![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Star Words: Episode II, Part 27
Mar. 29th, 2018 02:55 pmThe first battle of the Clone Wars is raging, and the Republic is definitely gaining the upper hand. The Separatist leaders are fleeing. And our heroic trio is right on Count Dooku's trail.
Then he orders an attack on their transport, and Padmé is thrown to the ground.
Unsurprisingly, Anakin goes berserk. He insists that they turn right back and rescue her, never mind the crucial mission of capturing Dooku. Obi-Wan refuses. All of their argument is in the form of wild shouting over the roar of the engines. It's pretty intense. If they can stop Dooku, Obi-Wan points out, they can end the war immediately. Anakin doesn't care. If he continues to disobey direct orders, he'll be expelled from the Jedi Order. Anakin still doesn't care. He can't leave her. And then Obi-Wan hits him where it really hurts.
"What do you think Padmé would do, were she in your position?"
"She would do her duty."
I love the delivery of that last line. A pause, a bitter look, and then a grudging admittance. Padmé would do her duty. He knows that all too well. She has put duty over personal wishes every time, until they were on the very brink of death. And this harsh truth persuades him to comply as nothing else could. He's miserable, but he obeys.
Of course, he's so frantic over leaving Padmé that he lets it cloud his judgement when confronting Dooku, so he charges forward rashly, loses an arm and fails to stop the count from escaping. Whoops.
Obviously this is yet more foreshadowing about Anakin's fall. Not only does he make poor choices while fearing for Padmé's safety, giving into to fear and anger, but his concern is misdirected. Padmé is dazed but otherwise all right, recovering quickly enough to jump back into action. In Episode III, the only thing that ends up endangering Padmé is Vader's uncontrolled rage. Sob.
Note also that Obi-Wan's influence is an important factor, bringing Anakin at least temporarily back to focus on the mission at hand. One of Palpatine's most important ploys in Episode III is finding ways to separate Anakin from his old master's influence. That's not to say that Obi-Wan is solely responsible for Anakin's moral well-being, but he's definitely a crucial part of it.
A final point -- this ordeal is a nice parallel to Luke's journey in Episode V, when he charges off to Cloud City to rescue his friends only to end up thoroughly trounced and dismembered by Darth Vader, learning the hard way that fear and anger should not be his guiding emotions. Luckily, Luke is able to learn both from his own mistakes and his father's.
Next, Yoda has a little meeting with his former apprentice...
Then he orders an attack on their transport, and Padmé is thrown to the ground.
Unsurprisingly, Anakin goes berserk. He insists that they turn right back and rescue her, never mind the crucial mission of capturing Dooku. Obi-Wan refuses. All of their argument is in the form of wild shouting over the roar of the engines. It's pretty intense. If they can stop Dooku, Obi-Wan points out, they can end the war immediately. Anakin doesn't care. If he continues to disobey direct orders, he'll be expelled from the Jedi Order. Anakin still doesn't care. He can't leave her. And then Obi-Wan hits him where it really hurts.
"What do you think Padmé would do, were she in your position?"
"She would do her duty."
I love the delivery of that last line. A pause, a bitter look, and then a grudging admittance. Padmé would do her duty. He knows that all too well. She has put duty over personal wishes every time, until they were on the very brink of death. And this harsh truth persuades him to comply as nothing else could. He's miserable, but he obeys.
Of course, he's so frantic over leaving Padmé that he lets it cloud his judgement when confronting Dooku, so he charges forward rashly, loses an arm and fails to stop the count from escaping. Whoops.
Obviously this is yet more foreshadowing about Anakin's fall. Not only does he make poor choices while fearing for Padmé's safety, giving into to fear and anger, but his concern is misdirected. Padmé is dazed but otherwise all right, recovering quickly enough to jump back into action. In Episode III, the only thing that ends up endangering Padmé is Vader's uncontrolled rage. Sob.
Note also that Obi-Wan's influence is an important factor, bringing Anakin at least temporarily back to focus on the mission at hand. One of Palpatine's most important ploys in Episode III is finding ways to separate Anakin from his old master's influence. That's not to say that Obi-Wan is solely responsible for Anakin's moral well-being, but he's definitely a crucial part of it.
A final point -- this ordeal is a nice parallel to Luke's journey in Episode V, when he charges off to Cloud City to rescue his friends only to end up thoroughly trounced and dismembered by Darth Vader, learning the hard way that fear and anger should not be his guiding emotions. Luckily, Luke is able to learn both from his own mistakes and his father's.
Next, Yoda has a little meeting with his former apprentice...
