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Star Wars fans are debating one of the franchise's most iconic fight scenes – and its biggest 'what if' moment.
Towards the end of Revenge of Sith, Anakin and Obi-Wan fight it out on Mustafar in their now-iconic lightsaber duel after Obi-Wan discovers that Anakin has turned to the dark side and pledged allegiance to Palpatine. Obi-Wan eventually wins the duel by taking the high ground, which allows him to sever Anakin's arms and leg, before he's left to burn in the lava.
But one fan on Reddit is wondering: would Anakin have fared better if he and Obi-Wan had stayed on a level playing field, so to speak?
"If it wasn't the High Ground, it would have just been something else. Obi-Wan knows Anakin's patience will wear thin and he'll slip up," someone else answered.
"The RotS novel (if I recall correctly) goes into detail about how when Obi-Wan is on the defensive, he’s channeling the Force itself," another explained. "He's the master of a defensive fighting style, drawing energy from the Living Force itself. He could battle Anakin for days while Anakin would burn through his energy reserves."
"No. The thing about this fight is that Anakin was never in the right headspace to fight Obi-Wan," someone else chimed in. "The entire time Anakin is trying to kill him, Obi-Wan is looking for an opportunity to end the battle. Anakin was unbalanced, he really never stood a chance. The high ground move was just Obi-Wan's first and best opportunity to stop him."
"On a side note this is probably the stupidest move made in a lightsaber duel by a fully trained force user," noted someone else. "I don't know what he was thinking jumping over Obi-Wan so close. He left himself completely open, you can see it very clearly if you slow down the jump."
Up next from the galaxy far, far away is Maul – Shadow Lord, which takes place after the events of Revenge of the Sith (but before A New Hope). The animated show sees the former Sith attempt to rebuild his criminal syndicate away from the Empire, where he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord arrives on Disney Plus on April 6. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other upcoming Star Wars movies and shows on the way.
