"As Episode I, originally called, simply, “The Beginning”, took shape, so did the rough gist of the new trilogy and by extension the larger six-film cycle." - good there IS a plan!
"However, during long discussions of medieval chiastic or ring structure with Lisa Henson," - I bet that would be fascinating to listen too. Whole series on writing idea there.
"powerless to affect any change, and thus robbed of hope and instilled with fear." - good observation.
"Anniken holds a pill of bitterness for his missing father, whom he believes abandoned his mother and he to a life of slavery" - not going to cause any trouble later, no...
"Natalie Portman, who was approached for Padmé, but was already committed to other pictures." - wonder where she will pop up?
"with the Queen’s “girl crush” on Obi-Wan desexualized and made a more innocent thing" - to the good of all even with the young internet ITTL.
"Carrie [Fisher] even took her under her wing and gave her advice in life and acting. It felt like a passing of the torch.” - this sort of thing is so heartwarming.
“I must admit that part of my reticence was in trying to walk in Sir Alec’s footsteps,” - Big boot to fill indeed.
"This made Episodes I-III into Obi-Wan’s Hero’s Journey, Episodes IV-VI into Luke’s Journey, and the whole six-film saga into Anniken’s Journey from Hero to Villain and back to Hero." - Good planning.
"treating the film as a blank slate where audiences weren’t expected to know the events of the later Trilogy was imperative." - I agree.
"The inevitable problem with prequels, he maintained, was in building dramatic tension when the outcomes (the fall of Anniken, the Jedi, and the Republic) were known." - and so many productions fail at this. Part of the big problem I have with Prequels.
"eventually taking a cue from LeGuin’s
Earthsea series and becoming a land of castles on paradisical islands in the midst of the raging oceans," - good choice.
"tongue-in-cheek references to
Star Trek actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, with their working titles even being the “Shatnarians” and the “Nimoidians” - wonder what Shatner and Nimoy thought of that?
"medieval theming and imagery began to become increasingly a part of the Nimoida" - should make cosplay easier.
"using early to mid-20th century modern designs, in particular Art Deco architecture and Streamline Moderne and Futurist design," - oh nice.
"They lived in a literal Ivory Tower in the midst of a lonely square of green amidst the gray urban sprawl." - I wonder if we will see this despoiled by the Sith Lord later?
"while Thorpe, played by Ian McKellen when Christopher Lee proved busy, was the refined, friendly, sophisticated Old Wealth aristocrat who none-the-less seemed primed to embrace the “new age”. _ am reminded of Saurman embracing technology in Middle Earth compared to the static realms around him.
"The duality with Palpatine is enforced by playing this directly via cross-wipe against Palpatine’s appearance as a hologram to Queen Amidala." - lovely technique.
"McDiarmid gave the “Palpatine” side of the character a friendly, fatherly persona." - such a nice, helpful, quiet chap that Palpatine.
"he could also just stand and glare, head tilting unnervingly from side to side as he slightly swayed." -bet that was unnerving on set.
"In this timeline Boba Fett will be made an actual Mandalorian from the start." - meh. As long as he stays dead...
"The obviously merchandisable potential of their addition cannot be discounted either." -Ka Ching!
"having two white actors providing voices for a species that many assumed to represent people of color" - presumption at work again.
"Thus, a more openly disreputable Roona partner, a “galactic used car salesman” to quote Lucas, was added." - got get the 'scum and villainy' in heh?
"I just flat out asked George if I was supposed to be a minstrel show stereotype,” said Carson." - good for you mate. Thank you from ITTL me.
"Linguist Marc Okrand, inventor of the Klingon language, was brought in to revamp the Roona pidgin language," - HOORAY!
"Ba Ba’s walk, like his inadvertently problematic baby talk, would be abandoned and replaced by a more Stan Laurel/Lou Costello shuffle." - so much much better, even if Jar Jar was not supposed to be racist, it is so painful to watch him at times.
"
A Darkness Rising became the title almost by default as the least-disliked title" - it is pretty good considering.
"the film made an at the time astounding $1.05 billion global box office against a $104 million budget" - that be a lot of wonger!
"While some fans, later known as “gushers”, were ecstatic with the results, others known as “bashers” found ample reason to dislike a film" -ah fans....
"help shield Lucas from a lot of the hate that he caught in our timeline, which will shift on to Lisa, who will take it in stride." - Lisa ITTL is a treasure!
"disappointment and fear among the Gen-X fans that a franchise they held a strong attachment to would be “ruined” in turn led to anger, which led to hate, which emboldened and empowered the “Dark Side” of the fandom," - I saw what you did there.
"Naturally, work immediately began on the now-inevitable Episode II, with Spielberg handing off the directorial duties to his friend and protégé Robert Zemeckis." - well thats should be an interesting Episode II then.
Great look at Episode 1 there
@Geekhis Khan - I suspect ITTL me would like it a lot more than I like OTL Ep1.
