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Star Words: Part XXIII
Aug. 14th, 2017 10:18 amI suppose most of us knew that Qui-Gon wasn't going to make it through Episode I. He obviously wasn't still around during the original trilogy, and it seemed unlikely he would survive long enough to start training Anakin when we knew that Obi-Wan took on that task instead.
So when he and Obi-Wan have this heartfelt exchange right before the final battle, we know it's leading up to their final separation. And what a poignant, bittersweet moment it becomes. Qui-Gon might only be in one movie, but his influence on Obi-Wan will affect every important choice his Padawan makes thereafter.
I appreciate how Obi-Wan initiates, how he offers an apology for his previous criticisms about Anakin. You can see it still stings him that Qui-Gon is ready to move on to another Padawan (I mean, the guy was ready to just drop Obi-Wan then and there in favor of Anakin, in front of the entire Council!) but Obi-Wan recognizes that his behavior was childish and not befitting a Jedi. And he expresses his gratitude for Qui-Gon's faith in him. Qui-Gons's response proves that he wasn't just claiming that Obi-Wan was ready for the trials so he could get him out of the way and move on to Anakin, just in case anyone was wondering. He offers Obi-Wan warm, unreserved praise.
"I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight."
This is another place where Episode I's status as a prequel makes everything so much more meaningful. Obi-Wan will be a great Jedi indeed -- and one of the very last of the old order. He will also blame himself at least partially for Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and live much of his later years in exile. He will not be the Jedi who saves the galaxy and brings Anakin back to the light, though he plays in a part in teaching the one who does. Qui-Gon's life ends in tragedy, but Obi-Wan will live through worse and worse tragedies every day, for years upon years.
And this scene will have its counterpart in Episode III, in the final exchange between Obi-Wan and his own former apprentice before everything falls into darkness. Obi-Wan, too, offers Anakin effusive praise and encouragement, but for Anakin, already tormented by nightmares of Padmé's death and the pernicious lies planted in his mind by Palpatine, it is not enough. The contrast with the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan scene makes it all the more painful.
Next time, the powerful words that will bridge two peoples and ultimately win a war...
So when he and Obi-Wan have this heartfelt exchange right before the final battle, we know it's leading up to their final separation. And what a poignant, bittersweet moment it becomes. Qui-Gon might only be in one movie, but his influence on Obi-Wan will affect every important choice his Padawan makes thereafter.
I appreciate how Obi-Wan initiates, how he offers an apology for his previous criticisms about Anakin. You can see it still stings him that Qui-Gon is ready to move on to another Padawan (I mean, the guy was ready to just drop Obi-Wan then and there in favor of Anakin, in front of the entire Council!) but Obi-Wan recognizes that his behavior was childish and not befitting a Jedi. And he expresses his gratitude for Qui-Gon's faith in him. Qui-Gons's response proves that he wasn't just claiming that Obi-Wan was ready for the trials so he could get him out of the way and move on to Anakin, just in case anyone was wondering. He offers Obi-Wan warm, unreserved praise.
"I foresee you will become a great Jedi Knight."
This is another place where Episode I's status as a prequel makes everything so much more meaningful. Obi-Wan will be a great Jedi indeed -- and one of the very last of the old order. He will also blame himself at least partially for Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and live much of his later years in exile. He will not be the Jedi who saves the galaxy and brings Anakin back to the light, though he plays in a part in teaching the one who does. Qui-Gon's life ends in tragedy, but Obi-Wan will live through worse and worse tragedies every day, for years upon years.
And this scene will have its counterpart in Episode III, in the final exchange between Obi-Wan and his own former apprentice before everything falls into darkness. Obi-Wan, too, offers Anakin effusive praise and encouragement, but for Anakin, already tormented by nightmares of Padmé's death and the pernicious lies planted in his mind by Palpatine, it is not enough. The contrast with the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan scene makes it all the more painful.
Next time, the powerful words that will bridge two peoples and ultimately win a war...
