I just watched TPM and there is something bugging me about it: During the saber duel between Maul and Qui-Gon, there's one bit where Qui-Gon just stops and kneels down. He looks like he's meditating. But Maul doesn't do anything - he doesn't kill Qui-Gon right then and there, just sort of skulks around. Maul doesn't even have his lightsaber on. What's going on here? Why does Qui-Gon stop and meditate, and why doesn't Maul kill him when given an obvious chance?
They're separated by intermittent force fields. They have to wait for it to disappear. Anyway, any pending attack would be sensed through the force and countered.
I know about the force fields, but I thought they were in the same room. Guess I'll have to check it again.
Yeah, they're separated by the force fields. When Qui-Gon kneels down, Maul even swings his lightsabre into the force field a few times to no effect so he deactivates it and stalks around his compartment impatiently until the force fields deactivate.
They are not. They are separated by one forcefield. Maul tests it with his saber in front of Qui-Gon then deactivates it, giving it a break until they deactivate. Obi-Wan is several fields behind and isn't able to get through.
There are IIRC a series of forcefields, which explains why Obi Wan is unable to intervene, as he is behind a further one. The bigger question is why Obi Wan allowed Vader to kill him. Or why Yoda ran away. Or why Yoda did nothing for years and left all the work to Luke.
Obi Wan let Vader kill him because he knew that Vader was besting him anyway, and he noticed Luke watching. Disappearing into the force helped Luke's belief, and Obi Wan knew the secrets of becoming a force ghost. Yoda I think was just broken after losing his duel with Palpatine and couldn't deal with the world any more. That's a bit weak, but it's the best explanation I can give. Now, someone please spoil me. How the heck did Maul survive getting cut open and falling down a bottomless pit?
The Maul, Jinn, Kenobi fight was awesome. I just wish that Jinn would wait until Kenobi was with him, and they could fight Maul together.