What if... no prequel trilogy or, no sequel trilogy? Just the EU?

Man, it has been a long time since I touched this site. I guess that what happens when you try to give up on SW altogether. While I don’t know if I can say I’m a SW fan anymore (at least as much as I used to be), I couldn’t get this out of my head:

What would have happened to SW and the EU if Lucas and Lucasfilm in general never made anymore movies after the OT (no prequels, sequels, Rogue One, Solo, etc.), instead allowing stories in the SW galaxy to be told through the books, comics, games, and even cartoons (good ones, that is)?

Immediately, I thought the EU would grow to the point it could possibly become as well-known as the original movies (given time and good stories), taking a lot of elements and maybe in the style of the 90s EU. I was very fond that kind of EU content (aside from stuff like Palpatine coming back from the dead), since we got to see not only how the New Republic and the new Jedi start but go into millennia before the OT (before the craziness of the Del Ray books). As such, these types of stories I kinda liked would continued to be told and maybe even make SW into a full-on multimedia project that could become as well known as the OT to a general audience.

Going off this idea, there are potential stories to tell. This could happen around the start of the old Jedi to millennia after the OT (to actually show how long the Jedi has lasted). I actually thought of a couple stories to tell in this hypothetical universe:

1. Repurpose the NJO books-what with major characters dying, worlds being ravaged, etc.-into telling the Clone Wars. The Vong would be replaced with the clones and the Clonemasters mentioned in the Thrawn trilogy, attacking worlds and destabilizing the Old Republic. They would devastate the Republic, leaving its remnants to eventually form the Empire (or what would becoming it with its former enemies (in place of the New Republic and Galactic Alliance, respectively). Luke Skywalker and his Jedi would be replaced with Obi-Wan Kenobi and his fellow Jedi, which can include Anakin Skywalker and another Jedi student (named Vader?). Speaking of Anakin, he would meet a female clone spy, who would become Luke and Leia’s mom as she and Anakin would have a forbidden (off-and-on again?) romance. Maybe Beru (acting in place of Jaina from NJO) and the Vader character (acting in for Jacen) confront Anakin, who could wound the latter in his anger. Obi-Wan could be shown as defeating the Clonemasters’ head, but Anakin defeats the real leader. Obi-Wan is the one recognized, leaving Anakin in his shadow and hinting at the young Jedi’s eventual fall to the Dark Side.

2. Going off the initial concepts for the NJO series, the Jedi and New Republic would have to face the return of the ancient Sith (the red-skinned Sith from the Tales of the Jedi comics who are native to Korriban, that is). It was the initial concept for the NJO books, but I think it could done different here. I did gush about 90s EU, but I’d probably take certain aspects or themes that stories like the KotOR/SWTOR games share and played around with. Perhaps, the old Sith Lords fear that the returning Sith Empire is too sadistic, or perhaps because the new Sith have learned ways of possessing people’s bodies (think Callista Ming), an abomination to the old Sith ways and to the Jedi. Fighting them would more or be Han and Leia’s adult kids of Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin (at least in their 30s), aided by their own children, student, and allies in the New Republic and Imperial Remnant. Perhaps end it with an alliance with both becoming protectors of the galaxy, similar to how the Jensaarai were brought into the Jedi. This would separate the new Jedi from the old by their ideas of the Force and how to use it.

Would these stories turn out good? I dunno.

Would I ever really write any of this this? I want to say “heck no,” but who can tell.

I would kill to see an alternate universe where this happened

I bet a few people would. For me, I’m kinda in a “screw SW, LoGH all the way” attitude right now to bother with it, but I’ll wait and see if I or anyone else ever gets to this.

I’m more than happy with the Prequel Trilogy George Lucas gave us, with KOTOR, SWTOR and the modern EU. However, I think it would be interesting to imagine the possible alternative stories that the authors could have written. Personally, I think if the Prequels had been developed through books, comics and novels we would have had a story more or less similar to the one we already have. Not quite the same, of course, but similar in many aspects. Probably the Clone Wars would have been developed as originally intended, that is, as a clash between the Republic and an Army of Clones. But I think the whole “Jedi have no attachments” thing would still exist and that it would play an important role in Anakin’s fall. Also, I think Anakin would have fallen to the Dark Side for reasons more or less similar to those we see in the movies. We shouldn’t forget that George Lucas had a certain influence in the EU, so I believe that many of the things we already know now through the Prequels would have been preserved.

As far as the Prequels are concerned, I think that, given time, we would get an alternate take on the Prequel Trilogy and Anakin Skywalker’s story after the conclusion of the New Jedi Order series, as to not complicate things lore-wise during production. Once that’s wrapped up, I believe that’s when authors and other executives will turn their attention to create a project dedicated to telling the full story of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Republic, and Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader. It would be like the Clone Wars Multimedia Project, but it starts at the very beginning of the alternate PT’s story and goes from there, expanding Anakin and Obi-Wan’s characters while introducing new characters that are connected with already-established material. I believe the Clone Wars here would follow something along the lines of Timothy Zahn’s envisioned version of the Clone Wars, while taking some artistic liberties of cut content from decades prior (such as the scrapped Kenner toy-line with Atha Prime). We would see Republic soldiers against enemy cloned warriors in a war that would last for many years, devastating the galaxy and whittling the Jedi Knights’ numbers over time. Whether or not the Jedi are destroyed during or after the war’s conclusion is up in the air, along with how quickly the Republic transformed into the Empire. The authors would probably try to focus on what the films set up first with backstories (Anakin and Owen’s brotherhood, Obi-Wan convincing Anakin to leave Tatooine to fight in the war, etc.) and then the rest is filled in with EU stories (some of which are quickly rectified to avoid continuity problems). Plus, the Jedi would be allowed to marry and have families; in fact, I reckon we could see some GoT-style conflict between Jedi dynasties and their views on the Force, Clone Wars, etc. It could even pave the way for a Jedi civil war but set in the Clone Wars era, with the survivors later hooking up with Palpatine’s Inquisitors or going into hiding

As far as the NJO is concerned, had Lucas decided to give the keys of the franchise over to EU authors, I believe Star by Star wouldn’t have killed off Anakin Solo and things would progress from there. The Solo Kids would reunite and lead the charge to retake Coruscant from the Yuuzhan Vong, each sibling goes off on their own path to find their calling (Anakin to become Luke’s successor, Jacen to explore the mysteries of the Force, and Jaina to continue being the “Sword of the Jedi”) and the post-Endor stuff would conclude there. If not, then it would probably focus more on the recovery aspect of the galaxy following the war’s end or Jacen’s journey to learning about the Force while Anakin and Jaina deal with some small crisis back in their galaxy. Without the PT films, most of the stuff the post-NJO had to work off of (Dark Nest with the Padme subplot, LOTF with the Mando shit, and Legacy comics with Krayt’s backstory) would result in a massive change and/or overhaul of plans following this.

As far as the post-Tales of the Jedi Old Republic is concerned, I think that without the PT films, KOTOR’s aesthetic would follow more of what we see in TOTJ. I think the story would remain the same, however, regarding Revan and Malak. SWTOR would also have the aesthetic change thing, and the Bane books would remain the same. However, I think that the Darth title would have been introduced in the Bane books themselves, as well as the rule to have a red lightsaber. But before the Bane books, I think the Sith would have been depicted the same way they’re depicted in TOTJ.

Overall, I think this would be a better universe for Star Wars as a whole, as the fandom would be more united. Instead of having OT fans against PT fans against ST fans against EU fans against Canon fans, we would only have film purists against those who accept both the films and the EU. And that’s it. There wouldn’t be as much division as there is today.

Spartacus01 said:

As far as the NJO is concerned, had Lucas decided to give the keys of the franchise over to EU authors, I believe Star by Star wouldn’t have killed off Anakin Solo and things would progress from there. The Solo Kids would reunite and lead the charge to retake Coruscant from the Yuuzhan Vong, each sibling goes off on their own path to find their calling (Anakin to become Luke’s successor, Jacen to explore the mysteries of the Force, and Jaina to continue being the “Sword of the Jedi”) and the post-Endor stuff would conclude there. If not, then it would probably focus more on the recovery aspect of the galaxy following the war’s end or Jacen’s journey to learning about the Force while Anakin and Jaina deal with some small crisis back in their galaxy.

I’m guessing the Yuuzhan Vong would’ve been Sith, or the inspiration behind the Sith, and Jacen would’ve been the one to die instead of Anakin, in keeping with the original plans.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Horse_invasion_storyline