Why did having the higher ground work for Kenobi against Darth Maul but not Anakin against Kenobi?

[Messianic_Monk]

I was always confused on why Kenobi would say this, considering he beat Darth Maul even though Darth Maul had the high ground.

Updates

+1 y

UPDATE: Let me correct the question. WHY DID THE HIGHER GROUND WORK FOR KENOBI AGAINT ANAKIN BUT NOT FOR DARTH MAUL AGAINST KENOBI?

[NamerOfStars]

Because Maul was an idiot. Kenobi was beaten; it was only a matter of time before his grip slipped and he fell, and instead of moving in to finish him, or waiting, ready to strike in case he leapt out, he toyed with him like a cat, slashing his saber into the ground and leaving himself out of position to block a sudden rising strike.

Maul's advantage meant nothing, because he couldn't capitalize on it. Obi-Wan's advantage DID mean something, not only because he treated Anakin as a threat throughout the whole fight, but because he'd trained Anakin and fought alongside him for years, knowing how he fought- and more importantly, how he THOUGHT.

"It's over, Anakin; I have the high ground", in and of itself, makes no sense*- yes, he had a better position, but that doesn't mean the fight is over, it just means Anakin needed to move away to reposition himself. That factory (or whatever it was) had PLENTY of higher points he could've moved to (the Force is very handy for getting around), and he also could've just run away; Obi-Wan had come to kill HIM, after all, not the other way around. What Obi-Wan said was an attempt to goad Anakin into attacking him recklessly, and it worked- Obi pitted Anakin's psychological weaknesses against him.

*This is much like Yoda's "Into exile, I must go. Failed, I have.". It didn't refer to him just losing the fight- if you watch that scene again, he was holding his own- but his using the Force aggressively, to attack Palpatine. That meant he saw himself as morally unfit to lead any kind of resistance to the Emperor, since he'd misused the Force. Otherwise, his fleeing, instead of trying to regroup with and rally the other Jedi, would be rank cowardice. It's yet another example of deep subtext that the movie itself kinda just skims over.

[Anonymous]

In both scenes it was the arrogance and over confidence of both sith Lords thinking that Obi wan was defeated before he was.

https://youtu.be/jqyzj11V58Y

[RolandCuthbert]

It was just a dumb scene.