PT Did Obi-Wan not finish off Anakin because "he was his friend", or so he could suffer?

That's certainly how the EU books set in the early Dark Times portray it.

 

He definitely believed that he was burning to death, but I also strongly believe that he couldn't bring himself to finish him because of his strong feelings for him. It's obvious that he'd grown attached to Anakin. Throughout the whole fight, he was probably looking for a way to end it without having to kill him. When Anakin jumped, he seized the opportunity. I don't think he'd counted on Anakin catching fire, but when it happened, he likely saw it as a sign that it was time to leave.

 

Obi Wan couldn't bring himself to kill his friend, his brother.

First we have the dialogue between Obi Wan and Yoda. Obi Wan tells Yoda twice that he not only cannot, but, will not kill Anakin. This is important for not only an in-universe reason, establishing Obi Wan's state of mind, but, also an out-of-universe reason, which is Lucas setting up the explanation as to why Obi Wan will just leave Anakin on the lava bank before it even happens. That way he doesn't have to write in a scene or dialogue afterwords to explain it. We can point to the scene before the actual duel and come to the conclusion that what Obi Wan said to Yoda is the why.

To me, Obi Wan was not a selfish man, but, he acted very selfish that day. Obi Wan was tasked with killing Anakin, not leaving him for dead and assuming he was going to die. Obi Wan allowed his own personal feelings for Anakin to get in the way of his duty, something that Obi Wan warned Anakin not to do in AOTC.

The proof that Obi Wan couldn't kill Anakin also is shown when Obi Wan maims Anakin. If Obi Wan was skilled enough to cut off both of Anakins legs and one of his arms, when Anakin was in mid-air, than certainly there is no doubt that Obi Wan could have buried his lightsaber right into Anakin's skull. So it is obvious that when Obi Wan had his chance to kill Anakin when they were actually engaged in battle, Obi Wan still couldn't bring himself to kill Anakin, so instead disarms, and dislegs him.

 

I do have a small theory (unproven) that a part of Obi-Wan wanted to let this SOB burn. Think about it: in less than 48 hours, the Republic was dismantled and became the Empire, every single Jedi (some of whom Obi-Wan knew since he was an infant) were slain or scattered all over the galaxy, and he had just witnessed his best friend, his brother-in-arms choke the woman he claimed to have loved.

By this point, the person writhing and screaming on the bank wasn't Anakin, but Vader. It's like that quote from Buffy, but I'll alter it for this scenario. That wasn't Anakin, that was the thing that killed him. The Anakin Obi-Wan knew would NEVER have done anything like this. Obi-Wan would give Anakin a mercy kill if it were necessary. But this monster? Vader? No, it would've been too kind.

I think it was a little bit of what everyone else said, and a bit of 'Burn, you little monster! Burn!'

 

The Stover novelization version of the scene is slightly different than the movie and junior novelization versions - no "I have the high ground/You underestimate my power/Don't try it" moment:

Obi-Wan shifted weight one way, then another, but Anakin's droid was nimble as a sand panther; there was no way around, and this close to the lava, the heat was intense enough to crisp Obi-Wan's hair.
"This is the end for you, Master," he said. "I wish it were otherwise."
"Yes, Anakin, so do I," Obi-Wan said as he sprinted into a leaping dive, making a spear of his blade.
Anakin leaned aside and deflected the thrust almost contemptuously; he missed a cut at Obi-Wan's legs as the Jedi Master flew past him.
Obi-Wan turned his dive into a forward roll that left him barely teetering on the rim of a low cliff, just above the soft black sand of the riverbank. Anakin snarled a curse as he realized he'd been suckered, and leapt off his droid at Obi-Wan's back—
Half a second too slow.
Obi-Wan's whirl to parry didn't meet Anakin's blade. It met his knee. Then his other knee.
And while Anakin was still in the air, burned-off lower legs only starting their topple down the cliff, Obi-Wan's recovery to guard brought his blade through Anakin's left arm above the elbow. He stepped back as Anakin fell.

 

I think you're supposed to be sad that this is how their friendship ended. I noted when I saw it in theaters, that there were a few women who teared up here and there, during the immolation scene. However, Anakin views it as the final betrayal that he would severe his limbs and leave him to burn. Hence yelling, "I hate you!" just as he bursts into flames.

 

He needed to become darth vader...

 

He left Vader to the will of the Force; Obi-Wan could not bring himself to kill his spiritual 'brother'

 

Oib-Wan thought he would die quickly, he was engulfed in flames when he walked away. You only have to see the shot of him in the cockpit of the ship as they flew away to know how he was feeling.

 

The heat of Mustafar caused Obi-Wan's lightsaber to short out the instant he severed Anakin's limbs. He went up the hill to grab Anakin's lightsaber so he could finish the job but he then sensed the Emperor's presence and left as quickly as he could.

 

I also agree that Obi-Wan was unable to murder his best friend. It makes sense to me, that this would cause Obi-Wan to consider Mustafar his greatest failure. Also it lends credence to the line "Obi-Wan, once thought as you did." and then "His failure is now complete."

 

plus one other thing. if you look where Anakin was, he was way down at the shore of the lava flow. for Obi-Wan to walk back down there he risked himself slipping into it.

 

Because he was a ****.

 

Had it been under any other circumstances, Obi-Wan would have put Vader out of his misery. Obi-Wan granted that to the Acklay that he had previously just disarmed (that had also been trying to kill him). It's simply in Obi-Wan's character to have that compassion for one suffering as such.

However, we know that there was much more going on. Obi-Wan could not waste time or potentially put himself in danger at such a critical time.

 

I am another who assumed (in my case having not read the novelisation) that Obi Wan thought climbing down and finishing him off would have sped things up by a few moments at most. He thought (wrongly as it transpired) that Anakin's life could NOT be saved, but Padme/the babies' still could, and left to do what he could. Obviously he was mistaken but I have read Stover's version later and I seem to recall that the Vader armour is one of a kind, and not only was Anakin very powerful in the force but Sidious, the greatest Sith of them all, had to use all sorts of power and tricks to keep him alive long enough to save. Probably anyone who wasn't Anakin or on his level of power would have died from the injury/heat.

It definitely wasn't malice on his part, he'd won, Anakin was finished, and Padme needed his help.

 

As I once posted in another thread, I don't think it was either one. It wasn't mercy or malice. And it wasn't, "Leave it to the Force", either.

He'd just seen his closest friend pretty much brag about killing innocents and planning to take over the galaxy, then attack his own wife. He'd just gone through a physically and emotionally taxing duel. He'd just had to dismember Anakin, and listen as he screamed at him in absolute hatred. Couple that with the events of the previous days, and I think Kenobi had just had enough.

He just couldn't stand another moment in that place. So, he basically figured, "Forget this," and left.

 

In the The Dark Lord : The Rise of Darth Vader novel :

The epilogue depicts Obi-Wan Kenobi, now under the guise of Ben Kenobi living as a hermit on Tatooine to watch over the infant Luke Skywalker from a distance. Kenobi is shocked at the news to hear that Darth Vader, whom he believed he killed in his duel against him on Mustafar, is alive. He is then contacted by the spirit of his late Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, who assures him that Luke will grow to confront his father when the time is right and that Vader will never step foot on Tatooine ever again, for fear of his memories coming back to haunt him

 

I just think Obi-Wan didn't have the heart to put him out of his misery and figured he wouldn't have survived his injuries, anyway. The book makes it seem like he had to leave as soon as possible, but the film itself clearly depicts a compassionate Obi-Wan as not making a choice between coup de gracing a former friend after gravely wounding him and instead accepting the fact that Anakin would soon die regardless of what he did.

 

Kenobi was unable to look at him, he has hindered and failed to finish the job...

 

I really go with Obi-Wan was just ... tired. I get that from McGreggor's performance, too. He's physically and emotionally exhausted. Can't take it anymore, the freakin guy was ON FIRE, so he walked away. Doesn't seem dark side or merciful to me. He can't bring himself to kill him. Hell, he can't even look at him! Obi-Wan was just really ready to walk away from the whole thing. And he did.

The fact that he leaves him there is one of my favourite bits. Very humanizing to me. Even Jedi Masters can't deal sometimes.

 

Definitely because he was his friend. Obi-Wan just couldn't bring himself to deliver the final blow, even if Anakin had completely turned. I know that the last thing Obi-Wan wanted was for Anakin to suffer, he just wanted an end to the conflict between them.

It was un-Jedi like to let his attachment get in the way.

 

Did Obi-Wan not finish off Anakin because "he was his friend", or so he could suffer?
It was because of his attachment to him, IMO it's just the final nail in the coffin of the PT theme; Jedi's should not be attached. If Obi Wan just struck him down, they could've saved the galaxy alot of trouble, and alot of pain. Obi Wan views Anakin as a son, a brother, a padawan and a friend. Obi Wan even tells Yoda he can't kill Anakin, and even though Anakin is no longer Anakin, We still see a tearful remorse that Obi Wan feels for it needing to come down to dismembering him. He litterally does as much as possible to ensure Anakin/DV dies without actually delivering the final blow.

 

A coup de grace is not the Jedi way. Anakin knows that, and even says that, before he decapitates Dooku, Windu knows that, and is reminded of it again by Anakin, before he takes that last swing at a begging Palpatine. Kenobi alone chooses to follow the Jedi path, giving in to neither vengeance nor mercy, and is willing to live with the consequences. For better or worse, Obi-Wan is really the exemplar of the Jedi code.

 

In terms of the story, Obi-Wan refused to kill Anakin because he saw him like a brother. Behind the scenes though, Lucas said Vader's injuries were the physical punishment he had to live with going forward. Added on to that was the emotional and mental toil, knowing he'd given away everything good in him to someone who only saw him as a pawn.

 

That's where I have the problem. Had Mace simply walked from Palpatine, the latter would've zapped him in the back. If Mace arrested Palpatine and taken him into custody, whose to say Palpatine wouldn't then sway the Senate against the Jedi Order? Granted in Mace's case, no matter what he and Anakin did, they were all well and truly ****'d.