Alternate Revenge Of The Sith Duel Would Have Cut The Movie’s Worst Line

Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s alternate Revenge of the Sith duel would have changed Star Wars in many ways, and the movie’s worst line would not exist.

An alternate Anakin vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi duel would have cut a popular yet inconsistent Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith line. Widely recognized as the best of the Star Wars prequels, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith delivered everything audiences could have hoped for regarding a Darth Vader origin story. The film naturally included the final, fateful duel between Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker and Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, a battle that ultimately ended with Anakin defeated. He may have been the Chosen One, but sheer power in the Force is not the only factor in a lightsaber duel.

The Star Wars prequels had set the bar high for lightsaber fights up until that point, yet Revenge of the Sith’s Battle of the Heroes was still unique. The entire Mustafar planet became their fighting arena, and the so-called “Battle of the Heroes” theme set the tone for a lightsaber duel of epic proportions. However, George Lucas had more than one option regarding how to wrap up Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fight.

Related: Every Star Wars Character Anakin Skywalker Kills In The Movies

Revenge Of The Sith’s Alternate Duel Wouldn’t Have Had The “High Ground” Line

Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard has recently revealed Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fight at the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith could have ended very differently. In an alternate version of the Battle of the Heroes, Anakin disarmed Obi-Wan, grabbed the Jedi Master by his throat, and was ready to finish the fight at very close range. A desperate Obi-Wan attempted to use the Force to reclaim his lightsaber, but in doing so he would have accidentally cut off Anakin’s arms and legs – almost an accident rather than intentional, and more like self-defense than the final duel. Kenobi’s infamous “I have the high ground” line would not exist in this version.

The “high ground” line is a controversial one, given it was difficult to understand what Obi-Wan meant by “It’s over” — as if having the high ground was a guarantee that he had won the fight. One of Obi-Wan’s most famous victories was actually against an opponent who had the high ground – Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The fact that Obi-Wan made very clear what his next move was going to be and still won also doesn’t work, as Anakin should have known better than that.

George Lucas Preferred The “High Ground” Duel

According to Gillard, both Obi-Wan’s actor Ewan McGregor and Anakin’s actor Hayden Christensen liked the closer-range fight better. George Lucas, however, preferred to go with the “high ground” duel. While the “I have the high ground” line by itself does not work as much as the rest of the sequence, Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fight in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith did succeed at showing the tragedy of their story. In the alternate version, Obi-Wan would have acted in self-defense when almost killing Anakin whereas, in Revenge of the Sith, he actively chooses to try to kill Skywalker at the end of their fight.

Obi-Wan choosing to hit Anakin with a fatal lightsaber blow holds a lot of meaning for the Jedi Master, and it sets up Obi-Wan’s future of guilt and regret. Without that element, the rise of Darth Vader becomes something almost accidental and reduces Obi-Wan’s role in the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker. For example, one of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s most emotional moments was when Darth Vader claimed he was not Obi-Wan’s failure. Like many things in the Star Wars prequels, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith‘s “high ground” moment could have been carried out better. Still, it is an iconic scene whose impact on the Star Wars lore is felt to this day.

More: Attack Of The Clones Deleted Scene Supports A Mace Windu & Anakin Theory