xhonzi said:
Are you focusing on the Clone Wars?YES:Who are the Clones?How does the War pertain to them?How does Cloning become irrelevant by the start of Episode 4?How is cloning limited to the point that the whole story doesn't get consumed by the idea of clones replacing major players?NO:What is the "war" setting for your story? Yes, there has to be a war... it's called Star Wars.
I'm considering having cloning be used by various alien species in varying degrees. It will be believed that the process cannot work for humans (which explains the Empire's hatred of aliens). Among the species using cloning will be the Gran, perhaps Rodians, any many others TBD. They won't be a unified force nor all fighting for the same reasons. There will be local skirmishes as well as strikes against the Republic. The use of clones will increase military conflict around the galaxy which creates instability.
Is the War 'Symmetrical' (i.e. WWII) or is it 'Asymmetrical' (i.e. Iraq War or the OT Empire vs Rebellion)If Symmetrical:How does War work exactly? How does hyperspace affect a galaxy wide war?Does your story feature "soldiers"? Who are they? Are the main characters soldiers in the War? Leia's and Ben's comments seem to indicate that they were.Who are the armies? Does the Republic have its own army, or do each of the independent planets have their own armies? Who is the enemy large enough that this is a full scale war?If Asymmetrical:Who is the larger force?What are the objectives of both sides in the War? What are they fighting over?When did/does the War start?How does the War end?
For Episode I, my thinking is along the lines of America leading up to the Civil War. The Clone Wars will be significant but the real war won't erupt until Episode III. It will be a messy civil war with strained political allegiances. The objectives of the Republic/Empire is the consolidation and use of power and on the other side are those who resist.
Continiuity to the OT:Do you show Obi-Wan receiving training from Yoda?Do you show Anakin receiving training from Obi-Wan?Are Obi-Wan and Anakin friends? When do they have the chance to establish this friendship
Anakin will receive training from Obi-Wan. Much time will be given to establishing their friendship, starting near the very beginning.
How many years before Episode 4 does your story take place and how old are the main characters?If Luke/Leia's mom is pregnant at any time in your stories, then that must be within 18 years of the beginning of Episode 4.How will you handle the surprises in the OT? Will you set out to protect them from a chronological viewer? Or will you show them happen?
I envision Anakin being in his early 20s. Obi Wan closer to 30. The pregnancy won't may not be revealed. The romance between Anakin and [Padme?] will be tastefully presented.
Will you show Yoda?Will you show that Luke has a twin sister? Named Leia?Will you reveal that Anakin becomes Darth Vader?If not, how will you protect this surprise? It must be some way that when the viewer sees Darth Vader in ANH, that he doesn't assume or even begin to wonder if that is Anakin under there.Will you employ the "Other Apprentice" ruse? That suggests that Obi-Wan had an apprentice named Darth Vader that turned to the Dark Side and killed Anakin?
No Yoda in the PT. We won't know about Luke or Leia in the PT! Nor will it be revealed that Anakin is Vader. Just as Luke went alone into the cave on Dagobah, so will Anakin go alone to face his fate. He will thereafter be considered dead.
It will be probably established that Obi Wan has trained unnamed others. Obi Wan shall face Darth Vader in order to avenge the loss of Anakin and he can call Vader " his former apprentice." But the utter change in their relationship and the fact that Obi Wan actually treats Anakin as dead should quiet all but the most conspiratorial of minds.
Will you have surprises in your new PT? Will it affect anything that we thought we already knew in the OT? Be careful, you will most likely just tick people off, unless it is done EXTREMELY well.
No surprises that violate the OT but the story will take on greater dimension. The motivations of many of the characters in the OT will be take on a greater richness.
The challenge with ANY PT is that it necessarily changes our perception of the OT. When one starts with A New Hope for the first time, one wonders stuff like 'who in the world is this Obi Wan? Is he related to this Ben guy? What is the extent of the force?' It slowly unfolds for us. But if there is a PT, we know that Obi Wan is definitely Ben. We already know about lightsabers and mindtricks. Plenty of these points are minor, but our perception and experience of IV necessarily changes if we watch a I, II, III first. I am very mindful of any loss of the original experience. Part of it is pure nostalgia but there is also a substantive change.
For any PT to be successful, we must unlearn what we have learned to a certain extent.
How does the Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith conflict play into the back story of the War, if at all?If it doesn't, then how does Anakin end up falling to the Dark Side and becoming Dark Lord of the Sith?If it does, then how does the Galaxy allow for a Dark Jedi/Sith/Palpatine to be left in charge of the Empire when all is said and done?How many Jedi are we talking about here? A handful like the OT? Two-three handfuls like the GPT? Or a lot a lot?How many Dark Jedi/Sith? Please say not 2 per movie.What kind of powers do the Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith have beyond those seen in the OT?
The depiction of Sith has become overwrought. Anakin falls to the dark side because he takes the side of power rather than peace. There won't be tons of Jedi, just enough to show they aren't exactly near extinction. The use of the force will accord with its depiction in the OT.
What is the Galaxy's general response to Jedi? Are they all assumed to be heroes? Or are people more like Han where they think that it's all religious nonsense?How do your Jedi dress? (Please say it's not in "I'm disguised as a hermit" robes.)How organized are the Jedi? Are they like a police force in space (like the Green Lantern Corps?) or are they more like wizards that are off doing their own thing and maybe have some form or correspondance or a council every now and then? Or something less than that?Where does the Empire come from? From within the crumbling Republic or without? If from within, are the forces that cause the crumbling also responsible for the War and are they manipulating to create an Empire as in George's PT?
The Jedi will be viewed as Han Solo and Admiral Motti viewed them. I am not certain how they dress, perhaps however they please. The Jedi will be the independent wizard types. As suggested up above, the Empire comes from within. It will be the result of a convergence of many competing desires, not a carefully orchestrated manipulation of everything in the galaxy.
How do the droids fit in to your new story, if at all?Probably shouldn't have strong connections to Anakin or Obi-Wan (i.e. The "main characters")How is Anakin seduced by the Dark Side? What convinces him to serve the Emperor, the Empire and the Dark Side for 20+ years before allowing Luke to show him the error of his ways.
Yes, the droids are there! Senator Organa makes great use of them. Also, there shall be no memory wipe of 3PO.
As for Anakin's seduction to the Dark Side and his service to the Empire for 20+years...it is because Anakin follows his ideals.