Speaking of the ILM art show: one of the challenges offered to the artists was designing concept art to fit a series of ersatz “director’s notes” for a supposed SW film. Matt Rhodes of BioWare took this challenge and ran with it, creating a whole alternate history of the OT.

Among other things: instead of the Bothans, it’s a new alien race specified in the challenge prompts (the Danji) who obtain the plans to the second (?) Death Star; the Rebel attack at Endor involves a giant mobile-asteroid base; Oola survives and escapes from Jabba’s palace; and though Leia, Han, Lando, Chewie, and the droids are all present, Luke Skywalker is not.

Instead, Luke’s place is taken by a blonde female Imperial Royal Guard, who seems to have struck up a romance with Biggs Darklighter – since the mustached Rebel pilot apparently survives into ESB and ROTJ.

This is very intriguingly reminiscent of Ralph McQuarrie’s 1975 drawings featuring a female Luke as the protagonist of SW… or fem-Luke’s fantasy equivalent, the redeemed warrior Sorsha in Willow.