Parallel Investigations
In the second act of Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi both embark on an investigation. Obi-Wan is trying to find out who wants to assassinate Padmé Amidala. Anakin wants to find out what has happened to his mother, Shmi. The two investigations run parallel to each other.
Both Obi-Wan and Anakin begin by seeking out an alien who runs a business in a shady “lower” world – a place where most Jedi, comfortable in their Temple in the sky on Coruscant, would not like to look. Obi-Wan goes to meet Dexter Jettster at his diner in Coruscant’s lower levels. Anakin goes to meet Watto at his junk shop on the backwater world of Tatooine.
Next, following a lead from the alien, both Obi-Wan and Anakin look through a repository of recorded information. Obi-Wan goes to the Jedi archives to find the location of Kamino. Anakin looks at Watto’s records to find the location of Cliegg Lars, who bought Shmi from Watto before freeing and marrying her.
Around this point in their investigations, Obi-Wan and Anakin are both discouraged by older authority figures who claim their search will be fruitless. Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian, tells Obi-Wan that Kamino does not exist because it does not appear in the archives. When Anakin prepares to leave the Lars homestead and go out into the desert, Cliegg tries to dissuade him, saying, "Your mother's dead, son. Accept it."
Both Obi-Wan and Anakin disregard this advice and end up in the dark on a desert planet, looking down from above on the object of their search. At night on Tatooine, Anakin looks down on the Tusken Raider camp from the bluff above. In the dark caves of Geonosis, Obi-Wan looks down at the meeting of Dooku and the Separatist leaders from his hiding place above.
Both Jedi descend into the underworld to find some elusive knowledge, but neither really finds what he is looking for. Obi-Wan learns that Viceroy Gunray is behind the attempts to assassinate Padmé, but remains blind to the larger plot involving the war and the clone army. Anakin finds his mother, but loses her at the very moment he is on the verge of recovering her.
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Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Cliegg Lars / Dexter Jettster / Jocasta Nu / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Shmi Skywalker / Watto
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Concepts: ascent and descent / caves / mothers / sight and blindness / underworld
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