merely a test? Had she been sent to tempt him, to steer him off his Jedi path? Was she a test of his devotion to the Jedi? No... I trust and respect her as old friend… This debate was taxing on his already weighted mind, but he couldn't allow himself to say anything further. What if she were taken from me? I'd let her go, if she wanted. I want what is best for her, whatever makes her happy, even if that means she's not with me, but she doesn't feel the same way, so what harm could come of this? She stood on tiptoe, leaning slightly to peer behind him as she said, ‘I do not see a Jedi Council anywhere, do you?’ Sabé flashed him a mischievous grin that was all-too-familiar, though he couldn’t at the moment place the memory. ‘They have fallen or in hiding,’ Obi-Wan replied simply. ‘Let me join you. You need not do this alone.’ ‘Why are you offering this to me, my lady?’ ‘Please, let me do this. It’s not only to give my life meaning or that I’m indebted to you for saving my life—’ ‘But for Luke.’ ‘Yes, especially for him…and also a bit selfishly for myself.’ ‘How so?’ She touched his cheek, using his forename for this first time aloud. ‘Obi-Wan, I love you. I’ve always loved you and I don’t need the formal attachment. I don’t need a material, tangible symbol or ceremony to commit my life to yours because I already am yours, body and soul. In my life of service to—to her, I’ve only experienced stolen moments of hasty kisses and fumbling around with the wrong men, but there has always been a part of me longing for that Jedi learner who had the audacity to command me as the decoy queen not to send any reply to Naboo. I know there’s little hope, especially now, that you might…’ she broke off, knowing all of this was not only sudden, but extremely inappropriate. ‘Besides, someone has got to be around to make sure you don’t lose your sanity in your seclusion…’ she added to make light of her weighty speech. She hoped he wouldn’t rebuke her for being improper. Had she been five years younger, she wouldn’t have had the courage to blatantly state such things, breaking out of her reserved handmaiden mode, but she needed now to take charge of this life. With everything else spinning out of control, she wanted something to hold on to, a constant. She wanted him to be her constant more than anything in the galaxy. He exhaled and lowered his head for a moment to ponder her offer. Finally, after seemed like ages, he spoke. ‘Should you ever find yourself unhappy, no matter what happens, you will always be free to leave. I will not be your cage.’ Bursting with relief and joy, Sabé threw her arms around him and kissed the side of his mouth swiftly. Feeling awkward and at the same time perceiving her happiness, Obi-Wan stood frozen for a moment and by the time he made an effort to hug her back, she had already separated herself from him. She is not a temptation, he assured himself. I can serve her as any proper Jedi would and not neglect my duties. When the Jedi starfighter landed on the outskirts, he took Sabé’s knapsack for her and led the way to the small hut which had been his humble abode since leaving Polis Massa. Obi-Wan figured she wouldn’t last long away from the estate on Delaya since that was closer to the life she was used to. Here, amongst the sand dunes, it would be a harsh life and he didn’t think she was prepared for it. They left the hidden ship and walked for quite a long time. If it wasn’t for her recent injuries, Sabé wouldn’t have thought the walk was long at all, but as it was, she became short of breath and fell behind. She refused to let him know she was tired and focused her mind on other things to distract herself. His hair is the colour of these rolling hills of sand, she mused. Obi-Wan’s own thoughts were preoccupied thinking about what on earth the spirit of his former master would think of this new arrangement. Then he recalled how often Qui-Gon picked up random pathetic lifeforms who would tag along with them for a period of time. Finally they reached what would now be their home and he looked back to see Sabé was lagging quite a bit behind him. Her long, dark hair had loosened from her intricate plait and now whipped about freely. Perhaps it was the position of the suns or the increasing wind catching up her handmaiden’s cloak, but she looked like an otherworldly figure approaching him. She was beautiful. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed before, but Obi-Wan always caught himself from following such a train of thought to conclusion as it might lead to dangerous things such as attachment. Then he reminded himself of the words she had spoken before they left Delaya. She had said she loved him. He couldn’t make that sort of statement though in his heart he knew it had always been true. He never thought there was the slightest chance she would feel the same way. There is no longer a Jedi Council… Upon entering the hut, Sabé was surprised how much larger it seemed than it appeared on the outside. There was plenty of room to move around, but she definitely saw things she could improve on, that is of course if he would allow her to. She shook her head. No, we will be partners in this. We will work together. Though he will never make a commitment to me… ‘So what am I to call you here?’ she asked, catching him off guard. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well in public, I most certainly can’t refer to you as “Master Kenobi” or “General Kenobi” since people would recognise the name and you are in hiding, if I am not mistaken.’ When he merely stared back at her with a confused expression, she continued. ‘You did not consider changing your name?’ Her mouth dropped open. ‘For a former Council member and war hero, I am utterly shocked you wouldn’t have thought to— Well, I’ll just have to think of something… Hmm… You don’t have a middle name, do you?’ ‘Just Obi-Wan,’ he replied, hanging her cloak next to his on a peg near the door. She sat down on the couch and undid her hair, starting to re-braid it. ‘Are there common names on Tatooine? Do you think Sabé is too Nabooan? Perhaps I should change it as well,’ she rapidly thought aloud. ‘I-I had not thought much about changing my name before,’ Obi-Wan admitted. He liked her name, Sabé, and didn’t want her to change it. ‘We have to change our names, at least for making acquaintances.’ She was doing this for his safety. He thought of a few different names, but she rejected all of them as too Corusanti. ‘I don’t know…Ben?’ ‘Ben,’ she mused. ‘Ben Kenobi. I like it.’ He grinned at her, pleased he had found a name she liked. ‘And for you, my lady…’ Teasingly, she put her hands on her hips saying, ‘First of all, you are going to have to stop referring to me as “my lady”.’ ‘Yes, my—Sabé,’ he said, correcting himself. Then the thought hit him. ‘ Siena?’ Sabé wrinkled her nose. ‘I shall take that as a “no”.’ ‘You had better!’ she partially joked. ‘Sena? Sophie?’ ‘Sefa?’ ‘Sefa works for me,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘Sefa Kenobi,’ he pondered, not even entertaining the possibility. Sabé took a step towards him, taking his hand. ‘Ben and Sefa Kenobi.’ She looked up into his light blue eyes, adding, ‘I like it. I think it fits.’ She wanted to throw her arms around him, thanking him for allowing her to come here with him, but she resisted the urge. She didn’t want him to kick her out for coming on too strong. After all, it was only for show, this feigned marriage. A month passed and the two of them became used to each other’s presence. Sabé insisted she could make all the trips to the nearest city alone, but he was just as adamant about going with her that he would not be persuaded otherwise. So, the two of them went everywhere together and became familiar with each other’s idiosyncrasies. There was only one incident in which a smuggler thought he recognised Obi-Wan, but Sabé, Sefa, took care of it. Laughing, she said, ‘Do you hear that, Ben? This fellow thinks you look like a Jedi! I wonder what it would be like to feel the Force on me…and those Jedi reflexes ought to be handy in bed…’ Knowing it would make Obi-Wan uncomfortable, but not wanting him to ruin the cover, she planted a kiss on his lips before he could react. The smuggler was convinced he had been mistaken and averted his gaze, wandering away from the couple. After a moment, Sabé pulled away, satisfied that the smuggler had given up and disappeared. Since they were still in public, she continued to play the wifely role, though her cheeks were coloured in embarrassment. Anyone else would assume it was from the heat of midday. Qui-Gon had yet to make an appearance, but Obi-Wan hadn’t thought about the training as his mind was elsewhere. Obi-Wan’s life slowed down considerably compared to the last few years of the tumultuous galactic war. It made him feel older, but with Sabé here, it almost felt like the vague distant memories he had as a young boy before the Jedi took him away to live on Coruscant. He recalled his parents though he couldn't see their faces. They had been farmers. He could have grown up to be a farmer in another life had he not had such a high midichlorian count. If such a fate could be reclaimable, Force-willing, why shouldn't he reclaim it? There was no Jedi Council here. There wasn't a Jedi Council anymore period. She kissed me… He could still taste the hint of mint leaf on his lips. That evening, she set about fixing some recipe he had never heard of. When he questioned her about it, she explained, ‘It is for the Winter Solstice.’ ‘Winter?’ ‘When the lakes of Naboo are frozen and snow falls continuously…the days are shorter and the nights longer. We have great celebrations. The queen holds banquets inviting all the nobles to the palace.’ Sabé continued rolling out the dough and forming it into some sort of ribbon-like shape as she recalled the last formal solstice festival she participated in. ‘Rich blues and purples in dress and decoration…and there is skating and sledding on the hills. It is my favourite time of year.’ It was then Obi-Wan noticed tears in her eyes. ‘What is skating and sledding?’ Having spent most of his life on Coruscant, he wasn’t familiar with such things. ‘Skating is the best,’ she said, smiling. ‘It is like floating on air. We wear special shoes that allow us to glide on the lake.’ She turned away from the dough to face him. ‘On water? Isn’t that dangerous?’ ‘Not since the water is frozen.’ She closed her eyes, picturing the exact spot where she and a few other handmaidens skated while the others attended to Padmé. Padmé had never been a tyrant and had always allowed her handmaidens time to enjoy themselves. This was something he could work with! Obi-Wan reached out with the Force and levitated her just a few centimetres from the floor of the kitchen so that if she were to point her toes, she would touch the ground. ‘Like this?’ She opened her eyes when she felt herself being lifted from the middle and gasped. Sabé moved her feet like she was skating and he moved her slightly with each shift of her feet. ‘Yes, it is almost like this, but this is much sther.’ Her face illustrated her excitement. She closed her eyes again and she could almost feel the biting chill of a winter breeze. She opened her eyes, seeing that he had his eyes closed and wondered, ‘How do you do that?’ ‘Do what?’ ‘Lift me without even seeing me.’ ‘It’s not about seeing an object, but about feeling it,’ he replied, levitating her a bit higher. This information intrigued her. ‘What do I feel like?’ The query about what she "felt" like made him falter, but only slightly. Her voice had this breathy quality to it, so carefree and compelling at the same time. What does she “feel” like? It was certainly hard to put into words, especially as he was concentrating on not dropping her. ‘You feel like—you—’ It was Sabé. To explain what Sabé is... ‘...like warmth, compassion, love…’ And then he nearly lost his concentration, but he wouldn't drop her. He fluidly returned her to the ground and opened his eyes, briefly glancing at her, and then bowing his head. He is such a contradiction, she thought. He didn’t have to do this for her, any of this. This Jedi, peacekeeper, warrior… He was fierce when he needed to be yet so kind and compassionate. He was a perfect balance in every way. ‘I do not understand,’ she said, figuring it was because her lack of Force ability. ‘There is something else I can do that might help,’ he offered. ‘What I felt when I was levitating you— I can send that to you. It might make things clearer...’ Obi-Wan closed his eyes and concentrated, reverting his thoughts to how he had felt her: the warmth, compassion, and most of all, love. Without meaning to do so, he recalled visions of her in the evening… How on more than a few occasions he had be up late into the night for some reason or another and Sabé, who appeared to be in a habit of waking halfway through her sleep cycle, would pad through the living area in her newly purchased pale, lavender nightgown, her long hair cascading down her back. These were the feelings he had an easier time of keeping in check during the day. ‘Can you feel that?’ he asked, the sensations pulsating around him as he tossed it about her in undulating waves. She was the unattainable rose, protected by the thorns of the Jedi Code, preventing him from ever possessing her fully. ‘That's how you feel to me and that's the reason I—’ he broke off, swallowing hard. He waited for her reaction, studying her expression warily. A mix of emotions poured over her, as if she were a plant and Master Kenobi was pouring liquefied feelings over her. It was not what she had expected. She assumed that she would recognize the feelings because it would be a carbon copy of what she felt inside her own body. She was almost expecting to feel nothing that it would mimic what it felt like to breathe, or the sensation of her body weight being supported by her legs, but it was far from that. Sabé closed her eyes, her brow deeply furrowed as she tried to comprehend what he sent her. She received images of herself as well as feelings in pure energy form. She focused on the images first, marvelling at how wonderfully eerie it was to view herself in three-dimensional form from outside eyes. There were so many. She could barely push one to the side of her mind when another would take its place. Finally pushing all the images of herself aside, she focused on the feelings sent. Not knowing how else to process the information, her mind attached her own memories to the feelings so that she had a basis of association. She remembered rewarding, joyful events with her fellow handmaidens, the times when they had assisted the sick, spent time playing with children, or distributed food to the hungry. She was about to utter what she was seeing, to have the Master Jedi help her decipher it, but the memory association switched again and now she was watching the young padawan within the queen's ship on Tatooine. Startled, her eyes flew open and she gazed at Obi-Wan as she considered it all. ‘That was not what I had expected,’ she said calmly. ‘I thought it would be a physical sensation, like what it feels to pick up an object. I saw myself.’ The confusion crease in her brow threatened to become a permanent wrinkle. ‘You saw yourself?’ This was certainly not what he had expected. Obi-Wan figured she had only perceived the feelings he sent her, but it was so much more. It was odd since she obviously didn't have a high midichlorian count nor was she trained in the Jedi arts. What could this mean? She saw me through her eyes as well? This is peculiar indeed. ‘I thought it would be like that too,’ he admitted, thinking on what she was saying. He didn't even consider the fact that she didn't know how he felt about her because he was too focused on the amazement that she saw something. ‘I saw memories of my fellow handmaidens during times of public service...and I saw you.’ She tilted her head. ‘It is very confusing.’ ‘You saw me?’ That was also an interesting development. ‘When I was a padawan learner?’ ‘Yes,’ she commented, a mischievous smile sliding over her lips as she remembered. ‘It was on the Royal Starship…the last time I was on Tatooine.’ She self-consciously returned her gaze to the dough. Suddenly, Obi-Wan recalled that self-same mischievous smile. Startled by an unfamiliar sound on the Nubian vessel, Obi-Wan awoke to find his lightsaber missing. His lightsaber was missing. Padawan Kenobi jumped up, panicking as he searched all over the room. ‘Where is it? How could I have misplaced it? ‘Are you looking for this?’ the young Queen of Naboo asked upon approach. Obi-Wan whipped around, noticing the glinting lightsaber in her hand. ‘Y-yes, Your Majesty...’ ‘You should learn to keep better care of your things,’ said Sabé, who was standing in as Queen. ‘I was told this is a Jedi's most precious possession.’ She flashed him a mischievous grin and he didn't understand what it meant. She was belittling him, wasn't she? Obi-Wan blushed furiously. Embarrassed, his brow furrowed as he received his lightsaber from her silky, painted hand. ‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ he muttered. Their eyes met, briefly, and she turned to leave. ‘I do recall a time when I'd misplaced my lightsaber,’ he said, chuckling at the memory. He only now realised she hadn't been scolding him at all; she had been teasing him. ‘Oh... I had forgotten all about that.’ Despite her best efforts to stifle it, she began giggling like a teenager. ‘Obi-Wan,’ she said, turning towards him and reached for his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘You must forgive me. It was a cruel trick.’ She started laughing in earnest, unable to hold it back any longer. ‘Oh, your face! I can still see your adorable, embarrassed face.’ ‘You stole it!’ he gasped upon realisation. ‘An impossible task!’ Obi-Wan was surprised she had been able to do so and wondered how she accomplished it. Her light-hearted laughter caused his own face to brighten from amazement to outright cheerfulness. ‘I certainly didn't expect a young queen to lecture me on Jedi matters.’ Her mischievous grin rekindled the very same feelings which he now understood to be attraction. Oh how foolish I had been. Grinning broadly, she gasped for breath from laughter. ‘Oh Obi-Wan, I apologize. I was much more brazen in my youth. It was terrible of me to let you think you had misplaced it and then to tease you for it. It was far too tempting: one handsome, young padawan on a ship full of bored handmaidens with nothing else to do, but stare at each other all day long. Eirtaé wanted me to steal your clothes...’ Sabé blushed, grinning. ‘...but I convinced her that might not be appropriate.’ Eirtaé... Obi-Wan honestly couldn't remember the girl. It was extremely difficult to tell them apart sometimes, especially when they wore veils or covered their faces with large hoods. ‘Steal my clothes?’ He couldn't believe the things he was hearing. ‘And here I was: a naive padawan, with preconceived notions of handmaiden propriety...’ he lightly teased back, his hand finding its way to her waist. ‘It appears I was wrong.’ Sabé gasped in amused mock offence, ‘I showed handmaiden propriety!’ She playfully pushed his hand away from her waist as if to showcase how proper she was. ‘I could have taken your clothes. They were right there, while you were in the ’fresher—’ She clamped a hand over her mouth, admonishing herself for nearly admitting that she had seen him out of his Jedi clothing. ‘You don't mean to tell me—’ It seemed Sabé had this uncanny ability to take him off guard at every turn. He felt that years had been stripped away and he was that reckless young padawan again, unused to the stares from those beautiful girls; mainly from the decoy queen whom he later found to be Sabé herself. ‘You and your fellow handmaidens were spying on me too?’ He feigned offence, but took her hand which she had used to push his away. ‘While I was showering!’ His younger self would have died of embarrassment to learn all of the young handmaidens had peeked in on him. His present self was fairing little better though he still held her hand. A blush rose in his cheeks at the thought. ‘We were not spying!’ Sabé exclaimed, smiling at his impertinent comment about spying. She wrestled with him slightly, nervous that he was grabbing her hand to tickle her. ‘Well, they weren't spying,’ she said, still trying to escape his grasp, ‘and I was spying...by accident.’ ‘Is that so?’ Obi-Wan replied, chuckling to find out she had accidentally snuck a peek. When she fought him slightly, his other hand moved to attack her waist, playfully. ‘I would say, that's hardly fair...I didn't get a chance to wander in on you—’ Squealing in exhilarated laughter, Sabé fought against his playful touch, straining to get away from him but hoping against hope that it would never end. ‘You are such a…a…’ ‘A what?’ ‘A scoundrel!’ She struggled ineffectively, attempting to win the battle. ‘A scoundrel?’ Obi-Wan had a hard time catching his breath, he was laughing so hard. He felt that familiar heat rush through him at her touch. He liked the almost dishevelled look about her as she pushed against him; it was so different from her normally resigned and collected appearance. ‘It wouldn't have mattered,’ she panted from exertion, ‘since you wouldn’t have been able to. We took turns guarding the door.’ ‘Ah, but Jedi are sneaky. And I could have used a mind trick on the guards...’ He cocked his head to the side, grinning boyishly at her. She frowned at him slightly, momentarily thwarted by his very obvious statement that if he really had wanted to sneak a look at Rabé, Eirtaé, or herself, he had the abilities to do so. She rolled her eyes as her retaliation plan formed in her mind. She had a pattern of exchanging teasing remarks and banter with the Jedi and this was war. Ending her struggle against him, she slid in closer with a silky sensuality, running her hands along his arms until they met the bend in his elbows. ‘A Jedi might have the stealth of movements,’ she said, cocking an eyebrow at him suggestively, deciding to give him a full-on assault, ‘but he lacks a woman's insatiable curiosity.’ She pressed her body close to his, bending her knees slightly to rub against him, then straightened gracefully pulling her hands along his side. ‘What would you do with a room full of naked handmaidens, anyway?’ she purred softly, expecting him to back away nervously, coughing and sputtering, at her daring actions. At first he figured she had surrendered, but then her quick wit was back to take another jab at him. She was challenging him! Obi-Wan couldn't help the heat rising once again in his cheeks, not at the thought of a room full of naked girls, but at her vicinity. She was so close to him; and it made him want to embrace her, to touch her, kiss her... Unlike his untrained, younger self, he wouldn't laugh his way out of this. His gaze was transfixed on hers. He didn't say anything at all. For a moment, he just looked at her. Obi-Wan didn't think he would ever tire of looking at her. Everything Sabé encompassed and all the little quirks he had come to learn about this past month had just attracted him all the more. It was no use denying how much he wanted to be with her. He reached out to touch her cheek and then ever-so-carefully leant over to place a tender kiss on her lips. Sabé blinked in shock when Obi-Wan leaned in and kissed her. Of all the things she thought he might do, kissing her was not in the remotest of possibilities in her mind. This entire month, he had successfully avoided much physical contact at all within the hut. Her heart pounded in her chest as she meekly kissed him back, terrified of this unfamiliar territory. The touch of his lips was so soft, so gentle... She lost track of space and time as her body responded to the stimulus. Breathing in deep and enjoying the chemical sensations coursing through her body, she allowed herself to slip carelessly into sublime relaxation. She pushed forward to kiss him deeper, bringing her hand to his bearded face to caress him tenderly. Obi-Wan hadn't thought this through and now she was kissing him back. This warmth of sincerity, affection, radiated from her touch, her taste... Gently following her lead, his other hand ventured to her waist again, but only to draw her flush against him, relishing in her propinquity. In truth, he hadn't been so close to another person before. And kissing? He had only ever dreamt of it, but he had always pushed away that longing. Now it was really happening and it was almost as if his mind couldn't wrap around it. It was all so overpowering. Obi-Wan hadn't been thinking of anything aside from the impulse which drove him to kissing her. And now doubt slipped in. He was unsure of himself, which was something he hadn't truly experienced since his days of padawan training, but it somehow made sense that he should feel like this now. They hadn't ever covered kissing... When he pulled back, he looked at her, smiling and hoping he had not gone about it the wrong way. He also secretly hoped he wasn’t completely inept because he had so enjoyed kissing her that he didn’t want it to be the last. Gazing on her, another feeling of unworthiness seeped in, but instead of apologising, he left a hand tangled in her locks as he breathed, ‘Sabé…’ Her heart pounding in her ears, Sabé breathed deep to inhale the blissful feelings that wrapped around the pair like multicoloured vapour as he pulled away from her. It was a dream; a beautiful, wonderful dream. Her eyes met his and she looked at the Jedi with uncertainty, not knowing what the proper action was after their kiss. Was she to say something profound? I have longed for this day for an eternity... Offer to make him tea? Her eyes darted to the half-prepared items on the kitchen counter. Should she just smile and continue cooking? She opened her mouth as if to ask him a question, then closed it and stood silently, her eyes cast downward. Against her will, her cheeks flushed violet, painting her insecurities across her face. ‘I certainly don't need a room full of handmaidens,’ Obi-Wan murmured, ‘just you.’ And despite not having thought it through and not in the least expecting to say something, the words just naturally spilled out of him as if he had been waiting an eternity to say them. He meant it too, with his entire heart. He could sense she was nervous as well and though he could try to find a centre, to calm his thoughts, he didn't want to. All of this was so new and exciting, but all positive. Blushing similarly to the time she returned his lightsaber to him all those years ago, he asked, ‘May I kiss you again?’ Sabé was overwhelmed by his words, she blushed deeper with the sudden image of him walking in and selecting her from the room of unclothed handmaidens. Why do my thoughts stray to the border of indecency when I am around him? It was too... wonderful... to be real. She had always been so sure that the Jedi Code restricted romantic actions of any kind, assuming that her heart’s desire would remain eternally just out of reach. Perhaps he had finally let down his guard enough to love her in return. She closed her eyes dreamily at his question and then slowly opened them again. ‘I would like that,’ she said. ‘You would?’ he asked, almost unbelieving at first. Obi-Wan didn't bother attempting to contain his joy, perfectly beaming at her leant over to kiss her again. This time, he relaxed into the serenity she so often elicited from within him. It was hard to describe what he was feeling as they kissed. It wasn't that he was losing part of himself in her; but that she awoke in him what he never knew existed before, as if another part of him had been dormant and was now brought to life. All of the waiting, dreaming, hoping for something he didn't ever think was possible was worth it, for she was here with him now, and he wanted to savour this moment forever. Fairly certain of the future, Qui-Gon’s spirit momentarily looked on, sensing the peace they emitted. There would still be time for Obi-Wan to resume his training, but for now, he was thankful Obi-Wan had found the tranquillity he had struggled for since Anakin’s fall. He faded back into the Force essence until the time came, assured that young Skywalker would be looked after by two of the most capable people. After all, there was still a chance the Sith would fall, freedom would be restored, and the Jedi Order would reform its ways. ‘Happy solstice,’ Sabé whispered when they paused between kisses. ‘The first of many, I hope,’ Obi-Wan replied, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. This would work, he was sure of it now. Leaning down, he murmured, ‘I love you,’ before kissing her again. The Winter Solstice was a time of renewal and of second chances. Surely this was theirs.

#sobiwan #star wars fanfic #obi-wan kenobi #sabé

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starwarsnonsense · 6 years

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The Sin of Hubris, and the Dangerous Myth of the Mighty Skywalker Bloodline

For many years, there was balance and then I saw Ben. My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him, I could pass on my strengths.

The Last Jedi is full of parallels and, in particular, parallel characters. You have Rey and Kylo Ren at the forefront, but you also have the pair of Luke and Snoke looming behind them. And while Luke may merely be bitter and tormented while Snoke is twisted and malevolent, both masters have walked shockingly similar paths with regards to Ben Solo. Luke openly admits to the sin of hubris - excessive pride or self-confidence - and is painfully aware of his failings. Snoke, by contrast, is all-too guilty of hubris but trips up by failing to be mindful of his pride. This lack of self-awareness is what, with delicious inevitability, results in his destruction. Luke is forced to confront his own hubris and pride when Ben Solo turns on him and destroys his temple, whereas Snoke receives no such lesson until it is too late - Kylo’s betrayal ends him definitively, and leaves no room for the reflection that Luke was permitted by his survival.

With regards to Ben Solo, Luke and Snoke both make the same mistake by perceiving the boy primarily in terms of his bloodline. In his nephew, Luke sees “mighty Skywalker blood” that signifies enormous potential in the Force - upon recognising this, Luke resolves that it is his duty to train the boy and allow him to realise his potential. Snoke tells an eerily similar story:

When I found you, I saw what all masters live to see. Raw, untamed power. And beyond that, something truly special. The potential of your bloodline. A new Vader.

Both Luke and Snoke, in this way, seem fixated on Ben’s lineage - they define him primarily in terms of his bloodline, so it should come as no shock that Ben eventually absorbs this in a thoroughly unhealthy way and finds it impossible to escape from the shadow of his monolithic grandfather. He is always told that his blood means he should achieve greatness, whether for the light or the dark, and this ultimately has the effect of robbing him of his agency. He is a figure in a galactic game of chess, being moved across a board by the same forces of destiny that dictated the movements of his grandfather and uncle. This concept of himself breeds many evils in Ben - entitlement, arrogance, pride and, most poignantly, crippling self-doubt. As long as he is being measured against the Skywalker precedent - by his masters and by himself - Ben always finds himself lacking, with this eternal lack breeding feelings of frustration and self-loathing.

We know little of Ben’s time under Luke, but we do know that he was already under Snoke’s influence and had had the seeds of darkness sown in his mind. When Luke looked into Ben’s mind he was filled with fear over his nephew’s potential for evil, and contemplated murdering the boy in his sleep - Ben waking to witness his uncle’s green lightsaber ignited above him is the precipitating event in his downfall. In relation to hubris, we must look at this event as Luke’s turning point - the moment he considered murdering the boy he had placed such hope in and devoted so much energy to training was the moment when his own self-belief and confidence were shattered. In this moment, Luke believed his nephew to be capable of tremendous harm and his faith in the Skywalker bloodline’s potential for good was shattered. Luke’s realisation of Ben’s potential for evil and the terrible aftermath of his moment of weakness do away with his pride and send him into exile.

Instead of guiding a beloved nephew to use his powers for good, Snoke seized upon the lost Ben Solo and exploited him as a weapon. He craved the “mighty Skywalker blood”, attracted to its potential just as Luke once was, and took the newly renamed Kylo Ren under his wing as his apprentice. Snoke picked up the dropped threads of Luke’s training by continuing to tell Kylo that he was special and worthy by dint of his blood, but he also used this knowledge as an instrument of cruelty and punishment. In The Last Jedi, we see Snoke humiliate Kylo, telling him:

Yes, there it is. You have too much of your father's heart in you, Young Solo.

Han Solo represents the complicated and messy elements of Ben Solo that neither Luke nor Snoke wished to confront. Han Solo was the antithesis to Anakin Skywalker, being resoundingly normal. Han was as mundane and ordinary as Anakin was unique and gifted. While invoking the name of Anakin Skywalker calls to mind high-flung concepts like destiny and fate, the name of Han Solo suggests fast ships and gambling tables. Conditioned to buy into the story of his own special destiny by both his masters, Ben has come to share in this distaste, even as a part of him continues to love his father and bitterly regrets killing him. For Ben, his father was emblematic of the human fragility and weakness that was keeping him from fulfilling his long-promised destiny as the last Skywalker.

Snoke’s hubris meets a deliciously satisfying end when he pays the price for it with his murder. Snoke considers Kylo Ren his instrument, and his close control of his mind means he is arrogant enough to believe in his apprentice’s total loyalty. He considers Rey and Kylo his playthings, claiming authorship of the Force connection between Rey and Kylo in a move that clearly shocks and angers them both. The Force bond had facilitated intensely private and intimate moments between them, resulting in blossoming feelings of tenderness and trust, and to be told that it was merely an instrument of Snoke’s is clearly a violation that Rey and Kylo both reject. Regardless of how the bond came about, the feelings that emerged through it were palpably genuine.

Snoke’s vanity means he cannot conceive of the possibility that Kylo may have surpassed him, and he seems to enter into a state of near-sexual ecstasy as he dives into Kylo’s mind and experiences his murderous mental calculations. Snoke takes pleasure in the prospect of Rey’s murder at Kylo’s hand, considering the annihilation of the light counterpart to his dark apprentice the ultimate display of loyalty. The great and glorious irony, of course, is that the murder he is taking such delight in is actually his own:

You think you can turn him? Pathetic child. I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten. I see his mind, I see his every intent. Yes. I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child, he ignites it, and kills his true enemy!

Snoke pays the ultimate price for his hubris with his death, but Kylo Ren cannot escape from the vision of himself he has had built up in his mind for decades. He continues to envisage himself as a subject of fate and destiny - he may have been cut loose from Snoke, but he has not cut himself loose from the chains of his own past. One of Kylo’s many tragedies is that he urges Rey to “let the past die” without achieving this himself - he continues to believe in the myth of the “mighty Skywalker blood”, and this arrogance means it feels natural to him to claim his place as the ruler of the galaxy. The only real complication to his destiny is his intense feelings for Rey - a “nothing” child born to wastrel parents who abandoned her. She had no legends or prophecies preceding her, and has no pre-ordained place in the story as Kylo Ren does. Kylo’s passion for her, his overwhelming feelings of love and tenderness, means he likely perceives her as the Padme to his Anakin - the love that he has always lacked and has only just realised how much he longed for. In his hubris and short-sightedness, Kylo cannot recognise that this vision of the Skywalker destiny ended in tragedy before and will surely end in tragedy again. Padme was heartbroken and appalled by Anakin’s ambition, and Rey is similarly repelled by Kylo’s choice. Only at the very end of the film, when he has to look up upon Rey as she closes the door of his father’s beloved ship in his face, does the emptiness of the Skywalker myth truly strike him. Kylo fulfilled Anakin Skywalker’s dream of ruling the galaxy, finishing what he started, but is crippled by the knowledge that he will do so alone. At the end of the film, he is finally left to carve his own path for the first time with no scripted destiny to guide him - but what should have been a triumph is yet another tragedy.

While Kylo absorbs and is further wounded by his masters’ hubris, Luke ultimately learns from his own mistakes. I would argue that a key aspect of his redemption arc is that he learns from his hubris and moves forward with a new perspective founded on hope and openness. Luke condemns the Jedi for restricting ownership of the Force, and clearly considers the Skywalkers themselves a great evil - he includes himself in this estimation, having exiled himself to Ahch-To to die. Luke performs a sharp turn away from hubris by losing confidence and exhibiting no pride in his bloodline at all, which makes his journey throughout the film - which sees him recover hope for the future of the Jedi through his interactions with Rey - remarkably powerful. At first he’s frightened by Rey’s connection with Kylo, entering into an explosive rage in an attempt to drive the two young people apart. He pleads with Rey not to give into her visions of Ben Solo returning to the light, and briefly feels helpless upon witnessing her departure in the Falcon. But Yoda reminds Luke of the importance of allowing failure, and gives Luke the resolve he needs to trust that Rey will make the right choice when the moment comes. Rey’s faith and goodness must remind Luke of his own actions - rushing off to save his friends despite his master’s warning, insisting on the possibility of bringing his father back despite everyone else’s lack of faith - as a young man, and he clearly sees in her the hope that he once embodied. He is inspired by this and is given a new sense of inner peace and comfort. Rey’s hope gives him hope in turn, and allows him to achieve the peace and calm that we can presume had eluded him since Ben Solo’s turn. When Luke appears on Crait, he is a finely tooled instrument of the Light side, with his resolve and determination showing up Kylo’s chaotic and unfinished state. He has regained hope and confidence, telling his sister that “no one is ever truly lost” even as he admits that neither of them will be able to bring Ben Solo back.

Hope for the future no longer lies in the older generation or the mythic blood that runs through their veins - it is instead embodied by Rey, and all the others like her who continue to struggle for what is right in the face of darkness and adversity. If Kylo is to escape his own past and break free from the poisonous Skywalker destiny, then he will have to learn the hardest lesson of them all for a man who was raised on the myth of his own inevitable greatness - humility.

#the last jedi #snoke #luke skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #supreme leader snoke #reylo #rey #sw meta #meta #long post #analysis #star wars analysis #tlj spoilers #spoilers #spoiler warning

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tomeandflickcorner · 6 years

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Star Wars: Episode Two- Attack of the Clones

And the prequel trilogy continues, and so does my ongoing Star Wars Reviews. The plot thickens (with some rather confusing elements) and an unfortunate romance subplot is initiated.

It’s been ten years since the events of Phantom Menace. And right away, we’re told a bit about Naboo politics. Turns out, even though Padmé was called Queen Amidala, it wasn’t actually a traditional monarchy. The person they call queen is actually elected for the position, with a new election being held every few years. In other words, they call her Queen, but the position is more like President or Prime Minister. Which is interesting, but slightly problematic. Because Padmé was 14 years old in the first movie. And she later states that she wasn’t the youngest person elected to be Queen of Naboo. What kind of governmental system is this, that you place a child in a position of authority?

Either way, Padmé is now the Senator of Naboo, as the previous Naboo Senator, Palpitine, became Supreme Chancellor of the Senate in the last movie. But there’s a new problem on the horizon. Lately, a bunch of planetary systems have expressed a desire to secede from the Galactic Republic. These Separatists are led by a man called Count Dooku. Because the Jedi are finding it difficult to resolve the issue on their own, the Senate is planning to vote on whether or not they should form an Army of the Republic to aid the Jedi.

As the movie opens, we see Senator Padmé has journeyed to Coruscant to attend the Senate meeting that will discuss the matter. She is against the creation of an army, as she feels that doing so will be declaration of war against the Separatists, which would only drive them further away from the Republic, and believes there should be a peaceful resolution to the conflict. But when her ship lands, a bomb explodes, mortally wounding everyone as they exited the craft. It turns out, however, that Padmé is still utilizing her old tactic of employing her bodyguards to act as decoys, and the woman who was caught in the explosion was one of those decoys. To her credit, Padmé is visibly grieved by the death of her friend who bravely risked her life and died for her, but her remaining entourage convinces her to get to safety.

So now that they know that there’s an assassin plotting to kill Padmé, Palpatine suggests that Padmé seek protection from members of the Jedi order. The problem is, the Jedi Council have their hands full with helping maintain peace within the Republic by doing what they can to keep the Separatist planets from seceding. Besides, Padmé is not interested in receiving more guards, as she doesn’t feel more security is necessary. Palpatine disagrees with her on that count and, in what I guess was an effort to compromise, suggests that Padmé seek protection from someone she already knows. Namely Obi-Wan and Anakin, who have apparently just returned to the area after dealing with a border dispute on Ansion. Padmé is still not happy about the matter, but she ultimately concedes to Palpatine’s suggestion.

As such, Obi-Wan and Anakin, who is now 19-years-old, are summoned to Coruscant to protect Padmé. Right away, Anakin admits he’s still got his strange fascination with Padmé. Even though they hadn’t seen or even contacted one another in a decade, and when they parted ways, they had only known each other for three or four days. Obi-Wan responds to this by instructing Anakin to control his feelings. This is obviously easier said than done, which becomes obvious when they meet with Padmé, who is accompanied by Jar Jar, who I guess has become a vice-senator of sorts to Padmé in the past ten years, acting as a representative for the Gungans, and Captain Typho, who pretty much fills the role Captain Panaka did in the first movie. See, Obi-Wan and Anakin were simply tasked with protecting Padmé in case the assassin made another attempt on her life. But Anakin starts running off at the mouth, announcing that they will do more and actually find out the identity of the assassin. Obi Wan sternly instructs Anakin to not make any attempt at acting outside their mandate. And it’s here that Anakin begins to become a bit unlikable. He starts becoming openly defiant towards Obi-Wan, directly asking him why he has to listen to him. Gee, I don’t know, Anakin. Maybe because he’s the Jedi Master who’s been charged with training you!? But the thing that really makes me raise an eyebrow at his behavior in this scene is that he’s acting out right in front of Padmé, Jar Jar and Captain Typho. While I realize there were scenes in Phantom Menace that showed Obi-Wan questioning Qui-Gon’s decisions, he at least had the decency to do this in private. He never openly acted like that in front of other people. Thankfully, after a bit of awkwardness, Obi-Wan manages to get Anakin to curb his attitude, instructing him to remember his place.

When night falls, Padmé heads off to bed while Obi-Wan, Anakin and Captain Typho’s squad stand guard. As they’re standing around, it’s established that Anakin has been plagued by nightmares about his mother. Whom he hasn’t seen since he left Tatooine with Qui-Gon. Okay, I get that the whole Jedi mandate states you have to let go of your past and all, but… you’re telling me that Anakin was not allowed to visit his mother at any point during the past ten years? I’m sure that all of Anakin’s Jedi training and duties were vitally important, but come on. Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council could have allowed him to his mother once in a while.

Of course, Anakin then returns his focus back to Padmé and his obsessive crush on her, which leads to Obi-Wan instructing Anakin to keep in mind that Padmé is a politician, and therefore can’t be trusted. However, Anakin disagrees with Obi-Wan’s general statement, as he isn’t interested in hearing anything negative being said about his long-lost 3 day crush. To back up his argument that not all politicians are corrupt, he points out how Palpitine seems like an upstanding man. (Oh, the irony). This conversation is eventually halted on the dime, as both Jedi instantly sense something amiss in Padmé’s bedchamber. Because the assassin had utilized a drone to slice a hole into Padmé’s bedroom window and release two venomous slug-like creatures into the room. Obi-Wan and Anakin charge in, killing the slugs before they can bite Padmé, and, upon seeing the drone that released the slugs, Obi-Wan launches himself out the window, tagging a ride onto the drone. Because I guess he thinks that doing so would lead him to the assassin.

This leads to this prolonged speeder chase through the futuristic city of Coruscant, with Anakin and Obi-Wan pursuing the assassin. They eventually catch up to her in some bar (where we not only get an ironic bit of foreshadowing with Obi-Wan stating that Anakin will be the death of him but this really funny bit about death sticks, a type of drug that exists in this universe, as well.) After apprehending the assassin, Obi-Wan and Anakin take her outside to question her. The assassin admits that she had been hired to kill Padmé by a bounty hunter. But before they could get her to state the bounty hunter’s name, the assassin is struck by a poisonous dart that kills her almost instantly. The two Jedi look up to see who fired the dart, only to see the bounty hunter in question flying off.

Here, the story splits off into two separate narratives. Obi-Wan takes on the task of identifying the origin of the dart that killed the assassin, which in turn might help them identify the bounty hunter that ordered the hit on Padmé. And the Jedi Council instruct Anakin to escort Padmé back to Naboo for her own safety. Yes, because that’s a brilliant idea. Let’s send the hormonal teenager off to be alone with the young woman he’s been crushing on. I’m sure nothing bad could possibly happen there. While Obi-Wan does tell Yoda and Mace Windu, the two leaders of the Jedi Council, that he has his doubts that Anakin is ready to go on a mission on his own, the decision still stands. As for Padmé, she is not at all pleased by the fact that she’s being sent back to Naboo. She’s worked too hard to try and put an end to the possibility that they’d create an Army of the Republic in response to the Separatist movement for her to not be there when the decision is made. But she realizes she’s not being given much of a say in the matter, so she relents, albeit reluctantly, and instructs Jar Jar to stand in for her in the Senate.

In the Obi-Wan subplot, he ends up meeting up with an old friend of his named Dex, who works at a local diner. We’re not given any context or explanation as to how Obi-Wan and Dex met, but it sounds like Dex once worked as a prospector on some other planet. Obi-Wan arranged this meeting because, when he had the poison dart tested by a team of Analysis Droids, he was told that the dart’s markings could not be identified, and that it was probably custom-made by a warrior from no known society. As Obi-Wan had hoped, Dex is able to identify the origin of the poison dart, announcing that it was most likely made by a group of cloners on a planet called Kamino. It’s briefly stated that the reason why the Analysis Droids couldn’t identify the dart was because they only look at symbols and therefore overlook the tell-tale cuts etched into the dart. (Obi-Wan also makes a comment about droids not being able to think. Which sounds a bit iffy, to me. Is Obi-Wan racist against Droids?)

However, when Obi-Wan returns to the Jedi temple to search through the archives, he cannot locate any information about the planetary system of Kamino. And when he examines the star charts, the coordinates Dex gave him show nothing but empty space. When he checks with the Jedi Librarian, she confidently tells him that if Kamino doesn’t show up in the Jedi archives, then it does not exist. It isn’t until Obi-Wan confers with Yoda, who is currently overseeing a lightsaber training sequence with a group of Jedi toddlers, that someone points out the obvious- that if Kamino does not show up in the archives, it means that someone purposely erased it from the star charts. (Kinda weird how they needed a toddler to point that out to them.) However, this explanation only deepens the mystery, as only someone from the Jedi order could have gotten enough access to the Jedi archives in order to erase the files on Kamino.

With Anakin and Padmé’s subplot, things are a little less interesting. It’s mostly just them exchanging dialogue, with topics ranging from Padmé’s childhood on Naboo to Anakin’s nightmares about his mother, how Anakin feels like Obi-Wan doesn’t have enough faith in him, etc. But, as one would predict, it gets to the point when Anakin starts to act on his attraction to Padmé. It starts with him kissing her, and eventually he starts declaring that he’s in love with Padmé and he’s hoping that she feels the same way.

Now I’m really sorry to go off on a tangent, but I really can’t stomach the whole Anakin/Padmé romantic subplot they created in this movie. Let’s think about it here. When Anakin and Padmé met, they were nine and fourteen respectively. And the cumulative amount of time they spent together was five days at the most. After that point, Anakin went off to train as a Jedi and Padmé stayed behind on Naboo, and they had no form of contact of any sort for ten years. And here’s Anakin, deciding that he’s completely in love with her. You can’t tell me this sounds even remotely like a healthy relationship. Especially considering the fact that, since Anakin is 19 now, Padmé is 24. That alone is probably a bit squicky. I realize that it’s only a five year age gap, but generally speaking, 19-year-olds aren’t as mentally mature as a 24-year-old.

Even if you could ignore the age thing, I pretty much have the same problem with Anakin/Padmé that I did with Christine/Raul in Phantom of the Opera. For those who aren’t familiar with that story, here’s a quick summation. Christine and Raul are childhood friends, but then their paths diverge and they don’t see each other for 10-15 years. When they do meet again, Raul invites Christine to supper, but she says ‘no, things have changed.’ And then Christine seems to fall in love with the Phantom. After that, Christine and Raul don’t talk or even interact with each other until the Phantom kills Joseph Buquet and Christine needs a shoulder to cry on. At that point, Raul is all ‘Christine, I love you!’ And I’m left wondering where that even came from!

To be fair, in the case of Anakin and Padmé, at least the movie actually shows them talking and interacting with each other. But even then, I have a problem with it. For starters, it’s the fact that Anakin has probably rarely interacted with a young girl other than Padmé. So his attraction to her seems more like an obsessive crush than real love, especially when he virtually starts to demand that she tell him if she feels the same way.

While Padmé does hold her ground by informing him that them forming a relationship wouldn’t be possible, as she’s a senator and he made an oath to uphold the Jedi code which forbids him to form romantic attachments, she still seems to be falling for him in turn. And I have no idea why she would like him in that way. Because Anakin seems very unlikable most of the time. For example, let’s look at the scene when Padmé is discussing the issue of the Separatist movement with Queen Jamilla (the new Queen of Naboo). When the subject turns to Padmé’s safety, he starts acting a bit high and mighty when Padmé begins to explain what her plan will be, stating that he’s the one in charge. Granted Padmé might have been a bit out of line when she talked over him by correcting Queen Jamillia’s attendant’s assumption that Anakin was a full-fledged Jedi, but even so. But the biggest red flag comes when they’re having a picnic of sorts while they’re off in the Lake Country, a remote area of Naboo, where they start discussing the political system and how it works. Anakin practically states that it might be better for the Republic to become a dictatorship instead of a democracy. Padmé seems to dismiss his comment as if it were a joke, but… is that really something to joke about?

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan has found his way to Kamino to continue his investigation. Upon his arrival, he is surprised to find that he was expected, with Lama Su, the Prime Minister of Kamino, giving him a warm welcome. It turns out that, ten years ago, around the time of the last movie, a Jedi calling himself Sifo-Dyas had come to the planet and placed an order for a Clone Army to be used by the Republic. Even though he is able to school his expression, it’s clear that this new information has floored Obi-Wan, as the Jedi Council had no knowledge of any of this. And Sifo-Dyas had reportedly been killed long before the Clone Army had been ordered. When Obi-Wan questions Lama Su, it’s revealed that the Clone Army had been cloned from a bounty hunter called Jango Fett. This obviously catches Obi-Wan’s attention, because he had been looking for a bounty hunter. He asks if he could meet with Jango Fett himself. When he’s brought to Jango’s room, they are greeted by Boba, Jango’s son. Or rather, Jango’s own personal mini-me. See, in addition to his sizable fee for being the original host of the Clone Army, Jango had requested one additional clone. One that would not be subjected to the same genetic modification that the other clones went through to make them completely obedient soldiers and would also age at a natural rate. That separate clone ended up being Boba, who Jango kept as a son.

Obi-Wan proceeds to ask Jango some questions. Has he been to Coruscant recently? And does he know Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas? Jango responds to Obi-Wan’s questioning as casually as possible, stating that he never heard of Sifo-Dyas and that he was recruited by someone called Tyranus. But it’s clear that the two are sizing each other up. Obi-Wan leaves the moment he’s done questioning Jango, but Jango seems to suspect that Obi-Wan is suspicious of him, for he immediately tells Boba that they’re leaving, instructing his son to pack his things.

Before leaving the planet, Obi-Wan contacts Yoda and Mace Windu back on Coruscant, informing them of his discovery, along with his suspicion that Jango Fett is the same bounty hunter that ordered the hit on Padmé. The two elder Jedi instruct Obi-Wan to bring Jango Fett to them for further questioning. But before Obi-Wan could do anything, Jango Fett appears in his full bounty hunter armor, attacking him on the spot. After a brief battle, Jango Fett and Boba attempt to get away, flying away from Kamino. However, Obi-Wan manages to track them down. Despite Jango’s best efforts at shooting Obi-Wan down upon realizing that he’s being followed, Obi-Wan is able to tail the two to a planet called Geonosis. This planet turns out to be the home base of the Separatists. Which include Nute Gunray and the Trade Federation, who are still in active service despite Palpatine and the Senate’s attempt to shut them down. While investigating, Obi-Wan discovers that the Separatists, with the assistance of the Trade Federation, are building a Droid Army. One so large that it will effortlessly overpower the Jedi and force the Republic to submit to their demands.

Upon learning this, Obi-Wan realizes he must warn the Jedi Counsil and the Senate. But since his long-range transmitter was damaged by Jango Fett, he cannot relay a message directly to Coruscant. So he decides to send the message over to Anakin, with the instructions that Anakin pass the message on. But as he’s sending the message, Obi-Wan is discovered by the Separatists and is captured.

While in the custody of the Separatists, Obi-Wan is approached by Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists. Count Dooku was the one who had oversaw the creation of the Clone Army, going under the alias of Darth Tyranus. It turns out that Dooku was once the Jedi who had taught Obi-Wan’s late master, Qui-Gon. But Dooku and left the Jedi order because he lost faith in the Republic. Since then, he had been taking orders from Darth Sidious, the same Sith Lord who had organized the invasion of Naboo.

Qui-Gon is a large topic in Obi-Wan and Dooku’s confrontation. Obi-Wan, in response to Dooku’s statements that he wished the fallen Jedi was still around as he could have used his help, states that Qui-Gon would never have sided with the Separatists over the Republic and the Senate. But Dooku tells Obi-Wan that he shouldn’t be so sure on that, stating that, unbeknownst to the Jedi Council, the Republic was actually under the control of the Sith. He goes on to inform Obi-Wan of the existence of Darth Sidious, explaining how the Sith Lord had aided the Trade Federation during the Invasion of Naboo but had then betrayed them. That had led to the members of the Trade Federation seeking Dooku out. Obi-Wan, however, doesn’t seem to believe Dooku’s claims of the Senate being controlled by Darth Sidious and announces he refuses to join Dooku. Upon learning that Obi-Wan is unwilling to aid the Separatist movement, Dooku pretty much announces that he won’t make an attempt to free him.

Now, I’m a bit confused here, to be honest. Dooku states that he knows Darth Sidious was behind the invasion of Naboo, but he ultimately double crossed the Trade Federation, which led to them seeking his help. But Dooku is also shown to be taking orders from Dath Sidious, and has become his new apprentice, taking Darth Maul’s place. But… if he knew Darth Sidious had simply used the Trade Federation as pawns, why would Dooku ally himself with the Sith Lord? And why would he intentionally have the Clone Army manufactured to aid the Republic, knowing that they would be used to fight the Separatists that he is the leader of? What exactly does Dooku think the plan is here? (Granted, I think I know what Darth Sidious’ master plan is, but what does Dooku think it is?)

While all of this was going on, Anakin had found his nightmares involving his mother were getting worse. This leads to him suspecting something was very wrong. So, even though doing so is violating his orders to remain on Naboo with Padmé, he decides to journey back to Tatooine. Padmé, understanding how important this is for him, agrees to go with him. When they arrive on Tatooine, they head over to Watto’s place. Obviously, Watto doesn’t recognize the older Anakin. Until Anakin effortlessly fixes the machine Watto was trying to repair. Once he does recognize the young Jedi in front of him as the little boy he once knew, Watto is clearly pleased to see him. Admittedly, I rather like this scene. While Watto did keep Anakin as a slave, this scene made me think that he did have a certain level of affection for the boy. However, when Anakin asks about Shmi, Watto admits that he’d sold her to a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars a few years ago. He goes on to inform Anakin that Cligg had eventually fallen in love with Shmi and proceeded to free and marry her. So Anakin and Padmé make their way over to the Lars household, where they are greeted by Cliegg’s son, Owen, and his girlfriend, Beru. They also are reunited with C-3PO, the Protocol Droid Anakin had been building before he’d left Tatooine with Qui-Gon in the last movie. C-3PO has pretty much been completed since then. When Anakin left Tatooine, he’d pretty much just been an exoskeleton. But now, someone had completed him by adding coverings. I wonder who it was who finished building 3PO, because it’s never stated.

Unfortunately, Cleigg, Owen and Beru have bad news for Anakin. A month earlier, Shmi had been out gathering mushrooms when the Tuskin Raiders had attacked and abducted her. Why they would abduct a random woman, I have no idea. Cleigg and the other moisture farmers had attempted a rescue, but most of them ended up dying in the attempt, with Cleigg losing a leg. Naturally, they weren’t able to organize a second rescue attempt, and as time went on, even Cleigg gave up hope, believing Shmi was most likely dead. Anakin, however, refuses to accept this and heads off on his own to find his mother. After a long search, he locates the Tuskin Raider settlement and quickly finds a badly injured Shmi tied up inside one of the huts. Anakin tries to untie his mother, but it’s too late, as she only has enough strength to look at her son one last time before succumbing to her injuries. Anakin’s grief of seeing his mother dying quickly shifts to utter rage, and he retaliates by turning his lightsaber on the Tuskin Raiders, massacring every single one of them. Anakin’s rage is so great, Yoda is able to sense it from across the galaxy.

Anakin brings his mother’s body back to the Lars homestead, where she is given a proper burial. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Padmé tries to console Anakin, who is still angry over the situation. He starts to announce that he feels that he could have been able to save her if he’d only been stronger and vows that he’ll one day become the most powerful Jedi ever, even strong enough to prevent people from dying. He even stats placing the blame on Obi-Wan, accusing his mentor of purposely keeping him from reaching his full potential out of jealousy. Now, I acknowledge that Anakin is obviously grieving and needs time to reach the final stage of acceptance. But I don’t think Padmé was much help here. Because I think she really should have done a better attempt at gently counseling him through his grieving by telling him that, while his mother’s death was a terrible tragedy, death was simply a part of the natural order of all things, and that preventing it was inadvisable. Then again, I suppose Padmé can’t be expected to be a therapist.

However, this is when the warning bells really start going off. Anakin announces that he killed everyone in the Tuskin Raider settlement. Including the women and children. I really don’t get how Padmé wasn’t alarmed by the fact that Anakin admitted to committing genocide without any ounce of remorse. I’m no expert, but that’s really not the kind of behavior befitting of a Jedi. Or anyone else, for that matter.

But there’s no time to dwell on this, because this is when R2-D2, who had been tagging along with Anakin and Padmé, rolls up, telling them of Obi-Wan’s message. Anakin heeds Obi-Wan’s request by sending the transmission on to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. But Padmé decides that they should also head off to rescue Obi-Wan, since they’re much closer to Geonosis. Anakin, doing the right thing for once, points out that he was instructed by Obi-Wan to stay put. But Padmé counters this by reminding him that he was tasked to protect her. Since she is going to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan, he’ll have to with her if he’s to uphold his duties as her protector.

So off they go to Geonosis. And when they arrive, we do get a rather tense sequence when Separatists Droids attack the pair in the middle of a Droid manufacturing factory. After that scene goes on for a while, Anakin and Padmé are also captured. The Separatists, while being egged on by Nute Gunrey, end up sentencing the two to death, and they’re both taken into a giant arena to be executed by means of large alien beasts: a mantis-like Acklay, a rhino-like Reek and a cat-like Nexu. (On a side note, I adore the design of the Nexu. I’d love to have one as a pet.) But before being taken into the arena for their execution, Padmé confesses her love to Anakin and the two kiss. Still don’t know what Padmé saw in him, though.

Upon being taken into the arena, they are reunited with Obi-Wan, who is to be executed alongside them. Before the three alien beast that are to kill them can reach them, however, they all manage to break free and start taking on one of the beasts. Obi-Wan battles the Acklay, Anakin, after a moment, manages to tame the Reek with the Force, and Padmé faces off against the Nexu, until Anakin and his Reek come to her aid.

And that’s when Mace Windu and the other Jedi appear on the scene, having had arrived off-camera. They had received Obi-Wan’s message and acted accordingly. An entire fight scene erupts. During the fight, Mace Windu ends up facing off against Jango Fett. This battle ultimately ends with Jango getting his head chopped off by Mace Windu’s lightsaber, with Young Boba Fett watching from the shadows. (We later see Young Boba Fett claiming his dead father’s helmet.) Also, we get an on-going attempt at slapstick humor with C-3PO. During the scene in the Droid manufacturing factory, 3PO had inadvertently fallen into the works, thanks in part to R2-D2 pushing him off a platform. During this battle scene, the whole thing continues, with 3PO’s head affixed to the body of a Soldier Droid, and vice-versa. There’s no real point to this, other than to show how utterly useless 3PO is. (I’m sorry, but outside of Return of the Jedi, does 3P0 ever contribute anything worthwhile to these movies?)

Eventually, however, the Jedi find themselves outnumbered by the Separatist’s Droid Army. But before they can be gunned down, Yoda appears out of nowhere, accompanied by the Clone Army from Kamino. Yoda and the Clones are able to help Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padmé and the surviving Jedi escape. But the fight is not over yet, and the Separatists and Clones continue their battle outside the Separatist’s stronghold. After a long battle scene, the Separatists decide to evacuate their base. But before they do so, they gather up blueprints for….a familiar looking space station, stating that they can’t let the Republic see what they’re planning to build.

Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padmé, however set their sights on Count Dooku. As they’re making their way to catch up to Count Dooku, Padmé ends up falling from the helicopter-like craft. (She’s okay, of course.) Anakin’s first instinct is to go back for her, but Obi-Wan eventually gets him to relent, reminding him of the matter at hand- they have a duty to stop Dooku.

They eventually catch up to Dooku and Anakin, headstrong as ever, charges in blindly. To nobody’s surprise, Dooku tosses him aside effortlessly, utilizing Force Lightning. This leads to a lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan and Dooku. But Dooku manages to even overwhelm Obi-Wan. Before Dooku can finish him off, Anakin, having gotten his second wind, comes back for a rematch, using both his and Obi-Wan’s lightsabers. During this fight, Anakin not only gets his lightsaber destroyed, but gets his hand chopped off. So now, both Anakin and Obi-Wan have been defeated. But before Dooku can do anything, Yoda suddenly appears on the scene. Here, it’s revealed that, much like Qui-Gon was Dooku’s apprentice, Dooku was once Yoda’s apprentice.

And it’s Master vs. Apprentice. They quickly decide that their fight won’t go anywhere if they simply rely on their mastery of the Force, as they’re pretty evenly matched in that regard. So they engage in a lightsaber duel. And it is awesome. Not to mention helps ensure Yoda’s place as my all-time favorite Star Wars character. While I suppose you might end up questioning why Yoda bothers with that cane of his if he can move like that during a lightsaber battle, I think it makes sense. The cane might be there as a reminder that you shouldn’t judge someone on outward appearance. It might be Yoda’s way of playing on the expectations of others. That or he can only go without the cane for short periods of time. There are people who can walk for short distances but still need wheelchairs because they can’t be on their feet for an extended period of time.

In the end, however, Dooku resorts to an underhanded method, causing a heavy pipe to fall towards Obi-Wan and Anakin. Yoda is forced to redirect his attention into stopping the pipe from crushing the two, but this enables Dooku to get away. So Yoda is left alone with Obi-Wan an Anakin, with Padmé and one of the Clone Soldiers arriving on the scene shortly afterwards. The Clone Soldier informs Yoda that the Clone Army has won the battle against the Separatists.

In the aftermath of the battle of Geonosis, the people of the Republic prepare for war with the Separatists. The Senate had been informed of the Droid Army the Separatists were forming and, in response, decided to award emergency powers to Palpatine, at Jar Jar’s suggestion, which allowed Palpatine to approve the use of the Clone Army against the Separatists. (There was an earlier scene when Palpatine pretty much coerced Jar Jar into thinking it was a good idea.) The situation is clearly devastating to Yoda, who announces that the Clone War has officially begun.

Meanwhile, Anakin, whose missing hand has been replaced with a mechanical one, has escorted Padmé back to her home on Naboo. Before he returns to Coruscant, however, they have a secret wedding ceremony, with R2 and 3PO as their only witnesses. Because they’ve apparently forgotten about Padmé’s earlier statement that it would be a bad idea for them to enter into a secret relationship. I guess their near-death experience on Geonosis made them rethink things a bit. Either way, I still don’t see why we’re supposed to be rooting for this particular couple.

Next week, we’ll be looking at the 2008 movie, Clone Wars. Which is a movie I haven’t seen before starting this particular project. Here’s hoping it’s good.

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#star wars #star wars review #attack of the clones #star wars franchise #star wars: attack of the clones

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ariainstars · 4 years

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Love and War: Politics and Spirituality in Star Wars

As I followed the Star Wars saga closely last year, I couldn’t help noticing that its central theme is not Good against Evil, but Love against War.

More precisely, it seems like a long parable about a mind at war: the galaxy far, far away keeps struggling with different powers which, until now, never were balanced by a common ideology.

The Jedi: We Have No Personal Agenda (…do we?)

As we get to know the Jedi in the prequels, we can’t be but disappointed. The supposed keepers of peace, guardians of the Force, seem a bunch of elderly, stuck-up guys who are wary of anything coming from the outside. Their meetings take place in a place which even looks like an ivory tower.

We witness the first conflict in the saga in The Phantom Menace, which absurdly is kicked off by two weird-looking guys who seem interested in nothing but their economic power.

The irony is that in their own way, the Jedi do not seem more open-minded than them; though not interested in wealth, they do only think of themselves - of the status their rank as Jedi gives them. They are so convinced of being the “good guys” that they will not lift a finger to end a raging conflict, and they don’t care what will become of a weirdly powerful nine-year-old boy who just lost his only living relative, his past and the only home he ever knew.

It is Padmé, who is not a Jedi and has no power in the Force, who takes matters in their own hands, to the point where she falls on her knees before the Gungans asking them for their assistance..

I have repeatedly heard the Star Wars prequels being criticized due to the seeming lack of agenda of the protagonists. Which is right - they basically haven’t. The only agenda everybody seems to have is to keep things the way they are so that their personal, comfortable situation won’t change.

But the truth is that they are not aware of the power pulling at them: there is someone who is the mastermind behind all that happens during Anakin’s youth, and we can assume that he was at work even before the boy stepped onto the stage.

It is Senator Palpatine who convinces the Queen of Naboo to plead for a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum, which in the end leaves Palpatine himself in charge. It is he, again, who makes JarJar convince the Senate to give him emergency powers due to the surge of the Separatists.

Palpatine is repeatedly shown as being Evil incarnate. Absolute power is his ultimate goal. For him, it is all or nothing. There is nothing human about him, ever, as good as he is as posing as a mellifluous politician who only has the best ends in mind.

And on top of it, Palpatine makes it appear as if he only has the purest motives, leaving the dirty work to others: Anakin marches into the Jedi temple killing everyone…

…Obi-Wan cripples Anakin mercilessly, which gives Palpatine the chance to strap him into the armor and mask that he will hence need in order to survive at all.

The End of Everything We Loved

The name “Devil” means “separator”. Palpatine’s influence leads to separate all people who ought to belong together: friends…

…husband and wife…

…brothers and sisters. When they first meet, Luke and Leia don’t realize for a long time that they are, actually, siblings.

Vader doesn’t recognize his own daughter…

…nor his son: during the trench run we hear him say “The Force is strong with that one.”

The Jedi’s failure

Enter Anakin, someone with huge personal agendas. Anakin has known slavery, the pain of separation from his mother, the helplessness having to watch her die, the fear of losing wife and unborn child in a similar way.

Does that make him an evil person? We see Anakin struggle against his fears and his violence for years. His deepest impulse is to use his enormous strength in order to protect others, but he isn’t allowed to. He can only be active if the Jedi order him to, which leads among other things to the absurd situation of having to save Palpatine, i.e. evil incarnate, risking his own and his master Obi-Wan’s life; while he was supposed to toughen it out when his own mother, a woman who probably never harmed anyone in her life, was tortured to death.

Instinctively, Anakin’s heart always told him who needed his help. But this generosity and protectiveness never was appreciated by the Jedi, to whom “the Code” came first of all.

But what is the Jedi code, looking at it, if not a strategy to detach themselves from the world?

No families of their own.

No possessions.

No close attachments.

How is anyone supposed to still see if someone is in pain, when he was trained from early childhood on to live in a metaphorical ivory tower?

Though not actually evil-minded (they assuredly do not want power or promote terror), the Jedi are in constant denial of the truth around them. They witness Palpatine’s ascent over and over and never realize that the most powerful Sith Lord of all is sitting a few meters away from them.

Because to the Jedi, “what can’t be doesn’t exist”. Palpatine may be a Sith, but officially, belongs to the Jedi. Count Dooku even warns Obi-Wan; the Jedi proves his denial again with his words “Impossible. The Jedi would have sensed it.”

So, not wanting it but also not knowing what they were doing, the Jedi enhance the conflict. And the Skywalker family, whose founder had been fathered by the Force itself, is torn and kept apart from both Jedi and Sith.

Now we could argue: who would want to cooperate with the Sith, to have them as part of a balance, if they are evil and never do any good?

Do they, and do the Jedi only do good and virtuous deeds?

Obi-Wan told Luke an outright lie pretending that Vader had been Anakin’s killer; convinced that it could end only if the son killed the father.

The supposedly evil Lord Vader is the one who finally tells the truth: he proclaims to be Luke’s father, which also unveils his old master’s lie. Luke is traumatized because the truth is the opposite of what he believed. Until this very moment he was in denial, convinced that he was dealing with his father’s killer; Vader had literally to cut off his son’s hand in order to create a dramatic pause which finally allowed him to say what he wanted to: the truth.

To believe that a deed like patricide could be a positive thing only enhances the absurdity of the situation and the depth of the Jedi’s denial. As Luke confronts Obi-Wan with his manipulation, the Jedi still does not take responsibility, beyond his grave.

The Mistake: Making Things About Oneself

So, we have seen that Evil is not always wrong and Good not always right. They are strangely connected by one common, capital fault: making things about themselves.

But we repeatedly meet people who are mature enough not to make things about themselves: Padmé, Shmi, Senator Organa, (dare I say it? even JarJar), Owen and Beru.

Luke’s meeting with Vader on Bespine is pivotal because confronted with the words “You are not a Jedi yet” Luke draws his weapon first, proving Vader right. He hates the man in whom he still sees his father’s killer. It is this hatred which could have pushed him to the Dark Side. Though unknowingly and acting out of possessiveness, Vader pushed his son away from the Dark Side by saying the truth and thus crushing Luke’s hatred for him.

Much later, as he tries to save his friends, we see that Luke has learned his lesson: he tries to convince Jabba diplomatically and draws his weapon only at the last moment.

Terrified that Vader and Palpatine might be after his sister, Luke lashes out one last time. Only when he sees his father’s robotic hand he realizes the trap he was about to fall into.

Forgiveness and love bring Vader down. Compassion has won. Peace ensues, the family is united.

But many years later, we see Luke fail making things about himself again: he fears the danger his nephew could become for everything he loves.

His moment of panic pushes his nephew to the dark side. As a long-term consequence, the young man will be the murderer of the man who used to be Luke’s best friend.

Ben adopts another name and joins Snoke; war flares up and pushes itself between the members of the Skywalker family again.

Han and Leia meet after a period of separation, each bemoaning the loss of their son.

Luke, guilt-stricken, has retired to a lonely island, away from everybody.

Only shortly before his death, Luke tries to reconnect: with his sister, his brother-in-law (symbolically through the dice), the droids, his nephew. The Skywalker family is getting closer again, hinting at a future peace.

Conclusions

The absurd situation of this generation is that at the opposite ends of the conflict are two persons who despite their outward differences couldn’t be more alike. Kylo and Rey both are lost children, desperately searching for belonging and purpose. In the brief moment of their alliance against Snoke we can see that working together, Dark and Light side are indeed invincible.

So, must the Light Side win again in order to ensure peace?

The Dark Side is the human Id, which is all about oneself. Its advantage is that being straightforward, the Id can’t lie. Anakin / Vader always told the truth, as painful as it was.

The Id is aware of the fact that it needs its other half to be balanced. Hence, the “bad guys” always struggle to dominate, possess and at worst kill the “good guys”. We constantly see a powerful Dark Side user (Vader, Kylo) being at his strongest while he is chasing his Light Side counterpart (Luke, Rey).

The Light Side is the Super-Ego, the conscience, which at its extreme might push a person to give up his life for someone else. The disadvantage is its tendency to deny that it needs its other half also; to believe to be solely in the right. The Jedi (including Luke, the last and the strongest of them) often overlook vital truths: none are so blind as those who will not see.

Both Luke and Rey needed their Dark Side counterparts to confront them with the truth (“I am your father”, “Your parents are dead… filthy junk traders who sold you for drinking money”). As much as it hurts them, both need to know these truths because their false pretensions held them back from being who they truly were.

That is why “balance” is so vitally important and the only thing that can save the day and make lasting peace. Because no one can pretend that he lives solely for others (the Jedi), and no one can exist long living only by himself and for himself (the Sith). Only acknowledging one another’s positive sides and learning to cooperate, the Force users can make lasting peace in the galaxy possible. Only when a common ground is found at last, the galaxy can finally be free of the Old Republic’s stagnation, the Empire’s tyranny and the turmoil of the Rebellion.

Peace, at last, to people of good will.

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