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In case it’s not obvious, I believe that Obi-Wan was the winner, because Vader never actually beat him when Obi-Wan was actively fighting back. Plus, Obi-Wan continued to help Luke as a Force ghost through the rest of the original trilogy. On the other hand, Obi-Wan made the decision on his own terms to let Vader kill him, and it was his guidance through the Force that helped Luke Skywalker to trust his instincts, use the Force himself, and destroy the Death Star. On the one hand, Darth Vader killed Obi-Wan after nearly two decades of wanting revenge. The winner of their final duel in A New Hope is up for debate between Star Wars fans (including several here at CinemaBlend). (Image credit: Lucasfilm) Who Won Their Final Duel? or ever, depending on who you believe won in A New Hope.
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If they meet again in the remaining three episodes, the "Chapter III" fight suggests that Vader might not be capable of keeping a cool enough head to defeat Obi-Wan in the series. He was the one on the move during the Revenge of the Sith duel that ended with the high ground, and he was running away as much as he could in “Chapter III.” Obi-Wan is much more of a defensive fighter. Throw in “Chapter III,” and there’s a pattern of Vader not winning fights because of arrogance and/or a desire for revenge, even in very high-stakes situations. It was a fast-paced fight, but Vader surely would have had the extra few seconds he needed to get the plans back if his eye was truly on the prize instead of the killing. Vader’s next live-action fight in the Star Wars timeline took place in Rogue One, when he slaughtered a band of Rebel soldiers, taking the time to do it one by one as they tried to escape with the stolen Death Star plans. It's debatable about whether or not they were both truly trying to kill each other at the start, but the fight ended with Obi-Wan on the high ground and Anakin sliding into a river of lava with his remaining limbs chopped off, all because he was arrogant enough to try and make the jump. We of course have to start with Revenge of the Sith. (Image credit: Disney+) Why I Think Vader Can’t Beat Obi-Wan Without Changing His Tacticsįor why I feel that Vader can’t beat Obi-Wan by using the same methods that served him so well against pretty much everybody else, let’s look at Vader’s other big live-action fight sequences during Obi-Wan’s lifetime. Back when the news first broke of Hayden Christensen returning as Vader, Kathleen Kennedy previewed that the show would deliver “the rematch of the century.” I loved the whole sequence, but wouldn’t necessarily say that it matches Kennedy’s preview, so there may be another fight on the way. Was it a draw, then? It feels more like a “To Be Continued” than a stalemate for me. The original trilogy meant that couldn't happen, but Vader has set his own precedent for not beating Obi-Wan. If he'd just seized his opportunity to kill his former master as soon as it presented himself, he would have won easily.
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Vader didn’t win despite having every advantage, because Obi-Wan getting away was not his goal. He wanted his revenge, and was willing to take his time to get it. His plan was clearly to do a lot more than just literally roast his former master for a couple of minutes. No, Obi-Wan did not win this duel.īut I would argue that neither did Vader. If Leia hadn’t convinced Tala to go to his rescue, he would have been killed by Vader, possibly after having all his limbs chopped off in another act of vengeance for the Mustafar duel. Well, Obi-Wan certainly didn’t win the rematch that Vader had been waiting for, for a very long time.