Dave Filoni has spoken of the significance of the Duel of the Fates scene in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, saying it is more than just a “cool lightsaber battle.”
Filoni identified the epic duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul as a pivotal moment in the Star Wars saga, as he shared some interesting insights into the deeper meaning of the fight during a roundtable discussion on the latest episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.
Dave Filoni on why Qui-Gon Jinn and Duel of the Fates is so important pic.twitter.com/aHKCF8H1rR
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“In Phantom Menace, you’re watching these two Jedi in their prime fight this evil villain,” Filoni explained. “Maul couldn’t be more obviously the villain. He’s designed to look evil, and he is evil, and he expresses that from his face, all the way out to the type of lightsaber he fights with. What’s at stake is really how Anakin is going to turn out. Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi, and you get that in the movie.”
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Filoni went on to discuss the prominent theme of fathers and sons that runs throughout the Star Wars saga, pointing out that Qui-Gon Jinn serves as a father figure to Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace because he stands by the fact “Jedi are supposed to actually care and love” at their core.
“He’s fighting for Anakin, and that’s why it’s the Duel of the Fates,” Filoni said. “It’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, his life is going to be dramatically different. So Qui-Gon loses, of course, so the father figure [is gone]. Because he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin, at first, out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. He’s a brother to Anakin, eventually, but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails the promise to his mother, ‘I will come back and save you.’ So he’s left completely vulnerable, and Star Wars is ultimately about family.”
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Filoni concluded the in-depth discussion of the scene by highlighting how the Duel of the Fates ultimately reverberates throughout the entire Star Wars saga, right the way through to the final encounter between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor at the end of Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.
“So that moment in that movie, that I think a lot of people diminish into just this cool lightsaber fight, is everything that the entire three films of the prequels hangs on,” Filoni added. “It’s that one particular fight. And Maul serves his purpose, and at that point died — before George made me bring him back. But he died, and that’s showing you, again, how the Emperor is completely self-serving. He’s just a tool. He’s using people and now he’s going to use this child. That follows all the way through to the line, which terrified me as a kid, when the Emperor tells Luke, ‘You, like your father, are now mine.'”
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If you’re looking forward to seeing more epic Star Wars duels in the future, then you might be interested to learn that Disney has just announced a new Star Wars movie directed by Taika Waititi. Plus, Bob Iger has not ruled out Star Wars trilogies despite wanting to take “a bit of a hiatus” after the release of Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker last year.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Star Wars: Dave Filoni Explains Why Prequel Films Rely on Duel of the Fates