Warning: This article contains spoilers from Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 5.
Episode 5 of Obi Wan Kenobi finally shows Darth Vader displaying his full power in the Force in live action. Rogue One allows Vader to show his skill with a lightsaber, and toward the end of this episode audiences witness his full skill in the force.
To stop the people from The Path from fleeing, Vader tears what he thinks their ship out of the sky, in an effortless display of Force powers, and then rips it to shreds. This speaks to where Vader is at. He is one with the Dark Side of the Force, and is wallowing in his anger. It is a source of a immense power, but it doesn’t allow him to succeed in his goal. For all his power, Vader still fails.
Many years before this, Ahsoka would attempt the same trick. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode Victory and Death, Ahsoka and Captain Rex attempt to escape the Venator Class Star Destroyer Tribunal, by fleeing on a Jedi Shuttle. Unfortunately for them, Maul makes it to the shuttle first, and takes off. Ahsoka demonstrates an incredible display of Force mastery, by holding attempting to pull Maul’s shuttle back.
The audience can see that she is struggling to keep hold of the shuttle, and when Maul applies more thrust, she is dragged forward, crying out as she falls forward. In the end, she has to let Maul go. Ahsoka is a powerful Jedi, but she can’t stop a shuttle in flight. Not even when her life depends on it, in the middle of Order 66.
Vader, on the other hand, with only pure, selfish rage to fuel him, tears a ship down with ease. But Vader is blinded by this power. He attacks the wrong ship, and because of this, he fails.
While Ahsoka clearly struggles to stop Maul’s shuttle, she knows when to stop. She isn’t blinded by hatred to stop Maul at the cost of everything, and because of this she is able to find another way and escape with Rex.
In this way, Lucasfilm manages to keep not only power levels consistent but characters as well. While Vader is able to give a raw display of sheer power, he is ultimately blinded by it and gets nothing out of it. Ahsoka however, despite not being powerful enough to stop Maul, wasn’t blinded by the same power.
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