Kenobi Writer Reveals Vader's Village Scene Was Originally Much More Extreme
In episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker’s hatred for Kenobi was revealed through Darth Vader’s ruthless acts of violence in the village of Mapuzo. Vader force choked innocent villagers and even youths to draw Kenobi out from hiding. Vader knows his old Jedi Master too well and exploits Kenobi’s weakness by attacking innocent villagers. Vader force-choked a father, broke the son’s neck, and dragged a woman through the street.
Vader was looking for Kenobi and he could sense he was close by. Kenobi senses Anakin’s destruction and it makes Kenobi sick to the stomach at first. Later Kenobi can quell the sickness and eventually come out of hiding to duel with Vader. It was an awesome display of power, force power!
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In recent Star Wars productions, it seemed as though Vader was more powerful and violent. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Vader exhibited an awesome display of force power by mutilating rebel soldiers in an effort to get the Death Star plans back. The writer of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Joby Harold, commented in an interview with Vanity Fair that the scene at the Mapuzo village was, at first, way more horrific. Joby Harold stated it was “a thousand percent the intention” for the fanbase to be afraid of Vader in the Mapuzo village scene. Joby Harold continued, “It was a lot more extreme, at one point. I got pulled back a little bit on that.” The writer is allowed to be only so violent, so he had to pull back on what he wanted to do with that scene. The Star Wars writer’s goal for the scene was for the fanbase to experience Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader’s struggles with his emotions as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s. Neither of them was the character they were when first portrayed in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Joby Harold commented:
"From a Vader point of view, we’re all living with the memory of the end of Rogue One, and how effective that was. It was very gratifying to see Vader finally be unleashed in a sequence like that so we wanted to try to trump it if we could. It was a lot more extreme, at one point. […] I got pulled back a little bit on that. It was so important to define Vader’s anger and rage. There’s an emotionality to the choice he’s making that are a little further than we’re used to seeing with Vader. He’s pushed a little more than the Vader we know. Obi-Wan isn’t the finished article before [the original Star Wars], and we can look at Vader in the same way."
Episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi indeed depicts Vader’s feelings through his display of force and terror through the Mapuzo village while searching for Kenobi. For Vader finding Kenobi is personal. Vader continues to suffer physical turmoil every day because of his old Master, Jedi resistance to his Dark Side path, him losing Padme and his children, and even more. In being close to finding Kenobi and with his reign of the Galactic Empire being at its strongest point, Vader is at the pinnacle of his rage and power. This is displayed in the Mapuzo village scene. You might wonder just how much more powerful and violent the scene could have originally been.
For now, we will have to wait and see what comes next. Leia is now in Reva’s grasp, Obi-Wan Kenobi must recover from his injuries, and now that the door to the Path has been introduced there may be more familiar Force-sensitive characters joining Kenobi’s adventures. We do know one thing for certain: Vader is not through with Obi-Wan Kenobi just yet… There is much anticipation for the next three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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Source(s): Screen Rant