Is Star Wars trying to make the classic Obi-Wan "high ground" meme a little less silly? At the climax of the Star Wars prequels, Obi-Wan and a fallen Anakin Skywalker finally come to blows on the planet of Mustafar in a gripping lightsaber duel to wrap up Revenge of the Sith. After a veteran bit of tactical maneuvering and some slick Jedi agility, Obi-Wan is able to best his younger, more impetuous opponent. Not wishing to kill his former Padawan, Kenobi attempts to force a surrender, claiming victory because he has the higher ground. Anakin doesn't listen, attacks his old master and is promptly cut down. While the scene proved fairly harmless at the time, the internet has since gone to work and turned this moment, intended as a tense and dramatic finale, into one of the best Star Wars memes out there.
Mostly, the "high ground" memes are made in good humor and cover all aspects of pop culture and real-life, but the earliest versions began to gain traction by being critical of both the scene and the Star Wars prequels in general. In 2005, many fans were left wondering why being slightly higher than your opponent would be enough to bring an epic lightsaber duel to an end and it was this perceived ridiculousness (combined with the negativity towards the prequels as a whole) that formed the basis of many early "high ground" gags. Over time, the meme has become more all-encompassing and less a parody of the original scene. Nevertheless, every usage twists a moment that was intended to be deadly serious into a joke, and this might explain why Disney would want to change the perception around the meme.
And that potentially appears to be the Mouse House's intention, as the "high ground" phenomenon has been alluded to in several recent Star Wars releases. The latest episode of Disney+'s The Mandalorian ("The Gunslinger") features a scene where Mando and a rookie bounty hunter are being attacked from afar by Ming Na-Wen's Fennec Shand. The Mandalorian comes up with a plan, but his partner asks how they can be sure Shand won't change her position. Mando insists their opponent won't move, because she won't want to give up the high ground. Star Wars drops a second nod to the meme in Jedi: Fallen Order when one of the Stormtroopers on Kashyyyk proudly proclaims "at least we have the high ground."
On one level, these examples could be mere Easter eggs, designed to acknowledge a popular online meme that has taken on a life of its own in recent years, while also putting smiles on fans' faces. Better to join in with a joke than to fight against it, after all. However, it could also be argued that fighting the meme is exactly what Disney are attempting to do. The context of both examples (The Mandalorian's more so than Fallen Order's) is entirely serious. Fennec Shand is a fearsome bounty hunter; if she thinks the high ground is so important, then maybe Obi-Wan wasn't being so ridiculous when he proclaimed victory after Anakin.
Both references are certainly intentional, but they don't encompass the humor or fan impact of the actual scene from Revenge of the Sith. The entire essence of the original "high ground" meme was to make fun of Obi-Wan's victory, as demonstrated by the classic Avengers "I have an army. We have a Hulk. I have the high ground" image. While The Mandalorian and Fallen Order allude to the meme itself, they do so simply by providing more examples of characters using higher ground as a strategic advantage in battle, reinforcing the meme's scene, rather than laughing along with it and, consciously or otherwise, taking the inherent silliness out of the Star Wars "high ground" meme.
