Obi Wan Was Wrong About the High Ground

Star Wars is a popular science fiction franchise that has spanned over four decades, with eleven movies, several animated and live-action shows, books, comics, games, and more. The saga tells the story of the Jedi, a group of warriors who use the mystical Force to protect the galaxy from the evil Sith, who seek to dominate it with their dark side powers. One of the most iconic scenes in the franchise is the duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, his former apprentice who turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader, in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. In this scene, Obi-Wan gains an advantage over Anakin by leaping onto a higher ground, and warns him not to attack, saying “It’s over, Anakin. I have the high ground.” Anakin, however, ignores his warning and attempts to jump over him, only to be sliced by Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, losing his limbs and falling into a river of lava. Obi-Wan then leaves him to die, believing that he has killed him.

However, Obi-Wan’s claim that having the high ground makes him invincible is not supported by the evidence from the rest of the Star Wars saga. In fact, there are many examples of characters who survived falling down large shafts, pits, or chasms, even after being wounded or seemingly killed. Here are some of them:

• Darth Maul: In Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul is a Sith apprentice who fights Obi-Wan and his master Qui-Gon Jinn on the planet Naboo. He kills Qui-Gon, but is then cut in half by Obi-Wan, who uses his master’s lightsaber to slice him at the waist. Maul falls down a reactor shaft, presumably dead. However, as revealed in Season 4 of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maul is shown to have survived both the dismembering and the fall, though over the 10 years he’s been in hiding, he has completely lost his mind⁶. He is later found by his brother Savage Opress, who helps him recover his sanity and gives him a pair of robotic legs. Maul then becomes a powerful crime lord and a rival to Darth Sidious, his former master. He also confronts Obi-Wan several times, seeking revenge for his defeat. He eventually dies by Obi-Wan’s hand in Star Wars Rebels, another animated series.
• Luke Skywalker: In Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is a young Jedi who faces Darth Vader, his father, on the cloud city of Bespin. Vader reveals his true identity to Luke, and tries to persuade him to join the dark side. Luke refuses, and they engage in a fierce lightsaber duel. Vader gains the upper hand, and cuts off Luke’s right hand, along with his lightsaber. He then offers him his hand, saying “Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.” Luke rejects his offer, and chooses to fall down a ventilation shaft, rather than join the dark side. He is then sucked into a garbage chute, and hangs on to an antenna below the city. He then uses the Force to contact Leia Organa, his sister, who rescues him with the help of Lando Calrissian, Han Solo’s friend. Luke survives the fall, and gets a prosthetic hand.
• Boba Fett: In Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett is a bounty hunter who works for Jabba the Hutt, a crime lord who holds Han Solo captive on his palace on Tatooine. He is present when Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando attempt to rescue Han from Jabba. During the battle on the sail barge, Boba tries to capture Luke, but is accidentally hit by Han, who is temporarily blind. Boba’s jetpack malfunctions, and he flies into the mouth of the Sarlacc, a giant creature that lives in a pit in the desert. He is then swallowed by the beast, which is said to digest its victims for a thousand years. However, in the Legends series The Bounty Hunter Wars, Boba blasts his way out of the Sarlacc Pit using a thermal detonator. He then teams up with Dengar, another bounty hunter, and continues his career. Boba’s story is further explored in the spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett, which follows him and Fennec as they take over Jabba’s criminal empire on Tatooine.
• Emperor Palpatine: In Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Emperor Palpatine is the Sith master of Darth Vader, and the ruler of the Galactic Empire. He lures Luke to his throne room on the second Death Star, a space station capable of destroying planets. He tries to turn Luke to the dark side, by making him fight Vader, and then torturing him with Force lightning. Vader, however, redeems himself, and throws Palpatine down a reactor shaft, killing him. However, in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, it is revealed that Palpatine somehow survived, or was resurrected, using the dark side of the Force. He is shown to be on the hidden planet of Exegol, where he has created a secret army of Star Destroyers, and a clone body for himself. He also claims to be the source of the voice of Snoke, the leader of the First Order, a remnant of the Empire that seeks to destroy the Resistance, a group of rebels led by Leia. Palpatine also reveals that he is the grandfather of Rey, a young woman who is strong with the Force and the main protagonist of the sequel trilogy. He tries to make her kill him, so that his spirit can possess her and make her the new Sith Empress. However, Rey resists his influence, and with the help of the spirits of the past Jedi, including Luke and Anakin, she deflects his lightning back at him, destroying him once and for all.
• Luke Skywalker (again): in Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker was captured by Jabba the Hutt, a crime lord who held him prisoner in his palace on Tatooine. Jabba decided to execute him by throwing him into the Rancor pit, a dungeon where a monstrous beast lived. Luke was dropped into the pit, where he faced the Rancor, a huge reptilian creature with sharp teeth and claws. Luke tried to fight the Rancor with a bone, but it was not enough to stop the beast. He then noticed a metal gate above the Rancor’s head, which was controlled by a switch on the wall. He ran towards the switch, dodging the Rancor’s attacks, and managed to activate it. The gate came crashing down on the Rancor’s neck, killing it instantly. Luke then escaped from the pit, and rejoined his friends, who were also captured by Jabba. Luke survived the fall down the Rancor pit, thanks to his courage, agility, and quick thinking. Unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi, who claimed that having the high ground was an advantage, Luke never had the high ground in his fight with the Rancor. He was always below or at the same level as the beast, and had to use his surroundings and his wits to defeat it. This shows that the high ground is not always a decisive factor in a battle, and that Obi-Wan was wrong about it.
• Han Solo: In Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, Han Solo is a smuggler and a hero of the Rebellion, who is married to Leia and the father of Ben Solo, who became Kylo Ren, the leader of the Knights of Ren and the apprentice of Snoke. Han tries to redeem his son, and confronts him on the Starkiller Base, a planet-sized weapon that can destroy star systems. He pleads with him to come back to the light side, and calls him by his real name. Kylo, however, stabs him with his lightsaber, and pushes him off a bridge, where he falls into a deep abyss. Han dies, and his body is presumably vaporized when the base explodes. However, Han’s death is not an exception to the rule of surviving falls in Star Wars, because he did not fall into a shaft, but into a void. A shaft is a vertical or inclined passage that leads to another level or location, while a void is an empty space that has no end or exit. Therefore, Han’s fall is different from the other examples, and does not prove Obi-Wan’s claim.

In conclusion, Obi-Wan Kenobi was wrong about the high ground, and his victory over Anakin Skywalker was not guaranteed by his position. There are many cases in the Star Wars saga where characters survived falling down large shafts, even after being severely injured or seemingly killed. These characters include Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, and Emperor Palpatine. Han Solo’s death, however, is not a counterexample, because he fell into a void, not a shaft. Therefore, Obi-Wan’s statement was not based on facts, but on arrogance and overconfidence.