Arguably the best part of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is seeing how close Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi have grown throughout the prequels. The camaraderie between Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor helps show how far the characters have come since first meeting on Tatooine. They began as master and apprentice, but by the end of Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan believes that Anakin has become a brother to him, and the tight bond the two share helps deepen the tragedy of Anakin throwing it all away after being twisted by Palpatine.
Without The Clone Wars, it’s possible that the two of them would never have become as close as they did. Anakin saw Obi-Wan as the perfect Jedi, which often drove him to try and outdo his master. When Anakin did not see himself with the powers he wanted, he blamed his shortcomings on Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council, believing that they were holding him back from his full potential. Nevertheless, the war gave the two of them a common enemy to fight against. Throughout the three-year conflict, Anakin and Obi-Wan devised many cunning and creative strategies to defeat the Separatists as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Deleted Scene Reveals Anakin & Obi-Wan's Nonverbal Communication
One removed scene from Revenge of the Sith shows just how close Anakin and Obi-Wan became during The Clone Wars. In the original 4-hour cut of Revenge of the Sith, the duo get cornered by General Grievous while searching for the Chancellor. In the sequence, Anakin and Obi-Wan use a sort of sign language to discuss their situation as they stand directly in front of Grievous. While Grievous monologues about killing them, they ignore him and instead touch their lips, chins, and eyebrows. It appears that the two of them have developed a code during The Clone Wars specifically for sticky situations where they can’t talk openly.
If anything, the deleted scene shows how much fun Anakin and Obi-Wan have teasing Grievous. At one point, Obi-Wan suggests a plan by twirling his mustache in Anakin’s direction, to which the latter replies that there are too many droids for that strategy. They’re able to turn a life-threatening situation into something laughable. Despite Obi-Wan’s mistakes with Anakin, he succeeded in building a strong bond between the two of them, to the point where they could practically read each other’s minds.
Other Instances Of Sign Language In Star Wars
Anakin and Obi-Wan’s sign language seems to be unique to them, but there have been other examples of variants used in the Star Wars galaxy. Eeth Koth used hand signs to convey his coordinates to the Jedi Council during The Clone Wars. The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett also featured the Tusken Raiders using sign language mixed with their speech. And even more recently, the prisoners on Narkina 5 in Andor use sign language to communicate with one another from across the prison. In any case, the sign language in the Revenge of the Sith deleted scene helps add to the tragedy of Anakin and Obi-Wan's story.