Inspired by Episode 1: Jar-Jar’s Big Adventure, I thought, what would the other two prequels look like with the kid-friendly treatment?
Episode 2 seems easy enough - have it focus on Obi-wan and the discovery of the clones, and end much as the original ended with the big battle, Anakin losing his arm, and the wedding. Cut most of the love plot and political meandering and it’s a decent hour-long detective story with a battle at the end.
Episode 3 would be much more tricky. Since these films would be meant to be seen by very young audiences, they would naturally be seen before the OT and thus Anakin’s fall is a poor fit because of how it ruins the reveal in Empire, besides being too dark. So however it happens, it will need to address the perennially problematic ‘other student’ issue.
Here’s a rough idea of how I’d go about it:
Episode III
Revenge of the Sith
As the Clone Wars ravage the galaxy, Anakin has returned home from his long campaign to Coruscant to become a Jedi Master.
Now without an apprentice, Master Obi-wan has become a teacher at the Jedi Temple, but he is eager to return to battle and end the war.
So when the Droid Leader General Grievous attacks Coruscant and captures the Chancellor, the two Jedi gladly embark on one last mission…
The opening battle is much the same, but with Palpatine’s machinations cut. Most of Palpatine’s interest in Anakin has been cut, and perhaps the only scene they share is when Anakin is tasked to inform him that Obi-wan has encountered Grievous. He immediately informs Mace, and then obeys him and stays in the council chamber. This is the last we see of Anakin in this edit. He is cut from the Mace/Palpatine duel, so Palpatine alone defeats the Jedi and enacts his sinister plan. Obi-wan returns from killing Grievous and Order 66 to find that Anakin has apparently been killed in the Jedi Temple, and has confimation of this when he views the (selectively edited) security holograms.
Mustafar doesn’t factor into this edit, as the Separatists are all defeated on Utapau and the war ends. Padme gives birth to the twins without incident. The film ends like the original, with Luke going to Tatooine.
So what do you think?