{{Okay, so residual haunting was a canonical thing in the old Star Wars EU, right? What with the echo of Anakin’s massacre of that Ghorfa tribe still remaining on Tatooine in Tatooine Ghost. Makes me think, what if there’s a similar residual haunting in the ruins of the Jedi temple on Coruscant, repeatedly replaying the massacre that had happened inside during the events of Order 66?}}
A cold touch, like two fingers, across the nape of your neck. An echo of scream at the far end of a dim hallway. A flash of lights like a blaster shot, no discernible cause for it.
In general, though, the cold almost-cramping in your gut was only normal around the Emperor. The way his eyes bored into you, like fire on your skin wherever he happened to be looking, cold sweat all over – it stood to reason that the halls would also feel airless, choked with smoke and the scent of burnt metal. Just your fears whispering in your ear. That’s what all the residents of the Imperial Palace told themselves.
And of course, there were those like Tarkin or Isard who were only too happy to ignore it, and softly deride anyone who shuddered at an imagined sensation.
But for Mara Jade, it was impossible to ignore. Some nights, Mara couldn’t sleep at all, hearing the sounds of blasterfire and screaming, and something that sounded oddly like the Emperor’s lightsaber – but many of them at once.
On other nights, the Imperial Palace was deathly still, and that frightened Mara more than the screaming she could almost ignore. It made her restless, and no matter how she tried, she could not sleep.
Mara Jade slipped from her bed, not making a sound, sliding the blaster from under her pillow. If nothing else, a walk out in the free air might clear her mind.
There was a boy at the end of the landing pad – just sitting there, feet casually hanging over the side. Mara Jade grinned in appreciation: that was something she always wanted to do herself. It didn’t make sense to live in fear of heights in a city over six hundred levels high. It did, however, make sense to get to know them, much like walking around in the utter stillness in the dark was supposed to help her fear it less. Though, so far, she wouldn’t have said it was working. Now that she’d seen the boy out doing the same, however, Mara did feel a bit lighter.
Still, she didn’t necessarily want company, nor immediately trust this being.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked as she warily stepped closer, fingers closed over her small blaster.
The truly disarming thing about that boy was that wide grin he cast over his shoulder. “I don’t know,” he said brightly.
Mara tensed immediately, sensing – no, not a lie. Under that grin, the boy was rather troubled that he did not know. She wasn’t sure whether her surprise showed on her face, but something must have, the way that grin melted away. That was disappointing. She’d been trying so hard to school her expressions so as not to give anything away.
But the boy had turned back to the city’s lights, and he sighed. “It seemed so important, you know, to get to the end of the landing pad. Like there was someone at the end of it to help me.”
Mara weighed her options – to take out her blaster, or to keep it out of sight, even if within reach. She decided on the latter. Perhaps there wouldn’t be much harm in coming a little closer, bit by bit. She watched him as she approached, but he didn’t move a muscle, so she didn’t stop until she was just out of arm’s reach. “Help you do what?”
The boy shrugged. “Leave this place, I think.”
Mara didn’t quite manage to choke back a scoff. “Why would you want to leave home?”
But the look she got for it was equally troubled, and even more lost. “I don’t know,” the boy admitted. “Honestly I can’t think of a single reason.”
“Betrayal.”
The word dropped from her mouth, and Mara started, certain she must look just as surprised as the boy, whose head had snapped around to her. It felt oddly right, and she didn’t understand where it had come from. Mara shivered, hugging herself in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. She wasn’t supposed to show anything, she wasn’t supposed to allow anyone to read her reactions –
“Hey, it’s okay,” the boy soothed, his smile genuine for the first time. “It’s okay. That happens sometimes. The Force speaks to some people that way, it’s like prescience.”
“I don’t – I’m not –” Mara stuttered helplessly. She wasn’t Force Sensitive, she’ wasn’t prescient, she was just – she could hear the Emperor in her head, and that was all that there was special about her.
“Doesn’t have to be prescience,” he shrugged again, and sighed. “Anyway, I know you’re right. I just don’t remember anything about it. Not really.” He hung his head, looking pensive.
Then, “I think there was someone at the end of the platform, someone who wanted to help.”
Mara Jade shook her head, wondering at this trusting being. In the middle of the Imperial Palace, no less! Didn’t he know how everyone here fought for the Emperor’s notice, and ‘allies’ were ready to turn at a moment’s notice just to get a step ahead? She’d seen it often enough.
“No one ever helps,” she said, with a firm nod.
For some reason, the boy let out a harsh, bitter laugh, then hung his head, hands clutching white-knuckled at the edge of the landing pad. “That’s true, I guess. If the people you always thought were there to protect you and watch your back suddenly turned against you, I don’t think there would be enough people left to help.”
That sent a chill down her spine – worse, already, than the wind at this height of the city. People you always thought were there to protect you and watch your back. She thought of the Emperor, of her exhaustive training that would prepare her to one day serve as his Hand, and how she only ever felt warm in his presence. No, she would not ever betray him.
“Mara Jade,” a soft voice called to her. She looked up sharply at the boy, but he only smiled. “Go back to sleep, little one.”
Her feet had moved without any conscious thought of her own, and she only really noticed that she’d left the landing platform when she was mere steps away from her room again. But the quiet no longer seemed quite so oppressive, and sleep dragged at her, inexorable. She all but collapsed back into her bed, eyes already closed, and yet the small blaster still made its way under her pillow in a loose clasp.
– in memory of the one young Padawan who almost broke through the ranks of Torrent Company, fighting to get to Bail Organa. also, holy shit – did not fucking expect to hit the creep vibe at the end there
HC’s performance gets amazingly better if you put the TV on mute. I don’t mean that as a slam against him, but a slam against how horribly crippled he was by the poorly written dialogue. I didn’t realize it myself until I got in the fandom (due to TCW) and started seeing PT gifs everywhere, and it’s just like – wait. His nonverbal nuances, body language, facial expressions, little quirky things like the way Anakin hides his hands in the sleeves of his robe – none of those are the signs of a bad actor. They’re the signs of a good actor who understands his character. HC gets an assload of shit he doesn’t remotely deserve.
can we please talk about obi wan fighting savage AND maul at the same time and WINNING i’m???
soresu might not be offensive but holy hell that doesn’t seem to stop obi wan. THAT FANCY FOOTWORK ON SAVAGE’S KNEE THO.
Obi-Wan is all about restraint, partly because if he were ever to jump in and fight all out, he’d completely destroy his opponents. He keeps it all bottled up, partly because he doesn’t want to see himself as this destructive warrior–it’s a part of himself he’s not very comfortable with. I don’t think Maul expected any of that–to be completely honest, he might realize consciously that Obi-Wan’s a Jedi Master now, but emotionally he still thinks of Obi-Wan as a Padawan. This is the moment when Obi-Wan establishes himself not as a lucky freak occurrence, but a very real threat.
(I think that might actually be a hybrid between Ataru, Soresu and Jar’Kai. It doesn’t even have to be Jar’Kai, though–according to Wookieepedia, Ataru has a double-blade variant, which Obi-Wan might be expected to be familiar with. It doesn’t look very much like Ventress’ Jar’Kai, so it’s probably Ataru, which was Obi-Wan’s preferred style as a Padawan. This is where Obi-Wan varies from Ventress–she can’t put an awful lot of force behind her strikes, so she relies on speed and acrobatics. Obi-Wan is just as acrobatic and agile as Ventress, but there’s a lot more power behind his strikes, which, again, looks more like Ataru than Jar’Kai to me. Ataru is a bit more specialized than Niman, which is the discipline from which Jar’Kai is derived from. Ataru is also, primarily, a martial art; it relies on acrobatics, a bit like parkuor, and could easily be adapted for hand-to-hand combat, and with the complicated leaps and turns it involves a lot of legwork. Not to limit this to a certain series of disciplines, because Obi-Wan is experienced in more than just Soresu, Ataru, and Jar’Kai/Niman. I’m just remarking on how this looks like mostly Ataru to me.)
Bottom line: Obi-Wan is much better prepared for a conflict like the Clone Wars than Ventress is.
(Footnote: My sister remarked while I was reading this out, looking for errors, that it sounded like Obi-Wan’s doing some kind of strange ballet. Ummmmmm… sorta? It is a bit like ballet, yes. There’s definitely a series of stances you have to master to prepare your muscles to learn the actual style… yes, it’s a lot like ballet.)
OKAY BUT
Do you ever think about Obi-Wan learning Ataru from Qui-Gon though?
Like… Qui-Gon’s a pretty big person, tall and muscular, someone you’d expect to practice Djem So with its focus on strength and power instead of Ataru which is primarily speed and agility. Like someone with a height and size advantage against most opponents would probably benefit from the heavy swings in Form V.
… You know what he probably learned Ataru just to fuck with his opponents. Let’s be honest here. It would be a classic Qui-Gon Jinn move.
Qui-Gon’s specialty in Ataru just pleases me to no end. Because the man is so massive, a form like Ataru is not what you’d expect. But on the other hand, when someone his size actually masters the form, can you imagine the sheer momentum behind his blade? He’s going to be landing power strikes that don’t look like power strikes, which is just going to further confuse his opponent.
Also let’s be real, besides the fact that this would seriously fuck with an adversary’s ability to predict him, I can only imagine that a refined Makashi master like Dooku would find a form as kinetic and flashy as Ataru downright distasteful. Imagine how frustrated he would have been once he realized his padawan was dead set on fighting like a damn circus performer. And imagine how often Qui-Gon just delighted in pushing that button whenever he could.
(okay this has also got me thinking about young Qui-Gon and why he might have gravitated to this form in the first place. Qui-Gon probably had a super awkward adolescence, growing into that kind of size can leave you all arms and legs of varying confusing proportions for a few years. He might have initially practiced Ataru just to force himself to maintain precise control of his body, to know exactly where his hands and feet are, to know exactly where his center of balance is, and to be perpetually refining his reflexes as his body grows. But, once he hits his full adult size, yeah he could switch to a more ‘appropriate’ form, or he could keep doing what he’s doing. Yeah he’s a giant bear man, but he’s a bear man who managed to practice Ataru during his awkward colt phase, like “Yeah I’m kinda big for this, but I’m gonna be the same big forever now? this is easy” because while Ataru might not normally be designed for someone of his body type, he spent years making it work for his body type, and now he’s created something extremely effective that’s also going to have the bonus of always giving him an element of surprise in battle.)
and then imagine him training poor Obi-Wan and having absolutely no sympathy for the difficulty of the form: “But Master I’m jumping just as high as you are, and I actually hit the platform before you did – Yeah but I’m twice your size, so you better be jumping twice as high and hitting the platform in half the time – D8″
Which brings us back to sheer lethality Obi-Wan can whip out when he wants to. The saber heritage he’s coming from is perfect for the battles he later fights. He’s got all the kinetic energy and athleticism from practicing Ataru for over ten years, but it’s going to be a very refined form of Ataru. Dooku is still going to have insisted that Qui-Gon study some Makashi, which is all about refinement, but Qui-Gon’s particular brand of Ataru (because I am keeping this headcanon) also requires complete awareness of your own body and utter precision in your movements.** And precision is what Soresu is all about.
So, ten years later and Obi-Wan has switched styles and become the master (not a master, the master, as Mace Windu very strongly insisted) of Soresu, a form with an impenetrably tight defense that essentially makes its user untouchable while they wait for the perfect moment to counter-strike. And once Obi-wan does see his moment, BAM out comes these perfectly executed Ataru moves with a surprising amount of force behind them. It also starts showing against opponents that he knows he has to press the offensive with, or when he starts losing some of his perfected self-control. You can see that in his fight with Maul and Savage. I mean, for fuck’s sake look at these gifs [x] His style is radically different in that fight than it normally is, he’s jumping, flipping, twisting all over the place. And a momentum-driven power strike is exactly what he delivers to Savage’s knee there at the end. He’s using Soresu principles to successfully fend off two opponents at once, but this duel is otherwise almost pure Ataru, and it’s vicious.
** and it’s this kind of precise body awareness that lets Obi-wan take one look at an embankment, his opponent’s size and strength, and immediately conclude exactly how high any potential jump or flip will take him, and also allows him to dismember a man mid-spin without touching the rest of him
I forget if this is canon or otherwise but didn’t Obi-Wan learn Soresu because of Ataru’s lack of defensive capabilities?
My personal headcanon aligns with yours perfectly in that Obi’s tactical mindset uses Soresu’s breathing space to analyze the fight and attack the opponent"s weak point!
Like I’ve always seen Obi as not particularly physically strong (not to say that he isn’t strong, just that it’s not something that goes beyond the pale for a Jedi Master e.g. Pong Krell) but someone who waits like a viper for the perfect moment to strike. Couple that with Qui-Gon’s unorthodox training methods and combat styles handed down to him through years of experience and you have an extremely versatile Jedi who adapts perfectly to fights!
(Well. Almost perfectly. Shoutout to Dooku’s absolutely SICK Makashi. Honestly that style just… *fans self*)
Yup that’s canon! (or well, “used to be” technically, but all the EU stuff’s still canon to me so idaf lol) Stover *really* dug into saber forms a lot in his novelization of Revenge of the Sith, and one of the things he talks about is Obi-Wan switching to studying Soresu after Qui-Gon’s death. In general tho, Ataru has very strong offensive capabilities, but all that movement and those big sweeping gestures it uses can leave openings. Openings that against most opponents won’t be a problem, but against another Force sensitive saber duelist? Suddenly those openings can become deadly. I imagine that’s also part of why Obi-Wan switched, not just because he’d seen one of the form’s weaknesses exploited, but because if the Sith really are back, the Jedi aren’t only going to be fighting criminals and warlords with blasters anymore; they need to prepare to be fighting other lightsabers, and the defensive nature of Soresu was how Obi-Wan responded to that. And it’s also in Stover’s book that Windu calls him the master of the style and quite stridently argues that Obi-Wan might be the only Jedi in the Order who can defeat Grievous.
And I totally agree! Obi-Wan is going to be very strong for his size, but he’s still….his size lol. So he makes up for it in other ways, by making sure nobody can touch him until he suddenly strikes, but also by engaging their mind. Obi-Wan turns fights into mental battles as much as physical battles, which is why he talks so damn much when fighting haha. And in that arena, Obi-Wan is without equal, so he can really tip a fight in his favor by coming at his opponent from multiple angles.
And hnnnng Makashi. I really liked that they pushed the dueling/fencing angle of Dooku’s style in the show
Okay okay, but here me out…
After reading all this I want a canon comic/novel/whatever to focus on Dooku training Qui-Gon. All this stuff from lightsaber combat differences (I particularly liked the comment about Dooku wishing his apprentice wouldn’t be jumping around like a circus performer) to the canon fact that both Dooku and Qui-Gon were seen as idealists who butted heads with the Jedi Council.
I’d like something like that. Maybe even get more info on what a Yoda/Dooku apprenticeship was like.
I’d run across a source somewhere that said Ataru was specifically considered a good counter to Makashi. This does make some amount of sense: Makashi is about holding back the opponent until you can disarm them, exploiting an imperfection in their form. Ataru is about a powerful opening burst, which could, when done right, overwhelm a Form II fighter’s reserve. And if it’s Qui-Gon, with enough power in his strokes to fell a mynock? Good luck, Form II, he’ll tire you out before you have a chance with him.
Qui-Gon essentially took Dooku’s strategy and turned it on its head.
My favourite was putting that tidbit with a few I’d picked up from @deadcatwithaflamethrower‘s ReEntry: the fact that, when Qui-Gon’s relationship with his Master was especially rocky, he went to Grandmaster Yoda. And guess what Yoda’s specialty is? Right ye are, Ataru. Yoda, with his smaller size and greater agility, probably ran Padawans ragged if they asked for a lesson. The idea of Yoda teaching Qui-Gon more or less exactly how to be able to stand up against his Padawan really tickles.
I have only one thing to add to this however, Obi-Wan is 5′10. He’s not small omg. He’s just… unfortunately surrounded by lots of tall ass mammoth people who obviously have a wookiee in their family fucking tree. So by the time he gets to 22, he’s got the height and most of the physical strength he’s gonna have for at least a decade or two, to be downright terrifying with Ataru.
And he technically doesn’t even need to be all that strong with an attack. Momentum and energy from a jump can make any strike pretty devastating – this holds pretty true in most martial arts, hand-to-hand or with a weapon. One of the most devastating fights I’ve seen was between this giant hulk of a lad and a slip of a girl who not only used speed for her attacks, but also her momentum. Spinning kicks use your momentum as well speed to basically send your opponent flying if you connect (personal experience btw: it fucking HURTS to get kicked in the jaw damn it).
Ataru is agile as hell and requires a lot of energy, one hell of a load of stamina and the awareness of your body – literally, if you don’t know your body well enough, trying any sort of athletic activity like jump kicks and stuff, literally fucking the most dangerous thing you can do sometimes (again, personal experience).
Obi-Wan’s skill at collating a variety of saber forms and being trained enough in them all that he can combine them literally on the fly is an amazing trait. It’s not something I think is unique to Obi-Wan – Anakin and Mace I imagine were both quite good at switching forms here and there (especially Anakin because no formal training) – but I do think he was literally one of the only Jedi to take it to the extremes because of his fear of watching someone else die in front of him.
so here’s our favorite adoptive space dad Bail Organa in Revenge of the Sith:
and here he is in Rogue One:
meanwhile, here’s Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith:
and here he is after the exact same amount of time:
I’d like some of whatever Bail is having on Alderaan and exactly zero of what Obi-Wan is having on Tatooine
well one of them is the viceroy of alderaan and the other one is living as a hermit in space nevada, sorry that obi wan isn’t keeping up his moisturizing regimen on Planet Sand Hell while bail organa drinks kale smoothies in the shade
And let’s not forget that Tatooine has two suns and is incredibly hostile to the aging process. Look at Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.
OH GOD NO BUT THAT WOULD BE PERFECT. how did the jedi not think of that?
what is anakin’s biggest weakness? attachments.
you know who needs lots of attachment? babies. small children.
anakin should not have been made to study murder: he should have been put in charge of Small Things. He would have bonded with all of them instantly, and it would have given his life Meaning and Purpose.
He’d bond with the kids, but he’d be able to move on because they are Bigger now and they have to go to the Big Kid Class but he still sees them around all the time, and it finally teaches him how to let go of his attachments??? He’d find a kid that he’s particularly fond of and go to Obi-Wan and say “I have found your newest padawan.”
this could have fixed so. many. things. ;_____;
Heh, and Anakin would keep picking Obi-Wan’s padawans for him, and it would be annoying but damn if he wasn’t right every single time.
BUT CAN YOU
JUST IMAGINE HOW ANNOYED PALPATINE WOULD BE his life would be never-ending
string of trying to get a hold of Anakin (I mean, would Anakin give him a time of day if he can spend it with small kids who absolutely adore him instead?)
he keeps
comming over the years, but it’s always like
BEEP
“Anakin, my
boy, we haven’t seen each other in a while—“
“I’m sorry,
Chancellor, now’s not the best time. I’m tutoring a class.”
BEEP
“My dear
boy, I wonder if we could meet for a chat—“
“Well, it
can’t be this week, we’re going to Ilum, but maybe later…”
BEEP
“Anakin,
I’d like to—“
“I’m
terribly sorry, Chancellor,” Obi-Wan Kenobi answers. The apologetic tone might
be just a tad exaggerated. “Anakin is on a trip with younglings, he
must’ve left his comlink behind accidentally.”
BEEP
“You’ve
reached Anakin Skywalker’s private comlink. Leave the message after the tone.”
BEEP
“It’s such
a shame that Council doesn’t consider sending you on this campaign, considering
the lightsaber skills you demonstrated when I was last visiting the Temple,
Anakin.”
“Thank you,
Chancellor, but this is precisely why I need to stay behind. In fact just the
last week, the Masters decided I should take over some advanced lightsaber
classes, considering senior Padawans accompanying their Masters on the frontlines
need the training. I might take the Bear Clan along, make it a learning
opportunity for the young ones—“
Palpatine
closes his eyes slowly. He knows this from experience; Anakin won’t let himself
be budged from the topic of little monsters for at least another half an hour.
BEEP
“Ah,
Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin left his comlink behind again, he’s in class—“
BEEP
“Anakin, I
hoped you—“
“Oh! Chancellor,”
the voice on the other end is distinctly female, and Palpatine recognizes it after
a second. Kenobi’s second Padawan. He barely restrains the urge to gnash his
teeth. “Um, Skyg—I mean, Master Skywalker can’t pick up now. I can tell him you
called? It’s just that he was helping me with forms, and he forgot his comlink,
and he’s probably already in crèche…”
BEEP
Then there’s
that one time when an actual youngling picks up the call. The less said about his
reaction to that incident, the better.
BEEP
“—fortunately,
they were all right in the end. But in my opinion, this should never happened
in the first place, Chancellor.”
Palpatine
snaps awake. Was that… was that anger? Finally, the hours of listening to
worthless drivel about Jedi younglings paid off.
“My boy, I
absolutely agree,” he begins slyly, but before he can continue, Anakin steamrolls
on.
“I think Jedi
Order is too deeply entwined in the conflict! I honestly don’t think even
senior Padawans should be anywhere near battles, not to mention in command of
GAR, but now even younglings are acceptable targets for Separatists and pirates!
Master Yoda and I were talking about this lately, and—“
Palpatine
swallows a scream of rage with some difficulty.
BEEP
“Forgot his
comlink again, Master Skywalker has. With younglings, he is.”
Slaughtering
younglings moved to the top on the list of things Darth Sidious will do after
taking over galaxy some time ago.
this post keeps getting better and better
Since this post is back on my dash, let me add something I was thinking about lately, which is this Anakin & Obi-Wan #1 page:
More specifically, the last four panels.
Stars
above, just look at this smarmy smile. Mace Windu might be saying “Of
course, Chancellor”, but he’s hard-pressed to think of something he’d like to
agree with less.
“The
Jedi are under the Senate’s judistriction.”
It’s
completely innocent, unremarkable, one hundred percent factually true statement.
It’s also said in the most blandly obnoxious tone one can imagine. A tone which
upon being heard is guaranteed to have blood pressure of the recipient going through
the roof.
(You could
find Master Windu in the Room of Thousand Fountains a few hours later. (“The
Jedi are under the Senate’s judistriction.”) You wouldn’t know it by
looking at him, but he’d be meditating away a very un-Jedi-like urge to rip a
certain graying head off.)
A few weeks
pass. Mace manages to put this unfortunate conversation out of his mind almost entirely.
He’s sitting together with Yoda, discussing everyday Order matters.
“Visit us
again, Chancellor will,” Yoda notes after they schedule a joint training
exercise for Padawans for tomorrow.
(“The
Jedi are under the Senate’s judistriction.”)
(”Send
him to me.”)
Windu
stares at his flimsiplast with unseeing eyes for a moment, carefully releasing
sudden spike of annoyance into the Force, before turning to the
Grandmaster.
“There are
still few mission to assign,” he remarks noncommittally.
(The next
day, Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are on a transport to some swampy
planet in Mid-Rim. They both privately wonder why Master Windu is pissed off at
them; they both for once finding their consciences clear; they both arrive at
the inevitable conclusion that the other must be at fault; and they both decide
magnanimously to not embarrass their companion by asking what the hell they did.)
Mace Windu
absolutely does not let this petty act of revenge completely justified assignment
buoy his mood during next meeting with Chancellor (and several after that).
A month
passes, then another.
One sunny
afternoon, strolling through the Temple halls, Mace Windu happens upon
unwelcome visage of Chancellor Palpatine.
“Chancellor,”
he stops to greet the politician. His voice has just the right amount of polite
inquiry in it, and no one would know that somewhere deep in his soul, a more punctuated
question echoes. What the kriff are you doing here.
“Master
Windu,” the Chancellor replies, and no one knows this either, but he’s not
stopping just to make small talk with the Jedi. The rules of propriety and
social niceties are last thing on his mind, because a vanishingly rare
opportunity for someone in his position just presented itself.
It’s the
opportunity to gloat.
It’s a
little thing, really, but it counts.
“I’m just
on my way to meet Anakin,” he smiles. “Since my schedule isn’t full for once.”
A Jedi Master
of Mace Windu’s caliber has too much poise to let his eye twitch.
“Isn’t he
in class?” Mace inquires. Wouldn’t it just be wonderful, if Skywalker was busy right this minute.
“I wouldn’t
presume to interrupt him then! No, I commed ahead and Anakin told me his
afternoon is free.”
Jedi accept
both victory and defeat with the same serene dignity, for reveling in either is
not their way. Thus Master Windu inclines his head slightly, says “I see,” and
bids the Chancellor a good afternoon.
(“The
Jedi are under the Senate’s judistriction.”)
Those words
most definitely did not haunt Mace Windu, for he did not lay awake this night,
did not curse Anakin Skywalker for handing out his private comm number to
politicians, and did not wonder what other activities beside gossiping with
Chancellor of the Republic he could assign to arrogant Padawans with far, far
too much time on their hands (he checked Skywalker’s schedule; the boy indeed ought
have been in afternoon class, if not for the fact that he tested out of it).
Well,
alright, maybe he did. But only for a few moments, before letting the Force
carry away the irritation, trusting that the cosmic energy would help him to
realize how incredibly unimportant is his dislike of Chancellor Palpatine’s
overbearing need to poke his nose into Jedi matters in general and training of
Anakin Skywalker in particular.
His trust
is rewarded the very next day.
It is well
known fact that Master Yoda is fond of younglings. Crechemasters have the
unspoken permission to bother him at any time of they with matters concerning
the little ones. Request for advice, reports about Yoda’s favorites, inquires
about Knights and Padawans who might be free to help out—it’s a background
noise whenever Mace accompanies the Grandmaster, which is most of the time.
“…they were
delighted with Padawan Secura, it’s a shame she and Master Vos had to leave so
urgently. Perhaps we can repeat this sometime later.”
“Oh?” Mace
interrupts the Crechemaster unexpectedly. “Why not have one of other Padawans
currently in Temple do it?”
“Do you
have someone in mind, Master Windu?”
It’s the
Will of the Force.
Master
Windu knows this, because it sings triumphantly around him as he discovers that
serendipitously known to him schedule of a particular Padawan—who tragically
missed out on the magic of crèche experience due to his unusual circumstances—complements
the Crechemaster’s plans perfectly in a way that leaves no time for visits from
entitled politicians.
“Yes. Yes,
I do,” Mace replies and puts Anakin Skywalker down for youngling-sitting duty
for the foreseeable future with a sense of job well-done.
This AU idea came from a conversation with @tcf-dendral in which I said that Obi-Wan is always randomly finding things of massive import (who happens to discover an already-paid-for clone army of 3 million and then stumbles into a droid army hiding in the Outer Rim? seriously) that if he hadn’t been on Tatooine with Qui-Gon and Padme, they probably wouldn’t have found Anakin at all. And then Dendral said that he didn’t play any particularly important role while on Tatooine, anyway, and I was like, well, Qui-Gon couldn’t very well just leave him on Naboo, he’s his Padawan.
…BUT WHAT IF HE DID?
So, TPM AU where instead of going with Qui-Gon and the Queen to Coruscant, Obi-Wan stays behind on Naboo, to provide support for the people in any way he can while they’re under siege. He ends up, of course, stumbling into the underground resistance movement and joins them. (Qui-Gon is Not Impressed when he finds out later. “You led another resistance movement?”
“I didn’t!” Obi-Wan protests, quickly re-holstering the blaster he had been using in lieu of his lightsaber because they couldn’t let the Trade Federation know that there was a Jedi there helping out the Naboo people.
“Like all the other times you “didn’t” lead a resistance movement or fight in a war?”
“I didn’t do those either! Didn’t you read my reports on those incidents that I submitted to the Council, Master?”
Qui-Gon sighs.)
Meanwhile, since magnet-for-trouble Obi-Wan isn’t with Qui-Gon and the Queen, they actually have a smooth trip back to Coruscant. She presents her suit to the Senate, they decline to help her, and she returns to Naboo determined to use military force to break the blockade.
Maul is still goes to confront Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan but since there’s no tension between them, they’re able to work together and defeat him. Qui-Gon doesn’t die. Obi-Wan still gets Knighted.
On his first solo mission, Obi-Wan’s ship crash lands on Tatooine.
I LOVE THESE TAGS. You have made my whole week with these tags. YES TO ALL OF THIS.
I’m grinning so hugely, you have no idea. This would happen lol – Obi-Wan is just a magnet for trouble in every form. And Anakin absOLUTELY has a tendency to fixate on the individuals he is infatuated with/cares about and become unhealthily jealous of their every interaction with other beings. At least in this scenario, he has a more stable childhood and still has his mother both for emotional support and to help keep him in line.
#ANAKIN HATES THE SITH THEY MAKE HIS BOND WITH OBI-WAN ALL JANGLY (@themikeymonster) – OK, but tell me that’s how they find out Palpatine’s a Sith, y/y? Palpatine doesn’t know Anakin’s Force sensitive since he never became a Jedi or got called the Chosen One + Anakin has incredible shielding after spending all those years on it (look, he was trying to impress Obi-Wan, OK?!!), so when Anakin ends up alone in the same room with Palpatine by accident, Palpatine doesn’t bother shielding too hard. And Anakin, what with his ridiculous force strength, immediately recognizes that there’s something off with his bond with Obi-Wan. Which obviously means Sith. Again.
Cue him asking Obi-Wan via their Super Strong Force Bond™, “What’s happened, are you OK, do I need to come rescue you again? Just say the word and I’ll –”
Obi-Wan rolls his eyes and cuts off his friend’s frantic babbling. “I’m fine, Anakin. I’m sitting in my quarters at the Temple drinking a cup of tea.”
“But then why…?”
And that’s when the proverbial lightbulb comes on.
Anakin was also motivated to perfect his shielding because Obi-Wan used to sneak up on him all the time to pour glasses of water/sand over his head or just shout and startle the life out of Anakin and then laugh himself silly. Anakin could never reciprocate because Obi-Wan always sensed him coming. Until one day he finally perfected his shielding to the point that Obi-Wan didn’t feel him sneaking up on him and Anakin splashed a bucket of water at his back and cackled when Obi-Wan yelped. (This was before Anakin grew to be taller than Obi-Wan. And he’s come a long way to be able waste water like that and not feel like someone was going to die because of it.) That was the only time he could pull off that prank. But he’ll always remember Obi-Wan smiling at him, hair and robes soaked and dripping with water. “Alright, you got me good, Anakin. Now keep up that shielding.”
Anyway, but yes, that is totally how they find out about Palpatine. Obi-Wan tells Anakin to get out of there “and don’t let on that you know about him.” The Jedi and certain trusted Senators work together to figure out Palpatine’s scheme and plan a surgical strike to take him out. (It’s successful, the war ends, and everyone gets to work on rebuilding and detangling the mess that Palpatine mired them in.)
I like things neatly wrapping up as much as anyone, but I’m also thinking like … This is Anakin we’re talking about here. Even an Anakin who is a fairly well adjusted civilian is … still Anakin. This Anakin has never had any personal run-ins with the Sith, and more importantly, has probably never realized entirely how dangerous Obi-Wan’s lifestyle is.
I’m thinking Anakin realizing that Palps is a Sith and being like
(ง’̀-‘́)ง
I can take him
No Ani, no you can not just take him. Get away from there.
Anakin just constantly demanding to be let in on the plans to get Palps like let me help, I can do it! He’s always been in a bad mood over the fact that Obi-Wan spends so much time in danger, but having come so close to the instigator of all that trouble, he’s just constantly let me at ‘em!
can’t fight every politician
You bring up some really good points! Anakin totally would go off half-cocked when he realizes who Palpatine is. His head may not have been filled with all that Chosen One prophecy nonsense but he’s still protective of those he loves and would take on anyone for them. But here, Anakin’s never been trained to use the Force offensively so it’s not what he automatically turns to in a fight. Instead, I’m imagining Anakin trying to throw himself physically at the Chancellor on impulse. The guards get to him before he makes contact and arrests him, then throws him in prison overnight. The Chancellor thinks he’s just one of the anti-war protesters who managed to get into the Senate building somehow so he doesn’t pay him any mind. Dex and Shmi have to come bail him out and he’s banned from the Senate building. (And he’s probably gonna have to go to trial for it because trying to attack the Chancellor, even with just fists, would be considered a pretty big crime.)
He goes to the Temple and crashes one of the strategy meetings. Most of the Jedi there are like ‘wtf, how did you get into this war room? it’s locked with the Force and only a Jedi can open it.’ and Obi-Wan’s just like ‘uh, this is a friend of mine. he’s Force sensitive but untrained. we may have Force bonded.’
More on the topic of Anakin+water under the cut because this is getting long.
I love this. But what has Qui Gon Jinn being doing this whole time? Apart of missing Obi Wan like ALL THE TIME. He would just be in a diplomacy mission, that is going flawlessly well for the first time in a DECADE and just, turn his head to the left to tell Obi wan to be prepared bc all is probably going to go to shit and- there’s no one there. So he concentrates to the mission and ignores the hole in his chest and ALL IS GOING WELL LIKE THERE’S NOT SECRET PLOT, NO SECRET ARMY, NO PREBUSCENT BOYS RECRUITING HIS PADAWAN and Qui Gon just- ‘Uh, this is what normal feeled like’ And at the end of the mission he’s reporting for the council feeling so unsatisfied that it couldn’t be shielded so the council ask and Qui Gon responds ‘It was just to prefect. It’s highly suspicious’ And Master Windu just can’t with that guy.
LMAO and YES TO ALL OF THIS. I love it. I’ve been sitting here cackling like you have no idea. This is the best. Qui-Gon all perplexed like “is this what missions used to be like? is this what missions are like for other Jedi? they…actually…turn out fine?” There are no more “helpless” creatures finding him and following him, no more being chased through jungles or getting into planetary wars (which in a way is good because he is getting older but he’s also so so bored). Obi-Wan meanwhile is traveling the galaxy getting adopted by wild creatures left and right, starting and putting out literal and metaphorical fires, getting his missions done but also getting side-tracked and taking care of a bunch of random things along the way. He keeps bringing lifeforms he’s found back to Coruscant and the Temple.
Years later, when the clone wars start, absolutely no one is surprised to learn that Obi-Wan was the one to discover both armies. Oh, and at some point, Obi-Wan somehow encounters Boga and she adopts him and follows him home because I love her and need her to be in in this world in some way. But how will she and Ri-Lara get along??? Where will all of them live???
Well at one point The jedi council will just go ‘The hell With it, this place is pretty big and these weird EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LOVESICK creatures just keep coming in, let’s just give The guy a wing. Or sth
And of course Oboga wan happens. Their relationship is just to precious to not to. And she and Ri-Lara would be that pair of old ladies that bitches about everyone (more anakin than anybody bc hating him is just a must if Obi Wan adopts you. Like that Assaj. She still hasn’t join them, but they have time) and knew each other since diapers
Also, meanwhile everyone is frEAKING about Obi wan’s terrible luck he is obvious. Just doing extraordinary things everyday like a normal thing to do, you know? Sure that two days of secret-planet-with-secret-clone-army-and-grandmaster-turncloack was a little intense, but he’s pretty sure he started a cult in Tatooine somehow and Jawa The Hutt still comns him to curse him un huttese (Anakin didn’t aprove, so he insulted back- The argument lasted five hours. There were even breaks) sometimes so, yes, he just basically tales everything in stride (He swears The rest just like to exagerate. Really. It’s sweet that they worry about him that much though) Oh. And there’s The sith. Somehow -and no, he can’t figure out why- every darksider he mets ends up slighty obsessed With him. Just because. (And then there’s Anakin Skywalker and Qui Con Jinn ‘let’s go to al missions together. Like a team’ Obi Wan loves them, really, but don’t they realize that they’re both a giant, glowing, DANGER MAGNET!??)
Oooh, yes, I like the idea of Obi-Wan getting a whole wing of the Temple to himself. I was thinking he’d have to move to a planet with a more natural environment for for Boga and Ri-Lara. But a whole wing, probably on the same floor as the gardens, would work quite nicely. That whole area becomes a playground for those two; soon, all the Jedi start avoiding it and they get used to hear roars and crashes coming from there during the day. And sometimes pitiful wailing when Obi-Wan’s gone for too long on a mission. Those are somehow the worst.
Anakin’s going to have to strike up a truce with them if he wants to marry Obi-Wan (and he still does). He adds a phase to his plan: Befriend the Terrors.
And haha, one day Ventress shows up at the Temple and Jedi are scrambling for their lightsabers and then Mace notices that she hasn’t lit hers. She’s just calmly standing there, arms crossed and one brow raised and Mace sighs and is like “let me guess, you’re looking for Kenobi?” She gives a short nod and he has her escorted to Obi-Wan’s wing, secretly hoping that one of Obi-Wan’s feral pets will eat her. (They don’t, they quite like her.)
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