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Alternative Prequel Ideas — Page 2

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Charles Daniels said:

Remarkable.
This has to be the most well structured, interesting, and dramatically satisfyimg idea I’ve ever read on this topic.

The theme is excellent and coherent.

Perhaps too intelligent for Hollywood. Really compelling.

Wow, thanks!

I really should check these forums more often.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I had this not so fleshed out idea as an alternative for Vader to be something more than just the suit Anakin is plopped into after he gets all burnt up.

In episode II, after a movie filled with Anakin and Obi wan together being good friends going on adventures of course, there could be a similar plot point to the one we already have in which a mysterious assassinator is after Anakin’s wife (let’s just say they’re married by now). Anakin is desperate to take it upon himself and find the killer, but the Jedi insist he keep with the obligations he’s already been given, and to have patience and to trust in the force. While the imperial senate (the republic is an empire by now so episode III can just focus on a personal angle with Anakin’s turn) has made efforts to protect padme, no one’s really on getting to the root of the problem.

Frustrated and swayed by his ever idealistic principles, Anakin devises a nameless, menacing alter ego, concealed under a black suit and a modulated deeper voice to go after the assassin without the council ever knowing.

He’ll go on to make a new lightsaber (it will be red as it’s much less common) , just to be careful that no Jedi council member ever finds out what he’s up to. It’s also more so that the lightsaber Obi wan gives to Luke isn’t the same blade that commited horrific acts of murder.

Nik goes after the bounty hunter, tracking down rememenants of where he’s gone in some Jabba’s Palace-type areas.

After killing Maul in episode I (who we won’t find out actually survived until III), Anakin is deeply disturbed by the taking of someone else’s life. He’s not the best with handling loss himself, never mind taking lives. But as this mystery agent of evil (or, phantom menace, I suppose), he starts being in more and more situations where crime lords aren’t taking him seriously and get him cornered by men who wish to kill him. So, he kills back. And it’s a horrible pain for him to go through at first, but it’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make for his loved one. But the more it’s forced upon him, the more it feels strangely…just. Like taking scum who didn’t deserve to live at all out of the world isn’t hardly as bad as the loss of, say, his own mother.

Gradually, he starts to grow rather fond of the idea. Almost as if he’s doing a galaxy a favor. Because all the while, he only means to do the right thing, right? This is for his friends and family to have better lives in the days to come? So he can have a better life with his family once the war is over? Hell, he’s only quickening the blow of the war by doing what he already knows is right. He doesn’t have to go through the archaic dogma that is the Jedi council just to be told he has to wait indefinitely to do what is right. While the disguise was meant to be a one and done thing to keep his wife safe for good, Anakin slowly becomes certain that it would be downright selfish to not take the power he’s been granted by the force and use it to save more lives than those he has to take in the process.

And after all, the Jedi will never have to know.

One thing leads to another, and soon he discovers the bounty hunters are in alliance with the separatist forces, who are in alliance with whoevers mandating that those dreadful clone beasts come down and attack the peaceful capital of coruscant. And it just so happens that one of its leaders, Count Dooku, is staging an alliance with all of the couruscant officials in one room, only to spring his trap and get them all killed by clone beasts! Including his bestest buddy Ben Kenobi! Anakin better do something!

He arrives at he event and immediately leaps into action, draws his sword and declares Dooku under arrest. Clones come in and kill a great deal of innocents and Dooku engages in battle with the mysterious vigelante. And after Nik murders Dooku without hesitation or mercy, we see the contrast between his reaction to killing off Maul, and now. The fear and anger are more prevalent within him than ever. But he also just made an incredible bloody mess of things.

Ben senses that the masked murder is also someone who should be considered an ally. In a fit of rage, he demands to know the identity of this killer. Seconds away from being completely found out, Anakin does the unthinkable and manipuates Ben at his most emotionally vulnerable: he tells him that he is Darth Vader, the old pupil Kenobi was adamant he destroyed after he turned to the dark side. And Ben completely buys it. So does the rest of the council. ‘A cunning warrior’, indeed, was Anakin.

Through episode III, Vader goes to higher and higher extremes to get what he wants, ignoring how self centered what he wants has slowly but surely become. As we go on, well cut from Anakin to Vader without showing the transition into the suit, to subconsciously differentiate them as two characters in the mind of the audience. How he gets to be Palpy’s right hand man I don’t know, which is pretty bad because it is like the most important thing ever to happen in these movies.

Seeking only the most natural looking colors for Star Wars '77

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I would’ve wanted Uncle Owen to be good friends or even close relatives in the PT. Owen could’ve been reserved while Anakin was all cocky or vice versa. If Owen was a charismatic dude who hung out with Anakin through the worst of times it would’ve been pretty sad to see Anakin drift to the dark side while Owen hopelessly watches and has no control, then it would be even more sad when you see Owen trying to protect Luke from becoming like his father did.

Another idea is that the clone army was actually on the evil end of the wars and there would be no battle droids. The Republic would be losing men by the millions and the tension would build incredibly for our heroes. In episode 3 the protagonists would figure out how to destroy the cloning system (like the death star) while Anakin and Obi-Wan fought. It would be infinitely more emotional.

Those are a few ideas, I’ll throw in a few more later. I’m considering doing my own PT Screenplays like many of you guys.

Prequel Fan-Edit thread: http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Yet-another-series-of-prequel-edits/id/17329

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It would be interesting to see Owen as Anakin’s brother and a soldier fighting alongside him in the Clone Wars. We get a hint of military know-how when Biggs says: “Your uncle could hold off a whole colony of sand people with one blaster.” In one of my prequel ideas Owen and Beru served in the war but left for the Outer Rim when the Republic began to transition to the Empire. They had no stomach for a war that they didn’t believe in, and tried to get Anakin to come with them but Anakin would have none of it, deciding instead to follow Obi-wan. They end up going to the Outer Rim with a fleet of deserters and refugees, so Anakin couldn’t have found out where they ended up if he tried. Eventually Obi-wan and Anakin part ways, and Obi-wan takes the newborn Luke in search of Owen. He finally finds them on Tatooine after months or years of searching.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Some miscellaneous PT head canon I was concocting the other day:

  • Episode I opens with a naive young Ben in search of a strong presence he felt in the force (Anakin)

  • A long time prior to the trilogy, a great war was waged between Sith and Jedi. To protect the stability and security of the republic, it was swiftly re organized into an empire, during which the chancellor-turned-emperor (different guy) called for Jedi and Sith alike to be killed en masse. The few who survived were driven into exile among the outskirts of the galaxy, Ben being the descendant of one of them. Any person in the republic who publicly displayed a personal connection to the force would be imprisoned, if not killed.

  • The main schism between Jedi and Sith was that the Sith believed force sensitive beings were to ultimately inherit the universe, while the Jedi believed in keeping the peace between all living things (and then Passion vs. Patience and all those other sorts of divides arose from that point). The presence of both groups in the old republic (not as much the sith, considering their views didn’t exactly gel with non-FS beings who greatly made up the majority of the republic ) created great tension, causing most to consider Jedi and Sith equally as much a threat.

  • Ben has been in pursuit of any surviving Jedi, convinced via a tremor in the force that the recently appointed Emperor Palpatine may be one of them. He believes (or rather, the force has guided him to believe) that once the Clone Wars (what are they? I haven’t quite decided) have ended, democracy can be restored and a new Jedi Order may be forged. As such, Palpatine would be the catalyst in all of these actions. He has faith that this will work, because destiny and balance etc etc…

  • Owen and Nik have lived together on Tatooine all their lives, Owen being about five or six years older than Anakin. As children, a cloaked figure with a red lightsaber (wink wink) sensed Anakin’s presence and great power, and came in pursuit of a new apprentice. Anakin then sees his mother killed before him, and unleashes his abilities all at once, overpowering the mysterious being and driving him away. Horrified and afraid of what he was capable of through instinct alone, Owen has to reassure Anakin that he did the right thing and saved them both. Nevertheless, he can never be seen using that power again, or they’ll both be in the hands of the empire.

  • Suppressing his physical connection to the force all throughout childhood, Anakin inadvertently strengthens the part he can’t control: the mental. He begins to see blurred premonitions of the end of days; friends dying, familiar and unfamiliar faces, but most importantly, and especially obscured image of himself throwing some elderly cloaked guy down a mine-shaft. The only other character in the story who exhibits this power as lucidly as Nik does is Palpatine, serving as the causation for their eventual alliance.

  • Thus sets into effect Ben’s Damn Fool Idealistic Crusade™, of which Nik and Owen are both just as skeptical and rejecting of. However, once Ben tells Anakin everything he’s learned about the force and the jedi and the grand restoring of balance, Anakin starts to realize it almost perfectly correlates with his reoccurring dreams. So after a long and hard thinking, he decides to give the whole Jedi thing a go. We get a barrage of scenes where Ben trains Anakin, guiding him to divorce himself from rage, and the two hit it off quite nicely.

  • [Many scenes missing]

  • The climax of Episode I would be a one on one between Nik and the man who kills his mother. Anakin tries his best to tap into the “obeying your commands” part of the force, but ultimately its the “controlling your actions” half that kicks in. So he murders the Sith in cold blood, confirming his worst fears about his relationship with the force. Ben catches up with him, at which point Anakin tells him point blank “I can’t do this” and runs away. The two split paths, at which point Anakin is cornered by a imperial brigade. He is brought in and interrogated, but a seemingly gentle natured Palpatine steps in and dissolves the issue personally.

  • Palpatine thanks Anakin for the great service he has done for the Empire (let’s just say for convenience’s sake that this sith had close ties to the mysterious clone threat), and asks him how he became so skilled with a lightsaber. Anakin adamantly denies to the Emperor that he has any relation to the Jedi or the force. Regardless, Palps tells him that his impeccable piloting skills and fighting abilities would be of great service in the battle against the mysterious clone attackers, and that the empire would treat him favorably. This is the last we see of Anakin for this film.

  • Ben can’t sacrifice his perceived destiny to chase after his misguided new friend. To put a twist on universal belief of SW backstory, It is only at this point that Ben seeks out Yoda, already living on Dagobah, and humbly requests to be trained.

  • “Help you, I can.”
    [Iris out]

Seeking only the most natural looking colors for Star Wars '77

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Not sure how Anakin’s background would be handled. Perhaps he was ashamed to have been brought up on a farm and even claimed to be an orphan, while changing his surname from Lars to Skywalker? Also I have no idea if why and how Obi-Wan changes his name to Ben. That could very well happen off-screen, between the trilogies, I think.

About the names: Simply, Beru Skywalker married Owen Lars. Or is that TOO simple? ( I would give Owen and Beru a bigger part at the opening of the saga) For Jedi, it was recognized as a ancient religious order, so how about Obi-wan being his chosen name when becomes a knight (Like Roman Catholic nuns). When the Jedi fall, he goes back to his given name, Ben. It makes Leia’s message in IV more interesting: She calls him “General Kenobi” and “Obiwan- Kenobi” separately. Almost like “General” and “Obi-wan” shouldn’t be said in the same sentence. Also, you can start the story with Kane Skywalker (from early Lucas drafts) who becomes Anakin when he becomes a Jedi.

Also, the Republic has a professional army (pre-stormtroopers of sorts). The purpose of the Republic is very much aligned with the principles of the Jedi, as it is a loose federation of planetary systems that work together towards common goals. Only after the war erupts does the Republic begin its transformation into a different body, with a tighter grip. Only at this point the idea of separatism slowly begins to sound the same as treason.

What if different worlds originally have their own militaries, but as the Clone Wars progress, paranoia and distrust between Republic worlds leads to a centralization of the armed forces into the Republic Army… then the Empire? If the Clones are the Antagonists, the enemy could be right next to you and you wouldn’t know it. This could explain why Alderaan would have no weapons of their own in IV.

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Any person in the republic who publicly displayed a personal connection to the force would be imprisoned, if not killed.

So then how did a force-user become Emperor?

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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Here’s an idea:

The Jedi are only an informal order spread across the galaxy. The Knights directly serve the Republic, and can be called on in times of crisis to protect the galaxy, but mostly they are protectors of the individual planets they call home. They are allowed to marry and have children, although their children will not often be strong in the Force. The Skywalkers are outliers in this regard.

The Jedi Masters are entirely separate from the Knights, and are primarily teachers and soothsayers, more like eccentric local wizards than proud warriors. They are often pacifists.

A potential narrative for the prequels would be that Obi-wan was taught by Yoda (who is not the leader of the Jedi Order) on Dagobah, but doesn’t speak much of his master to Anakin. Instead, he decides to teach Anakin on his own and bypass Yoda entirely.

During the Clone crisis, the Senate convenes the Jedi Knights and any Masters who are willing to fight. They get dragged into a long conflict with no end in sight, and during this time Anakin secretly becomes Vader and begins killing the Knights. If there is a dangerous Jedi Master in hiding, Anakin will break their former student and learn of the master’s location. In this way, over the course of some years, he is able to hunt down and eliminate almost all of the Jedi that are of any real threat. The final student is Obi-wan, and Anakin is intent on learning of Yoda’s location so that he can become immortal.

For you see, Yoda had another living student, one who was an old man by the time of the Clone crisis. Anakin tracked him down and attempted to kill him, but as he delivered his killing stroke the man turned invisible, and Anakin heard a mocking laughter in his head. Desperate to learn the secret to evading death, Anakin tracks down Obi-wan, who tells him that contained in his Jedi training was the secret to immortality and peace, but Anakin had become too fallen to recognize it anymore.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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NeverarGreat said:

Here’s an idea:

The Jedi are only an informal order spread across the galaxy. The Knights directly serve the Republic, and can be called on in times of crisis to protect the galaxy, but mostly they are protectors of the individual planets they call home. They are allowed to marry and have children, although their children will not often be strong in the Force. The Skywalkers are outliers in this regard.

The Jedi Masters are entirely separate from the Knights, and are primarily teachers and soothsayers, more like eccentric local wizards than proud warriors. They are often pacifists.

That’s a nice idea! My own idea is a bit similar: the Jedi Order is spread across the galaxy, with Jedi Masters in charge of their own respective academies/facilities (e.g. Yoda-Coruscant, Mace Windu- Alderaan, etc). The Jedi Masters, the heads of these outposts, would also consist of the Jedi Council.

Another idea was to have Owen and Beru as my PT’s C-3PO and R2-D2 (respectively). In SW77, they already appear to know Anakin and Obi-Wan pretty well, so I think it would make sense the two would act as the bickering young couple who get wrapped in the adventures of our heroes.

Screw lightsabers, I’ll stick with regular swords. At least they won’t blow up in my face like this franchise has.

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Yeah, it does seem pretty strange. All Beru and Owen did was just show up for a couple scenes out of the ENTIRE PREQUEL TRILOGY with no significance other than taking in Luke.

Hence, I’ve come up with my own version. I did write a little excerpt months ago to give an idea of Beru and Owen’s roles (shameless plugging powers, AWAY!), but I doubt I’ll actually use in the finished product (that is if I actually get to writing and stop pussyfooting around it). Still, I hope it’s somewhat good.


“We’re lost,” Owen grumbled lowly as he stared at the vast crowd of aliens and humans in front of him.

Standing beside him against the wall, his fiance, a petite woman, shook her head. “We’re not lost. We just need to figure out what level we’re at,” she said, trying to peer over a bulbous head. “I think they have a number somewhere around here…”

Owen would have crossed his arms if he was not carrying luggage in his each. As much as he loved Beru Whitesun for her optimism, there were times it was too unrealistic and downright frustrating. The pair were supposed to be on their way to Coruscant, when their shuttle had a slight “leaky engine,” dropping them and everyone else aboard at Axis Station, nearby the Mid Rim’s Craston Nebula.

As Owen expected, it was a run-of-the-mill orbital station; centuries old, crowded, and its facilities less than up to sanitary standards. Being from Tatooine, it wasn’t that bad, and Owen and Beru’s ragged desert clothes made them blend in well with the crowd.

The problem was that they were stuck in this blasted when they needed to get on another shuttle, and they had no idea where it was. Not to mention their shuttle passes. Owen hoped the ones they bought worked, otherwise he would be having words that Toydarian merchant. He paid good money for those passes, and blast anyone if he was ripped off!

After sometime, Beru said, “I see it! Level seventy-one. We can probably take an elevator and maybe we can-”

“Beru,” Owen said again, “we’re lost.”

Beru stared at him. Her blue eyes lost their brilliance as she conceded. “Alright, what do we do?”

“Go to the desk, find out when’s the next shuttle. Then, we wait.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re going to know when the next shuttle is-”

Before he could finish, the loudspeakers chimed and a droid’s voice blared, “Attention! Attention! The last shuttle for Coruscant will be leaving in thirty minutes, station time. The last shuttle for Coruscant will be leaving in thirty minutes at docking…”

Beru reacted before Owen could even hear the full thing. “Come on!” she called out as she was already in the move.

“Beru, wait!” Owen called out, and he rushed after her, saying “excuse me” and “pardon me” to nearby aliens as he tried to keep up.

He managed to squeeze himself into the elevator Beru entered a moment before. The fishy smell was the first thing Owen noticed, since the elevator had been filled with the aquatic Selkath from Manaan. Not an awful smell, but he didn’t want to be in there for very long. “Did you catch that last bit?” Owen asked as he squeezed himself in.

“Docking bay ninety,” Beru answered. How she heard that over the crowd, Owen had no clue.

It wasn’t long before the elevator doors open to their floor. The two humans came out first, just as the loudspeakers chimed again with the same announcement, and Beru eyed the closest docking bay door. “Ninety… must be this way!” she called over her shoulder, and she ran off again.

Owen begrudgingly followed Beru down the hall. He chased after her, until she stopped a second later. “What is it?” Owen asked.

Beru slowly glanced back at him and hesitantly admitted, “We… might be lost.”

Screw lightsabers, I’ll stick with regular swords. At least they won’t blow up in my face like this franchise has.

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A few of my ideas for a prequel trilogy rewrite.

Anakin was born and raised on the same planet where he fights Obi-Wan and gets burned by lava.

The Sith ruled the galaxy before the Republic. The Republic was founded by Force-sensitive slaves who overthrew their Sith masters.

Palpatine engineered the Clone Wars by secretly transferring cloning tech from a Republic agricultural planet to a warlike species in the Unknown Regions.

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I wonder what the order of the Jedi would be like if it resembled dark ages Europe? I imagine that one would start out by being an Apprentice and graduate to be a Jedi. From there, Jedi could go on to be Knights (warriors), Masters (teachers) or Healers, etc.

Maybe the prequels could be about a prophecy of a lost Jedi King?

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Just an idea I had:

The Jedi aren’t a monolithic entity, like any religion (I know they aren’t really one, but bear with me) there are different sects, with most of them being considered “the Jedi”. The sect that Yoda is closest to stress pacifism (wars not make one great), so they usually reject lightsabers (preferring to use nonviolent and the force), and tend to include those with greater force abilities. The other sects are closer to the PT Jedi (without the “no marriage” rule), with some believing the Jedi should take a more active role in running the galaxy. Most Jedi usually stay with their teacher’s group, but Ben, being something of a maverick, leaves Yoda’s sect to join the more proactive Jedi.