I have never been able to figure this out. All through the movies Anakin displays superior skill to Obi-Wan, both in swordplay and command of force. In one of the movies obi agreed that anakin saved his life 7 times.

Anakin prevailed over dooku 1 on 1 when obi-wan was clearly no match for dooku, even with the benefit of 2 against 1.

Ani goes dark and is supposed to gain power and skill at an accelerated rate ( yoda in movie V says the dark side is faster) and Ani begins to reflect dark side changes in his appearance only hours after falling to the dark side.

And then suddenly: at the end of the 3rd movie ani and obi duel for hours and obi-wan eventually defeats him? At one point in the duel they both used force push against each other and neither one of them could gain the upper hand?

What the heck happened here?? Ani was clearly the superior warrior until these two fight each other.

Anakin had more talent

Obi-Wan had more skill

Obi-Wan was on a higher ledge. This gives a temp buff with 100% chance of dismemberment.

unless you are darth maul

Obi-Wan was on a higher ledge. This gives a temp buff with 100% chance of dismemberment.

That explains how obi defeated a more powerful sith, but it doesnt explain how anakin failed to defeat obi during the hours they fought BEFORE obi gained the upper ground.

and yes....i too have a hard time with obi-wan's victory over darth maul given that the same disadvantage proved more than anakin was able to overcome. The desperate conclusion I came up with there was that darth maul was so sure of victory he let his guard down and was just slow to react......not imagining that obi might have a lightsaber barreling toward his hand.

Well, one could also look at Anakin, both then and the days before that fight. He had lost everything he believed in, was plagued by nightmares and had just killed off a temple full of apprentices and children. Before this Anakin was mostly untouched by the dark side, other than a few lapses into rage(That incident with the sand people and his fight against Dooku).

It is safe to assume that the emotions he now let himself fully submerge to were very conflicted about fighting his "brother", as they experienced each other. It might be that Anakin was fighting Obi-Wan to fight, not to kill.

As for Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan one could also take a psychological approach to it.(Applying psychology to fiction is apparently one of my favourite past-times). Darth Maul killed the master, the apprentice was at the verge of death, and Maul's taunting showed he felt both superiour and safe. While Obi-Wan had just witnessed his Masters death and had nowhere to run, excluding the "flight" option from the "fight or flight" syndrome. Besides, seriously.. Who would anticipate that move?

If they were sparring and they had no real personal emotions for eachother- Obi Wins.

If it was a battle like we saw on Mustafar and Anakin was on a full fledged rage mode, he wins.

As Vader/Mechanical- He beats most Jedi Including Obi.

Bottom line:

Because George Lucas wrote the script.

Since when did he do anything that even resembles a rational human thought let alone an engaging plot line.

Did you know he originally wanted to make the second indiana jones movie take place in a haunted house until speilberg told him it was a dumb as **** idea? Not trolling... look it up.

Not even gonna touch Obi vs Anakin on Mustafar because people have way too different views on how it played out. But Anakin was the superior warrior in the case of if we are comparing Obi-Wan's feats vs Anakins.

Obi-Wan killed Maul as a padawan, but at that point Obi-Wan was really no mere padawan so in skill not in title he was a jedi knight before he underwent the trails to hold the title of knight.

Obi-Wan killed Grevious, and chopped off 2 of his hands however he was in a tight bind and resorted to use a blaster to actually kill him. But the duel itself Obi-Wan was holding his own.

Anakin vs Dooku round 1, Anakin held his own far longer then Obi-Wan who was a jedi master and at this point Anakin was only a padawan who was facing not only a powerful sith lord but one of the former jedi order's greatest jedi masters.

Anakin vs Dooku round 2, Obi-Wan is eliminated early on in the duel and at this point Anakin shows that he has grown in strength. Coupled with that in tapping into the darkside, he overwhelms Dooku and before his death acknowledges that Anakin is the finest Djem So stylist he had ever seen.

Now being that only two others have been able to match or beat Dooku(Mace & Yoda) this shows that Anakin was in skill a jedi master. Going to the darkside he used the form in a more brutal fashion, which only made him deadlier then when he was before. But i'll not going into the Musty duel for reasons above, people think different things on it.

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Obi-Wan is the form 3 master and is smart, which really are the only two things he holds above Anakin.

Bottom line:

 

Because George Lucas wrote the script.

 

Since when did he do anything that even resembles a rational human thought let alone an engaging plot line.

 

Did you know he originally wanted to make the second indiana jones movie take place in a haunted house until speilberg told him it was a dumb as **** idea? Not trolling... look it up.

There was no point, at all in this post.

Read the ROTS novelization, Anakin came moments before killing Obi until Obi jumped and got the high-ground.

It takes more than just raw skill to beat someone or to save their life. Specifically Anakin, while superior against other foes, is inferior against Obi-wan because Obi-wan is the one who taught him.

He has fought Anakin every day for a decade. It's reasonable to assume he taught him how to wield a lightsaber in the first place. Anakin can be an extremely accomplished duelist, but if he has a couple of glaring weaknesses in his form/stance that Obi-wan can continually exploit, lessons he just hasn't learned yet, etc? That's a win for the more experienced fighter every time. Douku/etc. don't know the weaknesses the same way Obi-wan would.

Lot of good answers in here......I hope this thread sparks more talk bcuz its a very interesting subject for me.

and wolfninjajedi I really hope you change your mind and decide to post you thoughts on the mustafar battle. So what if there are differing viewpoints, that just makes it more interesting.

Lot of good answers in here......I hope this thread sparks more talk bcuz its a very interesting subject for me.

 

 

and wolfninjajedi I really hope you change your mind and decide to post you thoughts on the mustafar battle. So what if there are differing viewpoints, that just makes it more interesting.

I'd rather not, because then someone will say "no such and such this happened" then another guy will say "no this is what actually happened" but then someone else will come along and say. "No this happened here, then it went in reverse and then it jumped up to here but it went in a completely different direction before stopping at a point and then going into another direction."

Anakin had more raw power than Obi-wan, no one disputes that. Still, it should be remembered that Obi-wan taught Anakin almost everything he knew. Obi-wan knew Anakin better than he knew himself, he could anticipate Anakin's decisions before he made them. Most importantly don't forget Anakin has been idolizing Obi-wan and calling him master for what 10, 15 years? "He (Obi-wan) is as wise as Master Yoda and as powerful as Master Windu". That is a huge, almost insurmountable psychological disadvantage.

Most importantly, Anakin was in conflict, caught between the light and dark. Obi-wan was at peace, and the force was with him.

Anakin had more raw power than Obi-wan, no one disputes that. Still, it should be remembered that Obi-wan taught Anakin almost everything he knew. Obi-wan knew Anakin better than he knew himself, he could anticipate Anakin's decisions before he made them. Most importantly don't forget Anakin has been idolizing Obi-wan and calling him master for what 10, 15 years? "He (Obi-wan) is as wise as Master Yoda and as powerful as Master Windu". That is a huge, almost insurmountable psychological disadvantage.

 

Most importantly, Anakin was in conflict, caught between the light and dark. Obi-wan was at peace, and the force was with him.

you make some great points, and very insightful assessment of anakin's state of mind although I don't know if i would say that obi-wan was at peace. He too, was facing the prospect of killing his best friend and brother. "Send me to fight the chancellor. I will not fight anakin. I cannot kill him"

Anakin had more raw power than Obi-wan, no one disputes that. Still, it should be remembered that Obi-wan taught Anakin almost everything he knew. Obi-wan knew Anakin better than he knew himself, he could anticipate Anakin's decisions before he made them. Most importantly don't forget Anakin has been idolizing Obi-wan and calling him master for what 10, 15 years? "He (Obi-wan) is as wise as Master Yoda and as powerful as Master Windu". That is a huge, almost insurmountable psychological disadvantage.

 

Most importantly, Anakin was in conflict, caught between the light and dark. Obi-wan was at peace, and the force was with him.

No, Anakin was not conflicted until the end of the fight when Obi-Wan began to talk to him. Anakin was in a rage mode, highly unstoppable force. And Obi-Wan couldn't switch to the offense because of Anakin being too Quick ObI could barely keep up.

Skill vs Raw Talent.

A more skilled fighter will win against a stronger opponent that has less skill.

Its more to me in the tactics obi wan mastured soresu and ataru which was perfect for fighting maul and when anakin fell to the dark side it is said that he though he was now all powerfull and when his battle with obi wan started to drag out for a long time (which is good for obi wans style) anakin started getting mad and didnt understand why he wasnt winning causing him to do stupid things like get cut up.

Excellent point here, about Anakin's arrogance and then lack of instant victory leading him into a more blind rage while Obi-Wan, conflicted and upset though he may have been remained much more calm, cool, and collected throughout the fight.

Also, the other quote from above, "Obi-Wan knew Anakin better than Anakin knew himself." I think these two factors really tip the balance in Obi-Wan's favor.

Soresu > Shien / Djem So.

Anytime.

I have never been able to figure this out. All through the movies Anakin displays superior skill to Obi-Wan, both in swordplay and command of force. In one of the movies obi agreed that anakin saved his life 7 times.

 

Anakin prevailed over dooku 1 on 1 when obi-wan was clearly no match for dooku, even with the benefit of 2 against 1.

 

Ani goes dark and is supposed to gain power and skill at an accelerated rate ( yoda in movie V says the dark side is faster) and Ani begins to reflect dark side changes in his appearance only hours after falling to the dark side.

 

And then suddenly: at the end of the 3rd movie ani and obi duel for hours and obi-wan eventually defeats him? At one point in the duel they both used force push against each other and neither one of them could gain the upper hand?

 

What the heck happened here?? Ani was clearly the superior warrior until these two fight each other.

It's explained in the novelization. In reality it's possible Anakin wouldn't have defeated Dooku one on one. First off Maakashi is a great counter to Soresu. Second, Dooku realized he was being replaced. He thought he was the one to ascend Sidious. He realized he was betrayed. He was nothing. Thereby losing his will to fight. This combined with Anakin giving in to his hatred enabled him to overpower Dooku.

Anakin wasn't thinking with his head in his final battle with Obi Wan. He was angry. He was pissed off. He was still the superior swordsman, however, as he was pushing Obi Wan Kenobi back the entire time. It also helps that Obi Wan was the best there was at Soresu, a defensive art, and had a great idea on how Anakin fights. This enabled him to hold him off long enough to get the high ground. Not to mention he was likely fighting harder due to knowing everything hinged upon his fight with Anakin whereas Yoda fought with Sidious.