The relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi is at the heart of the Star Wars saga. Obi-Wan considered Anakin a brother and was instrumental in training him as a Jedi from a very young age after making a promise to the dying Qui-Gon Jinn. The pair went on to fight side-by-side in the Clone Wars, were renowned as one of the most powerful Jedi Master/Padawan duos, and together changed the course of galactic history.
But, as we all know, their relationship came to a flaming end on Mustafar when Anakin turned to the Dark Side. Obi-Wan left Anakin to die on that miserable rock, though what was left of him was scooped up by the Emperor, shoved into cyborg armor, and became Darth Vader.
As Obi-Wan Kenobi showed, the hatred for Obi-Wan still burned inside Vader, resulting in an obsessive search for his former master. They would eventually reunite for one last duel in A New Hope, though by this point Obi-Wan recognized that Luke escaping was far more important than his own physical survival.
So, of the three major duels between Obi-Wan and Vader (Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and A New Hope), which is the best?
For many you simply can’t beat A New Hope, even if it doesn’t have flashy choreography:
But the Mustafar duel has its fans:
However, the most recent duel in Obi-Wan Kenobi may be the most emotionally charged:
The series may have had its problems, but they nailed this moment:
We do enjoy seeing Vader fighting in his prime:
We come down on the side of the classics, so it’s the immortal dialogue for the fight in 1977’s A New Hope that does it for us, even if it’s notably lacking in Force trickery and characters doing backflips off the scenery.