Mirroring and Symbolism

Anakin giving and receiving the gift of sight.




Anakin never quite gets the adulation he desires, though his creation is hailed as a god.




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Red in the face

Nice reading. To add to that:

There are these other little lanterns that appear in ROTS during the duel on Mustafar, when Anakin and Obi-Wan precariously balance on a narrow line of piping, as they themselves appear like abstract figures in a mist -- there's even a frame full of mist that momentarily floods the viewer's plane, which is a bit like the light glare in the TPM duel (as above):





I've always loved this little passage, where Anakin and Obi-Wan basically turn into fighting cats, prowling and uncertain of the other's next move, while the viewer can only wait for the next conflagration between them to erupt (like the landscape they're tussling within).

This is also one of the few parts of the duel that wasn't just a load of digital pyrotechnics. The mist/steam that Anakin and Obi-Wan are encompassed by is actually an old-fashioned practical effect:

(Advance to 3:55)

Ah, very nice. 

Qui-Gon:

"He will bring balance."

Palpatine:

"We will catch them off balance."

You really nailed it in your explanation there. I think you just unlocked another layer in the appeal of that moment for me.

Yes, Anakin isn't going to give up, nor is Obi-Wan going to back down. The world is on fire all around them, and still they battle on, neither of them prepared to surrender an inch.

Just looking at the top image you've used a bit more (a very great and epic shot in general), the little lantern on the right looks like a railway signal, and the piping makes them appear to be trespassing on a highly-elevated railway track. 

Interestingly, in the OT, when Luke tries to get away from Vader in their duels, Vader either tries to break him with a devastating revelation, or simply hurls his saber at the supports of the structure Luke has retreated to -- as if too afraid to make his way to Luke directly (still "burned" by Mustafar, perhaps):

Nice connection. What I notice, as well, is how the shaak raises its head up as it tramples Anakin, in what seems like a vaguely haughty gesture of "serves you right". Proud of its biological terror. Anakin riding it is almost like him standing atop a shrunken-down, organic Death Star. Anakin is here flirting with danger: while a "technological terror" may be relatively inert, a natural terror fights back. In the Mustafar example, Obi-Wan is hardly glad to maim Anakin, but he does have a similar haughtiness about him, as neatly encapsulated by his highly meme-worthy line: "I have the high ground." Anakin is again brought low, but this time, the consequences are more serious, and there is no Padme to see if he's alright -- although she does ask after him to Obi-Wan.


Yes. Around Luke, Vader is all threats and bluster. 

He goes from this, a slippery, cold-hearted tyrant:



To this, a sad, dejected, lonely screwup:



In the top image, those silhouetted men in the background could embody the duality of Anakin/Vader, or Anakin/Obi-Wan, or Anakin and Luke; or even, despite the gender mismatch, Anakin and Padme. Occasionally, their appearance creates confusion: Is that really Luke on the left, stood next to a Cloud City guard or Imperial bureaucrat, secretly watching from afar? Nothing in TESB is quite what it seems.

Vader is no help to his own cause -- he has too much incipient curiosity within him. He twice allows himself to get a little distracted, pondering both Han and Luke, who each descend into an abyss (at Vader's own doing):





The wreck of Anakin still exists within Vader. Perhaps duelling Luke through the distinctive corridor n Cloud City unlocks a memory from his deep past:





Incidentally, that corridor is very narrow -- and by contrast, the heroes, even when on the run from the Empire, have a clear view of the "outside" world, and the corridor itself is much more heavenly:



Anyway, yeah: I would posit that Vader is a little fearful of Luke, and a tad hesitant to come after him in narrow or confined spaces, when he feels he no longer has the element of surprise (notice, when he sneaks up on Luke on Cloud City, in the above corridor segment, how rapid his breathing is in that part). Vader would rather rely on other means.

One final detail of note: In those images I used earlier, the smoke in the latter shot from ROTJ collects in circular patterns, resembling the small platform or dais that Luke retreats to -- Ring Theory confirmed again? 

The Spanish word Camino means "path or way"
The Tibetan word Lam also means "path or way".

The Tibetan words "Dalai" & "Lama" mean "ocean" and "guru or he who goeth", respectively.
Lama shares the same root with Lam.

Lama Su is the Prime Minister of Kamino, the ocean world.

Dalai Lama sounds a bit like Dolly Lamb, the first cloned animal.



The saber-dart led Kenobi on the path to Kamino which was the path to the Clone Wars.


Also interesting that Kamino was erased from the maps and star charts. Obi-Wan had to find it by mathematic calculations and it's gravity field.

Neptune, our ocean planet, is not visible to the unaided eye and is the only planet in our Solar System found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Boulevard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitational perturbation by an unknown planet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune

The element Neptunium is assigned the number 93.
It's most stable isotope is 237.
Also interesting that it's symbol is Np, bringing to mind Natalie Portman.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptunium

Purple skies and little lights -- midi-chlorians? -- as Padme and Anakin are laid to rest at the close of each trilogy:

Some more links between AOTC and ROTJ:

Throngs of people on sand planets:





A pillar/statue is toppled:





Ships with wings angled down zoom past camera:





Fire in the sky:





Banging on physical stormtrooper heads/digital clone troops gathered for war:





Dark-clothed man pounding/resting his fist:





Droids/Jedi spirits watching:





Revelry and gloom:

There's even mirroring happening within individual films. Circles within circles within circles. Interlinked.

Having a conversation while gazing at a planet/sun:




Anakin rides and tumbles off a beast:

Gotta love that Jar Jar energy in the shot where Anakin tumbles off of the Shaak.