The deadly confrontation between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith may have gone quite differently, and without Anakin's now-famous "high ground" statement.
Obi-Wan and Anakin's split picture on Mustafar from Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith almost had an entirely different ending, with Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi facing off against Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker. The stars favored the other ending.
Even though the future is continuously changing in Star Wars, those who viewed the prequels already knew how the saga will wrap up.
It was inevitable that Anakin Skywalker would turn to the dark side and ultimately lose a fight to his old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The last fight was certainly exciting, but it has been critiqued for a number of reasons by fans. One of these is a peculiar piece of speech in which Obi-Wan claims victory simply because he is on higher ground.
In an interview with Star Wars Theory, stunt coordinator Nick Gillard for the prequel trilogy revealed a different version of the final combat was planned, sans the high ground sequence.
Gillard claims that both Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor favored that cut, but George Lucas vetoed it.
"But we had a version where that didn't happen and Obi cut off his arms and legs in a different way...right away, Anakin just grabbed him by the - he disarmed him, grabbed him by the throat, you know 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 ducks to avoid it, swallows his saber up, and almost accidentally slashes through Anakin's arms before chopping through his knees, sending his corpse tumbling.
Rather than a successful offensive maneuver, it was a misguided defensive one.
It had a lot of force."
This is a very different take on the conflict between Obi-Wan and Anakin than the one Lucas chose to depict, and it fits better with the contrasting tenets of the Force (the dark side being more offensive and the light side more defensive), but Lucas chose to focus on the conflict from a more introspective angle.
If this version of the battle on Mustafar from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith had actually happened, it seems like it would have been considerably more dramatic.
It would have been more in keeping with the protective procedures of the Jedi Order and likely would have increased Obi-Wan Kenobi's sense of remorse about accidentally maiming Anakin.
However, Lucas favored making the mutilation intentional by including the bizarre sequence in which Obi-Wan claimed victory from a position of superiority.
Given that Obi-Wan had never hesitated when physically inferior to an opponent, this was both illogical and hasty (nor had any other lightsaber duelist for that matter).
An alternative duel on Mustafar portrays Anakin as a more proficient fighter who disarms his old master and is only defeated by accident.
Conversely, Obi-Wan is never shown to have been in command of the fight; he is pinned early on, and his eventual victory is as much a fluke as a calculated move.
However, the performers' preference for this version suggests that the performance would have been less effective because of the muted emotions displayed throughout the confrontation.
One of the most important lightsaber duels in Star Wars history occurred at the conclusion of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, yet the film was far from faultless.
Specifically, the high ground scene became one of the most popular Star Wars memes, and Gillen appears OK with that fact, claiming the moment "has since found its place" in the Star Wars mythos and fan culture.
It's intriguing to speculate about what might have been, and what might have been if Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen had their way.
