Ok. I've been out of town for a few weeks and had a lot to read up on here. So please forgive me for going back just a little. The whole Death Star 2 discussion had me thinking. I had no desire to see it in ESB and figured it would be just another "tinkering" like ol' Uncle George does. The argument about the twenty years it took to build the first one had merit too. I just couldn't see any way to put it in ESB and make it work for the story. Then it dawned on me.... if Lucas can "tinker" with his previous work, then why can't Adywan do the same thing. Here's my vision.....

-It's the end of the battle at Death Star I. Han, Luke and (now) Chewie get their medals. The credits roll.
-At the very end of the credits there is about 7 or 8 seconds of complete silence against a starfield
-Darth Vader's TIE fighter pops in from hyperspace after being knocked out of the trench
-The camera pans with the ship as it flys by to reveal his destination...
-Behold a skeletal Death Star 2
-Slow fade to black.
-20 to 25 seconds from start to finish

This works completely because you know its going to come into play at some point and are left to wonder throughout ESB when it will. Its a "phantom menace" so to speak. When it doesn't play any role in ESB you then KNOW it will be very important in the last film. It's the cliffhanger that the original movie lacks because of its history back in 1977 as possibly being the only film that would ever be produced.

The original screenplays had multiple Death Stars in ROTJ so this isn't outside the realm of keeping with the original feel of the original trilogy.

This would be a huge reveal if you watch all 6 films in order because we've been introduced to the plans for a Death Star in AOTC, then we see the plans put into action in ROTS, then we see the final result in ANH. We are led to believe by the end of ANH that the threat was finally dealt with by our triumphant heroes. Little do we the viewer know that the 3 films (II, III, IV) we just watched, were leading us down a primrose path in regards to the Death Star. For 3 films we thought that there is only one killer space station yet lo' and behold, there is another in the works, but you have two wait two more films to find out more about it.

This is one of those ideas that I would kill to have the skills to pull it off myself. Since I do not, I leave the suggestion and ask for feedback. I know Ady doesn't particularly want to go back to ANHR but this seems to be a very logical (and enjoyable) answer to whether or not to reveal DSII before ROTJ.

I'd love feedback from you guys and Adywan too, even if its just your opinion on the idea itself. YES, I'm aware that this is ESBR, but this all ties in together doesn't it?

Thanks, and May The Schwartz Be With You