Star Wars Prequel WI

Archibald

Banned
I think I said this to you once in a discussion years ago, but for a tragic death in Episode III, it would be best if that was a non-comic relief Jar Jar, who'd been serving as Padme's aide and took a blaster shot or the like for her in a Separatist assassination attempt. That would give Anakin reason to fear for her life beyond the nebulous visions involving childbirth.

Reading this I can't help but thinking about Dobby death in Harry Potter. Jar Jar dying that way would make it slightly more lovable (and, killing two birds with one stone: the haters would be happy to see it dying a painful death !)
 
Maybe have Anakin be QuiGon's secret bastard son with Schmi who he has been training as a Padawan on secret visits to Tatooine with Obi Wan. QuiGon still dies on Naboo but only after he tells Anakin that he was his father. Kenobi steps in as a surrogate Master/father figure since he was trained by QuiGon and knew of the affair and Anakin's secret parentage all along. Would work better if Anakin is somewhat older in the first movie as well.
 

Anderman

Donor
But lorewise, the Jedi were supposed to have faded into myth by the time of A New Hope. 20 years isn't long enough for that to happen. When Han was nine years old at the end of the Clone Wars, it doesn't make sense for him to not believe that Jedi were for real.

How many Jedi were there in the first place and it is a large galaxy. The most people in the galaxy would never have seen a Jedi in action.
The jedi could be a myth for the most people even during their prime.
 
How many Jedi were there in the first place and it is a large galaxy. The most people in the galaxy would never have seen a Jedi in action.
The jedi could be a myth for the most people even during their prime.

About 10,000, but still, even if you never met one in person, you'd see holos of them in action, especially during the Clone Wars. And on important worlds like Coruscant or Corellia (Han's birthplace), you'd logically be more likely to have seen one in person or know someone who has. I mean, look at our social media-driven age, where images and videos so readily disseminate the world over, and apply that to the GFFA with its even faster and more sophisticated technology. Jedi would be known of quite well, even if not personally known, by most people.
 
Maybe he meant it more of like existing Jedi being a myth or the Empire just ran an excellent propaganda campaign following Order 66
 
Maybe he meant it more of like existing Jedi being a myth or the Empire just ran an excellent propaganda campaign following Order 66

No, I really think that the idea of Jedi should have become a lot more questionable and quasi-mystical to keep with the mood of the OT and early EU works. Again, Han was nine when there were still Jedi running around the entire galaxy, and yet he didn't believe in The Force at all. That's something that doesn't make much sense, when he should have been exposed to plenty of evidence that they were for real, even if it was during his childhood and second-hand information. And if you look at Legends stuff from the Bantam era like the Thrawn Trilogy or the Courtship of Princess Leia, most people only had vague ideas of what a Jedi was supposed to be like. One of my favorite scenes from the latter book was when the good guys were breaking out a bunch of political prisoners, and an old guy thanks Luke and says, "I remember the Jedi." That's something that helped mark him as an old-timer, by my understanding of what the chronology should look like. I mean, the way things are, he wouldn't have had to be all that old to remember, but it really feels better that way.
 
About 10,000, but still, even if you never met one in person, you'd see holos of them in action, especially during the Clone Wars. And on important worlds like Coruscant or Corellia (Han's birthplace), you'd logically be more likely to have seen one in person or know someone who has. I mean, look at our social media-driven age, where images and videos so readily disseminate the world over, and apply that to the GFFA with its even faster and more sophisticated technology. Jedi would be known of quite well, even if not personally known, by most people.

Yeah, the Clone Wars weren't minor dustups they were the event of the time. I would imagine at least Yoda, Obi Wan and Anakin would be well known. One is the supreme Jedi master who is presumably the highest ranking general, the other two are famous enough that their opponents know something about them by reputation. It is like people forgetting who Patton, Ike and MacArthur were in 1965. Outside an ASB mind-wipe that wasn't going to happen!
 
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Lucas sinned with those quotes and they deserved more fix that who shot first in some deadplace cantina....

I think is still relevant, as for some people Jedi were some rare knight-wizard who were even less that 0,001% of the galatic population and now are done and dusted. People Knew who was Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader but not that both were the same person(heck the newest novel, bloodline make people think that Vader killed anaking and raped padme till both Luke and Leia explained everything) and few people saw jedi and must think was a noble title or something, the force is minority, something was a bigger imistake that mildichlorians or some bad sidekick, Force Sensitie shoud be a important minority and heavily used by both sides just that true users and masters are the true rare breed..
 
Lucas sinned with those quotes and they deserved more fix that who shot first in some deadplace cantina....

I think is still relevant, as for some people Jedi were some rare knight-wizard who were even less that 0,001% of the galatic population and now are done and dusted. People Knew who was Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader but not that both were the same person(heck the newest novel, bloodline make people think that Vader killed anaking and raped padme till both Luke and Leia explained everything) and few people saw jedi and must think was a noble title or something, the force is minority, something was a bigger imistake that mildichlorians or some bad sidekick, Force Sensitie shoud be a important minority and heavily used by both sides just that true users and masters are the true rare breed..

That makes sense, Anakin would most likely shown on the various newscasts as a Hero of the Republic during the Clone Wars and has a very good reputation while Vader is Palpatine's enforcer , the guy he sends out when the heavy end of the hammer has to come down.
 
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I would have taken out Qui Gon's role all together. Have him as an extra, maybe, or a small supporting character, but the film from the get-go ought to be focussed on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin in order to make Anakin's ultimate betrayal that much more tragic.

We don't need Anakin's whole life-story, and if we do, include it as a series of memories/flashbacks rather than a whole film in and of itself. Start the prequels in the midst of the Clone Wars. The Jedi are already a dying order, with none of the pomp and ceremony they are shown to have. They are a bit like the Knights Hospitaller, relatively isolated but a branch of the military with some degree of independence from the Republic. Have it be known that their downfall was a direct result of becoming too involved in the Republic's political machinations. With the Clone Wars going on, they have been forced to take a more active role.

In Episode I, Anakin is already a Jedi under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is young, brash, handsome, and optimistic. Obi-Wan is of a sterner sort, doing things more "by the book" and adhering more closely to older, more restrictive doctrines. He disapproves of Anakin's demeanour. Anakin relishes in the heroism, and the love they receive from the people they help save. In Episode I, Anakin and Obi-Wan are involved in a mission to Alderaan, where they need to rescue King Organa and his family, which includes some of their staff, such as the young, beautiful, alluring Padme Amidala. While fleeing the Clone Armies, Anakin and Padme grow closer and closer, until Anakin does something wholly questionable near the end of the movie in his defence of her. Of course, this only comes as a partial surprise. While fleeing from the clones, we see snippets of the horrors of war, horrors the Jedi weren't directly involved in due to their stance as an independent humanitarian force.

So Episode I ends with a darker twist on Anakin's otherwise likeable personality, done in the name of the woman he has grown to love. There are no Sith in this film, not directly. They are alluded to near constantly with small scenes told from Palpatine's perspective. The Sith are presented as a cult, almost Satanic in nature, the antithesis to the Jedi, born almost completely out of the Jedi Order itself. We see them as we see the Templars in Assassin's Creed; they aren't obviously evil, but we know they wish to be the guiding hand in the galaxy.

Episode II reveals more about this Sith threat and introduces Darth Maul. We get to see the Sith as liberators rather than peace-keepers. They sweep in and restore order to an otherwise chaotic galaxy, which Anakin takes not of. In this film, while he pursues a secretive relationship with Padme, we get to see two different viewpoints that both influence Anakin; that of his lover, and that of his mentor. Padme openly wonders if the Jedi are still relevant, or if they should hand the reigns over to the Sith. In this version she isn't an idealistic politican after all, but just a household staff member to the Alderaan royal family. Obi-Wan, conversely, sees the Sith as an ultimate evil, and recalls the times of the past where the Sith attempted to seize power.

Anakin is conflicted. On the one hand, he has been raised as a Jedi and he still has some hope that the Jedi Order is on the right path, but on the other he sees the cold efficiency of the Sith to be a more straightforward method of ensuring peace. This film ends with a brutal battle between Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul, kind of like the battle at the beginning of OTL Episode III where Anakin and Obi-Wan fight Count Dooku. It goes much the same way. Maul taunts Anakin by drawing out his anger and frustration, and mocks the Jedi. He disables Obi-Wan and Anakin faces him alone. This is still all done before the eyes of Chancellor Palpatine. As with Episode III, Anakin gets Maul on his knees, and Palpatine urges Anakin to kill Maul, so Anakin does.

Episode III: A few years down the line, the war hasn't gotten any better. Padme is pregnant and Anakin is more desperate than ever to provide a safe and stable world for his family to live in. He's seen children die. He's seen families torn apart. He wants to avoid that for his own, and he doubts his power to protect them. The Jedi hear of Sith cultists popping up in different places and now it is their primary goal to destroy them for the sake of balance in the Force. Anakin disagrees with this; let the Sith do what they're doing, and the Jedi should stay true to their efforts to save the people who suffer the most in the war. He follows, orders though. The difficulty comes when Anakin and Obi-Wan join forces with Mace Windu to combat a large group of Sith, but when they arrive they learn that one of Anakin's old friends from the Jedi Academy days has joined the Sith. Anakin can't bring himself to kill his friend, considering the friend is still the same. Same personality, same drive, same easy-going smile. Windu kills him when diplomacy fails.

Anakin is summoned by Palpatine, who engineered the whole thing. Anakin freely expresses his frustrations to Palpatine, who throughout the series has been something of a grandfatherly figure to Anakin. Palpatine somehow knows about Padme's pregnancy and uses this to convince Anakin to steel himself and "do what must be done". Anakin deduces that Palps is a Sith and Palpatine freely admits it. He begs Anakin to join him. Anakin refuses, struggling to do the right thing, and he goes to Windu. Windu assembles a force of Jedi and they attack Palpatine. All except Windu are slaughtered, just as before. Palpatine is on the ropes now, just as in OTL. He begs Anakin to see the truth of the Jedi and sense the corruption in their Order and in the Republic. Anakin makes a snap decision, and kills Mace Windu, just as before. Only this time, it is less directly to do with Padme, and therefore less cheesy.

The rest goes more or less as OTL, except with one big difference. Instead of killing the Clone Army leaders on Mustafar, Anakin is sent as an emissary of "Lord Sidious" to a banquet being held by the leaders and their families (including women and children). Anakin slaughters all of them. Order 66 is executed as OTL and the Jedi are systematically hunted down and destroyed. Obi-Wan meets with Yoda (who would have appeared intermittently throughout the series) and they try to figure out what to do. Obi-Wan meets with Padme and tries to convince her to see that Anakin has changed. Padme refuses, however. As before, she leads him to Anakin by accident, and as before Anakin hurts her (although it would be far more convincing). Cue the epic final battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

I think the over-all plot of Episode III at least was fine, as was the idea of a stretched-thin Jedi Order caught up in a war. It's the smaller details that need changing.
 
How do we know the clone wars were the events of the time? Everyone heard of the Gulf war but it doesn't mean it was a thirty years war like event. The 1976 novel actually doesn't even give the clone wars as a reason for The Emperor taking power (I forget if he is named) it's curruption and mass dissatisfaction from the poor. He's actually not even obviously a bad guy it's said his Generals and advisors are running the show do to the fact the galaxy is too big for one man. The original ep v makes him a force user but not clearly the powerful Mage we've come to know, that's return of the Jedi. One more thing worth pointing out there is a deleted scene in A new hope where Red one says he fought along lucks father in the clone wars. He doesn't look that old to me so it couldn't have been that long ago right?
 
I would get rid of the Trade Federation silliness. What are they rebelling for? As is they have a seat in the senate and a private military force so they are the ones on top. The CIS is fine but it should be run by disgruntled idealists who see the Republic not measuring up to their ideals. Count Dooku is merely their leader and not a Sith Lord himself. The audience should be divided on who is right as these idealists get more and more desperate and do more and more immoral things for their cause, so there should be a question whether their goals justify their methods or not. Dooku is not clearly evil in this version but an ambiguous character. There should be no "rule of two" and the Sith should be a smaller , evil breakoff branch of the Jedi but not that small. Maybe a few score to a few hundred .
 
How long did the Clone Wars last? It seems pretty short for a Galaxy Wide war. If anything, have it last at least 10 years, and have the Republic become more totalitarian and oppressive as the war goes on.

Also about the Trade Federation thing, I think it had something to do with high taxes and them not wanting it, or something.
 
How do we know the clone wars were the events of the time? Everyone heard of the Gulf war but it doesn't mean it was a thirty years war like event. The 1976 novel actually doesn't even give the clone wars as a reason for The Emperor taking power (I forget if he is named) it's curruption and mass dissatisfaction from the poor. He's actually not even obviously a bad guy it's said his Generals and advisors are running the show do to the fact the galaxy is too big for one man. The original ep v makes him a force user but not clearly the powerful Mage we've come to know, that's return of the Jedi. One more thing worth pointing out there is a deleted scene in A new hope where Red one says he fought along lucks father in the clone wars. He doesn't look that old to me so it couldn't have been that long ago right?

The fact that it marked the end of a 25,000 year old galactic government should be proof enough that the Clone Wars mattered. That wasn't the case pre-Prequel, but Lucas committed to it, and I honestly find that much okay, since it fits historical states of emergency so well. And obviously the weak Emperor bit was dispensed with even by Empire Strikes Back.

I would get rid of the Trade Federation silliness. What are they rebelling for? As is they have a seat in the senate and a private military force so they are the ones on top. The CIS is fine but it should be run by disgruntled idealists who see the Republic not measuring up to their ideals. Count Dooku is merely their leader and not a Sith Lord himself. The audience should be divided on who is right as these idealists get more and more desperate and do more and more immoral things for their cause, so there should be a question whether their goals justify their methods or not. Dooku is not clearly evil in this version but an ambiguous character. There should be no "rule of two" and the Sith should be a smaller , evil breakoff branch of the Jedi but not that small. Maybe a few score to a few hundred .

I remember Dooku saying that Gunray came to him after Naboo because Sidious had abandoned him. That's actually an interesting idea, that Dooku then suckered him into the CIS as a plan to destroy Sidious. They knew the Sith were secretly running the Republic, so by raising an army to challenge said Republic, they could force the Sith into the open. Then Dooku, one of the strongest Jedi alive, could put an end to him. Of course, Gunray would later learn that Dooku and Sidious were partners, and by then he's an enemy of the state, with no choice but to ride things out and hope for the best.
 
Yeah, the Clone Wars weren't minor dustups they were the event of the time. I would imagine at least Yoda, Obi Wan and Anakin would be well known. One is the supreme Jedi master who is presumably the highest ranking general, the other two are famous enough that their opponents know something about them by reputation. It is like people forgetting who Patton, Ike and MacArthur were in 1965. Outside an ASB mind-wipe that wasn't going to happen!

I don't think Yoda was well known, but Obi-wan and Anakin were Generals in the Republic Army and were said to be 'poster children' of the Jedi/the Army.

And to add to the problems with setting the prequels only 20 years before ANH, Han Solo *does* remember the two from the newsreels of his childhood. The fact he doesn't twig to *Kenobi* and *Skywalker* in ANH is a huge plot hole many fan fics try to fix.

EDIT: also to asb with this thread - it's not about post-1900, it's about a fictional universe
 
I remember Dooku saying that Gunray came to him after Naboo because Sidious had abandoned him. That's actually an interesting idea, that Dooku then suckered him into the CIS as a plan to destroy Sidious. They knew the Sith were secretly running the Republic, so by raising an army to challenge said Republic, they could force the Sith into the open. Then Dooku, one of the strongest Jedi alive, could put an end to him. Of course, Gunray would later learn that Dooku and Sidious were partners, and by then he's an enemy of the state, with no choice but to ride things out and hope for the best.

Is that in the novel? I don't remember that being said in the movie but it makes sense.
 
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