SITH - Do whatever it takes to win, Lie, Cheat, Steal and spread Corruption To keep power, kill younglings, destroying innocents that have done nothing wrong, control of the galaxy, limit to freedom all to give power souly to the Emperor/ Sith Master...
Jedi - Keepers of the Peace, Do what is right, Help when you can, Be honest and trustworthy, Justice....
Why do you even have to ask why Palpatine said that to Anakin? He was still in the process of turning him, he couldn't just outright say the Jedi are crap.
Registered: May 2005
Location: Pittsburgh metro area
It is a *very* stupid line because it contradicts itself. The line itself is an absolute statement: only a Sith deals in absolutes. Well, Obi-wan, then you must be a Sith because you just made an absolute statement and you say only Siths do that. It's just dumb--like saying "never say never."
The more I think about it, the more I like the quote, contradiction and all.
Yes, the statement is an absolute as well. The fact that Obi-Wan doesn't see it makes the point about the Jedi having become complacent and arrogant all the stronger. They see the faults in others, but not in themselves.
At least, that's how I like to look at that quote, even though something tells me I'm giving it a lot more thought than Lucas did when he wrote it...
This is just another of the MANY contradictions the Jedi have (more specifically Obi-Wan). Obi-Wan lied a lot to Luke in the OT. The Jedi are indeed corrupt-- though they may think they mean well.
The Sith on the other hand do whatever they want.... because of this attitude, they can hardly be hypocritical or flawed.
__________________ "If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!"
Yoda realized what the Jedi had become in the duel with Sidious. He realized the Sith had evolved..continuously changed..while HE had not allowed the Jedi to change. I hadn't thought of the statement in the way SixofTwelve and Palpy said, but I do agree with that.
i think people should stop basing things off of what Palpatine says. most of what he says is simply said to lure anakin to the dark side. he says that he will help anakin save padme but he never really intended to. he says the jedi were trying to control the republic but they werent. palpatine lies. get used to it.
i also disagree about it showing the flaws of the jedi. i think obi-wan is just trying to get anakin back to the light side. throughout their fight everything he says is directed toward anakin in a caring way.he is simply trying to get ankin back. he doesnt see anakin as lost until they are nearly finished with their duel. only then does he look at anakins fall as absolute.
Last edited by jimmy986 on May 25th, 2005 at 05:41 AM
The Jedi were stupid... like Delta 62 said, they didn't change with the times as the Sith did. Yoda was stuck in his old ways and pulled the rest of the Jedi order down with him. "Failed, I have" - damn right you did.
I believe that what Obi Wan says here is not a contridition at all. The statement he makes is indeed an absolute statement. But the fact that there are absolutes, and dealing in those absolutes are entirely different. A Jedi understands that absolutes exist. Light side Good, Dark side Evil is an Absolute. However the Jedi do not run their order by dealing with the absolutes, the Sith do.
ANAKIN: If you're not with me, you're my enemy.
OBI-WAN: Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.
Notice Obi-Wan says he will do what he must. But yet he refuses to Deal even in that Absolute in the end. He could have ended Vader's life absolutely but chooses to not.
Just because you know that absolutes exist, does not mean you run your life by them. Anakin's main problem with the Jedi Order seems to be that they are starting to deal in the absolutes they believe in. He says this often, most notably to Palpatine when trying to decide if he should off Dooku's head. The Jedi would allow Dooku to live and stand trial, even while knowing absolutely that Dooku is Evil. The Sith kills Dooku because that is absolution.
Take the Mace vs Sidious scene. Anakin councils Mace in that he can not kill Sidious, it is against what the Jedi believe in. Mace then chooses to destroy the Evil. This is Dealing in an absolute and causes Mace's demise. Had he followed the teachings of his Order, Mace would have lived(for a while i'm sure anyway, regardless by dealing in the absolute he chose his own death, otherwise he would have died fighting in defense of his Order).
the understanding of absolutes, and making statements of these absolutes, is different then dealing in them, or making your choices based on them.
Vader would have killed Obi-Wan because as a Sith he is now bound by Absolutes. Obi-Wan as a Jedi does not kill Vader because he does not deal in absolutes.
Registered: May 2005
Location: Pittsburgh metro area
darth cretin,
You make a good point about it being different to deal in absolutes vs. there being absolutes that exist.
However, regarding Mace's duel with Sid, I see it the other way around. To say that *every* unarmed man should *always* stand trial is the absolute. If he had tried to arrest Sid at that point, Sid would have killed him. He was right, Sid *was* too dangerous to be left alive. That absolute that says to always not kill an unarmed was an absolute Mace was willing to go against, because he knew he had to. It wasn't Mace that caused Mace's demise; it was Anakin. JMO