For other uses, see Battle of Mustafar. For other uses, see

Master Qui-Gon, more to say, have you? It is requested that this article, or a section of this article, be expanded.

"I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you."

"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!"

"Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"

"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"

"Well, then, you are lost!" ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader Listen (file info) [src]

The Duel on Mustafar was a confrontation where the recently apprenticed Sith Lord Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, fought his former Master and best friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the planet Mustafar in the Outer Rim. After learning of Skywalker's downfall from Grand Master Yoda at the Jedi Temple, Kenobi arrived on Mustafar, where he attempted to reason with Vader, not believing Emperor Palpatine, also known as the Sith Master, Darth Sidious, had taken control of his mind. However, Vader no longer cared for their friendship, and quickly claimed that Kenobi was his enemy; the pair then ignited their lightsabers and locked blades, fighting through the murder scene in the Mustafarian Mining Complex, where Vader had recently slaughtered the members of the Separatist Council, the legislative branch of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

The fight progressed on the structures of the massive facility that hovered over the deadly lava of Mustafar. Kenobi and Vader soon found themselves trapped on a structure collection arm connected on the facility when it was separated from the facility by the lava and descended onto a hot stream. Kenobi managed to fall onto a lava skiff that was heading in the opposite direction of the fallen collection arm in the stream. Vader soon followed and jumped onto a droid collector where the two continued to fight. Kenobi managed to jump onto a high lava bend slope, and claimed that the duel was over due to his advantage. The Sith attempted to follow, but Vader, in his hubris, failed to block Kenobi's final attack, a powerful maneuver, which severed Vader's remaining organic limbs, and Vader rolled down to the edge of the lava bend, bringing the duel to an end.

Then, Kenobi—overcome with disgust and remorse over his friend's transformation—cried out that he had believed that Vader was the Chosen One and his destiny was to destroy the Sith, but instead he joined them. Unable, but most likely unwilling, to connect with his former best friend, the Sith was consumed by the fires of the lava that leaked onto the lava bend; leaving Vader to die, Kenobi retreated and took his fallen apprentice's lightsaber. Afterwards, Vader's new master, Darth Sidious, found his injured apprentice and took him back to the galactic capital of Coruscant, now known as Imperial Center, to be rebuilt; the suit that Vader donned there was one that the Dark Lord would wear for the rest of his life.

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Prelude Edit

"You turned her against me!"

"You have done that yourself."

"You will not take her from me!"

"Your anger and your lust for power have already done that. You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, until now... until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new Empire."

"Your new Empire?"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to Democracy!"

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy."

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must."

"You will try." ―Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, before their duel [src]

During the Clone Wars, the Son lured Anakin Skywalker into the Well of the Dark Side and corrupted him with a premonition of the duel on Mustafar.[4] The duel began after Darth Sidious, as the newly appointed Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine, tasked Darth Vader, his new apprentice, with the assassination of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems on the volcanic Outer Rim planet Mustafar, in order to bring an end to the Clone Wars. Vader was followed to Mustafar by his wife, Senator Padmé Amidala, where he implied to her his designs to take over the Empire, saying he could overthrow Emperor Palpatine, and that he and she could rule the galaxy together, but the senator rejected this offer. He wounded her after seeing Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former master, whom Vader wrongly believed that Amidala had led to Mustafar in order to kill him after she discovered that Obi-Wan was right about Vader. Obi-Wan himself convinced Vader to release Amidala and, not wanting to have to kill his former Padawan, briefly tried to bring him to his senses. When it became clear that Vader was unwilling to listen to reason, Obi-Wan reluctantly raised his lightsaber, prompting Vader to respond in kind.[1]

The duel Edit

"It's over, Anakin! I have the high ground."

"You underestimate my power."

"Don't try it!" ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, moments before Vader attempted to attack Obi-Wan [src]

The duel was lengthy and brutal with neither of the combatants gaining the edge as their abilities countered each other's. The duel took place across the Mustafarian Mining Complex, with the two combatants making their way through hallways, conference rooms, and command centers, the last of which led to their inadvertently triggering a meltdown of the facility when their misdirected weapons cut across a control panel. As a result, the facility's shielding deactivated, and the large stalks overhanging the lava river collapsed when covered with erupting lava, one of the stalks taking the two Jedi with it. The fight moved onto the lava river—where Mustafarian workers witnessed it, unaware that the Confederacy was defeated as the facility collapsed—before ending on an embankment where Obi-Wan leaped, gaining the high ground. He begged Vader not to attack, but Vader, in his anger, refused to listen and attacked, to no avail as his left arm and both legs were severed upon attack.[1]

Following an impassioned indictment by Kenobi of how Vader, believed to have been the Chosen One and meant to destroy the Sith instead of joining them, Vader's body burst into flames from the intense heat from the lava river, and he was burned alive. Unwilling to finish his defenseless enemy, Kenobi took Vader's lightsaber and remorsefully left him on the embankment for dead, before leaving the planet with the dying Amidala.[1]

Aftermath Edit

"Your majesty, this way!"

"There he is. He's still alive. Get a medical capsule, immediately."

"Yes, sir. Right away." ―An Imperial shock trooper and Emperor Palpatine, upon discovering Vader's immolated body [src]

Sidious sensed his apprentice's struggle from across the galaxy and personally traveled to Mustafar to retrieve him. Vader barely survived by dragging himself away, before Sidious found him. The newly christened Emperor then brought Vader back to Coruscant, where he placed his badly wounded apprentice into a cybernetic suit of armor that would keep him alive for the rest of his life before Vader learned that he killed his wife in anger. Kenobi, meanwhile, brought Amidala to Polis Massa, where she died shortly after giving birth to her and Anakin's twins, Luke and Leia. Kenobi delivered Luke to his former apprentice's stepbrother, Owen Lars, and his wife, Beru, on Tatooine and went into exile on the same planet, where he kept watch over him[1] and took on a new name: Ben Kenobi. The final encounter between Kenobi and Vader took place many years later on the Death Star, where Vader killed his former master.[5] During the Battle of Endor, Anakin, inspired by his son, found redemption, sacrificing himself by killing Sidious and rejoining Kenobi in the Force.[6]

Behind the scenes Edit

Development Edit

The duel on Mustafar was first indirectly mentioned in the 1977 original Star Wars film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The origins of the duel traced from the original trilogy, such as the conversation between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader aboard the Death Star or Vader's numerous visible scars.[5][6] The duel itself was first depicted on-screen in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith as the climactic battle of the film.[1] By then, it had already become a highly anticipated event in Star Wars fandom.[7]

The duel took George Lucas nearly two weeks to complete, and only took up half of a page.[7] During the animatics stage, Steven Spielberg, Lucas' friend and a renowned Hollywood filmmaker, participated in the duel's production. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, who played Obi-Wan and Anakin, practiced the duel constantly for several months.[7] As a result, the speed in which Vader and Kenobi engage the duel in the completed film is the speed in which it was filmed, without being digitally accelerated. Lucas named the duel during an interview in the documentary Within a Minute: The Making of Episode III.[7]

In the DVD commentary of Episode III, George Lucas pointed out that during the scene in which Vader Force-chokes Obi-Wan, the latter is holding the former's lightsaber, because Obi-Wan was at one point going to take Vader's blade, and shots for this were filmed but edited out of the final cut for pacing reasons.

As seen in The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, concept art by Sang Jun Lee shows that Kenobi and Skywalker were originally intended to fight a being known as the Mustafar Monster while having the duel. This idea was scrapped by the finished version of the film. Additionally, Vader was meant to beg Kenobi for help, reaching out for him, but Kenobi, while acknowledging he loved him and initially thinking he should help him, refuses to help, with Anakin's eyes turning from blue to the trademark yellow of the Sith.[10]

Real world parallel Edit

Before the duel, Vader tells Kenobi, "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy!" Kenobi responds with "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." George Lucas intended for this line to reflect what he believed to be the viewers' views on then President of the United States George W. Bush's War on Terror, particularly Bush's black-and-white views of the world.[11]

Appearances Edit

Non-canon appearances Edit

Sources Edit

Notes and references Edit



