Moments In Star Wars: Nothing Is Impossible For A Jedi

The Star Wars films are more than just a saga or one single overarching story…they are a series of moments. And each moment creates an emotional resonance within the viewer.

Maybe you don’t fully realize why a particular scene, such as Yoda levitating the X-Wing out of the swamp on Dagobah, or young Anakin Skywalker leaving his mother behind in slavery, is so important; you simply feel that it is. But when you slow the scene down and take it in frame by frame, note by note, you are better able to pinpoint why that scene, though it may be fleeting, raises such a strong reaction within you. More than that, you can comprehend how it effects the saga as a whole.

In this Moments in Star Wars series, I will be taking some of the moments from the Star Wars films and doing exactly that: slowing them down frame by frame, keeping in mind the music scored for each particular scene by the incredible John Williams and my own perspective as a fan.

For this first moment, I think it only fitting that I take you where the Star Wars saga (and my fandom) begins: The Phantom Menace.

Jedi Knight Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi Wan Kenobi, have just survived an assassination attempt aboard the Trade Federation droid control station above Naboo. They have made their way to the bridge, where Qui Gon begins to slice his way past the doors sealing him off from the Federation’s Viceroy, Nute Gunray (his & Obi Wan’s would-be murderer).

As the lightsaber burns the doors into molten metal, the Viceroy commands his lackeys to close the blast doors, saying with some confidence, “That will hold them.”

Qui Gon stops in surprise when he realizes that his lightsaber is no longer making any progress; the blast doors have been closed, creating a thicker wall than Qui Gon’s first cut can penetrate.

But he doesn’t stop for long.

Thrusting his lightsaber into the doors till it buried in up to the hilt, Qui Gon once again begins to burn his way to the other side.

The Viceroy and his adviser, Rune Haako, are flabbergasted. “They’re still coming through!” Haako cries.

“This is impossible!” Viceroy Gunray exclaims.

Here is where this scene becomes a true moment for me, something that hits me and gives me a thrill of joy. The scene cuts back to Qui Gon, still calmly standing with his lightsaber making slow but steady progress through the blast doors. Every time I watch this scene, I add a little dialogue in my head that wouldn’t fit anywhere in the movie, but that perfectly expresses my feelings whilst seeing this amazing Jedi Knight cut his way through metal, with the music soaring into the Force theme at exactly the right juncture:

“Nothing is impossible for a Jedi.”

And that’s it. THAT is a moment for me. Here, we have come to a point where we see what a Jedi can really be: someone who defies all odds, who succeeds because he doesn’t let anything stop him from reaching his goal. That may sound like a definition more apt for a Sith; but I think that most people will agree that determination is a necessary quality in a human being, and when it’s combined with a proper sense of duty and justice, it can become a truly noble quality, as well. And noble is exactly what a Jedi is supposed to be, and is exactly what Qui Gon is.

I also think it’s quite understated how awesome the Jedi really are, especially during the era of the prequels. Though they are at their lowest in terms of their connection to the light side of the Force, they are at the peak of perfection in combat. I mean, think about it: in the first Star Wars film in almost two decades, we get to see the Jedi at their very finest, using Force speed and melting their way through doors and wielding their lightsabers in intricate, kickbutt displays of spins and deflection. It was definitely something new after the stiff dueling between Obi Wan and Darth Vader in A New Hope. In The Phantom Menace, Jedi became even more amazing than they were before.

And even though the Jedi really aren’t all-powerful…even though there are some things that are impossible for them to do…in this moment, with Qui Gon embodying what it means to be a calm, wise, and utterly cool Jedi Knight, it seems to this fan that there is nothing the Jedi can’t accomplish.

Stay tuned for more Moments in Star Wars! I’d love to hear your feedback, so please let me know what you thought of this first installment by commenting below or tweeting me @tveitlight25.

Images from screencapped.net.