The "One Last Time" campaign was a warning. We might've been able to prevent the damage to cinema they'd been planning! Someone should've, I dunno, seized the negatives and gave them straight to the National Film Registry.
But... if they didn't get their copy when it was first started up, and the Special Edition was what they were offered first, then it can only mean one thing: the Special Editions were an inside job! Could it be that George was telling the truth when he talked about his "original" vision???
I mean my God! Movies are not like cars! You can't just retire them in favour of remakes!