I’m becoming more and more attached to the idea the more I think about it.

Consider: With the new crawl and omissions listed above, it would be possible for someone to watch the prequels in chronological order and still retain the slow point-of-view shift towards Vader that audiences felt in the 80’s.

Since it is now established that Vader began as merely a “pupil” of Obi-wan who betrayed and murdered Anakin, one can construct a compelling narrative in their mind with the help of the prequels. In this narrative, Anakin was briefly tempted by Palpatine with the power to save his wife, but remained in the Jedi Temple and held it against thousands of clone troops, protecting the children. But then! One young Jedi, wishing to save his own skin, turns on Anakin and stabs him in the back. He quickly surrenders to the clones and becomes an Agent of Evil. Obi-wan sees this in the security recordings, and blames himself for his failure as a teacher.

ANH reinforces this narrative, referring to this Jedi as merely a pupil (notably, not an apprentice or padawan!), and Vader himself saying that he was but a learner.

Then comes ESB, where Yoda says that Vader was Obi-wan’s apprentice. Did Yoda misspeak? Was he using imprecise language? And Obi-wan hints at a more personal connection to Vader than merely student-teacher.

What an idea, that the prequels could turn the OT into a more compelling story through this omission.