With Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi coming to and end, we were taken to a dark and barren foggy
moon, where a huge emotional battle took place between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan.
The former Master apprentice battled it like they hadn’t done since Mustafar, and then
something shocking happened.
Obi-Wan broke the mask of Vader and revealed Anakin Skywalker inside…
Or so he thought…
But this is actually much more important than many of us realize.
Not only was this a Parallel to Ahsoka Tano doing the same thing in Rebels: Twilight of
the Apprentice, but also to Luke in Return of the Jedi.
Ahsoka broke the left side of Vader’s mask, but couldn’t break Anakin out, Obi-Wan broke
the right of Vader’s mask and couldn’t break him out, but Luke Skywalker managed
to take the whole mask off and finally return his father to the light…
So let’s break down the three strikes of Vader’s mask and how these three people
led to his redemption.
So first up, let’s start with Ahsoka’s Strike.
****In Star Wars Rebels: Twilight of the Apprentice, Ahsoka Tano is led to the dark and gloomy
Sith world of Malachor, where she and Ezra Bridger came across an ancient battle site
from a time long gone.
A struggle between the light and dark that was as old as time.
Eventually they came across a Sith Temple and superweapon, and soon after Darth Vader
arrives on his Tie Fighter to investigate the matter.
Soon after the two engage is a massive lightsaber battle, with both of them unleashing all of
their emotion and passion.
**Then, Ahsoka uses the force to swoop in and strike a huge gash into Vader’s mask,
revealing his left eye and the man still inside.
Anakin Skywalker.** **(Ahsoka Breaking the Mask and Vader saying then you will die)**
It is at this point Ahsoka realizes that Anakin is still alive and she promises that she won’t
leave him this time, like she did with the Jedi Order all of those years ago.
**Anakin felt heartbroken and betrayed that Ahsoka left after Barriss Offee framed her
for attacking the Jedi temple, and the Council expelled her.
(Ahsoka Leaving Jedi Temple)** Even though she was probably right to do so, Anakin felt
horribly betrayed.
He actually even felt betrayed twice, with the second time being at the Siege of Mandalore.
Ahsoka went off to fight with the Mandalorians, and he never got to see her again as Anakin
Skywalker.
It is because of these two betrayals the Vader believes she is lying to him again, and cannot
accept her promise.
And we know that this scene is a direct and intentional parallel to the fight in Obi-Wan
Kenobi because Vader uses the exact same line with Obi-Wan, **“Then you will die”.
(Vader saying it)**
This connects to the Obi-Wan fight in the same way because Kenobi makes a similar promise,
and Vader again cannot believe him.
He is literally standing there with the horrid burns and cybernetic parts holidng him together.
There is no way he can accept the apology as the Man that Obi-Wan literally created.
Vader even says in a previous episode that “I am what you made me”.
Clearly that day on Mustafar is still seared into the mind of Vader and is something he
just can’t let go.
Kenobi then tries to apologise for putting him in the suit, for leaving him to die on
Mustafar and most importantly for failing him as a teacher.
This is a promise to do better and that Obi-Wan still sees good him.
But in the same way he can’t trust Ahsoka’s promise, Darth Vader simply cannot trust this
one after everything Kenobi has done to him.
Ahsoka can reach one side of Anakin’s heart, and Obi-Wan can reach the other, but neither
can reach both, which is what it would take to bring him back to the light.
Obi-Wan tried to pull Darth Vader back from above, the Teacher’s perspective, offering
to guide Vader back onto the right path, and Ahsoka tried to pull him back from below,
the apprentice’s perspective.
She offered to stay by his side, but neither worked.
The metaphor here is that Ahsoka and Obi-Wan each break half Anakin’s shell, which is
the persona of Darth Vader, but neither can break it completely…
This is where Luke Skywalker comes in.
Luke attempts to reach Anakin not from the perspective of a Master above him or a Padawan
Below him, but as his son who still sees good in him.
A son that despite all of his countless atrocities, still loves him.
Although the two did fight it out with their green and red sabers clashing, Luke Did not
need a lightsaber or violence to bring Vader back to the lightside.
Vader was redeemed through his love of family and his desperation to save Luke from the
emperor.
Not to mention, Luke is the only thing Anakin has left of Padme.
Of course, Leia too, but in this moment it was about Luke.
The whole reason Anakin fell into the identity of Darth Vader was because he wanted to save
Padme.
Palpatine promised him that if he just followed the path of the Sith and became Vader, he
would teach him the secret to prevent those he loves from dying…
Palpatine never wanted this to happen, and actually many times did things that directly
went against this.
In the Darth Vader comics, Vader experiences many hallucinations, force tricks and simple
mind games from both himself and Palpatine, and all it does is enhance his rage, chanelling
it into his strength.
This is of course exactly what Palpatine always intended.
The Emperor acts as a direct contrast to Kenobi, attempting to Pull Darth Vader back to the
darkness from the top, while Obi-Wan tries to pull the good out of him from the top.
Next we have to talk about Obi-Wan’s strike.
Just like Vader says in A New Hope, he is very much still the learner in this fight.
Despite usually being a very good thing for a Sith Lord, Vader’s emotion’s and hatred
of the man standing in front of him completely crippled his fighting ability.
He was too hateful, and furious to properly compose himself and put up a strong fight
against Kenobi.
As Darth bane once described it, A Sith draws his power from his inner storm.
Inside you, you must be violently angry and rageful, but on the outside, you must show
a cold and calm demeanor, only chanelling your inner storm at the right moment.
The Sith are all about control, and that extends to their inner storm.
In order to be at the peak of your combat abilities, you must control that inner storm
with a choking grip, something Vader couldn’t do in this instance.
His vitriol for Kenobi extended way too far to ever constrain his raging and overflowing
inner storm, which is exactly why he took a direct strike to his mask.
When Obi-Wan cracked the mask, Vader’s inner storm was allowed to spill out and that little
bit of Anakin was able to return…
This is why we hear Vader’s voice modulator switch between his own voice and that of Darth
Vader’s.
This exacts same thing happens in the fight with Ahsoka on Malachor, because she also
manages to crack his shell and let his inner storm flow out.
On top of this, it was the breaking of the mask that ultimately led Vader to realize
that it was Anakin Skywalker underneath who truly wanted Obi-Wan.
Anakin Skywalker was the one who was wronged by the kenobi and left for dead on the lavabanks
of Mustafar.
It was Anakin who was failed as a student and it was Anakin who lost his own Apprentice,
Ahsoka Tano.
This is partially why Vader didn’t still attempt to go after Kenobi.
Even if he wasn’t badly injured and his suit completely torn up, Vader knew he had
to crush Anakin Skywalker right then and there.
This is further backed up in most of the comics and novels that Vader appears in after this
point on the timeline.
By then, he is completely separated from the person that was Anakin Skywalker.
He doesn’t care for Ahsoka anymore because Vader never had her as his apprentice.
That was Anakin Skywalker, who to him, no longer existed.
It was only in the moments where the shell was cracked and where small amounts of Anakin
returned that he could feel any connection.
Now finally it all leads back to Luke Skywalker.
Luke was the one able to get through to Vader because he didn’t appeal to Anakin Skywalker
to try rescue him.
Luke appealed to the man in front of him, which was Vader.
He knew that Darth Vader had to be brought back to Anakin, not Anakin being rescued from
Vader.
This is the opposite approach to what Obi-Wan and Ahsoka Tano took, and it ended up being
the correct one in the end.
Sadly, Anakin ended up dying in the end, but he did get the thing he always wanted.
To look up on his and Padme’s son with his own eyes for one last time…
And then the clock started ticking because he had not done the training that Qui-Gon
Jinn gave Obi-Wan and Yoda.
In Anakin’s dying moments, Obi-Wan gifted his old friend the greatest gift of all, the
ability to become a force ghost and join the living force.
If you want to see how that happened, click on the link in the pinned comment below.
So that is why Vader having his mask broken by Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan kenobi show
is so important.
Not only is it a direct connection to Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: Rebels, but also to his
son finally finishing the job in Return of the Jedi.
Thanks so much for watching guys, really hope you enjoyed the video.
if you did make sure to leave a like and subscribe and I will see you in the next one.
If you made it this far, drop a thank mister Vader in the comments to keep the tradition
going!
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