DuracellEnergizer said:

The SE '97 would have existed, no doubt - it already did! However, the '04 and '11 versions probably wouldn't have been made, and the OOT would have been preserved.

I guess my point was that part of the SE's purpose was updating the OT to fit the vision George had in his head for the eventual six-film saga. Yes, he had to further tweak this in '04 after he'd made the first two prequels and was in the midst of the last, but almost all of the changes to the OT's visual effects were done in '97.

Perhaps this is where I'm overthinking things a bit. Would other directors have made prequels devoid of cgi characters, so that it wouldn't be (jar)-jarring to go from cgi gungans to people in suits??? Maybe the SE's were an inevitability in regards to the prequels, regardless of their directors.

I still think there might've been another way. They could've re-released the OT in '97 after doing strict restorations and no revisions. Then, directors could've come along and made prequels that, once finished, would line up fairly seamlessly with the restored OOT.

Even without George directing the prequels, the idea of there being two completely different versions of the OT out there kinda goes against the idea of there being a six-film saga that perfectly lines up.