oh no he dituhn

Remember a few days ago when I explained the real problems with Anakin Skywalker's epic battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi? It was a great post, and it basically contained my arguments in regards to the fail that George Lucas created by allowing both these characters to live. The post came about due to a late night and possibly slightly drunken discussion/argument with my friend Franklin who you should by now be aware of.

This conversation was reenacted with slightly different points made a couple of evenings later, and Franklin has now posted on his own blog with his sorely misguided counteraregument. Yes, I do indeed intend to not let this die.

One mistake in Franklin's post is his contention that the younglings took no effort to kill in that they are in fact younglings and have not had the same training that a true Jedi or even a padawan would have had. He seems to miss my point in this instance, though in general I find that he and I have equally valid points assuming one accepts the difference in the Star Wars univers and reality.

I'll point out that I accept the difference in created fiction and reality, but at the same time, no matter how much suspension of disbelief one allows for, one also has to accept that, given the similarity in physical laws evident there are some things one has to accept.

First to the younglings argument. My point has nothing to do with their lack of skill and training. Of course they are young and weak and untrained, but it's just that innocence that Anakin so wantonly destroyed that, in my opinion, allowed his use of the dark side to grow. It's the difference between killing uniformed soldiers versus decimating a city block with anonymous bombs. The willingness to face the soldier versus the willingness to kill with no regard allows one side to accept that there are no limits to how low one will stoop. It's the difference between slapping a man in the face as opposed to sneaking a kick to the nuts from behind.

Now, on the the next bit of the debate, that raw power can never equal skill. Anakin was highly skilled and well trained to the point where he should have been given full Jedi Knight status instead of being held back. I'll use Franklin's judo argument. As he points out, one skilled in judo will easily be able to use his knowledge to defeat a much larger and powerful opponent. However, given the same amount of expertise and training in judo between the two opponents, the fight will most likely go the way of the larger and more powerful of the two. Add on to that skill and training the willingness to accept no limits and the larger opponent becomes that much more formidable especially if the weaker opponent is willing only to work within the set skillset percieved to be true judo.

I'm more than willing for any other points to be argued. I'll listen to anyone nerdy enough to join this exchange. I'm pretty sure that of my couple of readers I have some scifi fans with an opinion on this subject, and I welcome any points of view.