Major Inconsistency That Ruined Obi-Wan Despite McGregor's Effort
Star Wars fans love spotting a plot hole – and Force Speed is one that has been the cause of much online debate.
Like, for example, why didn't Obi-Wan use it when chasing after Qui-Gon?
I mean, we know he has the power, so what would prevent him from using it in this situation?
Reasons put forward by way of explanation for this inconsistency include:
- He didn't have enough energy
- You only get a couple of seconds of it in a lifetime (and he'd already used his up)
- He'd have fallen through the hole at the end of the hallway and died
- He risked hurting (or killing) his master
- He never actually had the power and when we saw him use it to escape the droidekas, it was in fact shared with him by Qui-Gon
And there are more.
And this is the issue. Because it's never really addressed, we simply don't know. It's almost as if George Lucas threw it in as an idea and then decided it didn't really work and tried to pretend it had never really happened.
But would he really do that? I mean, come on, that's not the sort of thing Star Wars fans are going to miss. And George knows that.
Plus, it was so easy to deal with. In Jedi vs Sith: The Ultimate Guide to the Force, Luke Skywalker says: "The burst of speed that I experienced was not a fluke, but unlike other Force powers, I cannot say I felt in complete control of it."
So, there you have it. The answer is so simple. Which means this inconsistency is based, not on the details of what happened in this scene, but more so on the failure to adequately deal with the issue throughout the franchise. Had that been done, fans would have known why he elected not to use it in this scenario and there would be no inconsistency.
In the end, of course, it's probably worth noting that it may not have been a big deal for George Lucas when he was writing. There's every chance, in fact, that Force Speed wasn't even considered during the writing, rehearsal, or production of the scene. Because, let's face it, there is so much going on over the franchise that has now spanned 6 decades, that it would actually be weird if there were no plot holes.