Ewan McGregor Fought to Change The Most Memed Star Wars Scene
The Star Wars prequels may not have been the best-received installments in the franchise, but they were the most memed.
Between the cheesy dialogue, the exciting lightsaber duels, and the beloved Ewan McGregor, Episodes I-III have been able to find a new life in the era of social media.
But one of the most memorable scenes almost didn't make the cut, thanks in part to McGregor.
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was the most critically praised among the sequels. Its final battle between McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen 's Anakin Skywalker features might be the most magnificent duel of the franchise.
It also spawned one of the most memed moments: Obi-Wan standing on a hill above Anakin, telling him, "It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground."
The double meaning is a little on the nose – Kenobi has the tactical advantage as well as the moral "high ground" over the recently-designated Darth Vader.
A stunt coordinator, Nick Gilliard, told the Star Wars Theory YouTube channel that McGregor wasn't happy with the line.
He said McGregor and Christensen went as far as confronting George Lucas about getting rid of it. Lucas, the mind behind Star Wars and the director of this film, refused to change.
Gillard and his crew were equally unimpressed with the scene, though they now relent that it's nice seeing "the high ground thing" has continued to be an iconic line nearly two decades later.
In the final cut of the movie, Anakin ignores Obi-Wan's warnings and tries to flip over his old master – the same move Kenobi pulled against Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.
Kenobi anticipates the move, swiping his saber through Anakin's legs. The dismembered Anakin falls into the lava of Mustafar, burning alive, as Kenobi leaves him to die.
Gillard told Star Wars Theory about the alternate ending they had preferred, but Lucas vetoed it.
In the alternate ending, Obi-Wan's saber is on the ground as Anakin holds him by the throat. He force-pulls his lightsaber off the ground, accidentally slicing Anakin's arms and legs in the process.
"It was more of a defense-gone-wrong kind of move," Gillard said. "It was strong."
The alternate ending would have taken a lot of emotional stakes away, given that Kenobi chose to defeat Anakin in a gruesome way in order to bring peace to the galaxy. It was one of the few powerful moments in an otherwise lackluster trilogy, and Gillard agrees that the final cut was the right call.
"I think it's foolish second-guessing [George Lucas]," he said.