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What If? Canon-Divergent Story Ideas Thread

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So far, officially-licensed Star Wars materials have given us three alternate timelines, in the form of the Star Wars: Infinities series. These comics let us know what would have happened if Luke had failed to blow up the Death Star, if Luke had frozen to death on Hoth, and if C-3P0 had stopped working when the heroes needed him most.

That got me thinking, how many other interesting “What If?” scenarios can we make out of the complex Star Wars story? Eg. what if Yoda had defeated Palpatine during their duel in the Senate? What if R2 had gone straight to Ben Kenobi instead of getting captured by the Jawas? What if Luke had decided to join Vader at the end of Empire Strikes Back?

Let your mind run wild!

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Am I making Carrie Fisher’s ghost proud?”
Well, are ya, punk?

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What if a sith pureblood empire with an army of sith seeking revenge for the sith holocaust invaded during the clone wars

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That’s interesting.

I imagine: Palpatine has Count Dooku contact the Sith, reveal that he’s one of them, and try to persuade them to join the confederacy since they have a common enemy in the form of the Republic.

  • If they agree: the war proceeds as usual, probably taking a bit longer.
  • If they disagree: Palpatine contacts the Sith as the chancellor of the Republic, and tells them that he’s one of them and that he’s already planning to wipe out the Jedi. He suggests that, instead of attacking, they come as refugees in order to increase public hatred for the Jedi.
    - If they agree: the war proceeds as usual, perhaps ending a bit faster.
    - If they disagree: The Sith, realizing that the war is staged, declare war on both the Republic and the Confederacy. Palpatine would have to completely redirect his plan, and manipulate the two factions into joining forces against the Sith army. This new crisis might still be enough to trick the galaxy into supporting the institution of a Galactic Empire, but it would be much harder to scapegoat the Jedi, so he would probably try to stop the Jedi from fighting in the war altogether. That way, because the Jedi and Sith aren’t publicly fighting one another, he can use propaganda to convince people they’re the same faction, and should all be destroyed.

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Am I making Carrie Fisher’s ghost proud?”
Well, are ya, punk?

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I’ve had a few ideas for What-ifs of the sequel trilogy. I have no intention of writing them, but they’re right below if anyone’s interested.


Ep 7 TFA - What if Rey gave BB-8 to Unkarr Plutt?

Rey still gets the piece to the map, leading to the First Order cornering her. She’s saved when Han Solo crashes his barge into the First Order, but the two and the Falcon are taken away by Phasma. Finn, stuck on Jakuu, finds the piece and has the Resistance pick him up.

While Han and Rey are interrogated, the Resistance finds Luke but can barely get him to move. Eventually, Finn convinces him, especially when Kylo Ren contacts the Resistance to bargain for the chip. The two parties meet at Luke’s burnt down academy, Leia giving up the piece to Kylo and urging her son to return. Kylo is about to when Luke appears, enraging him as he leaves them to be destroyed by Starkiller Base. The new and old gangs escape and are united to put up a fight against the First Order.

A year later, Luke has trained Rey as a Jedi. Han and Leia work with the New Republic, but the FO has made a treaty with the NR, denying support for the Resistance. Meanwhile, Kylo trains until Snoke brings him to the clone Palpatine to plan the final move.

At the meeting, the clone Palpatine reveals himself to the galaxy and plans to take down the NR. While Luke, Leia, and Han fight Snoke and the clone Palpatine, Finn and Rey fight off Kylo. Together, the heroes win and are recognized as heroes by the rest of the galaxy.

The End


Ep 8 TLJ - What if Kylo killed Leia?

Kylo, after killing Leia, leaves the Resistance fleet. Feeling Leia’s death, Rey leaves to avenge her, which forces Luke to follow. The FO leaves the heavily damaged Resistance, as they are tracking them and will use the mini-Death Star laser to finish them off.

However, Luke and Rey’s arrival tips everything. They give the Resistance the chance to escape to a safe haven and mourn their losses while the First Order is trying to understand what is going on, especially a semi-distraught and numb Kylo, who is commended by Snoke and is sent to dispose of the rest.

A year goes by, and the Resistance is no more than just Luke, Rey, Finn, Poe, and crew. After training with all she has, Rey goes to fight Kylo against Luke’s orders. Kylo himself training meets Rey and the two fight (this would happen in a factory the FO has, hinting at the resources being sent to the Unknown Regions). Kylo would win but Leia’s spirit stops him, allowing Rey to escape with info where the weapons are going.

With that, our heroes go to stop Kylo who is growing insane. Luke defeats Snoke after admitting what he feared would’ve happened to Ben. However, he fails to stop Rey from killing Kylo in front of the Knights of Ren. As their new leader, Rey takes the Knights and heads off for the Unknown Regions to face Palpatine (who manipulated Luke this whole time) while Luke rebuilds the Jedi Order for real this time.

The End.


Ep 9 TRoS - What if Kylo Ren allied with the Resistance at the start to stop Palpatine?

Kylo Ren, hearing Palpatine’s call and confirming it with some forces, goes to the Resistance to take him down. Leia has found Lando and recruited him. Together they head out to Exegol to destroy Palpatine.

The brief alliance works in destroying some of Palpatine’s ships, but Rey is possessed by him when she strikes him down (not helped that Hux informed Palpatine of what is to come). Kylo is deposed and imprisoned by the Resistance/New Republic forces, with Finn berating him and Poe holding back Finn. Luke gives some hints of the Force to Finn, which leads to him gaining a lightsaber (yellow) of his own.

The possessed Rey leads an attack on the galaxy, striking at remnants of the New Republic. Sensing so much death and being talked to by Leia and ghost Luke, Kylo is forced to accept his evil deeds and to help the Resistance stop Rey before she becomes too powerful for even him to handle.

In order to stop the possessed Rey, Kylo increases the bond and lets her stab him. The wound shocks Rey Palpatine enough for Kylo to do the same to her. Trapped in a dying body, Palpatine’s spirit vanishes and the two die on the ground, having saved the galaxy from doom. This leaves Finn as the last Jedi left to be trained by two mentors, Leia and ghost Luke.

The End.

Screw lightsabers, I’ll stick with regular swords. At least they won’t blow up in my face like this franchise has.

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Right, so I made some What-Ifs for the sequel trilogy. Here are some for the prequels (which I’ve had for many months and only remembered I had them in the clutter of my other discarded projects).


Ep 1 TPM - What if Qui-Gon survived?

As Maul engages Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan uses the Force to stop Maul from impaling his master, but Maul pushes Obi-Wan down the shaft, making Qui-Gon believe him to be dead. Sensing Qui-Gon’s distraught distracts Anakin from the final blow as the Trade Federation ship fires on Naboo. The destruction helps Sidious-who wanted the treaty to create an alliance to fight the Republic-as Padme secedes and joins Dooku’s alliance.

Eight years later, Qui-Gon and his pupil Anakin try to convince Padme on Serenno to rejoin the Republic, but Maul appears to Padme with info on the Kamino clones, just as she and Anakin were getting close. The Republic defends Kamino from the Separatists, forcing many Jedi (including Qui-Gon) to remain neutral in the coming war.

With the CW raging, Anakin has been with Padme until he’s betrayed to the Republic and imprisoned with a mysterious figure. Qui-Gon tries searching for Anakin, wondering if he put too much on the boy, as he faces his old master, learning Anakin’s whereabouts on Mustafar and of the Sith’s manipulation. Meanwhile, Palpatine constantly pushes Anakin to the Dark Side and goes as far to bring his mother.

Together, Qui-Gon and Padme launch an assault of Jedi to rescue Anakin. They do and they also find the other prisoner to be Obi-Wan, who was being used to make cloned Jedi. Said cloned Jedi appear, as Qui-Gon get Anakin, Shmi, and Obi-Wan away in time to face Maul. As Anakin temporarily fights Sidious back, his overconfidence gets Qui-Gon (who beforehand asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin) and Maul thrown into the ocean below, with the heroes watching on before they retreat to Naboo to recover.

The End.


Ep 2 AotC - What if Obi-Wan joined Dooku on Geonosis?

Obi-Wan joins Dooku just before Anakin and Padme arrive to rescue him. However, the two are imprisoned and Obi-Wan is forced against his old Padawan in the arena as a test of his loyalty. The other Jedi watching are disturbed long enough for the clones to arrive and rescue Anakin and Padme, while a few Jedi have stuck around (either being captured or willing joined after seeing Obi-Wan).

The Clone Wars have carried with the Separatists taking Republic worlds. Anakin, now under Ki-adi Mundi, grows angrier throughout the few years of the Clone Wars, almost distant from his new wife Padme. Obi-Wan himself becomes greyer throughout the war, having connected with other Jedi who joined him than the Separatists and realizing he could’ve been a better teacher to Anakin after visiting Tatooine briefly.

The war eventually leads to the Separatists’ plan to attack Coruscant, something Obi-Wan draws the line at as he heads to warn the Jedi about it. Obi-Wan meets Padme and Anakin again after three years. At the same time, Anakin is about to accept the Dark Side when Padme tries to convince him to turn away.

Yet, the Separatists attack. Anakin and Obi-Wan fight, with Padme begging the two to stop fighting. Eventually, they are trapped, while Palpatine enacts Order 66 with the invasion to cover up destroying the Jedi. Anakin has killed Dooku, but it’s too late. WIth clones closing on the Jedi Temple, Anakin lets Obi-Wan and a pregnant Padme escape.

The End.


Ep 3 RotS - What if Obi-Wan went with Anakin after returning to Coruscant?

Following the crash landing, Anakin convinces Obi-Wan to join him in the celebration, but this turns out to be to his detriment, as Obi-Wan sees Anakin with Padme and learns of the pregnancy. Other Jedi Masters overhearing, Anakin is eventually forced to choose between the Jedi or Padme. Anakin feels stuck, not helped by Obi-Wan torn by his duty and friendship. It all ends when Padme divorces Anakin.

Months later, a growingly frustrated Anakin has dreams of Padme dying as he and Obi-Wan go to Utapau to stop Grievous, but Grievous is gone. Meanwhile, Padme speaks with the Jedi about her future children and possibly any connections to a proto-Rebel Alliance, but the arrival of Palpatine’s soldiers forces her to retreat to Naboo where she’s captured by Grievous.

Order 66 is unleashed, forcing him and Obi-Wan to hide and reunite with Yoda. They all rush to Coruscant to get to the Temple, while Anakin goes to find Padme yet he meets Palpatine in her ruined apartment. Palpatine/Sidious unveils his true intentions and offers Anakin to join, giving him the location of Grievous: Mustafar.

Anakin goes to Mustafar, carving up any enemies to get to Padme. Obi-Wan follows behind to help Anakin, but so does Sidious. The resulting battle is a bloodbath between any remaining Separatists and clones being gunned down. It all ends disastrously as Anakin, letting his anger get the better of him, unleashes his power on the volcano. As the lava engulfs almost everyone, Obi-Wan and Padme bring out Anakin yet are forced to hide from the now-changed galaxy.

The End.

Screw lightsabers, I’ll stick with regular swords. At least they won’t blow up in my face like this franchise has.

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In Revenge of the Sith, what if Anakin had decided to stay at the Jedi Temple while Palpatine was arrested?

After being disarmed, Palpatine goes through all the same motions: “I can’t hold on any longer,” “I’m too weak,” “Please don’t kill me,” and other things to make him seem defenseless. But, like in the movie, Mace ignores them and decides to kill Darth Sidious right then and there. Darth Sidious lets him, because OOPS Mace just killed the lord of the Sith in an act of anger! You see, I believe this was the backup plan all along. The sacrifice is complete; the Sith Lords now possess the body of one of the strongest Jedi Masters currently living.
“Mace Windu” returns to the Jedi Temple and tells Anakin the following story: Palpatine confessed immediately to consorting with the Sith, but denied being - or knowing the true identity of - Darth Sidious, before being placed under house arrest under the supervision of three Jedi (Tin, Fisto, and Kolar - the three Jedi that were just killed in combat). Hours later, the bodies of Palpatine and the three Jedi are discovered, along with doctored security footage showing a cloaked figure killing them.
From this, the story that gets reported is that Palpatine was privately working to investigate the Sith, but was assassinated by them before he could expose their secrets. He was already popular, and now he’s a martyr. As suggested, the Jedi Council is forced to take control of the senate in order to secure a peaceful transition. At the same time as all this, Commander Gree is ordered to kill Yoda, and because no other Jedi have died, Yoda is unable to sense the danger and is successfully assassinated (Everyone is told he died in battle). So-called “Mace Windu” is now head of the Senate AND Jedi Grand Master. Obi-Wan is sent to Mustafar to negotiate with the Seperatist leaders, but the whole thing is blown up with him inside. The two greatest threats to Palpatine have now been eliminated.
But with the Jedi now the seat of Palpatine’s power, whom can he use as a scapegoat to explain the assassinations? Crimson Dawn. He has the republic army find and kill Darth Maul, and everyone is told that Maul was the Sith master behind the whole thing. In this timeline, this is the “attempted coup” used to justify forming a Galactic Empire. Padme, disgusted, resigns from the Senate.
Before Anakin can begin asking too many questions, “Mace Windu” gives him a book that was supposedly given to him in Palpatine’s will: it claims to contain ancient Sith secrets on cheating death. They’re all stuff Palpatine made up, but Anakin will think they work because Palpatine will simply decide not to kill Padme. He also claims that he found out about Anakin’s marriage, and thus Anakin is expelled from the Jedi Order - but because the war is over, Obi-Wan is gone, and Padme is seemingly saved, Anakin doesn’t mind at all and takes the opportunity to leave his old life behind.
The Skywalker family lives happily ever after… but at what cost?

I honestly spent way too long writing this.

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Am I making Carrie Fisher’s ghost proud?”
Well, are ya, punk?

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I actually have two wildly offset storylines that evolve both the Canon and the EU:

Also these are unfinished but if you wanna hear your thoughts or criticisms, please let me know.

The Mandalorian King:

In this AU, Obi-Wan Kenobi is found by Darth Sidious instead of Darth Maul and is trained in the Dark Side but abandons his master to find his old love Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore and become the King of the Mandalorians and an enemy of the Old Republic and the Jedi.

Darth Plagueis would be confronted with a vision of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi fighting Darth Vader, and to prevent his visions of the future from coming true, he uses a Force Hallucination secretly on both Yoda and Darth Sidious to switch up apprentices; Sidious, disguises himself as a kind and innocent farmer goes to Stewjon and meets the Kenobi’s’; there he befriends them and tricks them into taking their toddler son, Obi-Wan Kenobi and buy him from them so he can teach him under his ways of farming (The Force;) at the same time, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn goes to Dathomir to meet the Nightsisters and Mother Talzin to befriend them as well and agree to take Talzin’s zabrak son, Maul Opress under Qui-Gon’s wing

Over the course of the next 21 years, Maul would be trained as a Jedi and be given a Green double-bladed lightsaber and Obi-Wan would be trained as a Sith; over that time, Sidious began scheming with the Trade Federation much earlier than in the regular timeline and he and Obi-Wan started attacking planets like Mandalore but that failed once Obi-Wan ran into and fell in love with Duchess Satine Kryze and after seeing the might of Mandalore, they were forced to retreat and take on another planet, Naboo

Qui-Gon and Maul would go to Naboo like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon would in the regular timeline and rescue Queen Amidala and go to Tatooine and free Anakin Skywalker from slavery and leave his mother behind, but would still be attacked by Obi-Wan; the difference here would be is that Obi-Wan is still attached to his love for Satine and yearns to be back with her; then on the night he is ordered to go back to Naboo and kill Qui-Gon and Maul, he vanishes and goes to Mandalore and reunites with Satine; Plagieus is still killed out of Sidious’s rage of Obi-Wan vanishing and Naboo is saved but Anakin is made Qui-Gon’s new apprentice while Maul goes on to face the Jedi Trials

Three years after the battle of Naboo, Satine and Obi-Wan marry on one of Mandalore’s moons and he renames himself Janusex and they become the Mandalorian King and Queen

Count Dooku around this time becomes Sidious’s new apprentice and is far more powerful and unstable than in the actual timeline

Anakin and Maul become Jedi rivals in this timeline because of Maul becoming one of the Jedi Council and Anakin yearning to become more powerful than him against Qui-Gon’s fatherly relationship with him

Maul, Anakin and Padme Amidala have a love triangle in this AU and like in the real AU, Padme is friends with Satine but knows nothing of their cruel Mandalorian King, Janusex (Obi-Wan)

Palpatine eyes both Anakin and Maul to be one of his apprentices

Anakin returns to Tatooine and tries to rescue his mother but fails and slaughters the Sandpeople like in the main timeline

Jango Fett is raised on Concord Dawn in this universe and raised into the Mandalorian Army and assigned by Janusex and Dooku to assinate Padme to bring Maul, Anakin and Padme together on Naboo and Dooku and Qui-Gon to meet again with Janusex

Qui-Gon is taken by Dooku and escapes leaving Anakin and Maul to work together to fight Janusex who beats them and cuts off Anakin’s right arm

Anakin marries Padme in secret as in main timeline

Instead of a Clone Army, the Republic enlists regular men as soldiers to save time and resources

Janusex and the Mandalorians play a much bigger role in the Clone Wars than they do in the main timeline thanks to Dooku and Grievous and are in charge of wiping out the Nightsisters, than the Battle Droid army

Palpatine is captured and Anakin overpowers and kills Dooku as in the main timeline

Palpatine reveals he is Sidious and after Anakin gives into the Dark Side and allows him to kill Mace Windu, Anakin becomes Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Vader

Maul goes to Utapau and kills Grievous and Order 66 issued while there and he flees into the galaxy

Janusex and the Mandalorians are discovered by Palpatine and Mandalore is attacked by the Empire, Palpatine arrives and Janusex duels him and Palpatine threatens him with Satine and kills her, Janusex flees, he goes to find help with any surviving Mandalorians but they’re all gone; but he goes to where he seeks refuge as all runaway Mandalorians can go to, Coruscant; there he finds the Jedi Temple, he finds Qui-Gon, Maul and Yoda regrouping while hiding in the shadows and what they plan to do to stop the Sith; he wonders if he should join in to avenge his people but he is then attracted to a room of Holocrons and takes the center one that attracts him the most

Janusex learns that Qui-Gon and Padme are going to Mustafar and he sneaks aboard the ship unknown to them while Maul and Yoda face Sidious; both fail, Yoda and Maul go into exile on unknown planets, Qui-Gon is killed by Anakin and leaves Padme on Mustafar after feeling betrayed by the fact she sided with Qui-Gon; but Janusex resuces her and takes her to the nearest space sport and hospital, Polis Massa where she gives birth to Luke and Leia and he promises to raise them under his care and she dies afterwards; he leaves with the children and tells the Polis Massans to take her body back to Naboo to be buried

After 19 years of training, private adventures of finding Jedi artifacts and writing in a Journal, Janusex is learning to become a Jedi along with Luke and Leia and when he saves a mandalorian (Pre Vizsla) from the Empire, they’re forced to go on the run; even though they don’t see eye to eye, Janusex thinks this may be the best chance to rebuild his Mandalorian regime and the Jedi but they’ll need help; he tries some meditating and actually contacts Qui-Gon’s spirit who tells him to go to find Maul on Dathomir

This is where the Mandalorian King ends on story ideas. And now for my second AU:

The Resurgence of Skywalker:

In this AU, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader survives the Battle of Endor and lives past “Return of the Jedi” and onto into the events of the sequel trilogy and finds a path to finding a way to redeeming himself to the entire galaxy for his crimes with the Empire and as a Sith Lord

Vader is restored back as Anakin and kills Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious on the Death Star II and restores balance in the Force (for the time being) and he and Luke share a moment before Anakin loses consensus; but Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ghost would appear and touch his forehead and his own reviving him and giving him the strength and energy to live once more; Obi-Wan tells Luke that Anakin’s work is still not done and that he must stay alive and that once he gives most of his energy up to Anakin, his time in the Netherworld will begin to expire; before more can be explained they flee off the exploding Death Star

Luke regroups with Lando, Han, Leia and Chewie and they’re horrified that he is with a wounded Anakin/Vader and he tearful pleas for his father to be given medical treatment and removed from his torturous suit; they agree but they arrest him and take him to Chandrila, where Mon Mothma and Rebel Leaders are planning the early stages of the New Republic

Anakin/Vader’s trial would be from his medical bed as Medical Droids fix him a new suit under Luke’s direction; galactic publicity would try to make Anakin/Vader answer questions that he would stay silent until he was alone with Luke and his only response was “Padme;” this would go on for days on end until Leia convinces Luke to use some sort of Force Trick on Anakin/Vader to probe his mind

Luke unfortunately does (like Kylo Ren does with Rey in “The Force Awakens” in the main timeline) but when he probes his father, he sees a vision of his father Force Choking a woman on a volcanic planet and a Japor snippet which angers Anakin/Vader and the medical room around him, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Rebels and the galactic publicity reporters begins to rumble and the medical droids begin to crumble and explode and the Rebels, Han and Chewie begin to point their weapons at Anakin/Vader and he uses his mind to implode them, he uses the Force to free himself and attacks them all

Anakin/Vader flees into the building, engulfed in his Force Rage but is stopped in a room by Luke but when Luke tries to touch his head, he burns himself, but Obi-Wan and Yoda’s Force Ghosts cool him down and they tell Luke that if Anakin/Vader is to survive and to truly redeem himself, disappear, both of them; Luke sneaks Anakin/Vader out through a Rebel Shuttle

The Rebels discover Vader escaped and Mon Mothma orders an immediate search throughout the whole galaxy, Leia tries to telepathically contact Luke and he says to her that he and their father have a job to do and so does she because she is pregnant with her son, Ben Solo

Luke and Anakin/Vader hide on the isolated world of Ahch-To where they find The First Jedi Temple and they and Obi-Wan and Yoda use the force to use a Force Shield to avoid detection from any lifeforms

Over the next thirty years, Anakin/Vader and Luke begin training themselves with the Scarred Jedi Texts and the ways of the Grey Jedi, and the whole Galaxy and the New Republic knows by know they’re criminals and Luke is Vader’s son; Leia in this timeline is safe from the public knowing she’s related to Vader; Ben Solo has become a Senator for Chandrila and Han Solo is a general for the New Republic Army with Chewbacca at his side

The Empire has reformed into the First Order at this time and is at war with the New Republic; the Resistance does NOT exist in this timeline

Ben Solo hates being a Senator and wishes to be more like his father and to find his criminal Uncle, Luke Skywalker

Anakin/Vader has his own personal medication hub in a cavern similar to his Meditation Chamber

This is where The Resurgence of Skywalker ends on story ideas…

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What would happen after ROTJ if Palpatine didn’t dissolve the Imperial Senate?

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I can imagine Maul trained by Mace and Greivous train by Yoda and is a Temple Guard. If they do, Savage would take their places. In this version, Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla, Plo Koon, Bariss, Stass Allie, Shaak Ti, Cin Drallig, and Jaro Tarpal survived. They meet up with Obi-Wan, Greivous, Maul, and Yoda and Luminara, Quinlan Vos, and Ahsoka Tano appears. The Mustafar duel would be Obi-Wan, Ahsoka Tano, Plo Koon, Maul, Bariss, Quinlan Vos, Cal Kestis, and Luminara vs. Anakin and the Coruscant duel would be Yoda, Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla Secura, Stass Allie, Greivous, Jaro Tarpal, Shaak Ti, and Cin Drallig vs. Palpatine.