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legobiwan · 5 years

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There’s a large meta I would love to write comparing TPM and Master and Apprentice, but I’m a little too delirious with fever to do something that intelligent at the moment, some I’m just going to bullet point some things I noticed in my 5 hour rewatch of TPM (due to intermittent napping and shotgunning Dayquil).

Qui-gon and Obi-wan spend a fair amount of their on-screen time disagreeing, and one of Qui-gon’s first acts of the movie is to dismiss Obi-wan’s “bad feeling about this,” which, in retrospect, Jinn, was maybe not the best idea. This is very much in line with the way they are portrayed in Master and Apprentice, where Qui-gon and Obi-wan cannot seem to see eye-to-eye on things, how Qui-gon constantly is questioning Obi-wan and his abilities.

I feel like Obi-wan spends a fair amount of this movie swallowing his reactions to Qui-gon’s increasing ridiculousness, like when they travel to the Gungan city with Jar Jar. Obi-wan immediately tries to negotiate with Boss Nass and when that does not immediately prove fruitful, Qui-gon bursts in with his favorite strategy, the Jedi Mind Trick. Obes doesn’t seem too pleased with Qui-gon’s tactics, nor to be undermined like that.

(this is not the face of a happy man)

Someone reblogged some other meta of mine commenting that Qui-gon (and much of the Lineage) has a savior complex, and don’t they’re all that far off. Qui-gon places himself as the ultimate authority on so many occasions in this movie, and while yes, he is the ranking Jedi Master on site, one might think he is a little too certain in the Force, in his abilities, in prophecy to always make sound judgments.

(Narrator’s voice: she doesn't. And this is not the first time Qui-gon will say something like this. Which leads to Anakin coming to Coruscant, and well, you know how it went from there.)

On a different note altogether, it was lovely to watch this with the subtitles. Anakin’s statement that Padmé looks like an angel akes a lot more sense when you know he’s comparing her to the Angels of Iego, which we have seen (who Obi-wan and Anakin spoke with) in the underrated episode, Mystery of a 1,000 Moons.

(one has to wonder if Anakin made the correlation when he and Obi-wan *actually* traveled to Iego)

Speaking of other friends, I laughed (and coughed) very hard when Darth Maul uttered one of the very few spoken lines he has in this movie.

(Maul, you have no idea how much that is *not* going to work out for you, buddy.)

I feel like Shmi Skywalker is the only sane person in this whole cavalcade of characters. I love how she handles Qui-gon’s request that Anakin go to Coruscant.

(“The choice is yours alone.” Not “This is your destiny,” or “this is your fate.” This is your choice, Anakin Skywalker, just as turning to the Dark Side was a Choice, not Fate, not Prophecy, just as Qui-gon’s devotion to Prophecy was his choice, just as Obi-wan made a very conscious decision to make himself believe in prophecy out of devotion to his Master. And in that way, choices become self-fulfilling prophecies.)

And again, we see this when Anakin leaves Tatooine. Shmi asks Anakin what is in his heart because it is what he desires, and as that old quote goes, “if something is that important, you’ll make time for it.” Not prophecy, not fate, but Agency.

(And you have to wonder if part of the reason the Order is so caught up in prophecy and visions is because their ability to act independently is somewhat stymied by things like the Ruusan Reformation and their relationship with the Senate, because they tread this very fine line between being active and passive, both in government and their day-to-day activities.)

“Master Qui-gon, more to say, have you?” Man, if I were Kenobi, I’d be pissed at this point, and we haven’t even gotten to the scene where Qui-gon basically casts off Obi-wan in front of the Council. We see this again and again in Master and Apprentice, where Obi-wan just chokes down a lot of his true feelings, due to deference and self-esteem and Qui-gon, as well-meaning as he is, just...kinda does what he wants.

(”Not this again, I’m going to need to break into the Corellian whiskey.”)

As I’ve pointed out before, Rael was 5 when he came to the Temple, Obi-wan 3, and yet now Qui-gon seems to have no problem with an 8-year-old Anakin coming in. Oh, Qui-gon.

Qui-gon promises a lot of things to a lot of people. It’s interesting, because Obi-wan gets very upset at Anakin in the Clone Wars: Gambit and Siege books for promising people he would help them. Aside from the fact that it is never a good idea to promise anything to anyone (I personally avoid ever saying that word) and Obi-wan is aware of this, I feel like this upset may also harken back to Qui-gon’s disturbing habit of promising things and then using almost any means necessary to make those things happen. Like Anakin winning the race and becoming a Jedi, for instance. All done out of good intentions, but come on, Jinn.

(I mean, yeeeeaaaah? I’d be afraid, too, if I were 8 years old surrounded by these guys. Chill, Yoda.)

I just need to include a picture of Palpy’s shit-eating grin here. He is so smarmy in this movie, I love it.

I’m not going to post screencaps of the Council scene because we all know what goes down there. Qui-gon takes Anakin as his student, and Obi-wan’s heart gets trod upon again, although he puts up a brave front because it’s Obi-wan and he is repressing a lot.

“Your focus determines your reality.” It’s really great advice. Qui-gon should listen to himself, as his focus (on prophecy) has determined his reality.

(Come on, Qui-gon. Throw the man a bone. Maybe say, “Hey, I *think* you’re going to become a great Jedi! I believe in you, Obi-wan! Good job!” instead of “I forsee...” I mean, okay, everyone has a distinct manner of meting out praise and Qui-gon does say Obi-wan is wiser than he ((without actually listening to that wisdom)), but even Obi-wan, who catches a fair amount of flak for being reserved, gives Anakin more direct praise than this. You have to wonder where this comes from, if it goes back to how Dooku raised Qui-gon, which is *totally* possible.)

(Can we just sit and appreciate that one of Anakin’s first acts for the Republic is to blow up this droid control ship that had a fair amount of sentients on board? That’s our little murder machine!)

(Ouch. I can’t even imagine what is going through Obi-wan’s mind here. This is probably the only time we see him make a promise. And by the Force, he is going to keep it. But Qui-gon’s last words are about Anakin, and Obi-wan is obviously distraught over this, over Qui-gon’s death, over everything. He loves Qui-gon, despite all their differences, because Qui-gon meant well for him, for everyone around him, and to think Obi-wan has the gumption to demand to train Anakin right after all of this...just, poor Obes.)

I feel like I’ve really been on Qui-gon’s case lately. He is a fascinating character, and he makes a lot of good points about the Council and the Republic, but he is so blind to his own faults and I think that’s where my personal frustration comes in with the man. And he wants to do good in the galaxy, you can see he wants to free all the slaves on Tatooine, but probably knows right now he can’t, has learned his lesson from Pijal. He doesn’t want to necessarily get suckered back into prophecy, but then there’s Anakin staring him right in the face. And Anakin is powerful, but is he the Chosen One or was he molded into that role by expectation?

The lightsaber duel with Obi-wan, Qui-gon and Maul is still my absolute favorite live-action fight scene in Star Wars. So. Good.

Guys, I forgot how much I love this movie, I mean everything including Jar Jar and child!Anakin.

I really appreciate how consistent Claudia Gray made Obi-wan and Qui-gon’s characters through her book, linking Jedi Apprentice and TPM. There’s so much more to read into with TPM now having Master and Apprentice in the background.

#also #this is all so GREAT for future chapters of hung #which i haven't forgotten about #just have been insanely busy #but now I am super pumped to write the next part #maybe if i'm not half delirious tomorrow i can go for that #phantom menace #obi wan kenobi #qui gon jinn #damnit qui gon #ugh guys i really don't feel that hot #meta #long post #forgive me guys i'm rather garrulous on the topic of star wars right now

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