The Star Wars prequels often come under fire (fairly and unfairly), but almost everyone can agree the final battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith was an awesome sight to behold.
It ended with Obi-Wan cutting off his former Padawan's arm and legs after gaining the "high ground," a moment which has become iconic. However, would it surprise you to know that there was once what sounds like an even better conclusion to their epic lightsaber duel?
During a recent interview with Star Wars Theory, prequel trilogy stunt coordinator Nick Gillard revealed that both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen pushed back against George Lucas when he went down the "high ground" route.
In fact, a lot of crew members hated it, and Gillard would go on to share how the fight originally ended.
"There was a version - that whole volcano thing where they land on that droid wasn't there," he recalls. "Originally, they swung and landed - they swung off that great big boat and they landed on the side of the volcano, on the lava right next to each other."
"And straight away, Anakin just grabbed him by the...he disarmed him...[and] grabbed him by the throat. He’s got him and Obi’s saber is down on the ground, and Anakin says, ‘I’m sorry it has to be this way, my master,’ and actually lets [the lightsaber] go."
"Obi hunches to get away from it, sucks his saber up, as he pulls his saber up he cuts through Anakin’s arms, almost by mistake, and then chops through his legs almost by mistake, and the whole body fell off of his legs," Gillard concludes. "It was more of a defense-gone-wrong kind of move. It was strong."
That sounds like a fantastic, albeit very different, conclusion to their clash. It would have definitely given the way things ended between Obi-Wan and Vader a very different feel, though there was arguably nothing wrong with the one we got, especially as we saw the Jedi Master use his old friend's arrogance and hatred against him.
Do you think this outcome would have served as a better ending to Revenge of the Sith?