Skip to main content

star wars - Why Didn't Darth Maul Slice Obi-Wan When he Jumped over Him?


At the end of his Duel with Darth Maul, Obi-Wan is trapped on the edge of a pit. He then jumps up out of it, calls Qui-Gon's lightsaber and chops the Sith Lord. While in the air, Obi-Wan did a Berani flip (a front flip with a half twist) over Darth Maul's head.


This jump from Obi-Wan is just like another jump at the end of Revenge of the Sith, but it's Obi-Wan that got the high ground and Anakin that does the aerial maneuver. This move ends badly for Anakin, Obi-Wan slicing Anakin's limbs.


Why didn't Darth Maul punish Obi-Wan with his blade when he was at his mercy?



Answer



Maul was overconfident and unprepared



From the Novelisation of the Phantom Menace:



Darth Maul walked slowly to the edge of the melting pit, tattoed face bathed in sweat, eyes wild and bright with joy. The battle was finished. The last Jei was about to be dispatched. He smiled and shifted the remnant of his shattered lightsaber from one hand to the other, savouring the moment.


Eyes fixed on the Sith Lord, Obi-Wan Kenobi went deep inside himself, connecting with the Force he had worked so hard to understanding. Calming himself, stilling the trembling of his heart, and banishing his anger and fear, he called upon the last of his reserves. With clarity of purpose and strength of heart, he launched himself away from the side of the pit and catapulted back toward its lip. Imbued with the power of the Force, he cleared the rim easily, somersaulting behind the Sith Lord in a single smooth, powerful motion. Even as he landed, he was drawing Qui-Gon Jinn's fallen lightsaber to his outstretched hand.


Darth Maul whirled to confront him, shock and rage twisting his red and black face. But before he could act to save himself, Qui-Gon's lightsaber slashed through his chest, burning him with killing fire. The stricken Sith Lord howled in pain and disbelief.



This gives us a bit more insight into the incident than the film alone.


Essentially, Maul is suffering from the Sith's most common and greatest weakness. As Luke said to the Emperor,



"Your overconfidence is your weakness."




Maul is not in a fighting stance. He's not paying attention. He's not on the alert, he's convinced he's already won and there's just the dying left. At the same time, Obi-Wan is being everything a Jedi is supposed to be - calm, controlled, self-reliant, unemotional. The greatest strengths of a Jedi up against the biggest weakness of a Sith - and the Jedi won.


Let's also remember this line from Mark Twain:



The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him; he does the thing he ought not to do; and often it catches the expert out and ends him on the spot.



Again, this feeds back into overconfidence. Maul was certain that he outmatched his opponent in every way, so when Obi-Wan did the stupid thing and tried to attack a superior opponent on high ground, Maul wasn't expecting it.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more