Why Duel Of The Fates Is The Most Important Scene In Star Wars

In the latest episode of the Disney+ series, Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian, writer and director Dave Filoni gave an incredible breakdown of the importance of the Duel of Fates from The Phantom Menace that it's safe to say has been blowing fans’ minds.

Filoni’s knowledge about Star Wars is perhaps second only to George Lucas himself, having been tutored by the creator in the galaxy far, far away when working on The Clone Wars together. Filoni went on to make the animated show Star Wars: Rebels, as well as Star Wars: Resistance and now, helps Jon Favreau create The Mandalorian.

In the latest episode of Disney Gallery, Dave Filoni peeled back the curtain behind some of the importance of the lightsaber duel during climax of The Phantom Menace and he has fans looking at a twenty year old film completely differently, a rather impressive feat!

Filoni explains how quite simply, the Duel of Fates is known as such because the fate of the child Anakin Skywalker, is what is at stake. What makes a good lightsaber battle is not impressive choreography (although Duel of Fates has plenty of that), but rather the nail-biting stakes.

For example, when Ben Kenobi meets Darth Vader on the Death Star in A New Hope, the fight is less than impressive from a choreography standpoint, but the tension of Luke losing his master and Vader destroying him makes the duel a fascinating one.

Back to The Phantom Menace and the Duel of Fates, which finds two Jedi in their prime fighting the villain Darth Maul, a character who is designed to be evil on every level. The stakes of the fight this time is Anakin losing his newly-found father figure in Qui-Gon Jinn. Qui-Gon is vastly different from the rest of the Jedi because he hasn't given up on the Jedi needing to actually care, and that love is not a bad thing as it is viewed by them.

The rest of the Jedi have become far too detached and political; they have lost their way and that ultimately leads to their downfall. Qui-Gon in comparison is ahead of them all on these topics, which is why he refuses a place on the Jedi Council. Imagine how different Anakin Skywalker's life would have been if his love for his mother and Padmé was supported and not discouraged to the point of secrecy, this is what Qui-Gon offered.

Of course, Qui-Gon is killed by Maul, which leaves his apprentice Obi-Wan to train the young Anakin. Originally, Obi-Wan trains the boy not because he wants to or even cares, but out of a promise he made to his dying master. Yoda disagrees with the decision after he senses much darkness in his training.

Earlier in the film, Obi-Wan even goes to the lengths of comparing Anakin to Jar Jar asking his master "why do I sense we have picked up another pathetic life form?". Obi-Wan may grow to be a great Jedi, but he is no Qui-Gon Jinn, and he fails to see why Qui-Gon recognises importance in people like Anakin and Jar Jar, let alone dedicate any time to them.

Obi-Wan ends up being a brother to Anakin but not the father figure he so desperately needed, particularly after the death of his mother in Attack of the Clones which leaves him completely vulnerable and without any parent figure in his life. Star Wars is about the family dynamic which is so often repeated.

The Sith won the Duel of Fates, meaning the Sith won Anakin Skywalker. Maul is defeated of course, but it matters not to Palpatine who used him and will now use Skywalker for his needs. The duel is often dismissed as a cool lightsaber fight, when in actuality it is what the entire Prequel Trilogy hangs on.

The clip of Filoni is available below or you can enjoy the entire episode on Disney+ in episode two 'Legacy', of Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian.