Anakin Vs. Obi-Wan: Who Actually Had The High Ground?

Although Yoda never discussed his beliefs regarding the importance of elevation in military combat, Sun Tzu — a real-life Yoda, he may be? — did say that “All armies prefer high ground to low and sunny places to dark.” This decree is overtly (so, very overtly) apparent in Episode III during the duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. But who really held the high ground for the most amount of time during that fight? According to one Redditor, it was hands down, legs off, Obi-Wan.

In the above clip, Reddit user kimilil breaks down who had the high ground during the famous (infamous?) duel that forever ended an apprenticeship and also probably killed like, a thousand lava-refining robots. Kimilil says that he defines high ground as: when one fighter is on the ground while the other is in the air, when one fighter “dominates the other (e.g. pushes, kicks and chokes),” and when one fighter is literally on a higher level than the other when both are on the ground.

The fight is analyzed second by second in the labeled graph in the image gallery below, and it’s clear that for much of the fight, Obi-Wan was able to maintain and rain down Mors Ab Alto. Kimilil notes that, until Obi-Wan lands his decisive slice on diet Darth Vader, he has about 93.48 seconds of high ground time vs. Anakin’s 28.62. After the blow heard ’round the galaxy, Obi-Wan’s time extends to about 184 seconds.

Kimilil also notes that “Determining ‘advantage’ is subjective imo,” and says that his measurements of who had the high ground were “from [his] point of view.” But from another point of view, Vader eventually kills Obi, so there’s that. But from another point of view the two end up as Force Ghosts who just like to chill… So many points of view! Let us know yours in the comments below.

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Images: Lucasfilm / Walt Disney Studios

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