"Oh, it's you!"

I remember there was some discussion of this moment in ROTS, where Anakin drops down into the lift, and Obi-Wan lights his saber, apparently not recognising his presence. Is this how you view the scene? We know of course from many moments throughout the saga that force-sensitives can recognise each other's presence. So has Anakin's presence changed as he heads further towards the darkside? Another example of this would be Padme crying during the march on the Jedi Temple. IMO she cries because she feels the good in Anakin dying, and is thus losing her strength through symbiosis. Thoughts?

 

I agree with those theories! In the case of Obi-Wan, he was probably afraid that it might be Dooku.





Padmé - she is symbiotic
/LM

 

I agree with the theory of Padme sensing Anakin's good draining from him, I thought that that was obviously portrayed. As to the Obi-Wan theory, I would think that he was just on his guard Grievous and wasn't really thinking clearly.

 

I disagree about him just being on his guard. There are too many ocassions where a Star Wars character can sense another specifically. Padme and Anakin can sense each other. Vader senses Obi-Wan in ANH. Vader and Luke sense each other in ROTJ, and so on.

 

It isn't far fetched for Obi-Wan to be startled and on guard while not paying attention to sensing Anakin in a seperatist ship, loaded with droids, a Sith Lord and General Grievous.

 

I don't think it had to do with Anakin's Force presence changing with time. I chalk it up to awkward dialogue. I always felt that line was a little silly.

 

I thought it was just meant to be a humourous line - Nothing more, nothing less.

I know this is a discussion forum, and as ROTS has been out for six years we're left discussing the nitty gritty, but sometimes I think we do discuss these films to death.

Oooooo... As far as Padme goes, I think George Lucas has confrimed somewhere that she's sensing Anakin is killing the Younglings when she breaks down.

 

Fair enough, to each his own. I'm gonna stick to thinking it was Anakin's presence changing, I like to think of it as a subtle nod to Star Wars fans. I could be wrong though.

Cheers for your agreeance Lars_Muul

 

Soz, hadn't read your post. I like that there is still discussion, these movies are rich with symbolism and meaning, it's one of the things that keep me watching it again and again. I'm actually watching ROTS right now, Anakin has just turned, I should get back to it so I don't ruin the flow of the movie...

 

Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who discuss these films to death. Scorn them do not. Kiss them do not.

* * *

I think it's rather suspect for Obi-Wan to fail to apprehend it's his own apprentice -- the person he's trained for ten years, plus tax; and the person he later calls his "brother" -- when he has the Force and Force-strong people are meant to be up on familiar folks landing within an inch of their gonads.

Strangely enough, it's Anakin who later sniffs out Obi-Wan's presence at Padme's apartment (and it's Anakin/Vader who senses Obi-Wan on the Death Star); it's never the other way around. I think Obi-Wan's own abilities -- and that of the Jedi in the PT -- are, next to the Sith, and that ominous "Shroud of the Dark Side" choking their perception to death, mostly poo.

Thus, one can see it as just a light dash of humour (though, admittedly, I didn't prove that proposition; but given the jaunty, serial nature of Star Wars, I don't see why not). One can also see it as that and something more. Everything in SW is related to everything else. Heh! That's rather like our universe! RIP-OFF!

Sorry. Am I making sense there? Too much sugar. That business with Cadbury's Eclairs doesn't, doesn't count...

 

Ah! Imagine Christopher Lee appearing in the elevator shaft just to scare Obi-Wan. I would laugh out loud.

 

When I first saw this scene, I said to myself WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE? Anakin was the only one who got out of the lift so why wouldn't he be the one to come back inside of it? To me, Obi-Wan had some serious jitters.

 

I think it is just playing with the audience as we know they will draw swords on each other for real later in the film.

 

I never thought of that.

 

Yes, exactly. That's why I thought that line was akward and silly.

 

I think it's both. The Jedi's connection to the Force is waning and the little humor of "Oops, nearly lightsaber'd my own former apprentice".

 

I agree. I think people overanalysis sometimes. Obi-Wan was on edge, and tense, so when someone dropped in the lift, he reacted instinctivly, making for a little bit of humor.

 

I think Obi-Wan's senses were a little off. He wasn't very concentated on the force, seeing as how he was just arguing with R2. Not being in tune with the force, Anakin's return to the elevator takes him by surprise. As for Padme, I do agree that she was beginning to sense Anakin's fall into darkness. This is especially true during the scene where Anakin and Padme look at each other across Coruscant before Anakin's turn. As for Padme's crying. I think she cried when she saw the Temple burning because the TEMPLE WAS FREAKING BURNING!!!! She cried after she saw Anakin because she could clearly see the evil change that had taken place and was in denial.

 

I never liked the delivery of the line.

Kenobi comes of as irratated - like he is somehow upset at Skywalker for being there.

Yeah he must be fuzzy about the situation, a tad on queer street from Dooku pushing him around - but he knew Skywalker was outside the elevator.

So it is an awkward line - and worse delivery of said line.

 

Yep, it's just a bit of banter between Obi-Wan & Anakin, same as the very minor squabbling that seems to be there to reinforce the bond they're supposed to have which, IMHO, wasn't established anywhere nearly as well as it should have been.

The whole Padme sensing what was going on is just ridiculous, yet it's brought up repeatedly & drives me insane. She knows something bad is about to happen & breaks down because she knows her husband isn't the person he used to be, based on the way he's been acting & the current situation. No symbiosis, no Force use, nothing out of the ordinary at all. If a series of shots in a bog-standard real-world drama about a normal married couple were composed & edited the exact same way, except that the husband is visiting another woman, no one would bat an eyelid or attribute telekinetic powers to the woman for bursting into tears. It's just old-as-dirt simple cinematic technique.

It's the same as when Padme confronts Anakin on Mustafar & eventually realises that everything Obi-Wan said was true - the inescapable & terrible truth dawns on her because Anakin's acting like a psycho. She doesn't need Force powers to know what happened at all.

If GL 'confirmed' anything, it was simply acknowledging that Padme is in possession of good old female intuition.

 

Cryo wins...

 

Or maybe Obi-Wan suspects that something is going on between Anakin and Padme, but prefers to close his eyes on that? After all, who's the person who goes to in order find out Anakin's whereabouts? He even guesses that "Anakin is the father" - very smart, Master Jedi

 

Helen Keller could have seen that from a great distance.


Emo/clingy/obsessive Anakin + prego Padme = Tons of Jedi Drama.
Kenobi turned a blind eye until he WANTED to see THAT.

 

You're right, if there's one thing that I truly dislike about the prequels it's the missed opportunity to develop Anakin & Obi's friendship. ROTS is about the only time they actually seem to be friends and not annoyed with each other all the time.

 

I didn't think I would have to be the one to point this out, but sensing the presence of others isn't like having a radar on all the time that you can just glance at and see, "oh, it's so-and-so." From all I've read and inferred from the films it's less of a passive ability and more of something you tune yourself into with your mind.

Obi-Wan's mind was elsewhere when Anakin dropped in on him. If he had been mindful of the present, or the living Force, so to speak, he would have sensed a life-form coming towards him and then identified it as Anakin with little effort.

When Vader sensed Obi-Wan on the Falcon and later on Luke in the Death Star trench, it's not like he just saw the ships and immediately knew. He reached out with the Force and felt their presence.

As for Padme and the temple bit... I just watched RotS this morning and to me it was just that she knew he was there and what with all the fire and smoke and everything she was just worried about something happening to him. Factor in how Anakin had been acting and that she really had no clue what was actually going on or what may have been is enough to get someone worked up with paranoid thoughts.