A member of my alternate-history forum whose username is Glen came up with a really spiffy idea for making the prequel trilogy better.
A Better Prequel Trilogy
Here are some highlights:
*Anakin is already an adult and a very skilled pilot when Obi-Wan finds him. When I read the novelization of Return of the Jedi when I was in elementary school, I remembered Obi-Wan telling Luke how when he met Anakin, he was "a great pilot, and the Force was very strong in him." Glen's account matches that far more than Anakin being a talented podracer does, although technically he IS a great pilot.
Anakin comes off very much as a Han Solo figure--cocksure, talented, and willing to pursue Padme despite their differences in social status, his status as a Padawan, etc. Padme would be very similar to Leia, I suppose. The whole "history repeating" thing could be very powerful thematically. In the canon series, people have compared Leia to Padme--I remember the phrase "like her mother, she goes for the bad boy" or something like that.
*Anakin's fall and disfigurement take place at the climax of Episode II. His "moral event horizon" is killing Jar Jar after slowly drifting into the Dark Side for awhile. After what happens (not going to spoil it), Obi-Wan, Padme, etc. think him dead. However, the film ends with Darth Sidious finding the mortally-wounded Anakin and offering him life through the Dark Side.
*Episode III features a mysterious Sith Jedi killer named "Darth Vader" that we only learn at the climax of the film is actually Anakin Skywalker.
*Padme actually survives long enough for Leia to remember her--in Return of the Jedi, Leia remembers her mother as being beautiful but very sad. I'd hoped that in Revenge of the Sith, Leia would be born first and Padme would remain alive long enough for Leia to conceivably pick up on something about her through the Force, but Luke was born first, then Leia, and then Padme died.
I actually enjoyed the first two prequels when I saw them, but I was in middle school and high school when they came out. When I saw Revenge of the Sith, I found it unintentionally hilarious. Especially the whole "NOOOO!!" part. I spent 15 minutes after the movie ended laughing, and that's supposed to be tragic.
456: Mighty Ducks 3
5 hours ago
Another good possibility is one I read on the net that takes the adult Anakin route somewaht differently.
ReplyDeleteAnakin begins Episode I a Jedi Comparable to Obiwan in the OTL Episode I, with Obiwan taking the Quigon role, and the Clone Wars already underway. The liberate a slave encampment run by the Trade Federation that among other slaves, includes a Princess of Alderon named Padme, and a Wookie named Chewbacca. As the two Jedi fight across the stars like a group of interstellar buddy-cop pair, they uncover signs of Sith involvement in the clone wars. By the end, the two have returned Padme to Alderon, where her father, the King and Senator Bail Organa offers her hand to Anakin, who, smitten with the Princess, accepts.
Episode II has Anakin deploy to a far off planet for a big offensive in the Clone Wars, and he asks Obiwan to watch his new wife while he is away. As Anakin fights in many gruesome battles, Obiwan and Padme fall in love, and at one point, sleep together. By movies end, Padme reveals to the now shell-shocked and battle scared Anakin she is pregnant. The Father of the twins is left vague.
Episode III opens with the two Jedi fighting a big space battle like OTL Episode III. Rather than be haunted by visions of Padme dying, Anakin suspects, and eventually finds out about Padme and Obiwan's affair. Outraged, he finally heel-faced turned by almost killing Padme, and heartbroken by his best friends betrayal, offers his blade to the Sith. Movie follows roughly OTL, with the final climactic battle being far more meaningful (This time, Obiwan's sorrow about the falling out seem much more realistic). Padme lives, though they send Luke to live with Obiwan's parents, Owen and Beru, on Tatooine, so he can watch over one of the only Jedi left.
If Anakin/Vader is questioning the paternity of the kids, would he put so much effort into corrupting Luke--effort that backfires and ultimately redeems him?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the kids are both Force-users isn't sufficient evidence they're his--after all, if they're Obi-Wan's, they'd still inherit the ability to use the Force.
If you want to have the "Obi-Wan's betrayal" aspect, maybe he figures out Anakin and Padme are secretly married and outs them to the Jedi Council? Anakin is stripped of his new seat on the council and expelled from the Jedi Order. Palpatine plays on this and seduces him to the Dark Side.
(Apparently in the EU Obi-Wan knew something was up and flat-out ordered one of them to break it off, but they got married instead. The impression I had is that Obi-Wan knew enough to know he didn't want to know more.)
Obi Wan eventually realizes this--and the whole Jedi celibacy business--is wrong. The New Jedi Order Luke founded doesn't have that, after all.
Besides, I don't like the idea of sullying SW with "who my baby's daddy" Jerry Springer drama.