What would YOU change about Star Wars?

BrandonMustang · Post by **BrandonMustang** » 2006-09-25 02:37am

General Schatten wrote:I guess I'm the only one who likes the Star Wars Franchise as it is... good and bad, with the exception of Karen Travissty bullshit. I can agree to some slight retooling, such as making the love scenes between Anakin and Padme more... meaningful, or giving the Droids more acceptable voices. But this whole, make Anakin and Vader two seperate people or the have Anakin and Padme become Emperor and Empress things sound like some kind of crappy Infinities story.

As for KJA (Hell I only know him by his initials), I haven't heard as much about his antics, though if he's as rude to the Star Wars fans as Karen Traviss is and makes just as bad decisions, then I could agree with terminating their contracts.

So can someone give me a brief summary of KJA's BS, so I can compare Karen to him?

Basically, KJA took what could have been a decent plot arc and threw in a dumb Sith Ghost, a Thrawn reject, and yet ANOTHER superweapon. Then, he took it upon himself to completely rewrite the personalities of the major characters and compose the whole thing in such a basic form and vernacular that a kid in grade school ranks it (The Jedi Academy Trilogy) right up there with "Everybody Poops" and "Superfudge".

DrMckay · Post by **DrMckay** » 2006-09-26 01:47am

Ok, my two cents:

1. Jedi not being allowed to marry (prequels) really made no sense, (where do baby Jedis come from?) It seems like Lucas only did this to make the Padme/Anakin relationship more "forbidden-fruitlike" the whole celibacy thing is kinda stupid and plot killing.

2. Emphasis on REAL characters, with problems, reacting to extrordinary circumstances, kinda along nBSG lines, eg: Anakin should have gone through HELL as a slave, maybe even killing his master, etc. More dark secerets, etc are always good.

3. Have the Clone Wars be:

A cabal of Sith, led by Palpatine, (who is also a republic senator and leading the cabal by holonet,) creates a clone army, some meltal problems emerge from several clones, dementia, Psychopathic and sadistic tendancies, those ones are also smarter and becom field commanders, one is injured, becomes a partial cyborg=Grevious. The Seperatists are joined by several outer-rim worlds.

Have the Republic forces in the Clone Wars be made up of a diverse coalition of systems. Focus on the forces of Corillea and Alderan, make them bear the brunt of the fighting, enough to sicken them of war, kind of a World War I "Lost Generation" mentality, perhaps have the Alderranian forces commit some distasteful wartime acts, commanding harsh occupations, or an unintentional massacre, something which makes them go VERY pacifistic. I like the: Prequels =World War I, Old Trilogy = WWII analogy.

making both of the Clone Wars Participants human puts a new moral aspect into prespective, as now, both sides have distinct faces, stories, as opposed to "clone trooper #24885000 vs. Battle droid #92427213" Also, the whole, "Droid Rebellion" kinda makes the Star Wars reliance on droiuds seem a bit silly; Wait a minute, something similar to R2(who just "fixed" my ship,) is also shooting at me, I'll continue to trust them!

A galaxy-wide war of Human/alien vs human is FAR more dramatic and meaningful.

5. NO JAR-JAR.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-09-26 03:31pm

DrMckay wrote:1. Jedi not being allowed to marry (prequels) really made no sense, (where do baby Jedis come from?) It seems like Lucas only did this to make the Padme/Anakin relationship more "forbidden-fruitlike" the whole celibacy thing is kinda stupid and plot killing.

Jedi maintain their ranks by locating young children with innate Force abilities and, if the permission of their guardians is given, taken back to Coruscant for training. That was a fairly major plot point in TPM, after all. Excepting extremely unusual circumstances (like Ki-Adi-Mundi maintaining a family because of the limited number of Cerean males), Jedi don't have children, even if sex isn't banned. However, this prohibition on family and relationships doesn't always seem to have been as harsh (attitudes seem more lax in the KOTOR period, for example); more than likely, it was a symptom of the corruption and arrogance that Yoda percieved undermining the Order before it fell.

Also, the whole, "Droid Rebellion" kinda makes the Star Wars reliance on droiuds seem a bit silly; Wait a minute, something similar to R2(who just "fixed" my ship,) is also shooting at me, I'll continue to trust them!

Humans still continue to use tanks, bombs, and firearms, despite the fact that they've killed millions in wars past. The Seperatist droid armies were tools of their masters, and little more. Very few war droids seem to possess the attitude for true intellect that more utilitarian droids exhibit. Besides, there is still distrust of machines after the war (and probably because of the two actual droid rebellions that did occur, albiet farther in the past), as seen in the "We don't serve their kind here" scene in ANH.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2006-09-26 11:43pm

Noble Ire wrote:Humans still continue to use tanks, bombs, and firearms, despite the fact that they've killed millions in wars past. The Seperatist droid armies were tools of their masters, and little more. Very few war droids seem to possess the attitude for true intellect that more utilitarian droids exhibit. Besides, there is still distrust of machines after the war (and probably because of the two actual droid rebellions that did occur, albiet farther in the past), as seen in the "We don't serve their kind here" scene in ANH.

I had always assumed that the bartender knew that the local garrison of Stormtroopers were searching for droids, and that he just didn't wan't to give them any reason to be in his bar.

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-09-27 10:56am

havokeff wrote:
Noble Ire wrote:Humans still continue to use tanks, bombs, and firearms, despite the fact that they've killed millions in wars past. The Seperatist droid armies were tools of their masters, and little more. Very few war droids seem to possess the attitude for true intellect that more utilitarian droids exhibit. Besides, there is still distrust of machines after the war (and probably because of the two actual droid rebellions that did occur, albiet farther in the past), as seen in the "We don't serve their kind here" scene in ANH.
I had always assumed that the bartender knew that the local garrison of Stormtroopers were searching for droids, and that he just didn't wan't to give them any reason to be in his bar.

He threw them out because Chalmun (the wookiee who owns the place) doesn't want driods taking up space that should go to drinking (and therefore paying) customers.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-09-27 03:29pm

Kuja wrote:
havokeff wrote:
Noble Ire wrote:Humans still continue to use tanks, bombs, and firearms, despite the fact that they've killed millions in wars past. The Seperatist droid armies were tools of their masters, and little more. Very few war droids seem to possess the attitude for true intellect that more utilitarian droids exhibit. Besides, there is still distrust of machines after the war (and probably because of the two actual droid rebellions that did occur, albiet farther in the past), as seen in the "We don't serve their kind here" scene in ANH.
I had always assumed that the bartender knew that the local garrison of Stormtroopers were searching for droids, and that he just didn't wan't to give them any reason to be in his bar.
He threw them out because Chalmun (the wookiee who owns the place) doesn't want driods taking up space that should go to drinking (and therefore paying) customers.

If I may ask, where did you get this bit of information? I don't doubt it, but the few places where a motive has been hinted at I've seen all seemed to suggest some sort of anti-droid prejudice.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2006-09-27 03:43pm

The official on that Line is that the bartender doesn't like droids so he doesn't want them in his bar.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2006-09-27 04:16pm

Noble Ire wrote:If I may ask, where did you get this bit of information? I don't doubt it, but the few places where a motive has been hinted at I've seen all seemed to suggest some sort of anti-droid prejudice.

Don't you love it when the EU comes up with an official explanation that sucks?

Utah Jak · Post by **Utah Jak** » 2006-09-27 07:09pm

Well, on page 112 of the Episode IV novelization the Bartender siad

They'll have to wait outside. We don't serve their kind here. I only carry stuff for organics, not mechanicals.

It also says that he 'concluded with an experession of distaste' before saying mechanicals. So it was probably a combination of not wanting droids taking up space that could be filled by paying customers and anti-droid prejudice.

DrMckay · Post by **DrMckay** » 2006-09-27 07:59pm

Humans still continue to use tanks, bombs, and firearms, despite the fact that they've killed millions in wars past. The Seperatist droid armies were tools of their masters, and little more. Very few war droids seem to possess the attitude for true intellect that more utilitarian droids exhibit. Besides, there is still distrust of machines after the war (and probably because of the two actual droid rebellions that did occur, albiet farther in the past), as seen in the "We don't serve their kind here" scene in ANH.

bad analogy; you and I do not use tanks, bombs, and firearms to help us do homework, fix our car, or any of the other myriad everyday things people on earth do.

Besides, I was making the point that living thing vs living thing (that at least look and sound different from the unit next to them) on a galaxy-wide scale is much more dramatic than a bunch of robots and clone troopers that look and sound exactly alike.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-09-27 09:31pm

DrMckay wrote:bad analogy; you and I do not use tanks, bombs, and firearms to help us do homework, fix our car, or any of the other myriad everyday things people on earth do.

Perhaps it was a poor analogy, but my point stands. Technology itself cannot be blamed for the destruction, or good, it reaps; the individuals, alien or human, behind the devices are the ones who are responsible.

Besides, I was making the point that living thing vs living thing (that at least look and sound different from the unit next to them) on a galaxy-wide scale is much more dramatic than a bunch of robots and clone troopers that look and sound exactly alike.

To each his own, I suppose. I've never had much of a problem with a mechanical and clone proxy war, especially since the EU did manage to give it more character and grittiness than it might have had. Perhaps organic vs. organic might have played out better, I don't know; I simply think it played out well enough as is.

DrMckay · Post by **DrMckay** » 2006-09-27 11:52pm

good point about the tech. I guess I just helped you torpedo my argument. Oh well, I hope you liked the assistance...

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-09-28 12:06pm

Noble Ire wrote:If I may ask, where did you get this bit of information? I don't doubt it, but the few places where a motive has been hinted at I've seen all seemed to suggest some sort of anti-droid prejudice.

Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina IIRC. The bartender's story.

Shadowtraveler · Post by **Shadowtraveler** » 2006-09-28 04:41pm

Noble Ire wrote:Jedi maintain their ranks by locating young children with innate Force abilities and, if the permission of their guardians is given, taken back to Coruscant for training. That was a fairly major plot point in TPM, after all. Excepting extremely unusual circumstances (like Ki-Adi-Mundi maintaining a family because of the limited number of Cerean males), Jedi don't have children, even if sex isn't banned. However, this prohibition on family and relationships doesn't always seem to have been as harsh (attitudes seem more lax in the KOTOR period, for example); more than likely, it was a symptom of the corruption and arrogance that Yoda percieved undermining the Order before it fell.

I'm not so sure on that last bit. I thought they stopped letting Jedi have families after Ruusan. Too prevent them from getting too attached and all.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2006-09-28 04:47pm

Kuja wrote:Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina IIRC. The bartender's story.

I thought Tales was Infinities? Or is it only Infinities if contradicted?

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-09-28 07:40pm

Shadowtraveler wrote:I'm not so sure on that last bit. I thought they stopped letting Jedi have families after Ruusan. Too prevent them from getting too attached and all.

That's what I meant. By the time of ROTS, the Jedi Order had become exceedingly arrogant and insular, probably due to their self-imposed isolation after Ruusan. The masters on the Council believed that they could forge Jedi that were beyond the weaknesses of regular beings; they thought that their training could remove the desire for love and strong attachment in the knights of the Order. Certainly, attachment had proven to hold dangers for Jedi, but when a Jedi fell in love despite all of his or her training, the Council couldn't admit that they had overstepped their abilities. Their doctrines dictated that Anakin simply had to let go of the one he loved, because trying to hard to save her might lead him down the path to the Dark Side. Rather than help Anakin, they trusted him to follow Jedi dogma in the face of all else, and for this supreme belief in their own doctrines, they were destroyed.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2006-10-02 05:11pm

I'd like to expound upon my change in Vader's character. Since he'd be an entirely separate character from Anakin Skywalker, I'd be free of the burden of having to portray him first as a "good friend" of Obi-Wan's.

From the very outset, he'd exhibit arrogant assholishness, somewhat akin to Ganner Rhysode's characterization from the NJO. That wouldn't stop him from becoming a war hero for the good guys at first, but, in Episode II, you'd see the war taking its toll on him.

He'd win the hawkish Admiral Tarkin's favor through his willingness to secretly carry out "necessary evils" that other Jedi would never do (e.g. torture enemy prisoners for information).

To make matters worse, he would lust after Anakin's wife and misuse the Force to influence her into returning his feelings (see the 1978 version of Dracula to get a general idea of how I envision that going down). He seduces her.

The final straw that turns Vader against the Jedi occurs in Episode II, not III.

Crazedwraith · Post by **Crazedwraith** » 2006-10-02 06:19pm

Darth Yoshi wrote:
Kuja wrote:Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina IIRC. The bartender's story.
I thought Tales was Infinities? Or is it only Infinities if contradicted?

Star Wars: Tales. Is iirc a comic book that has been declared infinite.

Tales... of/from X/Y books are bantam era anthologes of short stories which are canon. As far as I understand it.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2006-10-09 11:57am

Cao Cao wrote:
Put Dave Prowse into the suit for the "Frankenstein" scenes and the standing watching the Death Star scene (and put hands on belt, not folder across chest).
Hey! I liked that scene.. what's wrong with arms-crossed Vader?

Because he never ever does it again. Is he pouting? It's supposed to be an iconic Vader shot, but instead it becomes a "test pose."

Hmm.. maybe I should put my hands on my hips? Nah, too girly. Arms across chest? Hmm, uncomfortable. Maybe leaning had against the wall? Too slackish. Pinky to mouth? Too comedic. Hmmm... arm around Palpy's shoulder? People might wonder about us... hmm.... I've got it!

George/Hayden probably just hadn't watched the OT in awhile and just assumed it would be the sort of thing Vader would do, but it isn't.

Personally I'd like to see the outtakes where he had the cape over the top of his head and went around with fists clenched going "I am the great Darth-holio! Are you threatening me? I need tee pee for me bung hole!"

b00tleg · Post by **b00tleg** » 2006-10-09 02:13pm

Oh, so many things that could be changed.

Lets see.....first of all, get rid of the whole midichlorians crap, also get rid of the whole prophecy and bring balance to the force crap. Additionally, show Anakin as a confused, frightened yet power-hungry teen in TPM instead of a starry-eyed child that served no purpose. I mean seriously they could have just had a cardboard cut out of the kid in each of his scenes and it would have been just as good.

Faqa · Post by **Faqa** » 2006-10-09 02:52pm

NO fucking messing with the main thrust of the OT. The Luke-Vader duel of RotJ is plain beautiful, and Luke's speeches + Vader's redemption are my favorite parts of the OT.

Honestly, tinkering with the OT is not really a great idea. It's the SW mythos, in and of itself.

That said, a few changes:

- CONTINUITY COORDINATION IN THE BLOODY EU. Make decisions about events and power levels and STICK TO THEM. None of this "4 SDs can threaten the galaxy" BS. I'll also institute a no-superweapon clause.

- Episode 1 - less kiddy, more innocent. This film, while setting events, should be our bittersweet look at what the galaxy lost in the wars. Naboo = Alderan, less Tatooine, only a little space combat. This is a time for scene setting, not badassery. That's later.

No midi-chlorians. Needless to say.

Basically, a seemingly side-adventure that sets up the goverment corruption and dark future. Anakin is a little older, but not by much.

- Episode 2 - Clone Wars start earlier on. Padme and Anakin's romance is a wartime one. Anakin's dark acts are committed in the context of the war, not of trekking across the galaxy for no reason. And no Tusken Raider slaughter, not outright. Make him do immoral things, but things he can try to rationalize.

Anakin's hubris should come to play earlier as well. His whole sense of being able to end this war if only HE had more power.....

- Episode 3 - With Anakin's fall being more gradual, from the last movie, we can afford to spend more time on him as a war hero. Other than that, EP3's perfect.

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-10-09 02:59pm

Crazedwraith wrote:
Darth Yoshi wrote:
Kuja wrote:Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina IIRC. The bartender's story.
I thought Tales was Infinities? Or is it only Infinities if contradicted?
Star Wars: Tales. Is iirc a comic book that has been declared infinite.

Tales... of/from X/Y books are bantam era anthologes of short stories which are canon. As far as I understand it.

You're more or less correct. Though the 'Tales from...' anthologies aren't any more cannon than the rest of the written EU.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2006-10-11 03:10am

Kurgan wrote:
Cao Cao wrote:
Put Dave Prowse into the suit for the "Frankenstein" scenes and the standing watching the Death Star scene (and put hands on belt, not folder across chest).
Hey! I liked that scene.. what's wrong with arms-crossed Vader?
Because he never ever does it again. Is he pouting? It's supposed to be an iconic Vader shot, but instead it becomes a "test pose."

Hmm.. maybe I should put my hands on my hips? Nah, too girly. Arms across chest? Hmm, uncomfortable. Maybe leaning had against the wall? Too slackish. Pinky to mouth? Too comedic. Hmmm... arm around Palpy's shoulder? People might wonder about us... hmm.... I've got it!

George/Hayden probably just hadn't watched the OT in awhile and just assumed it would be the sort of thing Vader would do, but it isn't.

Personally I'd like to see the outtakes where he had the cape over the top of his head and went around with fists clenched going "I am the great Darth-holio! Are you threatening me? I need tee pee for me bung hole!"

In ANH Vader busts out the hands on his hips thing in the scene where we first see him and Leia together. I've always found it quite gay, since my mom's gay friend pointed it out to me when I was like 9. It's pretty funny, check it out next time you get the chance.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2006-10-11 08:31am

Not that there's anything wrong with that

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2006-10-11 04:06pm

Lengthy post to follow!

Faqa wrote: Naboo = Alderan, less Tatooine, only a little space combat. This is a time for scene setting, not badassery.

I'd even take that further, if you didn't mean literally. I'd have Naboo actually be Alderaan, making Palpatine's destruction of it and the heritage of Leia more symbolic. It also stands to reason that Palpatine might have wanted to nuke the place just to erase any evidence of his past life--rewriting himself, within a generation or so, as the leader of an Empire that had stretched back since the beginning of time. Erasing the past and replacing it with your own, but maybe that's just a 1984 vibe I like. I like Palpatine as a shrewd politican more than a cackling evil sorceror.

Plus it wipes out the Gungans.

Get rid of the Mitochondria, I mean midichlorians. Qui-Gon could just sense great power, not draw blood and prove it. This also makes Anakin's source of power somewhat more nebulous, since it's obvious to the Jedi Master but we don't need to know it's the result of some sort of bacterial infection.

The OT's pretty good as it stands in terms of story, but the Prequels really need to be gutted and redone. The feeling of organizational deadlock in the Senate was okay, I'd prefer it to be pushed further, make it look like the Senators are as bored as most Senators are. Have 80 percent of the seats empty during Padme's address, and so on.

Padme isn't such an awful character, really, but she is kinda... I dunno, goofy. Personally I'd start Anakin off older, since it isn't hard to reveal someone's past through their character in subtle, less ham-handed ways than making us suffer through his "Are you an angel?" oh-so-cuteness. This also lets him mature more over the movies so he's less of an angsting teenager at the point he becomes Darth Vader, and develop a wider range of complex, adult emotions as he grips with problems in a real way. The sort of way that makes his descent less a crime of whiny hormonal tantrum-flinging and incredible stupidity and more of a real failing of personal character.

And please, can we clean up the Darth names? Vader, okay. Sounds like Vater, I get it, it was classy. But Sidious? Maul? Plagueis? I don't mind if the names have a reference, but let's make up some sort of fake Sith language out of jumbled up languages so we don't sound like we're just taking mean and violent sounding words and putting Darth in front of them, occasionally adding or removing some letters. It's like if Vader wasn't supposed to be based off Vater, ie Father, and was just a cut-down version of InVader. InSidious, InVader? :p

Alright, so Padme's older. Let's give her parents too--notice how nobody has a mom or a dad except Luke, and his Dad's a jackass? I think it'd be more interesting if she had a more stable, grounded life, and was less of a warrior supermodel. Hell, we could pull a not-too-unusual contrivance and even have Anakin at one point assigned to Padme as a personal protector during some of the madness to follow. Gives them more time to talk and relate, and lets him get too personally involved.

Let's also deal a bit with the Leia issue.

BEN:
When your father left, he didn't know your mother was pregnant. Your mother and I knew he would find out eventually, but we wanted to keep
you both as safe as possible, for as long as possible...

...and your mother took Leia to live as the daughter of Senator Organa, on Alderaan...

...The Organa household was high-born and politically quite powerful in that system. Leia became a princess by virtue of lineage... no one knew she'd been adopted, of course.

Luke: Leia... do you remember your mother? Your real mother?
Leia: Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.

In this version of the account here, it sounds like the mother of Leia knew the Organas more than Ben did and it was her choice to live there. Frankly, I'd even have her marry Bail Organa. It makes little sense that Bacta and cyborging are the only medical inventions in the Star Wars universe, and for Bail and Mrs. Bail to have to resort to adoption. Wouldn't they have ultrasounds? Pregnancy aids? If they can clone people, couldn't Bail and his wife make a kid of their own?

Also, this allows us to complete that arc nicely, and makes the 'Your real mother' statement make more sense. Since Padme apparently died when Leia was young, but old enough for her to remember something--and for her to personally take Leia to Bail--this would open the door to Bail remarrying and making the statement and Leia's reaction go from "The Force made her feel it!" to completely understandable.

The Amidala folks coulda' been the actual Royals, and intermarrying with the Organas might have seemed completely reasonable. It gives Padme the potential to still be involved and even speak to the Senate (if her parents had been seized by the Trade Fed or something) but and makes sense. Bail having a kid with a real princess WOULD be politically useful, just as Ben says in his speech. To everyone on the outside, it may have appeared to be business as usual, and this way it makes more sense for Vader not to know. Afterall...

PADME: Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can.

lol wut? That conflicts directly with the "When yo' mom left yo' dad he didn't know she was teh pregnants" statement by Ben and I'd rather not make Mr. Mentor Man into a compulsive liar. I like his gray-area truth muddling about Vader killing Anakin, but this is just idiotic fabrication on Ben's part otherwise.

So the tryst between Padme and Anakin is one of forbidden love and passion, not of teen pregnancy and continuity disruption. Make her the sad, conflicted character Leia made her out to be, knowing what she had to do and knowing what Anakin was becoming long before she was even close to being obviously pregnant (even to a life-sensing Jedi). That kind of Arthurian flavor wouldn't hurt the series. These were supposed to be more 'civilized' times afterall.

I do like the Force-Balancing element, though I wish they made it more clear at some point that wiping out the Jedi was balancing the Force. Not to be an evil apologist or anything, but that the Force itself was inherently a grey thing, not black and white, and so dividing it into light and dark was itself inherently damaging. That makes Luke's descent into a more emotional form of idealist less of an antihero's fall from grace and more of the final act of Vader's prophetic mission. Luke would then go on and teach force use for good but not without emotion or passion.

This also allows you to make the Jedi themselves seem too rigidly bound by tradition, and the people like Qui-Gon (and later Ben) who believe in actually restoring balance more pragmatic in their use of emotion. This also accounts why Qui-Gon had been pushed out, allows both Ben and eventually Yoda to come to grips with the fact that the age of Light was over, and that it probably wasn't even good to do anyway. Make the Jedi's hold over the Force seem less natural, and more through force of imposition. Rigid rules, constraints, and things that make no logical sense--simply to keep the Dark side disenfranchised.

This also allows Anakin's power to come from an innate, natural understanding of the force. His appearence divides the Jedi into those seeking to unique and balance the two halves of the force, but the stodgy council denies this and he eventually feels all those negative emotions of rejection, suspicion, hate and such that the Emperor could easily channel and exploit. Anakin's honest, emotional gray-side of the force (similar to Luke's final portrayl) is just too terrifying to the Jedi, and because of their repression of his natural way of being, he rebels eventually.

I'd also make the Clone War actually fought by Clones against humans, not between Clones and droids. It could be Clones backed up by droids of course, but mostly clones. This makes the hardships of the war really hit the people, and that would make Palpatine's "I can save you from this evil!" gospel of power more palatable. It also adds other problems, such as the "Invisible Enemy Among Us" worry about clones in our midst, driving vast social reforms to improve security Plus, I'd love a scene where they need to fight several cloned Darth Mauls, and it removes any hopes of Karen being able to wank Fett and his progency.

This also presents ethical problems for the Jedi, something Palpatine will have been expecting. Slashing up droids is okay. Slashing up people? People who cry? Maybe even clones of people you know? That becomes more and more difficult to swallow, especially as you're getting hurt and anger is welling up. Someone with an unshakable inner calm may be able to detach from the carnage, but this only makes the Jedi look like machines. This could make Anakin question their morality, seeing how easily they justify the slaughter. It could also make his fall to evil easier, as he begins to doubt the Jedi while also using his emotions in combat, eventually becoming well accustomed to lashing out in anger at human forms. The blurring of enemy and ally could reach a dramatic climax where he needs to butcher several clones of people he knows, or of Obi-Wan, or even in an amazing metaphorical arc twist, of himself.

Maybe we don't know which Anakin wins. Maybe it doesn't matter by that point--after that fight, a mirror in some ways of Luke's battle with Vader, and Luke's encounter at the cave, Anakin is dead. Whatever Anakin was left going into that fight died, killed by Vader, the only one who leaves.

That brings us up to the end, where things continue along. Anakin is mature, hardened, cold, willing to end the madness by whatever means necessary, and willing to trust in Palpatine's efficency to do it, rather than the Jedi's tightassed preaching. He appears more like he did in the ROTJ originally, a man, not a kid. His decision to leap off into the abyss was a choice. One can only balance on the blade of a knife for so long! Ben battles Vader, defeats him because of sheer perfection of technique, but the emotional scars are great for both parties. And then we get the OT.

I'd change some of the in-flight dynamics of the space fighters just because I don't share Lucas' desire for WWI bipline dogfights in space. I'd like more graphic demonstrations of ISD's and such doing things, like accelerating to maximum G's, firing full spreads of TL's at maximum range, and actually fighting in mixed formations. This would help reign in the EU, while also giving Sci-Fi battle lovers like me more meat to go on. I have to admit, I'd love to see a nBSG styled combat replace the battle of Endor.

I'd also like to play down the vibe of Imperial Incompetance when it comes to Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters, and fleet strategy. We can make our own justifications for this, but I think the action would have been stronger if the Falcon had suffered more obvious damage from TIE attacks, if Troopers didn't just spray red shots and die. If that's too hard, then okay, we can justify that easily. Backwater worlds can be the main source of Stormie recruits. Such as...

BEN: They didn't. But we are meant to think they did. These tracks are side by side. Sandpeople always ride single file to hide there numbers.

LUKE: These are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio.

BEN: And these blast marks, too powerful for the weapons Sandpeople, and too random. Only Imperial stormtroopers are so eager.

LUKE: Why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?

Luke looks back at the speeder where Artoo and Threepio are
inspecting the dead Jawas, and put two and two together.

BEN: They are the Empire's thuggish shock troops, but they do not act without orders. If their masters traced the robots here, they may have learned who they sold them to.

LUKE: And that would lead them... home!

So, that about sums that up, I think. Mostly.