It's 1980 and you've been handed the reins to the franchise

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-30 06:19pm

TESB has just been released and ROTJ isn't even a story treatment at this point. By an act of Q, Lucasfilm and all the rights to Star Wars have been transferred over to you. ANH and TESB are enshrined in canon, but that's all. How do you continue the saga?

Personally, I seize the opportunity and proceed with the stated intention of making the saga into a nine-episode serial.

Episode VI would reveal that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father, but that he's NOT Anakin Skywalker. Young Vader merely seduced (through the Force) Anakin's wife back in Episode II and conceived Luke, unbeknownst to Obi-Wan, Yoda or Anakin.

I would likewise introduce a new villain: Emperor Palpatine's son, Prince Jerjerrod. The emperor, dissatisfied with Vader's failure at Bespin to convert or kill Luke, instructs the prince to assume command of Vader's fleet and personally oversee the hunt for and destruction of Luke Skywalker.

I have more in mind, but I'm curious to know what others would do with the same opportunity.

Alexian Cale · Post by **Alexian Cale** » 2007-10-30 06:23pm

Hmm. Some good ideas. I just can't stomach the idea of the Emperor having a kid.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-30 06:26pm

He'd be a grown man with a commanding presence. Older than Luke. Closer to Han's age. And I'd base the Palpatine in my continuation on the emperor's hologram in the pre-2004 release of TESB, not Ian McDiarmid.

I envision someone like James Purefoy as Prince Jerjerrod.

Alexian Cale · Post by **Alexian Cale** » 2007-10-30 06:29pm

Galvatron wrote:He'd be grown man. Older than Luke. And I'd base the Palpatine in my continuation on the emperor's hologram in the pre-2004 release of TESB, not Ian McDiarmid.

Eh?

No, I mean the thought of the Emperor having a child at all. Adult, infant, or whatnot. Because the father/son evil relationship is so cliched. It would either have Palpatine having a bit of love for the kid (which is a big no-no, since he's supposed to be 100% evil) or the kid would be a conniving bastard trying to usurp Palpatine's position, potentially leading to an alliance with the heroes. And since Palpatine is the (relatively) all knowing jerk of the series, it'd be anticlimactic to see his son outwit him.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-30 06:32pm

I'm flirting with the idea of having Vader kill Jerjerrod in the climax of Episode VI, which would give the prince no opportunity to either turn against his father or supplant Palpatine as the ultimate villain. Having Vader kill Jerjerrod to save his son would also signal a major turning point in the development of his character.

Since my prequels would be TOTALLY different, I'd recycle Maul and Grievous as Jerjerrod's personal bodyguards. Luke and Vader would join forces to fight them in Episode VI after Vader saves Luke from Jerjerrod and turns against the Empire.

Which also means that Vader survives Episode VI.

Battlehymn Republic · Post by **Battlehymn Republic** » 2007-10-30 06:49pm

He can be what I always envisioned of Triclops- Palpatine's clone son enforcer. So like a Primarch, he's imbued with immense loyalty for his clone father, but possesses less power, so he's not a thread to him. But why "Jerjerrod"? I know that it's a name that's been around since the drafts, but still.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-30 06:53pm

In the early drafts, Grand Moff Jerjerrod basically acted the same way that my Prince Jerjerrod would. Storywise, making him the actual son of Palpatine and de facto heir to the Galactic Empire would serve to make him a more unambiguously credible villain than the "bureaucrat" Grand Moff was. Also, I feel that Grand Moff Jerjerrod is just a rehash of Tarkin.

As for reusing the name itself, I find nothing wrong with Jerjerrod. I think it sounds appropriately pompous and regal. Hell, Lucas himself recycled names like that all the time.

Triclops makes me think of THIS guy...

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-10-30 07:25pm

Galvatron wrote:And I'd base the Palpatine in my continuation on the emperor's hologram in the pre-2004 release of TESB, not Ian McDiarmid.

Why not? I thought he did a very good job and a underrated presence within the Franchise (like the late Peter Cushing), but I like your ideas in fleshing out a Imperial Sith court, with the core leadership of the Galactice Empire more resembling the Sith Empire of old (maybe you'd get to see Coruscant with the Emperor's palatial compound and secret Sith shrine).

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2007-10-30 07:38pm

For starters the idea of the 9 movie arc just doesn't work for me. I'd like to keep quite a few of the overarchieng themes and elements but shift them just a little. It should sitll be that Anakin is Luke's father corrupted to the dark side (hell even maybe doing it for fear of his wife's death). The Emperor as an agent of that corruption within the Senate in a Ep I-III works as well. So oes the final sequence on the Death Star (though it wouldn't be there). Anyone who doesn't get the point fo the core arc after seeing Luke and Vader in the shuttle bay just isn't paying attention. The story really is The Rise, Fall and Redemption of Anakin Sykwalker as told first in the Tales of Obi-Wan Kenobi and then in the Tales of Luke Skywalker. I would literally rename the two trilogies that and then nail down the prequel to that little entry "from the journal of the whills" in the ANH novelisation.

So basically the idea is to capstone the whole thing with Ep VI before doing I through III as I'm not going to change the roder of production. This means a different but similair RotJ. For starters Han is rescued from Jabba but NOT on Tatooine (the only spot I want to revisit is Dagobah), Lando makes a sacrificial play for redemption, there is a mence but not a DSII, the rebels get into a trap and Luke confronts Vader and the Emperor as in the RotJ we know.

Assuming, as I would, that it is a success then a fice or six year wait to let the technology settle AND to give everyone a break and then go back with Eps I-III.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-30 08:09pm

One of the major reasons I'd keep Vader and Anakin separate characters is so Anakin could assume the role of the older, dashing hero in the prequels. A role that was sorely missing from the prequels we got (which is what he was originally). Essentially, he'd be a Jedi version of Han Solo, albeit less roguish and cocky since he'd already be married at the start of Episode I.

It also gives me the opportunity to show Vader succumbing to the dark side much sooner. Rather than the hackneyed and unconvincing conversion he underwent in the real prequels, this Vader would never be portrayed as a pure-hearted hero. In Episode I he'd be the mildly arrogant and acerbic new apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but basically a "good guy" at first. But not whiny at all. More stoic and controlled.

We'd then witness Vader using progressively harsher methods when dealing with the enemy and un-Jedi means of extracting information from prisoners (which would both harken back to and foreshadow his predilection for torture in the ANH and TESB). His "fall" would take place before the climax of Episode II, not III.

Master_Baerne · Post by **Master_Baerne** » 2007-10-31 09:52am

I wouldn't necessarily alter the storyline, but there would be more detail given to the majesty and power of the Empire, and a great portion of the prequels would consist of naval engagements in the Clone Wars.

Ryan Thunder · Post by **Ryan Thunder** » 2007-10-31 12:55pm

Well... Let's consider Ep VI.

Follow the general plot, but begin perhaps with a skirmish between isolated rebel forces and a Star Destroyer or two. After defeating the rebels, they proceed to slag the planet.

The rebels in the Home One briefing room are generally scared shitless, rather than stupidly confident; They're there to fight the Empire because they feel compelled to, not for shits and giggles. The heroes and other characters of note, of course, are worried, but not so much.

Remove the Ewoks entirely as anything important. Have the Rebels know about the back door beforehand and sneak in using stolen storm trooper uniforms or something along those lines. The ensuing battle is then inside the facility rather than outside of it (mostly because any intelligent officer could easily prevent them from getting in once he knew they were there.)

The Executor does not plow itself into the Death Star, nor does it explode. Show it trading broadsides with multiple squadrons of Alliance cruisers, slagging most of them over the course of the battle before eventually being reduced to a drifting hulk.

----

As for the rest, I like the idea of separating Vader from Anakin. Of course, he'll need a name; they can't have called him Darth Vader when he was a Jedi.

The difficulty arises in doing away with Anakin. I think I'd make them both promising Jedi. Vader is something of a loner, and barely tolerates Anakin, who is a generally good guy, but has a tendency to show off. Both train with Obi-Wan, and we can lose all that "chosen one11!" and single apprentice stuff. Vader eventually reveals his allegiance to the Sith by leading the march on the Jedi Temple. Following this, he kidnaps Padme and the twins (who have already been born at this point), and thus draws Anakin to Mustafar, where they fight. Eventually Obi-Wan tracks them down and joins in. Vader eventually manages to temporarily remove Obi-Wan from the fight, and kills Padme. Naturally, Anakin goes batshit on him, and they fight all the way to the lava river, where he eventually knocks Vader's sabres away and takes off a limb. The rage subsides, and he hesitates to kill him outright. Of course; this backfires on him when Vader recovers and incinerates him with a wave of lava. In his damaged state, however, he is a little inaccurate, and his legs get burnt off.

When Obi-Wan comes to under a pile of rubble, he sees Stormtroopers attending to Vader. He grabs the twins, makes a run for it, and, well, the rest is history.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-31 01:20pm

In my version, Darth Vader is indeed his real name. There's no such thing as a "Sith title."

There are no twins. Luke is an only child. The "other" is someone else entirely (already have some thoughts on who that is).

Anakin is older than Vader and a full Jedi Knight at the start of Episode I. He's not and never was Obi-Wan's apprentice. He's ~40ish and a seasoned veteran of prior wars; content to live the simple existence of a moisture farmer on Tatooine with his wife when Ben shows up to recruit him for yet another "idealistic crusade."

Vader is Obi-Wan's talented new apprentice. ~25ish. Obi-Wan inherited Vader as a pupil after his former master was KIA.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2007-10-31 06:56pm

The problme is that anytime you seperate Anakin and Vader you run smack again the world's most famous movie line. You either have to create a HUGELY convoluted explanation (which detracts from the power of the statement) or you have to basically say that vader lied and it isn't true (which, again, detracts from the statement. The whole last 10 minutes of TESB is essentially MEANINGLESS if you seperate Anakin and Vader, there is no point to the constant back and forth, there is no drama in Luke's agony and helplessness and there really is no impact so we should just end with Luke running scared after his hand is cut because everything after that is predicated upon the truth of the statement.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-31 07:17pm

CmdrWilkens wrote:The problme is that anytime you seperate Anakin and Vader you run smack again the world's most famous movie line.

How so? If Vader seduced Anakin's wife and conceived Luke, that means Vader IS his father. It's not a convoluted explanation. It happens on Maury Povich all the time--so even white trash idiots in the audience should be able to understand it.

I don't see how it detracts from anything.

What it DOES do is liberate us from Obi-Wan's "certain point of view" bullshit. Instead, Obi-Wan didn't tell him the truth because Obi-Wan didn't know the truth. For that matter, there's no reason to assume that anyone besides Luke's mother would know.

My Episode VI would explain that Vader "knew it to be true" through the Force, as did Luke once he "searched his feelings." Kinda like how Leia accepted that she was Luke's sister without any real proof ("I know. Somehow...I've always known.")

Ryan Thunder · Post by **Ryan Thunder** » 2007-10-31 07:25pm

CmdrWilkens wrote:The problme is that anytime you seperate Anakin and Vader you run smack again the world's most famous movie line. You either have to create a HUGELY convoluted explanation (which detracts from the power of the statement) or you have to basically say that vader lied and it isn't true (which, again, detracts from the statement. The whole last 10 minutes of TESB is essentially MEANINGLESS if you seperate Anakin and Vader, there is no point to the constant back and forth, there is no drama in Luke's agony and helplessness and there really is no impact so we should just end with Luke running scared after his hand is cut because everything after that is predicated upon the truth of the statement.

Shit. Somehow I managed to forget about that. Of all things.

Alexian Cale · Post by **Alexian Cale** » 2007-10-31 07:47pm

How would the final fight go? Luke and Vader vs. the Emperor?

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-31 08:15pm

Alexian Cale wrote:How would the final fight go? Luke and Vader vs. the Emperor?

Or Luke and Vader fighting through hordes of lesser Sith and stormtroopers just to reach the emperor. Or perhaps Luke and the "other" and Vader doing so.

I feel that Maul and Grievous should survive their battle against Luke and Vader in Episode VI so they can return in subsequent movies as a credible threat. Prince Jerjerrod, however, would die at Vader's hands (Force-choked to death), thus signaling Vader's personal rebellion against the Empire.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-10-31 08:51pm

CmdrWilkens wrote:The problme is that anytime you seperate Anakin and Vader you run smack again the world's most famous movie line. You either have to create a HUGELY convoluted explanation (which detracts from the power of the statement) or you have to basically say that vader lied and it isn't true (which, again, detracts from the statement. The whole last 10 minutes of TESB is essentially MEANINGLESS if you seperate Anakin and Vader, there is no point to the constant back and forth, there is no drama in Luke's agony and helplessness and there really is no impact so we should just end with Luke running scared after his hand is cut because everything after that is predicated upon the truth of the statement.

Why? Obi-Wan told Luke that Vader betrayed and murdered his father. The meaning of the line doesn't change at all. Vader IS Luke's father. What needs to change is that Obi-Wan ALSO doesn't know that Vader is Luke's father, and since per the OP only ANH and ESB are set in stone this is a non-problem.

"Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father."
"He told me enough! He told me, you killed him."
"No. I, am your father."

Which is exactly what Ben told him. Vader still could have killed Anakin and fathered Luke with out making things too convoluted. And all the drama of Luke finding out he is the son of the most feared villain in the galaxy, and not the Clone Wars hero he thought, still holds true.

Alexian Cale · Post by **Alexian Cale** » 2007-10-31 08:52pm

Galvatron wrote:
Alexian Cale wrote:How would the final fight go? Luke and Vader vs. the Emperor?
Or Luke and Vader fighting through hordes of lesser Sith and stormtroopers just to reach the emperor. Or perhaps Luke and the "other" and Vader doing so.

I feel that Maul and Grievous should survive their battle against Luke and Vader in Episode VI so they can return in subsequent movies as a credible threat. Prince Jerjerrod, however, would die at Vader's hands (Force-choked to death), thus signaling Vader's personal rebellion against the Empire.

Emperor: Force-wielding powerhouse or will he have a lightsaber?

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-31 08:55pm

No lightsaber for Palpatine. Ever. None for Yoda either.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-10-31 08:56pm

Alexian Cale wrote:
Galvatron wrote:
Alexian Cale wrote:How would the final fight go? Luke and Vader vs. the Emperor?
Or Luke and Vader fighting through hordes of lesser Sith and stormtroopers just to reach the emperor. Or perhaps Luke and the "other" and Vader doing so.

I feel that Maul and Grievous should survive their battle against Luke and Vader in Episode VI so they can return in subsequent movies as a credible threat. Prince Jerjerrod, however, would die at Vader's hands (Force-choked to death), thus signaling Vader's personal rebellion against the Empire.
Emperor: Force-wielding powerhouse or will he have a lightsaber?

Why not both? A good sacrifice on the good guys side seems in order as well.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2007-10-31 08:58pm

havokeff wrote:Why not both? A good sacrifice on the good guys side seems in order as well.

RIP Han Solo.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-10-31 09:01pm

Galvatron wrote:
havokeff wrote:Why not both? A good sacrifice on the good guys side seems in order as well.
RIP Han Solo.

Well I was thinking between Luke, Vader and the "other".

Alexian Cale · Post by **Alexian Cale** » 2007-10-31 09:02pm

I'll be honest, I wasn't impressed with Palpatine yanking out a lightsaber, nor Yoda. Ruined their mysticism; they're sorcerers, not warriors.

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