The Prequels: Missed Opportunity #7102636892 by George Lucas

We have all lamented the ideas Lucas could have, and did not, make use of in the Prequels. I have recently thought of another one.

In ROTS, Padme and Anakin have a long discussion before Anakin starts choking Padme. Obi-Wan tells him to let her go…and he does?? This newly-minted Sith Lord just submits to a hated Jedi?

Here’s what I’m getting at: Palpatine had already told Anakin about how Darth Plageuis’ apprentice (apparently Palpatine) had killed him - so, instead of Anakin standing down when Obi-Wan yells at him, he continues to choke her because in this improved version of the scene, Anakin reasons that his unborn child will overthrow him as was had done to Plageius. Now he can choke the life out of Padme for betraying him and take out this unborn threat at the same time. And instead of a long stupid speech kicking off the Obi/Ani duel, it starts quicker because Obi is acting in defense of Padme. In the ensuing confusion, Padme suffers head trauma which ends up killing her in the end, not some mysterious “loss of will” to live.

This theme of infanticide by the powerful, paranoid father has been used before in classical mythology. See, this way Lucas would have added more gravitas to his Joseph Campbell formula, and the story at the end of ROTS would have been stronger. It’s win-win!

While that's a cool idea, I only see one problem:  how would you convey that in dialogue without destroying the pacing of the movie or sounding unnecessarily expository?

Obi-Wan:  Let her go!

Vader:  No!  As this unborn child might overthrow me as is the case with all Sith based on my five minute introduction into Sith culture proves, I must kill her so the child usurper will die as well.

Obi-Wan:  You sick monster!  Let's fight!

Vader:  Hold on just a few more seconds.  She still has a little bit of oxygen left.

^_~

Gaffer Tape said:

While that's a cool idea, I only see one problem:  how would you convey that in dialogue without destroying the pacing of the movie or sounding unnecessarily expository?

Obi-Wan:  Let her go!

Vader:  No!  As this unborn child might overthrow me as is the case with all Sith based on my five minute introduction into Sith culture proves, I must kill her so the child usurper will die as well.

Obi-Wan:  You sick monster!  Let's fight!

Vader:  Hold on just a few more seconds.  She still has a little bit of oxygen left.

^_~

 Would your suggestion real have sounded out of place in the PT? ;)

JoeyJoeJoeJr. said:

What would have been better would be to make the whole situation more soap opera-ish and make Obi-Wan / Padme / Anakin have more of a love triangle. Maybe have it where Obi-Wan saves Padme instead of Anakin in the Gladiator scene. Have some romantic interludes between just Padme and Obi-Wan and perhaps one where Anakin misinterprets what he sees, just before he really crosses over to the dark side (jealousy is not a light side of the force trait). None of this "I can save her from impending doom if I listen to prune-face" bullcrap. Then when Padme follows Anakin to Mustafar to try and talk some sense into him and the stowaway Obi-Wan emerges, in a split second he figures the child that she is carrying is actually Obi-Wan's and that she is trying to manipulate him. In a flying rage he force chokes and perhaps force pushes her where she is mortally wounded before Obi-Wan can react. Then a climactic lightsaber duel that doesn't drag on so much, 3 minutes max. Have some trash talking between the two like:

Obi-Wan: You sick bastard! Has your new dark master warped your mind so badly that you would kill the woman you love whom is carrying your child?

Anakin: My child?! I saw what happened between you two when we were on Planet X!

Obi-Wan: Unlike you, Anakin, I have not so willfully abandoned my Jedi Knighthood. I'll admit to being tempted, but I never gave in to my desires. I don't think you can say the same.

Anakin: Liar! You two have been conspiring against me all this time! Trying to keep me from reaching my full potential! Well my new master has nurtured me and now I am even more powerful than you... or any of the Jedi for that matter!

Obi-Wan: Your arrogance has gotten you into trouble before, my young Padawan. Don't think this time will be any different.

Anakin: *Evil laugh* Padawan?! You insult me for the last time, [sic] Master. After I am finished with you, I will erase any memory of the Jedi from the galaxy. My master and I will let no one stand in our way!

 

Then as Obi-Wan delivers what he figures to be a killing blow, lopping off both of Anakin's arms and a blow to the back rendering his legs useless.

 

Obi-Wan: Forgive me, Anakin. I never wanted it to end like this. (Holding his lightsaber at Anakins throat)

Anakin: Nonsense! It's what you wanted all along! To steal Padme away from me! Well I stole her away from you just now, didn't I?

Obi-Wan: My duty is to kill any Sith I encounter without any hesitation. (Retracts his lightsaber). Instead I will let you die slowly, not because I am cruel, like you. No, I will allow you to live just a little while longer because I once loved you like a son. You will never know that feeling, because today you demonstrated your total lack of regard for innocent life. First you slaughtered our younglings and then you killed Padme along with your unborn child. I want to give you a chance before you draw your final breath to reflect on why she came to you. She still saw some good in you, Anakin. She thought she could save you. (Kneels closely to Anakin and whispers). The only thing you stole from me was my faith in you... that you were the chosen one.

Then Obi-Wan returns to the ship, realizes Padme is barely clinging to life, they get to the rebel base, the twins are born, she dies yadayadayada, roll credits....there's your movie.

This is actually very good.

A love triangle could have been interesting. I always felt they should have went with that more in Ep. III, it was the original intention, as you will see if you read the script (Palpatine, pretending he does not know of Anakin and Padme's situation, let's Anakin in on the rumors he has been hearing about Obi-Wan being involved in some sort of scandal with a certain young senator. It is a great scene that really shows Palptine trying to cause Anakin to doubt Obi-Wan and Padme loyalty), but for some reason they cut that scene leaving only small hints of Anakin's suspicions. I think it should have been more clear that Anakin was begining to believe that Padme had been having an afair with Obi-Wan, and that Anakin thought the baby wasn't his, and that the Jedi Counsel were somehow covering for Obi-Wan and working against Anakin (maybe the Darkside is like certain drugs and make you paranoid? :)

However, I am not sure how I'd feel about a real triangle, maybe a something like Obi-Wan liking her, and bigshot Anakin comes in and sweeps her away. But to me, I think more focus should have been on the sense of brotherhood between Anakin and Obi-Wan, in which case, I think they would be less likely to try and steel each others love interests. Could have been that Anakin had been extremely fond of Padme, and really liked her. While being her body guard, Obi-Wan spends time with her and she starts to like him, and he starts to like her too, they would have fallen in love, but Obi-Wan, being faithful to his friend, backs off and acts like he is not interested in her. She is disappointed he did not share her feelings, and after some time falls for Anakin. Then we would have Padme being the someone Obi-Wan truely loved, but forbid himself from, because he did not want to hurt his friend, now Anakin and Padme are married and once Anakin starts acting out of the ordinary, and suspicions of Sith influence arise, Obi-Wan feels the need to protect her, and takes her to a safe place. Anakin hears or sees that they ran away together, and decides they have both betrayed him.

Man, there are SOO many ways to make this work. Get so sick of people saying, "You honestly didn't expect them to be as good as the originals did you? Because that would have been impossible!" Looking at things realistically, there is no real reason why they could not be as good as the old ones, and certainly no excuse for them to have been so over the top awful as they were.

I've said many times here that there should have been more made of the Anakin/Padme/Obi-Wan relationship, like a love triangle of sorts, with Obi-Wan having secret feelings for Padme. It would have made Ben's relationship with Luke even more meaningful- and would have actually added something to the OT. It seemed like such a no-brainer at the time- I was sort of expecting it and was disappointed when it didn't happen.

Yet another missed opportunity.

As far as a love triangle idea goes, I have to agree with C3PX.  For people coming from having seen the OT (which is nearly everybody), the interest is in the Anakin/Obi-Wan relationship.  Padme is an unknown factor.  To have Obi-Wan actually sneaking behind Anakin's back and having an affair with Padme would damage his character and credibility even more than the OT retconning did.  One of the problems with the PT that is constantly brought up is that Obi-Wan and Anakin didn't have enough time together to be shown as being really good friends.  Well, if Obi-Wan spends the films having a clandestine affair with Anakin's wife, that wouldn't exactly help matters, would it?  However, I did think Anakin's suspicions of an affair was a good idea and was surprised they cut it down.  So I agree that Obi-Wan being the bigger man and cutting off a budding relationship would have worked to fulfill both of those problems.

Almost the entire second half of Lucas Career is a missed opportunity.

His last awesome film which he did not Direct was last crusade.

Willow was good despite the critical lynching it received.

Young Indiana Jones with Sean Patrick Flannery was good, to somewhat middle of the road.

Temple of Doom was risky and had some fine moments but overall sucked despite the unforgettable minecar sequence.

Howard the Duck despite a very attractive and likeable Lea Thompson. the movie  Sucked.

More American Graffiti despite some very fine moments also sucked.

Phantom Menace was likeable though an entirely missed opportunity because it was a half hearted attempt at the magic of the original star wars trilogy.  Still at least phantom menace was did not have a mean and nihilistic character or soulessness to it that episode II and III had.

Francis Coppola thinks we have been robbed Culturally of the George Lucas films he would have made if he had not made the first star wars.  I for 1 would not sacrifice the original Star Wars for those artsy fartsy movies nobody wants to see.

Star Wars was a natural progression From THX 1138 and American Graffiti.  Almost a trilogy of a similar theme. Kind of Like Duel, Jaws and Jurassic Park with Steven Spielberg.

Indiana Jones IV despite a couple of scenes i liked was an abomination.

JoeyJoeJoeJr. said:

What would have enhanced the entire PT would be to have the whole Obi-Wan / Padme / Anakin relationship be more of a love triangle. It would be much more sinister though than the Luke / Leia / Han triangle in the OT. Maybe have it where Obi-Wan saves Padme instead of Anakin in the Gladiator scene. Have some romantic interludes between just Padme and Obi-Wan and perhaps one where Anakin misinterprets what he sees, just before he really crosses over to the dark side (jealousy is not a light side of the force trait). None of this "I can save her from impending doom if I listen to prune-face" bullcrap. I found the whole dream sequence that Anakin had to be really contrived and hardly a good enough reason to switch teams. Then when Padme follows Anakin to Mustafar to try and talk some sense into him and the stowaway Obi-Wan emerges, in a split second he figures the child that she is carrying is actually Obi-Wan's and that she is trying to manipulate him. In a flying rage he force chokes and perhaps force pushes her where she is mortally wounded before Obi-Wan can react. Then a climactic lightsaber duel that doesn't drag on so much, 3 minutes max. Have some trash talking between the two like:

Obi-Wan: You Sith bastard! Has your new dark master warped your mind so badly that you would kill the woman you love whom is carrying your child?

Anakin: My child?! I saw what happened between you two when we were on Planet X!

Obi-Wan: Unlike you, Anakin, I have not so willfully abandoned my Jedi Knighthood. I'll admit to being tempted, but I never gave in to my desires. I don't think you can say the same.

Anakin: Liar! You two have been conspiring against me all this time! Trying to keep me from reaching my full potential! Well my new master has nurtured me and now I am even more powerful than you... or any of the Jedi for that matter!

Obi-Wan: Your arrogance has gotten you into trouble before, my young Padawan. Don't fool yourself thinking this time will be any different.

Anakin: *Evil laugh* Padawan?! You insult me for the last time, [sic] Master. After I am finished with you, I will erase any memory of the Jedi from the galaxy. My master and I will let no one stand in our way!

 

Then as Obi-Wan delivers what he figures to be a killing blow, lopping off both of Anakin's arms and a blow to the back rendering his legs useless. It could also be an excuse for his trouble breathing and why he eventually gets his signature breathing apparatus as Vader.

 

Obi-Wan: Forgive me, Anakin. I never wanted it to end like this. (Holding his lightsaber at Anakins throat)

Anakin: Nonsense! (coughing) It's what you wanted all along! To steal Padme away from me! Well I stole her away from you just now, didn't I? (choking and coughing up blood a little)

Obi-Wan: My duty is to kill any Sith I encounter without any hesitation. (Retracts his lightsaber). Instead I will let you die slowly, not because I am cruel, like you. No, I will allow you to live just a little while longer because I once loved you like a son. You will never know that feeling, because of your contempt for innocent life. First you slaughtered our younglings and then you killed Padme along with your unborn child. I want to give you a chance before you draw your final breath to reflect on why she came to you. She still saw some good in you, Anakin. She thought she could save you. (Kneels closely to Anakin and whispers). The only thing you stole from me was my faith in you... that you were the chosen one.

Then Obi-Wan returns to the ship, realizes Padme is barely clinging to life, they get to the rebel base, the twins are born, she dies yadayadayada, roll credits....there's your movie.

Listen to this man. THIS is what would seduce someone into using the darkside: jealousy. A love triangle. Anakin believes Obi-Wan to be betraying him behind his back, but no real evidence to back it up, so he's acting out of EMOTION. The emotion of jealousy. That's among the most powerful dark emotions.

I LIKE IT!

Obi-Wan wouldn't act on his adulterous feelings. Maybe have an accidental kiss between Padme and him. Because even Jedi have their moments of weakness. Anakin might see it, jump to all sorts of conclusions, and then we have our hate-filled Sith ready to knock off Jedi.

Yeah, it works great. Which is why George put it in the script... then in his infitite wisdom, edited it right back out again! Arrg!

JoeyJoeJoeJr. said:

 

Obi-Wan: You Sith bastard! Has your new dark master warped your mind so badly that you would kill the woman you love whom is carrying your child?

Anakin: My child?! I saw what happened between you two when we were on Planet X!

Obi-Wan: Unlike you, Anakin, I have not so willfully abandoned my Jedi Knighthood. I'll admit to being tempted, but I never gave in to my desires. I don't think you can say the same.

Anakin: Liar! You two have been conspiring against me all this time! Trying to keep me from reaching my full potential! Well my new master has nurtured me and now I am even more powerful than you... or any of the Jedi for that matter!

Obi-Wan: Your arrogance has gotten you into trouble before, my young Padawan. Don't fool yourself thinking this time will be any different.

Anakin: *Evil laugh* Padawan?! You insult me for the last time, [sic] Master. After I am finished with you, I will erase any memory of the Jedi from the galaxy. My master and I will let no one stand in our way!

 

Then as Obi-Wan delivers what he figures to be a killing blow, lopping off both of Anakin's arms and a blow to the back rendering his legs useless. It could also be an excuse for his trouble breathing and why he eventually gets his signature breathing apparatus as Vader.

 

Obi-Wan: Forgive me, Anakin. I never wanted it to end like this. (Holding his lightsaber at Anakins throat)

Anakin: Nonsense! (coughing) It's what you wanted all along! To steal Padme away from me! Well I stole her away from you just now, didn't I? (choking and coughing up blood a little)

Obi-Wan: My duty is to kill any Sith I encounter without any hesitation. (Retracts his lightsaber). Instead I will let you die slowly, not because I am cruel, like you. No, I will allow you to live just a little while longer because I once loved you like a son. You will never know that feeling, because of your contempt for innocent life. First you slaughtered our younglings and then you killed Padme along with your unborn child. I want to give you a chance before you draw your final breath to reflect on why she came to you. She still saw some good in you, Anakin. She thought she could save you. (Kneels closely to Anakin and whispers). The only thing you stole from me was my faith in you... that you were the chosen one.

Then Obi-Wan returns to the ship, realizes Padme is barely clinging to life, they get to the

Jesus Christ you have better writting than a film writer!!! That shows how wooden Georges writing is. that was really good!