Well, I saw Revenge of the Sith yesterday, and I have now had a day to reflect on it.

I needed at least a day to think about it, because my initial reaction coming out of the theater was not one I would have expected.

Up front I have to say that ROTS is an excellent movie, one that merits acclaim. There are a few (typical) Lucasonianly turgid lines of dialog, but in the whole wash the movie is, easily, the most emotionaly dramatic of all six.

Sometimes clichés are true, and the one that comes to mind is "...be careful what you wish for, 'cause it just might come true!". Well, for 28 years I have wished for, among other things, to see the details of how Anakin Skywalker ends up taking the slide to the dark side, and how he comes to be the walking half man/machine that terrorizes Empirical Admirals in The Empire Strikes back.

We, the fans, have ALWAYS known, from the beginning, out of Lucas own mouth, that a big factor in Anakin's dehumanization was the result of a brutal, last encounter between Himself and Obi Wan.

The scene is emotional and horrifying, as well as heart breaking. And I found it very difficult to watch. It seems, that after 28 years of wanting to see it, that I didn't really want to see it at all. No more than you would desire to watch someone close to you in your own family suffer some awful fate.

The suffering I refer to is Obi Wans' and Padme's. As far as I was concerned, Anakin got what was coming to him.

I empathize with Obi Wan, and he says it all in his last speech to Anakin. I whole-heartedly agree with everything he says. When Obi Wan walks away from the long fandom expected climax, he sighs heavily in emotional horror, emotionally scarred and traumatized. His tragic last encounter with Anakin is not something that he is going to relish reflecting on during 20 years of exile on Tatooine. And now George Lucas has made sure that neither do I wish to reflect on it.

I am not in a hurry to go see it any time soon, and might not get around to a second viewing for a long time. It's etched in my mind like it is etched in Obi Wan's.

It is some solace to know that in the end Lukes' genuine love for his father reaches through Anakins' prideful, tormented mind and emboldens him to fullfill the prophecy and destroy the Emperor. After a lifetime of being a cold blooded murderer, whose vctims unjustifiedly include a room full of children, killing Palpatine is the least he could do. The very least.

I like Obi Wan Kenobi now better than I ever had before. I have a new found respect and admiration for his courage to something that was very difficult to do, but needed to be done.

Anakin may not have hewn down Padme with a light Sabre, but he did kill her.

I highly recommend that all Star Wars fans go see it. Once.

Skeet