A long time ago we ranked Obi-Wan and Anakin’s lightsaber duel from Revenge of the Sith as one of Star Wars best. Since then there have been many more live-action laser sword showdowns. Between the sequel trilogy and Disney+ series, the galaxy far, far away keeps giving us lightsaber battles to enjoy. Obi-Wan Kenobi had so many we could make a list of just the ones we saw on the show. But as good as they all were, someone just made the series’ most epic fight even better. They recut the Jedi’s last big duel with Darth Vader to John Williams’ “Battle of the Heroes.” That’s the iconic song that played when the two fought on Mustafar in Episode III.
The YouTube channel CineVore rescored the big showdown from Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s season finale. This version (which we first learned about at Boing Boing) replaces the show’s music—which was consistently fantastic—with the song that played during their first fight a decade earlier. As with most things in Star Wars, a big reason that lightsaber duel worked as well as it did was because of John Williams’ score.
No surprise that the music still works here. Obi-Wan and Darth Vader changed their fight’s venue from a world full of lava rivers for one with a rocky terrain on a desolate planet. The operatic nature of Williams’ song still perfectly captures the tragic nature of the pair’s relationship. Two men who were once brothers found themselves fighting for the very soul of the galaxy. And also for the soul of each other.
Okay, that’s it. After talking about it so much we have to go back and rewatch their Mustafar duel now, too. And we will. Just as soon as we watch this rescored new battle a few more times.
