Darth Lars said:
Bingowings said:
Having Yoda in the PT was a mistake in my opinion and having him be a saber throwing acrobat was a disaster the series will be hard pushed to recover from.
No, I think that Yoda being in the PT was absolutely compulsory. Just has Luke is compulsory in the ST.
Yes.
Yoda's appearance is one of the 'surprises' of ESB that the PT breaks.
Luke is anticipating a great warrior and doesn't recognise the Jedi master when he is right under his nose. We as the audience are supposed to share in that surprise the first time around.
It adds to the plot of the OT that Vader believes he has killed the final Jedi in ANH (with the Senate gone and the final Jedi dead the Empire will, with the destruction of the Rebel base will be the supreme power of the Galaxy).
So for him to know Yoda (not to mention know him as a renowned swordsman, to hope to surpass) breaks key aspects of both those characters.
Tarkin is sure Ben has just died of old age but Vader warns him not to underestimate the Force. I can't imagine he would be that cautious about Obi-Wan but assume his Master's teacher is dead.
Like Luke we as an audience are meant to draw the same conclusions as Vader. If we know Yoda is still alive it diminishes the tension caused by the potential elimination of opposition against the Empire.
In ESB Yoda is dismissive of violence and teaches Luke to not be reliant on weapons. He isn't a martial being like Ben and never demands Vader's death (like Ben does), only that Luke faces his fear. So having him engage in battles and fight with a sword weakens that persona as does the Emperor having anything as mundane as a sword.
I wouldn't have Qui-Gon/Dooku fall to the Dark Side so to speak but rather have him react to the Sith danger differently which Palpatine takes advantage of.
I certainly wouldn't have him firing lighting around (Palpatine needs to keep that skill under his cowl).
Lucas was essentially writing a sequel but setting it in the past.
If the character names were changed and it was set in the New Republic after the fall of the Empire the PT would be a little less annoying as it wouldn't trample over the groundwork laid down by the OT.
Another example is seeing Fett without a mask.
Linking Fett to the clones was pure fan service but you could forgive it if it didn't smash up the mystique of the character (a mystique first dribbled over in ROTJ with his ridiculous death).
The Troopers and Fett are never seen unmasked in the OT.
Masks aren't just costume details they add/define the characters as mystery men or dehumanised. The unmasking of Vader was justified by his character arc and final (he didn't put the mask back on and try to be mysterious again).
If Boba had been the template (no dad) and the clones were perpetually masked the fan service would be less onerous. A good writer who knew how the OT worked would have made these sort of adjustments.