A Much Better "Star Wars" Prequel Trilogy Idea
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.