"Your powers are weak, old man." Why is Obi-Wan weak?

I've wondered about this since seeing Count Dooku battle Yoda in AOTC. Vader points out the waning of Obi-Wan's powers and Kenobi himself admits to Luke that's he's too old for adventures. Yet we see other older humans (i.e., Dooku and Palps) wielding lightsabers and the Force without breaking a sweat. This seems odd in relation to the portait of Obi-Wan in ANH. Why is it that Obi-Wan is weakening while others in his age bracket seem to be reaching the pinnacle of their power? Thoughts?

As for myself, all I can figure up to now is that the others were already stronger when they were younger (although Dooku boasts mistakenly to Yoda that he's even more powerful than the Grand Master, so supposedly Dooku is stronger than in the past). Or that strength in old age is an aspect of the Dark Side (for even Yoda can't defy death). Yet with that said, both Dooku and Vader are bested by younger Jedi. So I'm left back where I'm started wondering, other than the reality of the existence of CGI, why is Obi-Wan depicted as weakening when others his age seem as strong as ever? I would think he ought to be just as vital as any other Force-wielder his age.

 

That's just Vader talking smack. He's the one who couldn't get a killing blow in until Obi-Wan stopped fighting and just stood there.

 

It may help to keep in mind that the other older Jedi had clearly stayed in shape and in practice their entire life, whereas Obi-Wan has just spent almost 20 years living alone in the desert. Powers waning through disuse, perhaps?

 

Thats possible, being out of practice. Personally i think it was a mistake by GL. The mistake isnt that he made Obi-wan weak in ANH, its that he made Dooku, Yoda and Sidious so powerful in the PT. But its a mistake i personally am willing to forgive. PT duels rock

 

Recall Mace and Yoda's conversation in AOTC... "Only the Dark Lord of the Sith knows of our weakness..."

That aspect wasn't explored too much, other than the Dark Side clouding the future and the actions of the Sith.

Perhaps the Sith see it as the ascendency of the Dark Side. Anyhow, on the Death Star in ANH, it's mostly bravado from Vader looking to take care of unfinished business.

 

I believe the Darkside uses or steals power from around them. Therefore even an old and weak human who is a Sith can still be more powerful than his or her counterpart, an old and weak human Jedi.

However, strength doesn't always win the battle.

 

I think maybe its' because he's stopped training/fighting for such a long time, his powers got weaker over the 20 years in hiding

 

I think it's just rhetoric on Vader's part. As the author points out, Dooku, Palpatine and Yoda are still quite strong and it seems both Dooku and Sidious are still gaining power into their old age. Vaders just telling him he's no match for him and the twenty years he's filled himself with hate and anger waiting for this opportunity.

 

Yeah, it's just Vader doing his typical "You don't know the powah of the Dark Side!" stuff. Obi-Wan manages to hold Vader off until he sees Luke and sacrifices himself to escape, so I'd say they're at least pretty evenly matched in saber abilities.

 

One of the crimes that ANH was released in 1977-lack of technology for special FX. I'm confident that if the technology would have been better, Vader would have been shown as the dominate figure.

 

Vader was just talking smack.

 

Vader could have been shown dominant even in 1977.

 

I think, in hindsight and using the prequels as background for his words, that Vader was referring to the fact that Obi-Wan wasn't utilising the Darkside and, as far as Vader was concerned, was using the weaker lightside of The Force.

Therefore he considered the powers that Obi-Wan were using were 'weaker' than Vader's Darkside capabilies.

 

1. Vader talks smack.

2. The way to convince Luke to come with him and start his path to badassery isn't by saying "I can handle this myself, Luke. Don't worry about it. Seriously."

 

Not necessarily. I would agree that Vader was talking smack to some extent, but in reality, Vader was right. Or at least partially right. Obi-Wan knew he couldn't defeat him, so he chose the best "out"... selflessly giving himself to Vader's blow in order to save Luke. He couldn't kill Vader first time, even though he had the oportunity. Not because of physical prowess, or power in the force, but he could not simply bring himself to it. Part of that implied here as well.

 

Or the Jedi's ability to use the Force has decreased even further since AOTC?

 

I love when he says this

In ROTS we see an immature/insecure who's anger has clouded his judgement..he feels like he has to validate himself by proving he is stronger than Obi Wan

In ANH..Vader lets go of his insecurities..."You Should of never came back"...he has let go of his need to defeat Obi Wan.his head is clear.when he says his powers are weak he is basically telling Obi Wan is not on his level..which is true

If the fight would of continued Obi Wan would of been killed anyway

 

Was talking to my friend the other day about Star Wars Stuff.One of topics we got one was this....I look at it as while Dooku & Yoda were powerful in the PT, It was a different time..More force users were around, they were constantly using the force,they were in the middle of a war.Sorta like a General is sometimes much more effective during war than he is while in peaceful times. Don't have a example of that was just shooting off the top of my head.

Basically it was a bunch of different things going on at a different time in the galaxy

BTW
I can see Vader saying to himself "Ain't no Lava around this time *****" when that duel is about to begin


Butt Edit: Need to star out the whole word.

 

F

T

W!

You just HAD to ruin it, didn't ya!

 

By that time, clouding everything the dark side was! Mace Windu, warning of this in the prequels, he did.

 

They should seriously put that in the film.


Butt Edit: Editing quote.

 

I've always felt that Vader was just taunting Kenobi in order to weaken his self confidence and make him easier to defeat.

 

I figure that Obi Wan hasn't used his powers at all since his escape from the purge. Muscles don't stay tuned if you don't use them, so as my 8th grade science teacher used to say: use it or lose it. That said I'm sure the harsh desert helped to weaken Obi Wan physically too. Who's to say by that point that Vader and Palpatine weren't weaker too? Neither of them displayed the same athleticism as they did in the prequel trilogies. (I'm well aware of the real world explanations for this, but I'm trying to stay in-universe)

 

To be fair, Palpatine at least had no reason to display any athletics given that he doesn't even use a saber in the OT.

 

Hmm... if you mean literally I think that's unlikely... if you mean mostly that's possible...