

Obi-Wan even later says that Vader knows he’ll do anything to protect these people.

A Jedi’s goal is to defend life, not take it.” as Obi-Wan is gearing up to defend the people on Jabiim. It would help to watch the scenes within the episode, as showing just the flashbacks leaves out the context that’s immediately surrounding the scenes (but I can only have a clip that’s so long!), but if you watch the whole thing you see that their initial attacks coincide with Vader’s attacks on Jabiim, “You grow too aggressive, Anakin. Be mindful. Yet they both know that their conflict isn’t over and Obi-Wan hopes to stand more of a chance this time. “Then, maybe I stand more of a chance this time.” Obi-Wan stood no chance on Mapuzo and they both knew it. If you’re a Sith Lord who still feels like a Padawan and you know your Master sees you that way, you go along with the appearance to make yourself and him hurt all the more, dig into the pain inside you, making you stronger in the dark side, and try to do the same to him. But if you’re a Sith Lord trying to rub salt in a wound, you’ll pause and draw further attention to it, make a formerly beloved term one of hurt instead. The pause before Anakin says “Master” would be an odd choice for pre- Attack of the Clones Anakin, he’d be used to saying it without hesitation.

Then, maybe I stand more of a chance this time. “Was beginning to think you weren’t coming… Master.” Is this the face you want to see, Master? Is this the face that haunts your dreams? Is this the face that you still wish you could have seen if I’d never turned to the dark side?Īnd then there’s the conversation they’re having: And it’s following along as the situation develops between them, and it’s set here because it’s how Obi-Wan remembers them and because it’s how Vader remembers them, as well as he’s taunting Obi-Wan with this, he’s deliberately needling the wound of the loss of Anakin. The cut-aways and cut-tos of the directing are split between the two of them, this isn’t just Vader’s or Obi-Wan’s scenes, it’s both of theirs. They’re connected in the Force throughout the show, they share dreams while in the bacta tank, they sense each other, the entire story has been about how fixated they both are on each other, which draws their psychic connection to each other even closer. Hayden Christensen not being de-aged in the footage makes a thousand percent more sense if you view this entire sequence through it not being a flashback, but an active conversation between the two of them. They’re not just flashbacks, if they’re flashbacks at all, they’re more a mirror of the current conflict between Obi-Wan and Anakin, possibly even an on-going conversation, softened through having it through the Force, more than that they’re a memory at all. THESE FLASHBACKS ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU REALIZE ON FIRST WATCH.
