Duel on Mustafar/Legends

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This article is about the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. You may be looking for the duel that occurred between X1 and X2.

"I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you."
"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!"
"Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"
"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"
"Well, then, you are lost!""
―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader — (audio) Listen (file info)[1]

The Duel on Mustafar was a confrontation during the Great Jedi Purge in 19 BBY, where the recently apprenticed Sith Lord, Darth Vader, clashed with his former best friend, and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the Outer Rim planet of Mustafar. After gaining knowledge of Skywalker's downfall from Grand Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple, Kenobi arrived on Mustafar, where he attempted to reason with Vader, not believing that Emperor Palpatine, also known as the Sith Master, Darth Sidious, had taken control of his mind. However, Vader no longer cared for their friendship, and quickly claimed that Kenobi was his enemy; the pair then ignited their lightsabers and locked blades, fighting through the murder scene in the Klegger Corp Mining Facility, where Vader had recently slaughtered the members of the Separatist Council, the legislative branch of the now-defunct Confederacy of Independent Systems.

The fight progressed on the structures of the massive facility that hovered over the deadly lava of Mustafar. Kenobi and Vader soon found themselves trapped on a structure collection arm connected on the facility when it was separated from the facility by the lava and descended onto a hot stream. Kenobi managed to fall onto a lava skiff that was heading in the opposite direction of the fallen collection arm in the stream. Vader soon followed suit and jumped onto a droid collector where the two continued to fight. Kenobi managed to jump onto a high lava bend slope, and claimed that the duel was over due to his advantage. The Sith attempted to follow, but Vader, in his hubris, failed to deflect Kenobi's final attack, a devastating mou kei maneuver, which severed Vader's remaining organic limbs, and Vader rolled down to the edge of the lava bend, bringing the duel to an end.

Then, Kenobi—overcome with remorse over his friend's transformation—cried out that he had believed that Vader was the Chosen One and his destiny was to destroy the Sith, but instead he joined them. Unable, but most likely unwilling, to connect with his former best friend, the Sith was consumed by the fires of the lava that leaked onto the lava bend; leaving Vader to die, Kenobi retreated and took his fallen apprentice's lightsaber. Afterwards, Vader's new master, Darth Sidious, found his injured apprentice and took him back to the galactic capital of Coruscant to be rebuilt; the suit that Vader donned there would be one that the Dark Lord would wear for the rest of his life.

Prelude

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy!"
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must."
"You will try.'"
―Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, before the beginning of their duel — (audio) Listen (file info)[1]

The Great Jedi Purge had begun after three years of fighting between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic, which reorganized into the Galactic Empire soon after Supreme Chancellor Palpatine revealed himself to be Darth Sidious, and battled Jedi Master Mace Windu. Anakin Skywalker approached Sidious and Windu in the rising climax of their duel in Palpatine's Chancellor office. Skywalker severed Windu's lightsaber hand as Windu attempted to kill Sidious to end the corruption of the Sith.[1]

Sidious, who had fallen after Windu kicked him on the edge of the window in his office, unleashed Force lightning upon Windu and pushed him out the window, whereupon Windu fell to his death. Overcome by guilt, but knowing he was at the point of no return, Skywalker accepted Sidious' offer to turn to the dark side and become his new apprentice. Sidious then gave Skywalker the Sith moniker Darth Vader; it was a successful conclusion to Sidious' decade-long plan to turn Skywalker to the dark side with the fear of losing his wife, Padmé Amidala.[1]

File:Anakinchoke.png
Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, strangling his wife

Vader wanted to learn of the mysterious Sith power which Sidious had told him of, a few days prior, in the Galaxies Opera House on Coruscant, that could ultimately save Amidala from her apparently forthcoming demise in childbirth, according to dreams Vader had the night after the crucial Battle of Coruscant.[1]

Sidious told his new apprentice that in order to become strong enough in the dark side to save his wife, he must return to the Jedi Temple with the 501st Legion (which usually accompanied Skywalker during the Clone Wars) and massacre everyone there, younglings and all. This would end the "Jedi Rebellion" which began with the attempt on the Chancellor's life by Windu.[1]

After the dark deeds that he committed in the Jedi Temple, Vader was sent to the Mustafar system to end the Clone Wars by killing the remainder of the Separatist Council.[1]

In the aftermath of the Mission to Mustafar, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda watched security holograms of Anakin taking part in the slaughter at the Temple. Kenobi offered to go after Palpatine, being unable to strike down his former Padawan and friend, whom he considered to be a surrogate brother. However, Yoda told Kenobi that he would never be strong enough to confront the Emperor directly without support. He also added that the Anakin he knew no longer existed, and had to be put out of his misery.[1]

Kenobi then went to Padmé to learn Vader's whereabouts. Amidala told him that the last time she had seen Vader was the previous day, but didn't tell Kenobi that he had left for Mustafar. Kenobi revealed to Amidala that her husband had turned to the dark side. Amidala was initially skeptical, but Kenobi later told her of the executions at the Jedi Temple. However, Amidala still could not tell Kenobi that Vader was on Mustafar.[1]

Amidala left Coruscant in her personal yacht with C-3PO, her personal protocol droid built by Vader, to find her husband and learn the truth behind all of this. Shortly before Amidala took off, Kenobi secretly boarded the yacht and hid inside one of the cargo-hold storage rooms. Arriving on Mustafar, Vader noticed Amidala's ship and ran to her. The couple had a brief meeting where Amidala revealed that Kenobi knew that she was heavily pregnant with Vader's child.[1]

Heartbroken, Amidala wanted Vader to stop and come back to the light because she loved him, believing there was still good in him. Vader, mad with power, refused, instead trying to get Padmé to join in his plan to kill Palpatine and take over the galaxy himself. Upon seeing Kenobi emerge onto the boarding ramp of Amidala's ship, Vader erroneously concluded that Amidala had sent Kenobi to kill him. The Sith apprentice Force choked his wife, while Kenobi demanded that he release her. Enraged, Vader believed that Kenobi had turned Amidala against him. Kenobi could not believe that his former apprentice let Palpatine mess with his mind. Vader then declared that he "no longer feared the Dark Side", and also implied designs to "take over the Empire", adding that Kenobi is his "enemy", if he isn't with him. Kenobi, realizing such talk meant Vader was fully immersed in Sith philosophy, realized there's no bringing Vader back. Unable to see eye-to-eye with his former best friend, Kenobi drew his lightsaber. Vader followed suit and jumped at his former master with his own saber ignited.[1]

Aftermath

"When your father clawed his way out of that fiery pool, the change had been burned into him forever. He was Darth Vader, without a trace of Anakin Skywalker. Irredeemably dark. Scarred. Kept alive only by machinery and his own black will."
―Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Luke Skywalker[4]

Nineteen years after the duel, Kenobi gave Luke Skywalker his father's fallen lightsaber.[5] Kenobi had recovered the lightsaber after their duel on the high lava bend slope on Mustafar.[1] However, Kenobi chose not to reveal to Luke what his father had become. Instead, he told Luke a deliberately deceptive story, using wordplay to make it appear that Vader and Anakin had been two physically separate individuals, and that Vader had killed Anakin. Later on, he encountered Vader again. This time, he was struck down, and became a Force ghost.[5]

Four years later, Vader brought Luke to his master aboard the second Death Star over the forest moon of Endor. Skywalker and Vader fought in front of Sidious, and the young Skywalker tried to use high ground to his advantage by Force Jumping onto a ceiling walkway. However, Vader had apparently learned from his mistake at Mustafar, and did not leap up after his son, instead opting to dislodge him from his perch using a throw of his lightsaber. Vader shifted the advantage to himself, but Skywalker soon defeated his father after Vader's Dun Möch attempt failed. Sidious responded to Luke's refusal to kill his father and embrace the dark side with a barrage of Force lightning. What was left of Anakin, unable to bear the thought of his son being killed, overcame the dark side's hold on him. Anakin redeemed himself and fulfilled the Prophecy of the Chosen One by grabbing the Emperor and throwing him to his death. However, Anakin was mortally wounded by his master's lightning.[6]

Behind the scenes

The duel was established in creator George Lucas's notes and canon that Master and Apprentice had a semi-final duel, and that Vader owed his severe injuries to lava. Mentions of that duel and Vader's fall had been mentioned in A New Hope, where Kenobi dueled Vader aboard the first Death Star.[5] Origins of the duel could be traced to the Original trilogy, during which Vader had numerous visible scars on his pale white head,[7] seen after Luke removed Vader's mask in Return of the Jedi,[6] as well as early versions of The Star Wars in the early 1970s.[8]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
  2. ↑ "Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:241" – Star Wars Insider 84
  3. ↑ Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
  4. ↑ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novel
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  7. ↑ Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
  8. ↑ Within a Minute: The Making of Episode III
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