Dave Filoni Shares His Interpretation Of Duel Of The Fates

What Do You Think Of This Perspective?

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 5 min read

Many in the Star Wars fanbase might ponder how Darth Vader’s story really began. All Star Wars fans know that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, so the we know to start with the story of Anakin Skywalker. Knowing this fact takes the fanbase back to the theatrical success, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In this film, the story of Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker began. Everyone learned that Anakin was the "Chosen One." He was born into the Force possessing some powerful Jedi abilities.

Qui-Gon Jinn was to find Anakin and be his Jedi Master. All was going well until Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi faced off in a duel with the Sith Lord Darth Maul. The Sith Lord Darth Sidious had dispatched Darth Maul to intercept Qui-Gon’s and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s efforts to teach Anakin the ways of the Force. This leaves a lot of questions open. This article is going to examine a time where Star Wars producer and director Dave Filoni explained how the duel, also known as the “Duel of the Fates”, between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul starts to explain Anakin Skywalker’s story.

It is safe to say that many Star Wars fans consider Dave Filoni as the successor to George Lucas, who took Filoni under his wing during the production of the prequel trilogy. Filoni directed Star Wars: The Clone Wars while being mentored by George Lucas. As we all know, Dave Filoni has also directed several episodes of the new Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. Filoni was also featured in the series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. Here, Dave Filoni sits with other directors, such as Jon Favreau and Bryce Dallas Howard, while they discuss Star Wars. As the fanbase would expect, a discussion about the prequel trilogy begins. All the directors agreed that George Lucas thinks about Star Wars in a different way than most, explaining why Star Wars is so unique. Dave Filoni adds that the good-versus-evil situation is obvious, but the story is all about Anakin Skywalker, the "Chosen One."

This part of the discussion leads them to the “Duel of the Fates”. As the group of directors are viewing the lightsaber duel, Dave Filoni is quoted as saying;

“What’s at stake here is really how Anakin is going to turn out. Because Qui-Gon is different from the rest of the Jedi… He’s the father Anakin needs.”

Here we start to understand and fill in the missing pieces. The start to Anakin’s downfall was when he was removed from his mother but Qui-Gon Jinn would have sufficed as a parental figure that Anakin really needed. Therefore, Qui-Gon’s death by Maul’s lightsaber was an untimely one. Qui-Gon’s death caused Obi-Wan to take Anakin under his wing due to the promise he made to the dying Jinn.

The close relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker grew to be more of a friendly relationship, rather than a father-son relationship. This explains the missing link, the parental figure that Anakin needed, just as any youth needs. Dave Filoni explains that Anakin needed a father, not a brother or another friend. Filoni also offered insight on how Qui-Gon is truly different from the other Jedi. Around this time in Star Wars, the Jedi had lost their way and Qui-Gon was one of the few true Jedi. He stood for what they once were. An example Dave Filoni uses is from Phantom Menace, wherein Qui-Gon is the only one that sees Jar Jar’s true value and never insults him. The “Duel of the Fates” leads up to the moment in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, when Luke Skywalker is electrocuted by Sith Emperor Palpatine. Here Anakin (Darth Vader), decides to now be the father figure he never had, and saves Luke by grabbing the Sith Emperor and throwing him over the edge to his fate.

This “Duel of the Fates” was very important to Anakin’s upbringing and training as a Jedi. The lack of a close parental figure was very detrimental to Anakin, making it less of a challenge to be influenced by the dark side. Emperor Palpatine fit in this role just right. But that's obviously a whole different article. Thank goodness for Dave Filoni and his mentoring by George Lucas. The story of the Skywalker's is very intriguing and many gaps in the story have been, and are still being, filled in with all the films and Disney+ series being produced.

The Star Wars fanbase is very eager to see what is coming next, especially given the awesomeness in the recent series, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. A very exciting end to Spring, and beginning of Summer in 2022 is scheduled, with the Star Wars Celebration 2022 in Anaheim, California and all the scheduled debuts of Disney+ Star Wars series. Stay tuned and may the Force be with you.

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