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A Thousand Stars: Episode I, Part 42
Oct. 27th, 2022 10:47 amWith Maul defeated, Obi-Wan rushes to his master's side. Qui-Gon spends his final breath pleading for the training of the Chosen One, and the camera pulls back to leave us with this evocative image.
If it looks familiar, that's not an accident. Lucas was creating bookends with a moment in Episode VI.
I freely acknowledge that I become aware of this parallel through Mike Klimo's Ring Theory, which every Star Wars fan should read and appreciate. The saga is rife with mirroring moments like these. But why? What do they accomplish, other than striking bits of deja vu-ish symmetry?
Well, what does it say to create a visual parallel between Qui-Gon's death and Vader's? They are the start and conclusion of the overarching story of the films: Anakin's journey. Two deaths. One death marks the start of his training -- a fraught beginning, with a master who's barely done being a Padawan himself, who pledges to train Anakin largely out of grief-laden loyalty to Qui-Gon rather than any affection for a boy he hardly knows. That will change somewhat as the years pass, but it's not the greatest foundation. The second death is bittersweet, an ending but also a redemption, proof that no life has gone so horribly bad that there is not still a chance for good. Just prior to these shots, we see a Sith Lord plummet down a shaft, adding further significance to the deaths. Noble sacrifices. Anakin has finally become the Jedi Qui-Gon believed he could be. The Chosen One has, at last, brought balance.
Next, dramatic irony abounds....
If it looks familiar, that's not an accident. Lucas was creating bookends with a moment in Episode VI.
I freely acknowledge that I become aware of this parallel through Mike Klimo's Ring Theory, which every Star Wars fan should read and appreciate. The saga is rife with mirroring moments like these. But why? What do they accomplish, other than striking bits of deja vu-ish symmetry?
Well, what does it say to create a visual parallel between Qui-Gon's death and Vader's? They are the start and conclusion of the overarching story of the films: Anakin's journey. Two deaths. One death marks the start of his training -- a fraught beginning, with a master who's barely done being a Padawan himself, who pledges to train Anakin largely out of grief-laden loyalty to Qui-Gon rather than any affection for a boy he hardly knows. That will change somewhat as the years pass, but it's not the greatest foundation. The second death is bittersweet, an ending but also a redemption, proof that no life has gone so horribly bad that there is not still a chance for good. Just prior to these shots, we see a Sith Lord plummet down a shaft, adding further significance to the deaths. Noble sacrifices. Anakin has finally become the Jedi Qui-Gon believed he could be. The Chosen One has, at last, brought balance.
Next, dramatic irony abounds....
