Looking closer Star Wars films, it’s clear that George Lucas’s vision was an absolutely essential throughline – even in the modern era. One of the biggest areas where this happens is how the prequel trilogy interacts with the original trilogy. Their stories parallel and comment on each other in really specific and prolific ways across the world. Star Wars timeline.
Lightsabers are the weapons of the Jedi Knights and are one of the most iconic symbols of the Jedi. Star Wars in existence. This is reinforced in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Cloneswhen Anakin Skywalker loses his lightsaber in a speeder chase on Coruscant. Obi-Wan retrieves it and returns it to Anakin, telling him “This gun is your life.“The biggest revelation of the original trilogy, however, is that Obi-Wan is completely wrong here.
George Lucas’ Prequel Jedi Are Warriors at Heart
Jedi Generals of the Grand Army of the Republic
Despite later being proven false, Kenobi’s lesson to young Skywalker was in fact very true for the Jedi of the prequels. They were warriors and eventually outgrew the role of keepers of peace, becoming generals in the Clone Wars. These conflicts were extremely damaging to the Jedi and their generally peaceful ways, serving a government secretly run by dark and mysterious players.
The Jedi have always walked the line between warrior and monk, and the Clone Wars pushed them completely in one direction.. They became much more attuned to fighting and conflict, and this type of distraction was used by a malevolent Sith to betray them all. Not to mention, Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side after spending three years commanding troops and fighting on the battlefield.
The Jedi’s warrior ways are the reason they fall
War can bring out the dark side
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine sufficiently manufactured a conflict that put the Jedi in a position they should never have been in. The war was forcing them to dominate in ways the Jedi shouldn’t, and they began to fall from grace. Some Jedi such as Dooku, Pong Krell, and Barriss Offee noted the Jedi serving the Galactic Republic above all else during this era and reacted very harshly.
Mace Windu is another example of this, as at the end of the Clone Wars he was absolutely ready to kill the Chancellor of the Republic. Yes, he was secretly a Sith, but that was still a big change for Mace. So that he stops saying: “You know, ma’am, that Count Dooku was once a Jedi. He couldn’t murder anyone. It’s not in your character” in Attack of the Clones Attempting murder himself is a long way off.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Showed a Better Way in A New Hope
Acceptance of death
The idea of ​​a lightsaber being someone’s life was not eternal. Years later, during the reign of the Galactic Empire that he personally saw emerge, Obi-Wan Kenobi demonstrated that he had changed his ways after his exile. When facing his former apprentice, he was faced with a choice: fight or raise his lightsaber, overcoming his enemy.
During the climactic battle on the Death Star, to distract Darth Vader from Luke, Leia, and Han’s escape, Obi-Wan raises his lightsaber and refuses to fight Vader. In doing so, he is showing a better way. He invalidates his previous lesson, showing how much he has learned, and in fact becomes more powerful than Vader could ever imagine, as he claimed.. His lightsaber, in the end, was not his life.
Luke Skywalker saved the galaxy by rejecting war – and becoming the ultimate Jedi
Return of the Jedi, Return of the Peacemaker
Obi-Wan demonstrated this to Luke Skywalker, who learned this lesson in another intense situation on the second Death Star. In Return of the JediLuke is goaded by the Emperor into turning to his dark side against his father, culminating in Luke cutting off Vader’s hand. Looking down in horror, Luke realizes how his anger took over him and made him act so violently, and does the same thing Obi-Wan did.
Luke even went a step further, throwing his lightsaber away, refusing to hurt his father any more than he already had. This enraged the Emperor, who wanted more than anything for the young Jedi to attack in anger, exactly what a saber would allow. This was Luke being a true Jedi, choosing compassion for his father over action – and that one choice probably saved the galaxy.
Luke didn’t save the galaxy because he had a lightsaber and fought with it. The lightsaber was not his life; It was almost his downfall. This return to the light was enough to bring his father back from the dark side, as a show of love. It even parallels the previous confrontation between Mace Windu, Palpatine, and Anakin, but with an entirely different outcome, as Anakin is motivated to save a life out of love, not fear.
The Last Jedi and the Lightsaber
The power of not attacking
This gets a little shaken up with the introduction of the sequel trilogy and a cinematic future for Luke Skywalker beyond Return of the Jedi. In his first appearance, Luke has lost faith in the Jedi and throws away his lightsaber. It was later revealed that this was the result of a huge mistake Luke made, igniting his lightsaber after having a vision of the future atrocities his nephew Ben Solo would commit, such as the death of his father Han Solo.
This use of the lightsaber, his standard weapon, led to the destruction of Luke’s Jedi Order in the New Republic era. The event even parallels Luke standing over his father on the Death Star II, with similar cinematography reflecting the similar situation Skywalker found himself in. This makes him completely reject a lightsaber, something that should be a good thing – but isn’t, as Luke lost it too. your hope.
After an encounter with Yoda’s Force ghost, however, and encouragement from young Rey, Luke realizes the error of his ways. Just because lightsabers and the violence they can cause are a problem doesn’t mean they should be abolished completely. So Luke projects himself returning to Crait to save the Resistance, without a real lightsaber. Still, without a physical blade, Luke faces Kylo Ren and does the same thing his master Obi-Wan did. Again, Star Wars It’s poetic.
Luke shows the true power of a Jedi with a lightsaber – the symbol of it. Even though a lightsaber can lead to violence, it is still the historic and iconic weapon of a Jedi; it’s just about how it’s used. For a Jedi to truly serve the light, he must use a lightsaber as he does the Force: for defense, not attack. Luke doesn’t attack Kylo Ren on Crait and still saves the entire Resistance. Just as Obi-Wan proved with Vader in Star Wars, A lightsaber is not someone’s life – and not using it is infinitely more powerful.