In episode 5 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Third Sister and Darth Vader ends up in a duel, but how come Darth Vader chose not to use his lightsaber to duel the enraged Reva?
Take a closer look at the duel between Vader and Reva:
When fighting Third Sister Reva in Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5, Darth Vader doesn’t activate his lightsaber. Did he forget to carry it, or does Vader have a more significant reason? The majority of Obi-Wan Kenobi “Part V” is set on Jabiim, where the Path is frantically trying to flee before Darth Vader and the Empire show up. Obi-Wan Kenobi understands Reva, the former Third Sister and current Grand Inquisitor, is actually a former Jedi youngling secretly looking for a chance to exact revenge on Vader as he moves to repel her.
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Reva is persuaded by Kenobi—perhaps not entirely honestly—that Darth Vader will be entirely focused on him, making Jabiim her greatest opportunity to strike. Therefore, after using a lot of energy to ground a spaceship using the Force, the former youngling pulls out her Inquisitor lightsaber and swings when she sees Vader alone with his back turned. There is little surprise in Anakin Skywalker‘s easy victory in the subsequent duel. The way Vader overcomes Reva in a lightsaber duel without really using his lightsaber is a little more unexpected. The Dark Lord uses the Force to attack his opponent and use Reva’s own lightsaber to put her down, yet he never once draws his own weapon.
Why didn’t Darth Vader use his lightsaber against Reva? Their battle would have ended even faster and decisively in the Dark Lord’s favor. Vader is essentially humiliating Reva. Even during his fights with Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars original trilogy, Anakin Skywalker was infamously prone to seeming cocky. He has never been an effective or pragmatic duelist. In order to feel powerful, Vader cruelly likes playing with his victim, Reva. Darth Vader is undoubtedly driven by more than just pure malice, though; he also wants to put out The Third Sister’s glimmer of hope. Reva spent years infiltrating the Empire after surviving Anakin’s killing of the Jedi in exchange for a single opportunity to exact revenge. Vader is exerting his authority and demonstrating the futility of Reva’s ambition by thwarting her attack without even using his lightsaber.
Source: Disney +
Vader might be attempting to demonstrate the evil side’s easy dominance over the light, even if only subliminally. When Anakin is given the chance to battle a member of his former organization, there is an innate, scorching urge to prove himself right because he left the Jedi Order out of a misguided ambition to obtain the strength the light side failed to provide. Darth Vader proves that he can do just that by using Reva’s strongest weapon against her rather than just pulling out his own, a move meant to destroy souls as ruthlessly as bodies.
Source: Disney +
What is more saddening is that Vader taking Reva’s blade is a diabolical reversal of the flashback scene from Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5. Around the time of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan toyed with his padawan in a lightsaber training session on Coruscant by stealing his blade like an older brother playing keep-away. In battle, Kenobi tried to impart mindfulness and patience to his pupil. Instead, Anakin discovered how helpless and helpless one feels when their own weapon is used against them. Over a decade later, he is using that sensation against Obi-Wan Kenobi and other opponents of the Empire while assuming the identity of Darth Vader.
