I’m rewriting the Prequels so it would match the original vision of Lucas’ drafts of Star Wars and the World-Building of the Pre-PT EU, can anyone share details and points that were mentioned in the old Lucas drafts and the 90s EU alongside worldbuilding elements? (For example Zahn’s Clone Masters)
One huge difference that I can remember in early drafts of The Phantom Menace was that Obi Wan goes to Tatooine and finds Anakin. Qui Gon doesn’t show up until they go to Coruscant.
I found a Reddit post with some stuff on there that might also help: https://www.reddit.com/r/saltierthancrait/comments/18f3ueu/star_wars_prequels_based_on_the_old_drafts_of/
All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph!
If you haven’t already, you should probably read this fan-made plot synopsis/script outline that was circulating around fan communities in the 1980s or early 1990s, telling the story of Episode 3 before the official Prequels existed. Obi-Wan is the main character. Other characters include Anakin (obviously), “Lady Arcadia Skywalker” (Anakin’s wife), Bail Organa, and Captain Antilles. The story centers around Obi-Wan and the Alderaanian forces as Palpatine takes control of the Republic.
This fan-made take on Episode 3 isn’t necessarily that great, but it definitely captures the spirit, both aesthetically and plot-wise, of common fan expectations about the Prequels in the 1980s and 1990s. At least, I can say that this synopsis is a lot closer to my own personal expectations about what the Prequels would be like before the official Prequels were released in 1999. Note the heavy focus on Alderaan, the lack of a “secret forbidden romance” (Anakin’s wife publicly uses the name Skywalker), Kaiburr Crystals, the inclusion of a Coruscant-like city planet called “Jhantor”, Boba Fett as a Mandalorian warrior who is recruited by the Empire to hunt Jedi, and the increased prominence of some OT characters like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Captain Antilles. C3PO and R2-D2 make appearances, as does Yoda who lives on Dagobah like in the OT and is Obi-Wan’s sole master. There’s also scenes depicting “Dark Side training” with Vader, paralleling Luke’s training with Yoda in Empire Strikes Back. Also, Vader’s transformation into a cyborg happens at the beginning of Episode 3 rather than the end, and Anakin’s wife doesn’t die, but ends up living as a servant on Alderaan at the end. The third act culminates with a grand space battle above Coruscant/Jhantor which ends after Kenobi flies a starship through a nebula/supernova, perhaps leading Vader to suspect that Kenobi was killed.
The only things this fan-fiction story has in common with the real version of Episode 3 are (1) Kenobi and Anakin fight beside a volcano on a lava planet, and of course Anakin falls into lava, and (2) the movie ends with Kenobi on Tatooine handing over the infant Luke to Owen Lars, who is Obi Wan’s brother in this version.
There’s also some interesting fragments reminiscent of ideas eventually incorporated into the actual Prequels. For example, there is mention of Palpatine’s plan to “blockade the commercial shipping lanes”, and there is a character named “Prince Valarium” who is portrayed as a weak-minded politician and lackey to Palpatine. These components are probably traceable to the ANH novelization, which contains fragments of backstory about Palpatine’s rise to power that George Lucas eventually incorporated into the canonical Prequel movies.
There’s also a sequence somewhat reminiscent of “Order 66”, where we get a montage of Vader and a team of assassins murdering various Jedi across different worlds. Boba Fett works for Vader as one of these assassins, and of course uses “disintegration” to kill Jedi Knights.
Anyway, this synopsis can serve as a helpful time capsule that preserves many common pre-Prequel fan expectations about what the Prequels would be like.