Ideas for Infinities..

[Naly]

As far as I know there are no plans for a Prequel Infinities book series...

If you were to create such a series....what event would be altered and why? Keep in mind the layout...none of the individual books have anything to do with each other...although I don't see why an individual story couldn't go into the original trilogy era

For me, it would be as follows:

Episode 1: Tatooine...Anakin falls off the exit ramp Maul feels his potential and brings him to his master. Either Maul eventually betrays his master and kills him somehow, or Anakin eventually takes Mauls place....Either way, Anakin becomes a Sith Lord before the Clone Wars....and becomes a Separatist leader. This opens up possibilities for a non-deception Clone War

Episode 2: This ones a tough one, because a whole lot of events were already in motion before the opening crawl...The death of Padme could change the path Anakin takes in the Force, but in what degree is the question

Episode 3: Anakin defeats Obi-Wan seems the most obvious, presents problems with what happen with the kids. C3PO? A change of heart from Padme based on her children?

There are plenty of other pivotal moments. Have Mace Windu kill Palpatine...and you would most likely be a world of lameness (or prolonged war at best), Kill Obi-Wan on the Invisible Hand, and I guess evil rules all or Padme runs away with the kids, Kill Anakin and Dooku Vader?!? This period has a lot of pivotal moments, but few of them are usable.


Any ideas fellas?

[Havok]

We've done this a whole bunch of times. Lets see what I can dig up...


"Episode I:The Sith Return
1. George Lucas doesn't direct.

2. Minimize the CG as much as possible

3. Get a kid who is not whiny to play this Anakin. He should be headstrong, arrogant and cocky, but still likeable. Sorta' a combination of the Han Solo and Princess Leia character traits from A New Hope. Portman is still good for Padme.

4. Story:
1. Anakin is slightly older, about 14 or 15, and already a Jedi padawan. Yoda has just completed Obi-Wan's Knighthood training and as a Master he is tasked with training the Chosen One, Anakin, whom Qui-Gon Jinn discovered in the outter rim on the small desert planet of Tattooine.

Anakin has been reluctant to accept a single master other than Qui-Gon. Others have tried to take him as a padawan but he has not "cooperated" with them and up until this point has been trained mostly by the Council itself.

Qui-Gon has been missing for some time and is believed to have gone after his old Master who has given up his life in the Jedi order. He is not named.

Obi-Wan and Anakin's first mission as Master and Padawan is as Ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor Valorum to break the blockade on the small planet of Naboo.

While cleaning R2-D2 Anakin meets Padme, a handmaiden of the Queen, who was sent to help clean the droid in thanks for helping them survive the escape from Naboo. He immediatley senses the Force in her and she reveals that she was going to be a Jedi, but her father couldn't bear to part with her after the unexpected death of her mother. The two instantly begin having feelings for one another. This is also where Anakin is introduced to the Queen's protocol droid C-3PO.

Escaping with the Queen and her handmaidens, Anakin and Obi-Wan are forced to land on Tattoine to fix their hyperdrive, which was damadged in the escape from Naboo.

On Tattooine, against Ob-Wan's advice, Anakin tracks down and meets his mother. He is appauled to learn that she is a slave, but due to circumstances must pilot her owners pod race in the Boonta Eve classic to get money for the parts they need.

Anakin wins the race and has made a deal for the release of his mother. She is freed but reveals that she is not leaving Tattoine because of her son that she secretly had with Cleigg Lars, whom she is now free to go live with. Anakin promises to come back to see his mother soon and meet his brother.

Darth Maul, who has tracked the Queen to Tattoine attacks the two Jedi on their trip back to their spaceship. They are getting over come by the swiftness of the attack when a third Jedi suddenly joins the fray, and the Sith Lord is driven back long enough for Captain Panaka to fly the ship over so the three Jedi and escape.

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Anakin go before the Jedi council and Qui-Gon reveals that in his hunt for his old master he believes that he has discovered that the Sith have returned. He futhers this by saying that the dark warrior that attacked them on Tattooine was one of the Sith Lords and that he believes that the Queen was his objective. The council debate this and order the three back to Naboo to protect the Queen and to investigate.

Qui-Gon confronts Anakin about his behavior since he has been gone and the two have a heated argument that ends with Qui-Gon ordering Anakin aboard the ship. Obi-Wan sees the exchange and Qui-Gon explains to Obi-Wan that when the Anakin was found he had been almost 5 years old and had lived a hellish life as a slave. The Council had decided that because of the boy's importance that he needed to be trained as a Jedi, but they knew he was too seceptible to the dark side with the memories and life he had already lived, so they wiped his mind and made him believe that he had been with the Jedi since he was an infant. The problem is that he is so strong in the Force that his mind resisted and several strong traces of his previous memories persisted in his personality, thus his quickness to anger, fear, jealousy and the reason for his nightmares. His mother was informed of this and asked never to betray the boys true upbringing if he made contact to her, to which she swore. Obi-Wan was now the only other Jedi outside of the council at the time to know this besides Qui-Gon. Even some current council members were not aware of it.

On Naboo Anakin apologizes to Qui-Gon and Qui-Gon tells him he will be great Jedi and that Obi-Wan is perhaps his only peer in the order besides Yoda and that he should take his teachings to heart. Anakins heeds this and the relationship between the two is instantly better.

The Naboo resistance cells realize that they are far too week to battle the Trade Federation Army and the Queen tells them that she may have a solution. She takes them to a hidden jungle clearing where several Gungans are waiting. The Queen tell the Jedi and Naboo that she has been having secret diolouges with the Gungan General Binks and that he is willing to gather his small but skilled army to help fight the TF invaders. Upon asking who the Gungans are General Binks informs the Jedi that the Naboo and Gungan used to live together in peace on the surface of Gunga but after millenia of animiosity over a long forgotten skirmish a great war erupted and the Gungans were defeated and forced under the oceans centuries ago. Queen Amidala had found a like mind in General Binks that believed that it was time for the two peoples to reunite in peace on the surface.

The Jedi tell the Gungan General that their army just isn't big enough to do what need to be done. Binks then says that they will then have to go see Boss Nass.

After Binks asks for the help of the rest of the Gungan Army he is proclaimed a traitor and is taken away to be executed. The Queen intervenes and bows to Nass and pleas for his help. Upon seeing this he realizes that the time for animosity between the Gungan and Naboo is over and that the threat of the TF affects them all and agrees to help.

The Queen's plan is to wage a battle just outside of Theed, but mearly as a distraction so that the united resistance cells can launch a starfighter offensive against the TF fleet in orbit and destroy the droid controll ship. Padme vouluteers to lead the fighter assult while the Gungans vow to fight side by side with the Naboo. The Jedi offer their protectin of the Queen while she attempts to catch Viceroy Gunray who has taken the Theed Royal Palace as his HQ which is the third and most vital part of the plan.

The Gungans and Naboo assemble outside of Theed and the droid army comes to meet them. The Jedi help the Queen into the city and the Palace where the main starfighter hanger is.

Anakin tries to talk Padme out of leading the starfighter assult but she will not agree so he then begins giving her flying tips which she rebuffs with banter of how good she is and how she could fly circle around him. She gives him his first kiss and takes off.

Anakin rejoins the other Jedi along with the Queens group as they are about to enter the main Palace. As the giant door opens a lone figure in black awaits them. Qui-Gon says the Jedi will deal with it and the Queen and her group take the long way.

The Queen and her group make it to the throne room, but the Queen is wounded. She begins asking for Padme.

The starfighter attack lead by Padme is being fought back easily for a time. But several fighters dive their ships into the shield generators overwhelming them for a moment and at that instant Padme dives her fighter into the droid ships main hanger entrance and weaves her way towards the central power generator. She launches a few torpedos and flies out the other side. The droid control ship erupts in a magnificent expolsion which not only shuts down the droids on the surface but also the droids operating the rest of the ships in the blockade.

The Naboo and Gungan fight gallantly but are being slaughtered by the overwhelming odds presented to them. In the midst of battle Captain Tarpuls sacrifices himself to save General Binks. Binks goes on a rampage destroying countless droids until he is shot and wounded. As a Droideka closes in for the kill the droid army shuts down and collapses.

The three Jedi battle against the Sith Lord. At first their efforts are confused but as Obi-Wan and Anakin begin to work as a team, with Qui-Gon keeping the Sith from fleeing they start to overwhelm Maul. He desperatly delivers a crushing kick to Obi-Wan who is sent plumeting off a catwalk onto another meters down. Qui-Gon and Anakin don't miss a beat and still battle the Sith Lord back. He retreats into a hallway where energy barries appear, disapear and reapear seemingly at random. Through acrobatics he is able to seperate the two Jedi.

Obi Wan recovers and leaps back up to the main catwalk and gives chase after the blur of lightsabers far down the hallway.

Anakin begins to draw on his emotions and anger as the battle is prolonged. In his arrogance he begins to advance ahead of Qui-Gon and confronts Maul by himself on a central room with a seemingly never ending cavern. Maul smiles and ignights the hilt of his extended lightsaber. Anakin is caught completely unaware and as he is about to be dealt a killing blow Qui-Gon leaps in front of him and the lightsaber pierces his chest.

Anakin in shock and staring at Qui-Gon's body on the floor barely blocks a slash from the Sith Lord but at the cost of his hand. As Maul once again attempts the killing blow, Obi-Wan this time interveins and begins fighting the Sith Lord back at a fever pace. The double bladed saber is severed and the fight continues until is Obi-Wan is Force Pushed back into the open pit.

Maul begins taunting Obi-Wan who is perilously hanging just inside the pit, by slashing at the edge and showering spaks down onto his face and hands.

Maul is suddenly distracted by something. He hears Qui-Gon muttering about the Chosen One and how Obi-Wan must train him. Maul gets a puzzled look on his face and in his moment of distraction Obi-Wan leaps from the pit as he calls Qui-Gons lightsaber to him. Maul, dodging to, late loses an arm an leaps back over the pit an escapes behind another hallway of energy barriers.

Maul stops, turns and looks at Obi-Wan as he kneels beside Qui-Gon. The two lock eyes and the Sith smiles and says "The Chosen One." Then turns and flees

In his dying breath Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan to protect Anakin from the darkness and as he dies, fades away into nothingness leaving just his Jedi robes. Obi-Wan, who is stunned, then attends to a waking Anakin and tells him the awful news. Anakin screams and collapses over in sorrow.

Padme returning from her victory enters the throne room to find everyone around the wounded Queen. Padme rushes to her side. The Queen tells her to lead their people from this darkness and reveals that Padme is the Queens younger sister and in her dying breath passes Padme her ring that signifies the Ruler of the Naboo.

Palpatine, the newley elected Supreme Chancellor, and several members of the Jedi Council arive on Naboo and Palpatine congratulates Padme and Obi-Wan and tell Anakin that he will watch his carrer with great interest.

There is a funeral pyre for the Queen. The Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu discuss the return of the Sith and if the master or apprentice faced Anakin, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. They also are confused as to what happened to Qui-Gon after he died.

There is a giant celebration in Theed and the new Queen, Padme Amidala presents Boss Nass a glowing globe and he holds it aloft for all to see and proclaims peace.

Note: Scenes not specifically covered play out the same as they do in the oiginals, with the appropriate charcters pluged in per the revision. Obi-Wan and Anakin have tea and get gassed. Obi-Wan tries to melt through the door with his lightsaber, while Anakin provides cover etc. Scenes that contradict the revision are deleted. Qui-Gon meeting Jar Jar etc.."

And on the Clone Wars...

"Speakin' of Clones...

My Cone Wars/clone idea has been that the human genome has been mapped. It is understood, so cloning isn't exactly what we think of it. Clones do not have to be and are not identical copies anymore and haven't been for a long time, although the term is still commonly used.
Basically a computer uses material from several sources and randomizes the clones so there are none that are identical. It is just "growing" people. More like accelerated test tube babies than clones.

By law, clones, if they are created, are required to be given individual personalities and free will. Cloning for labor and military service is outlawed. Control programing is outlawed as well too. Cloning itself is not outlawed, but the laws in place make it a useless venture. Historically, it was used on exploration vessels and to help terraform and colonize planets.

Direct Cloning, where you are specifically cloned for medical reasons is frowned upon but it also is not outlawed. It is tolerated as long as it is done far from galactic core, and is a lucrative business. It is also an alternative to cybernetics, however there is a higher chance of your body rejecting the cloned parts over the cybernetics, but not everyone wants mechanical body parts so it remains a viable option.

The Clone Wars were just that. Big giant fucking wars fought on a galactic scale by clones. They came about from what would be the separatists groups, and initially The Trade Federation, ignoring the law and creating and using clones for labor, and to keep a lid on that, using them to expand their security and military forces. The other groups that would eventually form the SM got wind of what the TF was doing and wanted their own clones. They followed the same plan. Cheap and easily renewable labor source with a cheap and easily renewable military force to keep it a secret.

Obviously TRILLIONS of clones couldn't be kept a secret that long and when the Senate and Republic found out, they attempted to force them to halt the growing of anymore clones and enact legislation against the "Separatists" to free the clones they already had.

When that didn't work, the Republic attempted military force to persuade them. However they quickly found that they were outnumbered and outclassed as the clone's programing was far in advance of the training of the Republic's soldiers.

After several victories, the "Separatists" began to realize that they no longer needed nor wanted the Republic and seceded from it.
The Republic, in no shape to argue the point had to accept the move, but when the SM began annexing systems that did not want to secede, it forced the Republic into further action.

Having only one true recourse, The Republic commissioned it own clones. Their clones differed in the fact that they had absolute free will, where the SM clones did not. However, the Republic clones were required to serve in the military through out the duration of the conflict and were only otherwise released from conscription after sustaining two injuries.

Of course learning that the Republic was now growing it's own clones, the Separatists escalated their own growing programs. The Republic in order to survive had to match that and so on and so forth. An escalation war was on.

The clones were UNCOUNTABLE and an exact number was never known for either side. The wars themselves were horrific and devastated entire sectors of the galaxy.

The wars took place over about 75 years. After the first 40 or so years, the two sides reached an agreement to cease production of clones as both sides realized that the wars were getting out of control and they could at least agree that neither side, if victorious, would have anything left to control the way things were going. Hostilities continued though.

In the midst of all this were the Jedi and the Sith.
In this version, the Sith still orchestrated the war on both fronts, but in truly evil fashion, each Sith Lord had autonomous control over each group and were playing it out on both sides like a giant intergalactic chess match. Palpatine controlling the Republic and Maul controlling the Separatists. The Jedi fought on the side of the Republic and knew that the Sith were involved, but couldn't figure out quite how. That they were controlling both sides, like in the movies, eluded them. They knew the Sith had heavy influence, if not outright control, of the Separatists due to the fact that Maul confronted and killed many of them directly in open combat. They believed him however to be just an apprentice and not in the position he was.

Palpatine had risen to Chancellor just at the start of the Clone Wars, so his old decrepit look in TESB is just that. He would be about 150 years old in ROTJ. Maul began controlling the TF at about the age he was shown to be in TPM. He is eventually killed by Anakin in a most wanktastic fanboy wet dream battle.

The clones on both sides were implanted with absolute obedience to both Palpatine and Maul and when the time was right and when Palpatine had beaten Maul, and Palpatine established his new order, the clones on the Republic side filled out the officer corp of the new Empire, while the Separatists clones formed the Stormtrooper corp, as they were programed to be obedient."

Now these two revisions don't quite mesh, as the TF would not need to blockade Naboo, but be in more of a position to try to anex it at this point, but you can still get the gist of my 'infinities'. I never did anything for Revenge of the Sith.

[Crazedwraith]

Those aren't infinities, Hav. They're just re-writes.

Infinities are what if stories, where you only change one thing in the original storyline. ie) Luke accepting Vader's offer in TESB. Or in prequel terms, Anakin siding with Mace instead of Palpatine.

Maybe an interesting one in RotS would be Anakin going back to Help Red Squad in the battle of courscant. Thus he doesn't reach the Invisible Hand in time and Kenobi reaches Palpatine alone.

[Havok]

Those aren't infinities, Hav. They're just re-writes.

Infinities are what if stories, where you only change one thing in the original storyline. ie) Luke accepting Vader's offer in TESB. Or in prequel terms, Anakin siding with Mace instead of Palpatine.

Maybe an interesting one in RotS would be Anakin going back to Help Red Squad in the battle of courscant. Thus he doesn't reach the Invisible Hand in time and Kenobi reaches Palpatine alone.

They are my infinities jerk face!

[Simon_Jester]

The multi-decade Clone Wars isn't a good touch, in my opinion.

The plot of the original trilogies kind of hinges on the premise that for all the advanced technology in the galaxy, humans still age and die more or less as normal: Luke is a young man at the same time that his father, Vader, is middle-aged. And Obi-Wan (who taught Vader and is presumably old enough to be Luke's grandfather) is an old man well past his prime- and yet young enough that he was in his prime when he knew Vader during the Clone Wars.

Which wouldn't be practical if people live to be 150 and Obi-Wan lives through 75 years of Clone Wars. Because then if he's old now, and lived through the entire Clone War era, he should have been pretty damn old when Vader betrayed the Jedi at the end of the wars- he'd be 100 now and 80 then or something, instead of being 60 now and 40 then.

Some of your other ideas for the Clone Wars would be appealing- a massive war fought by armies of clones on both sides, with the Sith playing the sides separately instead of having one chessmaster totally orchestrating both sides.

If we skip the extremely lengthy Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith can still play out more or less as it did 'historically:' the balance of power finally tilts in favor of the Republic. The Jedi are pursuing the last separate remnants, with Darth Maul playing the role of General Grievous.

Palpatine lures Anakin to the dark side, and we just change the order of events in the endgame a little: Anakin is first dispatched by Palpatine (with the aid and knowledge of the Jedi) to take down Darth Maul. He does so, and in the process does whatever is needed to switch the Separatist clones' loyalty over to Palpatine (and, by extension, Vader). The Separatists are thrown into total chaos. There's a brief and confused mop-up period; some Separatist clones don't get the order (or are ordered to fake not getting the order).

During this mop-up period, Palpatine secretly issues orders to a fraction of the Republic clones who were indoctrinated to obey his orders fanatically. The chaos of the mop-up is used as cover to infiltrate these indoctrinated clones into a position to kill the Jedi. Vader uses his knowledge of the Jedi's habits and his own great Force powers to betray and kill off many of the Jedi who survive the assassination attempts, possibly storming the Jedi temple or possibly not.

Then the endgame- Anakin confronts Padme and Obi-Wan, Anakin is grievously wounded. Obi-Wan spirits Padme away. She might die in childbirth (as in Ep. III), or she might survive, giving Luke up to be taken away under Obi-Wan's protection very early and then dying a few years after (so Leia remembers her, as in Ep. VI).

[Havok]

Oh no. TPM, or in this case The Sith Return, would take place at the culmination of the Clone Wars and Palpatine's grab for power would play out in roughly the same time frame, over Anakin's time in the movies.

And only Palpatine would have the long life span, although, humans probably should be quite longer lived in the Star Wars galaxy than they are in our due to quality of life and medical care.

[Naly]

These are very good ideas...but Crazedwraith is right, these are just pure what-if scenarios....so as much as I hate the little brat in TPM, we can't revision them.

The what-ifs presented in the Infinities comics are contained within the time of the film and change usually only one seemingly small occurrence and it radically changes the timeline.

Here's what the original comics did

ANH: The torpedoes detonate in the exhaust vent prematurely briefly weakening the superlaser, but not destroying the Death Star

TESB: Han's tauntaun dies en route to Luke and he arrives too late, with Luke's dying words telling Han to go to the Dagobah system

ROTJ: When Jabba hits C3PO in the head in his throne room with Leia in disguise, he knocks 3PO's head off and deactivates him. Without the aid of a translator, Leia is forced to reveal herself and actually use the thermal detonator Spoiler

This kills 3PO in the explosion...so you can kill annoying characters off if you can find a good story reason

There are the examples...lets see what we can come up with

[Guardsman Bass]

What-If Stories? I've had a couple of ideas:

TPM: What if Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had not encountered Jar-Jar on Naboo, either by hiding on a different ship or a different route? That seriously changes the plan to re-take Naboo by Amidala and friends, since they can't rely on the Gungun Army to draw out most of the Trade Federation ground forces. I suppose they might still be able to infiltrate and capture the Viceroy, but it would likely be much more difficult.

ROTS: What if the Invisible Hand was more damaged to the point where Anakin was unable to control its landing, and he, Palpatine, Obi-Wan, and R2-D2 all perished in the crash? Dooku is dead, but the Republican leadership doesn't know that. The novelization hinted that there were some groups within the Senate pushing for negotiation with the CIS, but I'm thinking that might be politically impossible after the "martyrdom" of Palpatine and some of the greatest Jedi in the Republic.

ANH: Most of the good ones have been done (including a lot of "Luke runs away and goes to the Academy, later getting picked up by Vader" in the fanfiction area). I suppose you could do one where Luke remembers to put the restraining bolt back on Artoo, preventing him from running off after Obi-Wan. Imperial forces catch up to them and confiscate the droids, possibly killing Luke and family.

ESB: Was the Falcon's hyperdrive damaged in the Battle of Hoth, or was it busted even before that? Having a working hyperdrive would significantly change much of ESB as well as ANH, since Han and Leia would presumably rendezvous with the Rebel Forces elsewhere. Luke would never run to Bespin and lose his hand, Han would not end up frozen in carbonite (although he'd still have bounty hunters after him), and so forth.