STAR WARS Movies Animated — Page 11

TheBoost said:

This thread is AWESOME and I would like nothing more than to play a part in this braintrust.

 

Here are some questions that might lead down interesting paths.

-What if the Jedi deserved to be destroyed? What if they, as a religion, were too powerful, too comfortable, and many of them were turning their back on the true path? I'm inspired by the medieval Catholic church, where the clergy weilded more power than kings and more than half of all priests and most popes had illigetimate kids. Perhaps a handful of Jedi, like Quigon, might still be faithful, but as a whole it's a decaying institution. This would put Luke as the start of a fresh, pure Jedi order.

-What if the Republic was hopelessly corrupt as well? What if Anakin and Obiwan were part of a valid revolution, but where Obiwan was on the side to redeem and reform the Republic, whereas Anakin finds himself more in the 'burn it all, behead your enemies, reform a dictatorship' camp. (A little Oliver Cromwell. a little Napoleon)

-What if Anakin, publicly as Anakin, was leader of the Storm Troopers, President Palpatine's personal security force? He eventually renounces the Jedi and becomes head of this 'Secret Police' (very Nazi Brownshirts). He could even wear a white, helmetless version of the Vader armor. If the Jedi are outlawed, he could lead the hunt for them as Anakin, not becoming Vader until Obiwan makes him all crippleified.

-I think Anakin doesn't need to get married. Maybe he doesn't even KNOW his lady is pregnant, since their affair is secret anyways. Maybe she's married. Maybe Bail Organa can't have kids, and his wife is schtupping a Jedi on the side, and he's fine with it.

-What if Anakin never even becomes a Jedi? Obiwan meets him, they become buddies, and then Obiwan tries to instruct him in the Force, and Anakin just goes bad from the start? I don't love this idea, but I think there's nothing in the OT that says Anakin had to be a Jedi.

 

"I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father", admittedly this is coming from Obi-Wan the biggest fibber in the galaxy but it would seem to point to Vader getting to the Jedi Knight stage before going down hill.

WheresBlackhawk said:

For example, questions I'm trying to answer are:

1.  What is Clone War II?

2.  Why do we never see Yoda in this trilogy and why is he on Dagobah?

3.  What sets Anakin apart from other Jedi that Palpatine is interested in him?

4.  How does the emperor rise to power and how do we make him NOT seem evil?

5.  If the emperor is willing to kill Anakin's children because they would be a threat to him, why does he keep Vader?

6.  Who are the Sith and why aren't they in the OT?

7.  Why did Obiwan tell Luke, "I was ONCE a Jedi knight, the same as your father"?

8.  After Alderaan is destroyed in ANH, why isn't Leia a queen?  Wouldn't she be the last living royalty of that world?

9.  Why does Leia remember her "real mother," while Luke finds Dagobah familiar?

Let me know how you would like me to present my ideas (outline or concepts).

 1- Perhaps rebel clones, tired of being second class citizens, revolt against the Republic.

2- Maybe Yoda is a great prophet, living in exile. Maybe he had been the leader of the Jedi order, and renounced it and the wealth and power to live in harmony with the force.

3- Maybe nothing. Maybe Anakin's just the right kind of ruthless soldier to step up and take a leadership role in the New Order

4- Maybe Palpatine rises to power against a legitamatley twisted government. He might be a bringer of peace.

5- I got no idea here.

6- Who said the Sith need to be in the PT? Maybe "Dark Lord of the sith" is an ancient title (like being the Duke of Suchandsuch) that Palpatine awards Vader with.

7- Things get so bad as the Empire rises, Obi-Wan actually renonces the Jedi order, throwing his badge aside and hiding (he'd need a badge of some sort).

8- "Princess" might be a title shared by lots of people. If she's far enough down the line of succession that the idea that she's now queen of a dead planet wasn't even worth thinking of.

9- I think Leia's mother should survive (and Anakin might never know she was pregnant) and go to Yoda for advice. Leia can be raised as her mother's legitamate child and Yoda can call in ex-Jedi Obiwan for a favor and have him look after Luke, so as not to keep all the eggs in a basket.

Just ideas. The PT world is totally open.

Bingowings said:

TheBoost said:

-What if Anakin never even becomes a Jedi? Obiwan meets him, they become buddies, and then Obiwan tries to instruct him in the Force, and Anakin just goes bad from the start? I don't love this idea, but I think there's nothing in the OT that says Anakin had to be a Jedi.

 

"I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father", admittedly this is coming from Obi-Wan the biggest fibber in the galaxy but it would seem to point to Vader getting to the Jedi Knight stage before going down hill.

 

 Good point. I'd forgotten that line. Although there's no reason that a NPT couldn't make is so that Obiwan ISN'T a big liar.

double post

TheBoost said:

This thread is AWESOME and I would like nothing more than to play a part in this braintrust.

 

Here are some questions that might lead down interesting paths.  

-What if the Jedi deserved to be destroyed? What if they, as a religion, were too powerful, too comfortable, and many of them were turning their back on the true path? I'm inspired by the medieval Catholic church, where the clergy weilded more power than kings and more than half of all priests and most popes had illigetimate kids. Perhaps a handful of Jedi, like Quigon, might still be faithful, but as a whole it's a decaying institution. This would put Luke as the start of a fresh, pure Jedi order.

-What if the Republic was hopelessly corrupt as well? What if Anakin and Obiwan were part of a valid revolution, but where Obiwan was on the side to redeem and reform the Republic, whereas Anakin finds himself more in the 'burn it all, behead your enemies, reform a dictatorship' camp. (A little Oliver Cromwell. a little Napoleon)

-What if Anakin, publicly as Anakin, was leader of the Storm Troopers, President Palpatine's personal security force? He eventually renounces the Jedi and becomes head of this 'Secret Police' (very Nazi Brownshirts). He could even wear a white, helmetless version of the Vader armor. If the Jedi are outlawed, he could lead the hunt for them as Anakin, not becoming Vader until Obiwan makes him all crippleified.

-I think Anakin doesn't need to get married. Maybe he doesn't even KNOW his lady is pregnant, since their affair is secret anyways. Maybe she's married. Maybe Bail Organa can't have kids, and his wife is schtupping a Jedi on the side, and he's fine with it.

-What if Anakin never even becomes a Jedi? Obiwan meets him, they become buddies, and then Obiwan tries to instruct him in the Force, and Anakin just goes bad from the start? I don't love this idea, but I think there's nothing in the OT that says Anakin had to be a Jedi.

 

No offense, but a movie like you described would be so full of completely unredeeming characters that I don't think anybody would find any kind of enjoyment in it.

Plus I'm still in the camp that OT secrets need to be kept, and that the Jedi should be only well-known enough for some people to think that it's a crazy cult (precedent: "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion ... " "... I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful 'force' that controls everything"), some people to not even know they exist, and some, obviously, to believe in them.

However, I like your Anakin not having a wife/knocking up Bail's wife idea.

Bingowings, one of my goals is to make Obiwan not "the biggest fibber in the galaxy."

TheBoost said:

This thread is AWESOME and I would like nothing more than to play a part in this braintrust.

 

Here are some questions that might lead down interesting paths.  

-What if the Jedi deserved to be destroyed? What if they, as a religion, were too powerful, too comfortable, and many of them were turning their back on the true path? I'm inspired by the medieval Catholic church, where the clergy weilded more power than kings and more than half of all priests and most popes had illigetimate kids. Perhaps a handful of Jedi, like Quigon, might still be faithful, but as a whole it's a decaying institution. This would put Luke as the start of a fresh, pure Jedi order.

-What if the Republic was hopelessly corrupt as well? What if Anakin and Obiwan were part of a valid revolution, but where Obiwan was on the side to redeem and reform the Republic, whereas Anakin finds himself more in the 'burn it all, behead your enemies, reform a dictatorship' camp. (A little Oliver Cromwell. a little Napoleon)

-What if Anakin, publicly as Anakin, was leader of the Storm Troopers, President Palpatine's personal security force? He eventually renounces the Jedi and becomes head of this 'Secret Police' (very Nazi Brownshirts). He could even wear a white, helmetless version of the Vader armor. If the Jedi are outlawed, he could lead the hunt for them as Anakin, not becoming Vader until Obiwan makes him all crippleified.

-I think Anakin doesn't need to get married. Maybe he doesn't even KNOW his lady is pregnant, since their affair is secret anyways. Maybe she's married. Maybe Bail Organa can't have kids, and his wife is schtupping a Jedi on the side, and he's fine with it.

-What if Anakin never even becomes a Jedi? Obiwan meets him, they become buddies, and then Obiwan tries to instruct him in the Force, and Anakin just goes bad from the start? I don't love this idea, but I think there's nothing in the OT that says Anakin had to be a Jedi.

 

Like all your ideas except the last one

WheresBlackhawk said:

Bingowings, one of my goals is to make Obiwan not "the biggest fibber in the galaxy."

That's a tall order with even the OT as it stands but I'm behind you all the way on that one.

Bingowings - We all try to justify the things that we say and do.  Obiwan says that what he told Luke "was true from a certain point of view."  If we make Obiwan's last conversation with Anakin and his first confrontation with Vader dramatically different enough,  he can JUSTIFY to himself that Anakin is Dead because of this Vader. Especially if we use that Vader confrontation I posted a few pages back, then Obiwan is telling Luke his father's own words.

ChainsawAsh said:

TheBoost said:

-What if the Jedi deserved to be destroyed? What if they, as a religion, were too powerful, too comfortable, and many of them were turning their back on the true path? I'm inspired by the medieval Catholic church, where the clergy weilded more power than kings and more than half of all priests and most popes had illigetimate kids. Perhaps a handful of Jedi, like Quigon, might still be faithful, but as a whole it's a decaying institution. This would put Luke as the start of a fresh, pure Jedi order.

-What if the Republic was hopelessly corrupt as well? What if Anakin and Obiwan were part of a valid revolution, but where Obiwan was on the side to redeem and reform the Republic, whereas Anakin finds himself more in the 'burn it all, behead your enemies, reform a dictatorship' camp. (A little Oliver Cromwell. a little Napoleon)

-What if Anakin, publicly as Anakin, was leader of the Storm Troopers, President Palpatine's personal security force? He eventually renounces the Jedi and becomes head of this 'Secret Police' (very Nazi Brownshirts). He could even wear a white, helmetless version of the Vader armor. If the Jedi are outlawed, he could lead the hunt for them as Anakin, not becoming Vader until Obiwan makes him all crippleified.

 

No offense, but a movie like you described would be so full of completely unredeeming characters that I don't think anybody would find any kind of enjoyment in it.

Plus I'm still in the camp that OT secrets need to be kept, and that the Jedi should be only well-known enough for some people to think that it's a crazy cult (precedent: "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion ... " "... I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful 'force' that controls everything"), some people to not even know they exist, and some, obviously, to believe in them.

However, I like your Anakin not having a wife/knocking up Bail's wife idea.

 No worries. They're all pretty downer ideas if they were all used. But maybe just one? Perhaps the Jedi are good, but the Republic is legitimatley corrupt (as opposed to just inefficient in the PT) or perhaps the Republic is strong, but the Jedi are bloated and wealthy. So if the Empire does indeed have a claim to being 'good,' it's even more f-ed up when Palpatine and Vader turn out to be such jerks.

Here's another thought. If Anakin goes bad and leads the Stormtroopers against the Jedi... maybe Obiwan could try and redeem him, failing miserably. THAT might be why he's so dead-set against Luke trying to redeem Vader.

Another thought: Ian McDiarmid described Palpatine as like Iago from Othello, a comepletely unredeemable character. What if instead of being a mastermind, Palpy's rise to power was more Iago-esque. He could be a flatterer, a spreader of innuendos, a false friend, an oppurtunist. He might be Bail Organa's advisor, who might subtly sow the seeds of war from the shadows the same way he subtly begins to turn Anakin Skywalker to his side. It would take some real skilled and subtle characterization, but it might be interesting.

ChainsawAsh said:

TheBoost said:

This thread is AWESOME and I would like nothing more than to play a part in this braintrust.

 

Here are some questions that might lead down interesting paths.  

-What if the Jedi deserved to be destroyed? What if they, as a religion, were too powerful, too comfortable, and many of them were turning their back on the true path? I'm inspired by the medieval Catholic church, where the clergy weilded more power than kings and more than half of all priests and most popes had illigetimate kids. Perhaps a handful of Jedi, like Quigon, might still be faithful, but as a whole it's a decaying institution. This would put Luke as the start of a fresh, pure Jedi order.

-What if the Republic was hopelessly corrupt as well? What if Anakin and Obiwan were part of a valid revolution, but where Obiwan was on the side to redeem and reform the Republic, whereas Anakin finds himself more in the 'burn it all, behead your enemies, reform a dictatorship' camp. (A little Oliver Cromwell. a little Napoleon)

-What if Anakin, publicly as Anakin, was leader of the Storm Troopers, President Palpatine's personal security force? He eventually renounces the Jedi and becomes head of this 'Secret Police' (very Nazi Brownshirts). He could even wear a white, helmetless version of the Vader armor. If the Jedi are outlawed, he could lead the hunt for them as Anakin, not becoming Vader until Obiwan makes him all crippleified.

-I think Anakin doesn't need to get married. Maybe he doesn't even KNOW his lady is pregnant, since their affair is secret anyways. Maybe she's married. Maybe Bail Organa can't have kids, and his wife is schtupping a Jedi on the side, and he's fine with it.

-What if Anakin never even becomes a Jedi? Obiwan meets him, they become buddies, and then Obiwan tries to instruct him in the Force, and Anakin just goes bad from the start? I don't love this idea, but I think there's nothing in the OT that says Anakin had to be a Jedi.

 

No offense, but a movie like you described would be so full of completely unredeeming characters that I don't think anybody would find any kind of enjoyment in it.

Plus I'm still in the camp that OT secrets need to be kept, and that the Jedi should be only well-known enough for some people to think that it's a crazy cult (precedent: "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion ... " "... I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful 'force' that controls everything"), some people to not even know they exist, and some, obviously, to believe in them.

However, I like your Anakin not having a wife/knocking up Bail's wife idea.

The Jedi should be well known and respected at the beginning of the PT and by ANH they are considered an ancient religion. We need to see the Jedi in their Prime. When they are protectors of peace throughout the galaxy. Jedi that justify Jabba and Bib Fortuna's trepidation and fear when the word "Jedi" in ROTJ.

Erikstormtrooper said:

Synopsis - 1st HALF:

The story starts as a spice freighter (spice is a substance of questionable legality) exits hyperspace over a random planet, only to drop right into the thick of a battle. The ship is suddenly struck by random blaster fire, the captain killed, and the navicomputer damaged. But the navigator Anakin skywalker - with the help of the ship's astromech R2-D2 - begins repairs. While the battle rages, Anakin restores main engines and begins a slow getaway, when he receives a distress call from another nearby ship. He weighs whether he should get involved, risking being caught for his spice smuggling. After a moment, he decides to go back for the rescue.When Anakin doesn't immediately say no, Owen balks. He asks how Anakin could even consider this after all that's happened, how he could willingly put himself in harm's way. Anakin looks at his father's helmet on the wall, then grabs it and says "let's go". After Anakin leaves with the others, Owen says "I have a bad feeling about this". Beru replies that Anakin must follow his heart.

 

(Sorry to keep posting like mad, but I've read this thread front to back four times now!)

I really dig on this plot structure for your Episode I. A great way to introduce Anakin, Alderaan, the Skywalker fam, Tatoinne and Obi. It's exciting, wastes no time, and gives us an unexpected interesting character in Bail Organa. With Beru beleiving in Anakin and Owen being kind of aggressive to Obi, it perfectly sets up their characters in "Star Wars."

 I'm a little iffy on the Civil War aspects of the Second Clone War. Anyone opposed to clone rights would just seem to evil, but I don't have an alternative idea.

I'm also not too hot on the Sith Pirates, and the Darth Vader/Dread Pirate Roberts angle. It's original, but a tad confusing.

Here's a doodle I Photoshopped. Young Sebastian Shaw's head with stormtrooper armor and cape. Perhaps what Anakin might look like if he leads the Storm Troopers?

I just sat through a very interesting, if sort of depressing, class on the history of the 1960s.  Today our subject was McCarthyism.

All I could think about was applying this to our prequels.

Here's my thought process on this:

Palpatine is basically McCarthy.  The difference is that people got wise to McCarthy's act before he could bid for the Presidential office.

This also expands on Blackhawk's ideas about Clone War II.  Note that most of this is background stuff that wouldn't be more than hinted at in our Episode II/III, but we do need to have the whole story mapped out so we don't have accidental inconsistencies.  Here we go:

Clone War I ends with the Mandalorians defeated, retreating to the far reaches of the Outer Rim.  A young Senator, relatively unknown, but incredibly power-hungry and self-taught in the ways of the [Dark Side of the] Force, sees an opportunity.  The Mandalorians use clones as slave labor.  So he secretly meets with the Mandalorians with a proposition.

He tells them he can help them rise to power through his role in the Senate, if they will grant him a place of power in the new regime.  At this point, they're not looking for inclusion, they're looking to control everything.  He convinces them to create clone "sleeper agents" of people - it doesn't really matter who, just anybody they can get their hands on.  They find out everything they can about them, kidnap them and replace them with clones.  This occurs between Episodes I and II.

Palpatine announces to the Senate that he has become aware of a Mandalorian plot to overthrow the Republic using sleeper agents.  He starts accusing people of being clones left and right.  Jedi are brought in since, because of Anakin, they can sense the absence of the Force in clones, and can tell who really are and who aren't.  Over time, with real clones outed and executed, Palpatine becomes a champion for the Republic against the Mandalorian menace.

Unfortunately, this creates the side effect of giving the Jedi more power.  In order to combat this, Palpatine decides to start naming people who AREN'T clones.  The Jedi give them a pass, saying they aren't.  Palpatine now turns on the Jedi, saying that they are siding with the Mandalorians, or even that they have been replaced by clones themselves.

Throughout this, he slowly turns Anakin to his side, since he's really the only one who knows how to tell the difference between clones and "originals."  By the time he starts accusing Jedi of treason, Anakin is on his side, believing that the Jedi are corrupt, and he leaves the Order.  Obi-Wan does the same because Yoda, adhering to the basic Jedi principles of non-intervention, refuses to take action.  He meets with Bail Organa and forms an alliance with him, fighting as his General.

Eventually the Jedi are forced into action, but it's far too late.  Palpatine uses this to his advantage, painting the Jedi as a powerful ally for the Mandalorians, and that a Senate without a leader is too weak to fight the both of them.  In a near-unanimous vote, he becomes the Emperor.  He uses Anakin, now operating under the moniker of Darth Vader to conceal his identity, to exterminate the Jedi.  Simultaneously, with the Mandalorians ready to sweep in, he double-crosses them, raising a massive army to fight them.

In the ensuing war, morale across the Republic is broken, and many, many lives are lost.  The Republic eventually defeats the Mandalorians, wiping them out almost entirely.  But there is rebuilding to be done.  Under this guise, Palpatine does not give up his position as Emperor as was agreed to under the terms of his ascension to the position.  Very few oppose him, and those that do quietly disappear.  Thus, the Galactic Empire is born.

There are holes, yes - it's certainly not a complete outline.  It's just my idea for how the Empire itself forms.  This, however, can NOT become the primary focus of the films.  The Galactic Civil War isn't the focus of the OT, the characters are.  Here, the characters need to come first as well.  That's going to be the trickiest part in getting this to work without getting bogged down explaining the politics.

Double post.  Sorry.

Hey Chainsaw, believe it or not, it appears we are still on the same page.  There are alot of similarities between your post and my outline. I'm trying to get all my ideas down, but its been tricky.  As i've said before, I think Ep2 is going to be the most difficult script of the NPT. It has the most slight of hand going on.  You can't lie to the audience, but you still gotta keep the secrets too (and in my story's case some mysteries too).  Some scenes I can see crystal clear in my mind, but some of the spaces between scenes are still pretty wide open.  Just to give you an idea of where I'm going, here is the first two paragraphs of my EP2 outline:

EPISODE 2: The Phantom Menace (I know we can’t use it, but I was using it to focus my ideas)

The crawl should contain information that even though the Mandalorian Invasion was defeated, peace and security have given way to fear and paranoia.  The Mandalorians have changed their tactics.  They are using hit and run attacks on the shipping lanes in an effort to disrupt trade and travel throughout the republic.  They are using new technology that makes their ships difficult read on scanners and impossible to track.  The Mandalorians are also infiltrating the republic with clones.  The Jedi are trying to increase their ranks to help reveal these hidden threats, but how can so few stop an enemy who could be anywhere or anyone…

Ok no definite setting for this opening (any time I say “no definite” that means please throw some ideas my way), but I wanted to try one of those Indy/Bond openings where stuff is going on but we don’t show the main character’s face until the dramatic reveal.  The idea is that this is a clone capture sequence.  We see Obiwan (face shown subtly) and another Jedi (face not shown).  Chase ensues. It ends with the faceless Jedi killing the clone.  This makes Obiwan quite unhappy, and the audience freaks, until it is revealed that this isn’t Anakin, but a new student Obiwan has taken on (as the crawl stated) to fill the Jedi ranks.  He is NOT happy with his new student.

Nice.  I understand that some people are iffy on the idea that two of Obi-Wan's apprentices go to the Dark Side, but I think it's necessary.  Besides, maybe he's just not a great teacher - he can't be perfect, right?  And we all pretty much agree that this "NPT" needs to make us look at the OT in a different light.  Well, maybe Obi-Wan wasn't quite as great as Luke thought he was (already hinted at in ESB/ROTJ).

On the flipside, it does help that Obi-Wan's new student was kind of forced upon him, is far too reckless (to the point where he's just not a very redeemable character in the first place), and really would have gone over to the Dark Side even if Obi-Wan hadn't trained him.  He's already taught himself too much of the "wrong way" to use the Force long before he was discovered by the Jedi.

Bingowings said:

Then came TPM and not only was it a not very good film but it largely ignored all the little titbits of the story that we were fed for the past twenty odd years.

This is why I'm so protective of the background elements that matter most (Obi Wan is the cause of Vader's need of a breath screen, Vader is THE Dark Lord Of The Sith, Boba Fett is somehow connected to the Shocktroopers of the Clone Wars which fought against the Jedi. Leia was old enough to remember her real mother before she died).

 I totally agree that these little tidbits should be included if possible, and they shouldn't be too tough.

The hardest thing about keeping Vader's identity a secret is that ObiWan KNOWS that Vader is Anakin. "What I told you was true, from a certain point of view." is an admission of that. Otherwise he would have said, "I genuinly thought Vader was not your dad!" How to let Obi know, and keep the audience is suspence is a challenge.

Random Thoughts-

We have no reason in the OT to have preconceptions about cloning technology. I'm not opposed to human clones replacing people(I like the witchunt/paranoia concepts), but what if the Clone Wars were wars against a culture, perhaps the Mandalorians, that reproduced by cloning certain castes. All warriors were the same, all officers were the same. Maybe only the noble class were individuals.

We need some villains. And we need some with lightsabers. An obvious choice is Mandalore himself, head of the Mandalorians, maybe some of his captains. One or two rogue Jedi in league with the various baddies could help cast suspicion on the entire order. On the subject of lightsabers, I propose (based on someone elses ideas in some re-edit thread) that all Jedi wield blue sabers. That makes Luke's green saber a symbolic symbol of his new jedi order. Perhaps a couple Mandalorians could wield white sabers ( I just think that would look neat). We could really use some cool minor villains like Maul or Grievous (maybe even use Grevious... thoguh I may be the only person alive who actually thought he was cool). Perhaps Palpy has a dark side apprentice he uses as a spy/assassin that Anakin or Obi can encounter, without ever truly understanding what they baddie is up to.

Here's my POSSIBLE OVER-ARCING PLOT-

Liberally taking from, altering, and combing many many neat ideas from this thread, a very loose outline. If anyones ideas are presented here without citation, my apology. If anyone elses ideas are presented here and look dumb, I take responsibility for not incorporating or explaining them well.

EPISODE ONE-

"Good Times with Some Foreshadowing!"

Extending from ErickStormtroopers swashbuckling synopsis of a young spice freighter pilot (Anakin) who helps a Jedi Knight (Obi) and a reluctant prince (Bail Oranga) to overcome a coup attemp and invasion from the wicked Mandalorians, and save the day. Anakin is encouraged to have an adventure by his sister Beru. The leader of the Mandalorians is a bad dude named Jango. During the day-saving, we meet the reluctant prince's betrothed (Notpadme) and she shares a moment with Anakin (dramatic foreshadowing). Anakin decides to stay with Obi and see what this Jedi business is all about and Bail decides his people need a good king. Obi mentions that his master, Yoda, has renounced the world and gone to live as a hermit, the final stage in the spiritual life of a Jedi, but that not having Yoda around shouldn't be a problem. It's a real happy ending.

EPISODE TWO-

"The Clone War"

Building on Blackhawks ideas, some time later, Anakin (who was never anyone's apprentice), Obi, and Obi's new apprentice (young Deak) are on a mission to battle Pirates in the outer rim. Lot's of bad things are happening in the years since the attack on Alderaan. The Mandalorians keep attacking, nonhuman pirates torment the outer rim, the economy is in chaos, crime lords have unprecedented power, and people are starving. It's a bad time.

By now Bail is a young king trying to hold things together. He appoints Obi and Anakin as his generals. As Bail tries to unify the crumbling republic with words of hope, Palpatine, an aged but charasmatic figure from Naboo preaches dissent and vengeance against those who have done this to use (aliens, clones, pirates, jews, whatever). During all of this, Anakin begins an affair with Notpadme, the woman who was promised to Bail Organa as a child.

Some kind of sequence of events leads to a confrontation between our heroes and the Mandalorian mothership. Mandalore kills Deak in one on one combat. Obi and Anikin subdue Mandalore, (Anakin perhaps losing his arm in the conflic) and Anakin uses FORCECHOKE for the first time, to squeeze the life out of him. Wracked with grief, Obi disaproved of Anakin's brutal vengeance, and Anakin scoffs at him, the start of their rift.

The war against the Mandalorians is over, but the war for the sould of the Repubic is only beginning. As hundreds are arrested and deported as clones, sympathisers, enemy combatants, or whatever, Palpatine  gains enough support that he and his private army of Stormtroopers are appointed to defend the repubic against all enemies, the start of the New Order.

EPISODE THREE

"The Sith hits the fan. "

The New Order has deposed the senate. People rejoice as the ineffectual politicans are removed from office. But that's not the end of it. Brutal purges of aliens, loyalist sympathisers, and suspected clones leave thousands of peple 'vanished.'

Anakin throws himself into this enforcement with a vengeance. Palpatine gives Anakin what he always wanted, power. Obi tells Anakin that he can't serve two masters, and Anakin renounces the Jedi to serve the New Order. He gives Obi his lightsaber, saying it has no meaning to him, and he consturcts a new red one. He is awarded by Palpatine with the ancient title Lord of the Sith, and becomes head of the Stormtroopers, Palpy's elite guard. Anakin, with extreme cruelty, breaks off his affair with Notpadme. Notpadme never tells Anakin she's pregnant. She marries Bail Organa, who has always loved her, in spite of everything.

The New Order begins executing people. Bail Organa meets in secret with a few remaing Jedi to discuss open rebellion. The Storm Troopers, led by handsome Anakin in his white armor, now Darth Vader in all but name, attack. Obi pleads with Anakin, insisting theirs still good in him until Anakin cuts down one of Obi's jedi friends in cold blood. The two do battle, during the battle the right side of Anakin's head is burned by hot steam, making him fight even more vicously. Finally, Obi stabs Anakin in the chest, destroying his lungs and severing his spinal chord at the neck. (I think this could account for all of Vader's apparent injuries.) But it's too little too late. The Stormtroopers have taken Bail and killed the last few Jedi except for Obi. Obi flees.

The final scene has a new figure, a black cloaked monstrocity, as of yet unnamed, performs the execution of Bail Organa. Obi watches it happen from the shadows, and even though it is unsaid... he knows who it is.

Notpadme Organa flees to Alderaan with her daughter, as Alderaan is disarmed as punishment for their king's treachery.

and Obi takes baby Luke and flies to Tatoine.

---------------------

It's very rough, but I think it rolls with a lot of the strength of many ideas presented here. Obviously none of the stories have a middle act, good characterization, or interesting villains yet. I don't really have a role for Notpadme, and it could use lots and lots of nuances.

Well... here's my outline for Ep2.  It will need filling out, but this hits on the important parts we need to get all the charcters where they need to be.

Act One:

Obiwan and Stu(dent) are apprehending a clone. The sequence ends with Stu killing the Clone.  Obiwan confronts him about this and feels he compares poorly to Anakin.  Anakin is on Alderaan with Bail and NotPadme.  Bail is sending NotPadme to Coruscant to make sure his wishes are represented in the senate during these uncertain times.  Bail wants Anakin to protect her, even though she doesn’t need or want protection.  During their trip they come to the aid of a ship that is being attacked by Mandalorians.  They assist and chase the attackers off.  NotPadme collects data and readings that she hopes will help break this cloaking technology.  Meanwhile, Obiwan has a falling out with Stu.  They speak of the force and Stu talks of power and refuses to be compared to this Anakin Skywalker.   As Stu gets frustrated and angry, Obiwan remains calm, “We have MUCH to discuss.”

Upon their arrival on Coruscant, Anakin and NotPadme are met by Palpatine who wants to congratulate them for assisting the set-upon space craft. Anakin immediately identifies one of Palplatine’s entourage as a a clone and he is quickly apprehended.  Palpatine asks Anakin to join him for dinner and NotPadme goes off to meet with Alderaan’s senator.  Palpatine tells Anakin how impressed he is and asks him to work with the other Jedi on Coruscant to help them “feel” the clones easier.  Anakin accepts, because he wants to make a difference.  NotPadme shares her info on the Mandalorian attack with the senator.

Meanwhile, Obiwan arrives on Alderaan without Stu.  He tells Bail that they needed to follow separate paths (this is a vague statement because jedi business should stay private and only between jedi).  On Coruscant, Anakin is working with Jedi that we met in Ep1.  They tell him they admire him for taking action even when Yoda wanted them to not be actively involved in the last Clone War.  His only response, “I did what was necessary… and right.” As the Jedi training session breaks up, Stu is seen talking to some of the jedi and Palpatine arrives to ask Anakin to join him again.  Palpatine’s discussions with Anakin should NEVER sound sinister.  They should stroke his ego and fill him with pride in what he is capable of achieving.  They should also help him feel that his rising frustration with only working on defense and not going after the threats is understandable and correct.  The first act ends at night with a dark cloaked and masked figure killing a member of the senate.

Act Two:

The second act is basically a murder mystery.  Several murders occur and it is implied that the victims are all clones ranging from citizens, all the way up to senators.  NotPadme wants to look into the murders so Anakin assists her.  As the act progresses, we see Anakin’s frustration grow.  He is trying to help NotPadme, but this mystery person is doing good, right?  His frustration begins taking a physical toll.  He appears tired with dark circles on the eyes.  During all of this, NotPadme is the calming influence, until one night (after NotPadme hits her own despair at the murder of Alderaan’s senator) they are drawn together and cross that line they never thought they would.

On Alderaan, Obiwan and Anakin believe they have solved the Mandalorian cloak problem.  Obiwan feels that something terrible is happening on Coruscant and he can feel Anakin’s conflict.  After they are notified that Alderaan’s senator is killed, Bail and Anakin head for Coruscant.  Anakin’s outlook changes when he can feel the new life beginning in NotPadme.  He meets with Palpatine and tells him that he is going to be a father.  Palpatine congratulates him and speaks of the powerful child that would surely be born of this union.  Bail and Obiwan arrive on Coruscant. 

Anakin meets with Obiwan to tell him about the pregnancy and that he is leaving the Jedi order.  They argue for a bit, but ultimately Anakin is right, “Obiwan, I’m not like Owen.  He ran.  I came with you, because I could not leave when others needed my help.  Now, I am going to be a father.  How can I just sit HERE while so many others suffer and die?  What kind of father would that make me?”  Obiwan begrudgingly understands.  Anakin asks Obiwan to watch over NotPadme while he is gone.  When they depart, Anakin gives Obiwan his Lightsaber saying, “If I don’t comeback, tell my child… I was a good man.” This is the last time Obiwan sees “Anakin.”  Palpatine receives word of Anakin leaving the jedi and his intention to leave Coruscant.  He calls on Stu to replace Anakin as his protector, but makes sure to tell about NotPadme and where she is.  This act ends with Stu attempting to kill NotPadme.  At this point all suspicion should be on Stu as the killer.

Act Three:

Bail saves NotPadme and gets her safely off Coruscant and takes her back to Alderaan. Obiwan rushes to the tell Anakin what has happened. During this time, Anakin is leading an assault on a, now revealed, Mandalorian Carrier that was the base for the attacks in republic space. After they have achieved victory, Anakin receives the WRONG news that NotPadme was killed in the attempt. The friends miss each other as Anakin rushes back to Coruscant in a rage. There is a confrontation between Stu and Anakin. This should be an entertaining fight, because only one of them is actually armed with a lightsaber. During this battle we learn that Stu is not a jedi, he was expelled by Obiwan back in Act One. All of this is revenge on Obiwan and his prize student. Stu taught’s him about being the “Great Anakin Skywalker.” The Battle ends with Stu losing his lightsaber and Anakin holding Stu where it appears they will die together. He tells Stu that he is too weak to be a jedi, “Are you afraid to die? Jedi don’t give into fear. I have NO fear of death… now. You are just pathetic.” He pulls Stu with him to their apparent mutual demise. As the scene ends, we see a hand grasping to life, but we don’t show to whom it belongs.

Obiwan arrives on Coruscant and goes to Anakin’s quarter, which are deserted. There he finds a holo-message from Stu. “By the time you see this, your prize student will be no more.” Obiwan closes his eyes in sadness and suddenly feels a disturbance in the force. He alerts all of his sense and runs what appears to be aimlessly until he finds himself at another murder scene with the cloak and masked individual. Obiwan lights his saber and the cloaked figure ignites his RED saber. Obiwan will be on the losing side of this battle because he is a true Jedi (knowledge and defense) and he is not accustomed to being attacked by a force wielder. Finally, the mask is removed and the killer is revealed to be… one of the Jedi from EP1 and Anakin’s Student from EP2. Obiwan says his name. The dark jedi spit the name from his mouth. “That was my Jedi name. A sign of my own weakness. Call me Darth BlaBla.” Obiwan distraught cries, “How could you commit all of those murders?” Darth responds, “You think I accomplished all this alone? There are more of us than you realize. Your own student is one of us. Your time is passed, Jedi. You could never do what was needed to be done. All the hopes of the republic lie not with your pathetic order, but with us… THE SITH!” The Battle ends like ESB, Obiwan BARELY survives (Maybe a little lightening to show OFFENSIVE use of the force and really surprise Obiwan).

The falling action shows NotPadme crying over Anakin’s “death” and Bail consoling her. Tarkin (Palpatine’s right hand man) arrives on Alderaan and requests Bail’s support. The senate is still untrusting of each other and they need a single voice to get behind in these uncertain times. Bail is reluctant to give ANY person THAT MUCH power. Tarkin convinces him, because Palpatine is not only trusted by many, but as an aging gentleman, he has no agenda of political aspiration (those are a young man’s games), so what harm could giving him this temporary power cause? We end on Palpatine accepting the responsibility and promising to bring an end to the Mandalorian threat once and for all.

Story wise, two things are important:

1) Stu is a red herring. We need to make it look like he is the killer, but me must also make sure that Anakin could be it (on a lesser scale),too. When the Darth tells Obiwan about his student being a Sith, HE MEANS ANAKIN, but we want Obiwan and the audience to think he means Stu. Stu is never actually a Sith, he is a fail jedi masquerading as a real one, thus he should still have a blue lightsaber. Conveniently, some of the murders should be people opposed to things that Palpatine is trying to achieve (which will still be explained as clones).

2) Palpatine must NEVER come across as sinister. He should seem to be desperately trying to save the republic, but show what could this poor, weak, elderly man actually do. That’s how he gets these Jedi that feel confined by the jedi code to become sith (it will be explained in EP3).

1) Stu is a red herring. We need to make it look like he is the killer, but me must also make sure that Anakin could be it (on a lesser scale),too. When the Darth tells Obiwan about his student being a Sith, HE MEANS ANAKIN, but we want Obiwan and the audience to think he means Stu. Stu is never actually a Sith, he is a fail jedi masquerading as a real one, thus he should still have a blue lightsaber. Conveniently, some of the murders should be people opposed to things that Palpatine is trying to achieve (which will still be explained as clones).

2) Palpatine must NEVER come across as sinister. He should seem to be desperately trying to save the republic, but show what could this poor, weak, elderly man actually do. That’s how he gets these Jedi that feel confined by the jedi code to become sith (it will be explained in EP3).

This could work....

Oh but please don't name him Stu.... Deak works, and it's from SW that never happend.

HAHA...

STU was just short for stuDENT (as written in act1)

and

Luke's mom wont be named NotPadme.

aaaand

the first sith we meet wont actually be named BlaBla

They are all just place-fillers.

Blackhawk, we are DEFINITELY on the same page.  That just sounds amazing - God, if only the real prequels had been like this ...

And that outline makes me warm up quite a bit more to the whole "Sith" thing.

I'd comment more, but I'm still a bit overwhelmed by that outline, and I need to get some real-life stuff taken care of at the moment.  But wow, fantastic job there.

TheBoot, you have some good ideas, but it feels simultaneously too similar to ideas already presented to the point where it's really not much new, and too similar to the prequels as they exist today.  I know that seems contradictory, but that's the feeling I got when I read them.  Also, it's far too clear that Anakin is Vader at the end.  But there are some good ideas in there, as well.

ChainsawAsh said:

TheBoot, you have some good ideas, but it feels simultaneously too similar to ideas already presented to the point where it's really not much new, and too similar to the prequels as they exist today.  I know that seems contradictory, but that's the feeling I got when I read them.  Also, it's far too clear that Anakin is Vader at the end.  But there are some good ideas in there, as well.

 Like I said, I'm really trying to make an amalgam of what I think are some of the stronger concepts presented so far, I'm not trying to present it as 'mine.'