All posts by LittleAni42

I’m gonna go out on a limb and pre-, not assume that this wasn’t intentional on George’s part, but I love the symbolism of the setting Qui-Gon and Obi-Wans’ duel with Maul. Naboo is blessed with natural plasma goo oozing from its honeycomb outer core. Apart from being the essence of a lightsaber blade, plasma’s also the most chaotic state of matter. Ionized gas equal hyperactive gas. Like gas molecules are the Tasmanian devil, but plasma is him pumped full of uppers and caffeine. It’s pure, unpredictable chaos. It goes hand-in-hand withe the uncertain outcome of the duel and its massive consequences for Anakin. In a plasma, stuff that seems minor at first actually are the deciding factor (Maul kicking Obi-Wan’s hilt down the core shaft but not Qui-Gon’s). The two Jedi being separated increases the stakes, which is where the laser gates come in.

The laser gate corridor to the generator core is inworld symbolic of hte Naboo’s belief of the 6 gates against chaos. They’re there to contain the damage so that if something ever went wrong with the generator and it was going to go Chernobyl, Theed wouldn’t become a radioactive, poisoned ghost city like Pripyat, Ukraine. Ironically tho, by separating Obi-Wan from Qui-Gon, they end up causing future chaos for the galaxy (Anakin is deprived of a father figure, and potentially a grandpa figure in the form of Dooku).

I’ve included a pic from the Kristin Lund’s (now Legends) book Inside the World of Star Wars Episode I for more insight

So consider this as my last post concerning Vader’s emotional conflict in Empire Strikes back: the fate of Admiral Firmus Piett at the end of the movie. When R2 manages to fix the Falcon’s hyperdrive and he and the rest escape, I think pretty much everyone, both inworld and real, expected Piett to be the third fatal force choke by Vader in the movie. But instead Vader simply calmly walks off the Executor’s bridge without a word. Maybe it’s nothing or something subtle but big, but I think Vader’s encounter with Luke may have touched a nerve in his inner Anakin side. Showing mercy to an officer who screwed up is uncharacteristic, and when U think about, Piett surviving to be in the next episode is interesting at the very least. Wanted to share my thoughts on this plot element and see everyone else’s.