#but there was really a TON to say about obes and dooku in this i was trying not to YELL LOUDLY the enture time

[legobiwan]

TCW Recap: “The Gungan General” (S1, E11)

I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS EPISODE AND 90% OF IT IS ABOUT OBI-WAN AND DOOKU. THIS IS GOING TO BE *LONG*, PEOPLE.

Hondo would disagree, I think.

Speaking of whom... Narrator guy: “...the brigand, Hondo Ohnaka.” This is great. Brigand. Hondo would love it. 

And now what might be one of the greatest scenes of denial/rationalization in all of Star Wars, and I’m including Obi-wan’s infamous equivocation when it came to telling Luke about his father:

These guys are a mess. 

Come ON, Kenobi. (And you, too, Anakin.) I mean, honestly. “wE WeRe DruGGed, OhhhBvIouSlY.” Please, we all saw you chug that pirate drink, Kenobes. At least Anakin actually only took a sip.

I feel like this incident was kind of formative for Anakin. This won’t be the first time this episode we see Anakin’s Sith incarnation quote Obi-wan.

But you know what the absolute best part about this entire scene is? Dooku has been watching this go down the entire time. I MEAN. First of all, how did they get Obi-wan and Anakin tethered to Dooku, who would probably have rather swallowed his lightsaber than be in the same room as Anakin. But then he sits there, watches the last of his Lineage passed out on a floor and denying anything had happened? AMAZING. 

CAN WE PLEASE NOTE the first thing Dooku says, the very first words out of his mouth are this:

The first thing Dooku does is praise Obi-wan for being smart. And he calls him “Master Kenobi.” I have always been fascinated by Dooku’s predilection for calling Obi-wan by his formal title, because he certainly doesn’t do the same for Anakin (who Dooku usually refers to as “Skywalker” or some other demeaning, generalized noun.) I think (I would need to check again), but I think Dooku only calls Obi-wan by his first name in AotC, when he’s trying to play shared love of Qui-gon card on Geonosis. Sometimes he’ll refer to him just as “Kenobi,” but very often, and usually when Dooku is saying something complimentary to him, Dooku will use that moniker. It’s fascinating. The way these two are framed - the blocking - this episode is also telling and I’m going to point it out, because I feel like the animators went out of their way to show Obi-wan and Dooku together, and that, at times, Obi-wan was deferring and conferring with Dooku as much as Anakin. Which...so. much. to. read. into. that.

Oh yeah, and Dooku’s wonderful meditation pose here. He was meditating. I love it! That pose will come back later in this review. 

Okay, so I’ve mentioned this before, but the way they are tethered. Dooku to Obi-wan to Anakin. In perfect lineage order, Obi-wan the linchpin between the two sides.

Bless Hondo and his mother. 

You know what I find funny? The turncoat pirate, whatever-his-name-was thinks it’s going to be so easy to pull one over on Hondo. Hondo, who somehow captured two of the most accomplished Jedi in the Order and a Sith Lord. Who knows what a Sith Lord is. Who knows what a lightsaber is (laser-sword.) Hondo plays dumb and fast-and-loose because he can. He expects his men to turn on him and knows he’ll deal with it. Smart man. His mother was smart, too. Also, he is hilarious I love Hondo so much. 

So Palpatine sent Jar Jar on this mission so it would fail, right? At least, that would be his reasoning. But! Jar Jar was super-competent this episode! (More on that later. I am part of the Jar Jar Defense Squad, I have to admit.)

Plus, Jar Jar’s antics just make me laugh. 

Here’s a question. Those binders our trio had. They’re Force-suppressing, at least a little bit, right? They have to be, otherwise, there’s no way Dooku would be wasting his time levitating a knife off a plate to jimmy the cell door.

Now, I love the whole exchange here: Dooku: “Do control your protégé’s insolence so I can concentrate.” Obi-wan: “Anakin!” Anakin: “What?” Obi-wan: “Control your insolence. The Count is concentrating.”

This is great for about five different reasons. One, Dooku always addresses Obi-wan and Obi-wan only, never Anakin, unless it’s a retort to something Anakin said. The term protégé is also funny. I don’t know, it’s just very Dooku language. Now, mind you, Dooku doesn’t know Obi-wan all that well. They met on Geonosis, Qui-gon may or may not have told stories about Dooku to Obi-wan (my guess is that Qui-gon didn’t, given their contentious relationship when Obi-wan was a Padawan). So this is really the first time Dooku is getting to learn just who Obi-wan is, and Obi-wan is responding with some first-class snark. And the two of them low-key snark each other the rest of the episode. There’s an almost-playfulness to the exchanges between Obi-wan and Dooku (as opposed to Anakin and Dooku who just want to rip each other’s throats out) and you have to wonder what is going through both their heads at this point.

Dooku: “Well done, if I do say so myself.” (you asshole, Dooku) Obi-wan: (snark)

Anakin out there having PTSD from being chained to a Sith Lord and watching his Master low-key banter with his Dark Side Grandmaster 30-something years later.

 Yikes, they killed off two pilots and a Senator in that crash?

Okay, the whole deal with “Do we know where we’re going?” Anakin absolutely cannot ask that question of Dooku because Dooku will tear him a new one. Obi-wan, however, not only can get away with it, but get some semblance of an answer out of Dooku. These two, I SWEAR.

I don’t know, this screencap just amused me.

Getting back to blocking. Check this out:

Anakin gets the keycard while Obi-wan listens to Dooku. This is telling and it happens more than once. 

Again with the blocking. Again with Obi-wan getting away with sassing the hell out of Dooku. Also, Dooku’s claim of “Of course it’s safe?” Did this man train Qui-gon Jinn, or what? Honestly.

“I don’t want to kill you, per se.” Oh, Hondo. “You seem like decent fellows, even you Count.” Interesting observation and Hondo’s not wrong - at this point, at least. Hondo is observant. He knows what a Sith can do. Dooku could do serious damage and he’s controlling himself here and Hondo, I think, notices. 

And then after Hondo leaves? Obi-wan addresses Dooku first.

hmmmmm

Interesting that they bury Senator Kharrus on Florrum and don’t try to bring the body back when they do make a deal of bringing back the bodies of slain Jedi to Coruscant. 

THIS PART

They way Dooku is in this shot, almost observing like he’s some kind of teacher. They way Dooku turns Obi-wan’s own words on him with the “most impressive” bit. Poor Anakin must really be confused as to what was going on there, because a) he wasn’t part of this subtle banter and b) Obi-wan is bantering with a Sith Lord who happens to be Obi-wan’s Grandmaster and there’s a lot more connection between those two than between Anakin and Dooku. 

Competent!JarJar!!!!

The framing, again. You know, in recounting this, it kind of strikes me how much this is an episode about Dooku and Obi-wan, with Anakin being kind of an afterthought. 

I have to talk about this little moment. When Dooku says he would kill them both if he didn’t have to drag their bodies. Look real closely at Dooku and Obi-wan here.

That little movement at the end. Dooku actually gives Obi-wan a little shove! Not to hurt him, but probably to get back at him for the way Obi-wan pushed him behind some crates by the shoulder earlier. These two are having a constant, very very subtle confrontation throughout this episode, each one answering the other in a mirror. And Anakin is just *super* confused. I mean, wow, are Dooku and Obi-wan a mirror of each other or what? 

FRAMING ALERT

And then this. Obi-wan saves Dooku. I’ve already gone on about this at length elsewhere but the symbolism of Dooku’s tether breaking, Obi-wan reaching out, the way they are inverted, the way it could be implied that either Obi-wan could pull Dooku up or drag Obi-wan down, that Anakin could destroy them all if he let go (what?!?), the gap between Obi-wan and Dooku where Qui-gon should have been. This is one of my favorite bits of subtle symbolism in the series. SO. GOOD.

Okay, this is the last bit we get with Dooku and Obi-wan interacting, so I should be wrapping this up soon, hahahaha. Things to note here. Dooku is always angled towards Obes, the body language says everything. Obi-wan is meditating in a position that mirrors Dooku’s from the opening, and Anakin is not. The entire rest of this scene you have to wonder if there’s some kind of Force communication going on between those two. And in the last screengrab, it almost looks like Dooku doesn’t want Obes to leave. They have a bizarre, twisted relationship and I. LOVE. IT. (plus, that was kind of a Dooku-ish line there, Kenobi.)

*adopts Hermione Granger voice* EXCUSE ME, DISNEY, IT’S BOMBAD clankens! Don’t be doing by boy Jar Jar wrong here.

You know that’s right. I am fully convinced Jar Jar didn’t actually slip when he took control of that tank. While Jar Jar is clumsy, he also uses that to his advantage sometimes. A little bit like Hondo plays the fool. 

I love the fact Hondo is just like, well, “I guess we have to torture them now.” It’s so random, hilarious, and over-the-top.

Oh, Hondo.

Ah, now that Obi-wan is gone Dooku can let loose and kill people. How much do you want to bet he was reigning in his impulses because Obi-wan was around and he still entertained the notion of getting Kenobi to his side? Because I think so. 

No more Kenobi = time to murder someone brutally.

It’s nice to see Dooku flying his own ship for once, instead of hailing the droid Uber. He’s not only a good swordfighter, but I imagine a pretty good pilot and fond of racing in his younger days, if I’m remembering Jedi Lost correctly. 

AND FINALLY. This is why Hondo loves Obi-wan. Ha! Yeah, we’ll let you go Hondo, but Dooku knows where you live. 

I love this man.

[the-chosen-anakin]

Hey, I saw your "space Jesus" post, and whilst I personally agree with you, many will not. Its amost as if not only does Ob Wan Kenobi have no flaws, he's not ALLOWED to have any, and sorry, but George Lucas is not helping in this regard. He's basically said that Kenobi was not grooming Luke to kill his father, and in one canon novel he's even advocating against killing Dooku. Apparently he respects the sanctity of life even of Sith Lords.

Part 2: So basically, Lucas has removed the few flaws Kenobi has. I don't know, is he just afraid that if his characters have flaws fans won't like them anymore? Try saying he has flaws in fandom now, and you're also greeted with anger and hate. He is perfect, he's not allowed to be anything else. He forgives his enemies instantly and without effort. Do they and GL realize they've created a Mary Sue? Do they even care?

I mean, I have issues with Obi-Wan, but I don’t consider him a Gary Stu, because he actually does have a ton of flaws; they’re just not really called out by the fandom or the saga’s narrative.

Regardless of what George Lucas said about Obi-Wan grooming Luke, the fact of the matter is that that’s more or less exactly what Obi-Wan and Yoda were doing. Vader was a dangerous, evil man, don’t get me wrong, but keeping Luke in the dark about his true parentage in the hopes that he’d kill his father relatively unbothered (villain though he is) isn’t exactly what I’d call saintly behavior.

“I don't know, is he just afraid that if his characters have flaws fans won't like them anymore?”

Considering how hard Lucas pushed to retcon Anakin’s personality in TCW (2008) to appease the Prequel Haters, I would not find it inconceivable for that to be the case.