Originally posted by: Scruffy Okay, here's some examples of concepts that were altered between the OT and the PT...
In the OT, it was established that Jedi training began during adolescence. ("He is too old to begin the training. / Was I that much younger when you taught me?") In the PT, it's established that Jedi training begins during prepubescence. Obi-Wan never asked if he was much younger, he says "Was I any different" in response to Yoda saying Luke was reckless.
What's great about this is the tension that is being built by making even Anakin too young at age 9. They make a big deal about how Anakin is too old, and in the end he turns to the dark side, and now we have Obi-Wan trying to convince Yoda to break that rule even further with Luke.
Originally posted by: Scruffy In the OT, it's established that Mrs. Skywalker stayed with Leia but died when she was very young. In the PT, she dies in childbirth. In the OT it was established that Leia could only remember "images really" of her "real" mother, and that she died when she was really young. Childbirth is maybe a little younger than one would have expected, but she is talking about only remembering "images really". Either chalk that up to her actually recalling her childbirth, or perhaps she was seeing images of her through the force. But the idea she was "staying" with her mother certainly wasn't nailed down at any point, again she's talking about recalling "images really" and doesn't talk about anything they did together or anything like that.
Originally posted by: Scruffy
In the OT, Boba Fett and the stormtroopers are not all clones of the same source. (They have different accents and, depending on how you interpret visual cues, different faces.) In the PT, they are all clones of a bounty hunter.
The official word on that is as time went on they ended up using a variety of genetic sources (since Jango was dead), and on top of that they found it more cost effective to recruit people into the military as well. So the Stormtroopers in the classic trilogy aren't all clones, and even the ones that are could be from one of several genetic sources.
Originally posted by: Scruffy In the OT, a dying Jedi typically disappeared, and this was curious or even unremarkable. In the PT, dying Jedi leave behind corpses. There is no strong correlation between disposition of the corpse and later appearance as a ghost.
The way it worked out in the end, is Qui-Gon was the first Jedi to figure out how to retain his identity after death. Once he did that, he hooked up with a Shaman of the Whills who had also figured out eternal consciousness and he taught Qui-Gon another technique that allows a Jedi to become one with the Force at will. Qui-Gon was just killed, he didn't choose that.
He then teaches both techniques to Obi-Wan and Yoda through the Force while they are each hiding out on Tatooine and Dagobah. Neither Obi-Wan or Yoda actually "died" in the traditional sense. Obi-Wan was gone before Vader's blade could find him. Yoda was on his death bed, but he also chose to become one with the Force at will. That's why they both disappear and end up becoming Force ghosts, while Qui-Gon never does either of those things.
According to Lucas, the reason Anakin disappears is because Yoda and Obi-Wan helped him do that from the other side. We didn't see him disappear on screen, and Lucas was saying somewhere that the point of that was to keep the audience in suspense so that when he finally does appear as the Ghost, it's a bigger payoff. Lucas contends that Vader's armor is empty on the funeral pyre.
Originally posted by: Scruffy Heck, the ideas behind the OT weren't even static during the making of the OT. If you believe that the story was mutable and dynamic from 1977-1983 but entered stasis from 1983 to 2005, I've got a bridge to Alderaan to sell you.
Well I think the story of the classic trilogy ended up evolving far more than his back-story did. Sure he just had an outline, and sure he added new ideas as he went here and there, but by and large it seems to stick closer to his original plan. Maybe Anakin and Vader were 2 different people, but beyond that, it's still pretty much the same dynamic. Anakin was always going to be a fallen hero, I just don't think he knew how far he would end up making him fall at first.