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Originally posted by: Galahad_Skywalker
Tolkien was a perfectionist, and his alterations mainly fixed mistakes that readers caught, etc. Think of his corrections as something like the editions of textbooks; it's always fairly clear that you're reading the fourth or fifth or sixth edition. And Samatar's right, Tolkien made the reader fully aware that he made changes, while Lucas just wants us to think that he intended the Special Editions all along.
Lucas did pretty much intend the Special Editions all along. Many of the Special Edition changes were originally attempted for the original version. Not all but most. Me I can symbothize. I have wrote many fan fics and read them over latter wishing I had done something different. Lucas feels the same way. So did Tolkien. Both are story tellers trying to write a great story.