padawanlost:

padawanlost:

ljones41:

Isn’t that what Obi-Wan wanted as well?  To eventually become a member of the Council?

YES!!! Obi-wan was the
ambitious one, the one who wanted Qui-Gon to play by the Council rules so he
could become a member, the one who accepted the rank of Master and a seat on
the Council at a pretty young age himself, the one who always sided with the
Council even when he felt they were wrong, etc. It’s not a bad thing and it
doesn’t make Obi-wan a bad person. It only makes him human and a more
compelling character.

Anakin had his issues but this was
never his drive. He wanted recognition and respect it’s true but the actual
rank was only means to an end. Anakin was never a “career Jedi” the way Obi-wan
was. His ambitions were not Obi-wan’s ambitions. You know, sometimes I wonder if Obi-wan (and everyone else) was projecting. But it’s certainly interesting how ambition in certain characters is a
sign of evil but in others is a strength.

thewillowbends replied:

I think the subtle difference is that Obi Wan EARNED the privilege – granted, you can argue how much you think his killing a Sith contributed to that.  But Anakin isn’t at a point maturity-wise where he should be seated on the Council, and this was an underhanded way to do it, whether it his intent or not.  A mature person would recognize their limitations and need to grow – this shows poor judgement on Anakin’s part and a lack of understanding of the political issues.

The problem with
Obi-wan deserving his promotions is that so did Anakin. If Obi-wan was promoted
because of his great feats (regardless of him being ready or not) than why didn’t
Anakin deserve the same treatment? If Anakin didn’t deserve promotion then
their system was biased (and it was!).

The Council did not
believe Obi-wan was not ready to become a knight (“Our own counsel we will keep
on who is ready”) but ours later he killed a Sith and suddenly he was ready to
be knighted and train the chosen one. Then his padawan is knighted not because
he was ready but because they needed for the war so Obi-wan becomes a Master. And
for his role in Geonosis he gets a seat on the Jedi Council. Fair enough,
Obi-wan was a great Jedi and his heroic actions were recognized.

By those standards –  Anakin Skywalker who was the most advanced
student they ever had, who killed a Sith, the only padawan who survived
Geonosis, who saved the galaxy over and over again, who saved Obi-wan’s life
and who trained the best padawan they had during the war – deserved too. If
Obi-wan’s achievements and potential had more weight than his flaws than so
should Anakin’s.

 Obi-wan, very much
like Anakin, wasn’t ready for the responsibilities the Council gave him but he
accepted his promotions anyway. As Qui-Gon said (“[Obi-wan] is headstrong, and
he has much to learn of the living Force, but he is capable”) Obi-wan wasn’t emotionally
ready to be Knighted and become a Master but he accepted it and no one calls
him greedy for it.  Why is Obi-wan’s
ambition is “deserved” but Anakin’s isn’t when they both did amazing, heroic
things to save the galaxy? Why is it fair for Obi-wan to have his achievements
rewarded even when he is not ready what it entails but not for Anakin? the Jedi
had double standards and Anakin was rightfully pissed about it.

If
you are going to give automatic promotions to Jedi who perform certain deeds
(like killing a Sith) than you better put a fair system in place. If Obi-wan deserved
a promotion because of his achievements then Anakin deserved on too. If Obi-wan
got a promotion because he played by the Council’s rules and was one of Yoda’s
favorites then the system is corrupt.  We
know the system was corrupt because all the jedi selected to be on the Council
had close ties to the members of the Council. So whether Obi-wan and Anakin deserved
their promotions or not doesn’t really matter because  in the end it was never about deserving it, it
was about politics.