BTS SW Saga: Rejected Ideas

One rumor that I've heard which has since become a popular vote is that Han Solo should have died at the end of Return of the Jedi. Nay, says I. First of all, Han already figuratively dies at the end of Empire. So, then he is to be rescued from Jabba and reunited with the friends, only to be killed off again for realz?! More importantly, why? Look, drama for the sake of drama isn’t very interesting. It’s downright lame, in my opinion. Drama should always be subject to -- a result of -- the story, not the other way around. Return of the Jedi does have its somber end-aspect concerning the salvation-then-death of Anakin Skywalker. It is a tragedy that was thematically earned over the course of the story. Throwing Han’s death (or Lando’s, for that matter) into the final mix doesn’t conclude any clear thematic through-line. One could argue that it would highlight more realistically, more naturalistically, the consequences of war, but such an argument fails; because, again, Star Wars is myth and romanticism, not realism. Tragedy befalls to move along or complete an idea/theme/motif organically. The Empire Strikes Back was the darker film where everything went to the dogs. In Return of the Jedi the good guys win. It’s about tonal contrast, and completing the circuit from light to dark to light again.

I'm also happy that Jedi went with Ewoks instead of Wookies. It made for a bigger, more subverting joke at the Emperor's expense. I'm big on the absurdity of it all. However, one initial idea I wish Lucas had never scrapped was omitting the ghost of Henry Jones Sr. from the line-up of spirits that greet Luke during the Ewok celebration. Seeing Ben, Yoda, young Hayden-Anakin and...Sean Connery together in blue ghost form, smiling at the camera, would have sent nerd fanboyism into such a rage, it could have very well tipped the Earth off its axis, spinning us all into deep space, or ablaze as a giant green fireball into Jupiter's atmosphere. It woulda been worth it, though.

​

 

I can probably think of many ways. When you remember that Fett is supposed to have taken down numerous Jedi in his lifetime, and is supposedly the best bounty hunter in the galaxy for a good part of the saga, and was trained by Jango, who did in fact hold his own against Obi Wan earlier in the same movie. I don't think it's entirely not plausible, and I'd much rather have seen it this way than the way Mace died in the movie, screaming like a punk.

EDIT: Plus, it would have given credence to the fact that Boba was meant to be one of the galaxy's most dangerous bounty hunters through the OT, as in the OT the only thing we really saw him do was get bumped into the Sarlacc by accident.

 

Vader and Boba Fett being brothers.

 

'Luke Skywalker' in that first draft is really an early version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, or a cross between OT Obi-Wan, PT Obi-Wan and General Dodonna.

'Annikin Starkiller' is, for all intents & purposes, the character we know as Luke Skywalker (the young hero), although he didn't really begin to resemble our Luke until the Second Draft. If anything, he actually resembles PT Anakin Skywalker more closely as a character.

 

How about this. This Death Star wasn't supposed to be destroyed until Episode VI, but because Lucas didn't think he'd be able to make more then one movie, it was moved to the end of ANH. Leia wasn't originally Luke's sister. Instead she was somewhere else in the galaxy fighting the Empire. It would have been Wookies and not Ewoks in RotJ.

 

I heard Obi-Wan was to stumble into a cave in the depths of Utapa, similar to the one in Empire Strikes Back. In it, he would find the spirit of Qui-Gon, who would inform him that Anakin is on Mustafar.

Not sure where I stand with this change, it would have been awesome to see Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon communicate again. I've also always been curious as to what Qui-Gon makes of the situation once Anakin turns to the dark side, but I like how it's intentionally not revealed.

 

That would have been great to see in the films. Although we do get to see them commune in the Mortis arc of TCW and at the end of Dark Lord : The Rise of Darth Vader.

 

Is it possible that this is what caused the infamous ROTJ poster mistake with the swapped lightsaber colours?

And by the way, I really wish they'd gone ahead with that. Fantastic idea.

 

This comes from a painting by Erik Tiemens. It's on page 40 of The Making of Revenge of the Sith.

 

what?

do not necessarily see a problem with that. Lucas likes his symmetry.

 

And he got it. Boba, like Jango before him, died directly after his jetpack malfunctioned.

I heard someone else say before that Boba's death was quite interesting because, in the end, he wound up being nothing more than just another clone lost during a battle. On top of that, he was even unable to get revenge on the Jedi (in this particular instance, Luke) after Mace killed his father. Star Wars has always been, at its core, a story of fathers and sons; while Luke was able to surpass his father's legacy and redeem him, Boba Fett wound up turning into (a very fascinating) clone that was unable to fully enact revenge and redeem his father's legacy on the battlefield.

 

I have felt that it's fitting that Boba dies in ROTJ....because he was the original clone. Just seems sort of fitting to me his death signals the beginning of the end of the Empire.

 

Yeah I think I would've liked that better. Also in the early drafts of that version, both Anakin and Padme flew a fighter into the Droid Control Ship and destroyed it. It would've been cool had they developed this idea. A 12 year old boy and a 14 year old girl clumsily flirting in the middle of a battle could have had some funny charm to it. (Better than the whole "Are you an angel?" thing) And it would've added a touch more believability to the Anakin/Padme love story in Episode II.

 

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/10-things-empire-strikes-back/

Look at the first one, the one about Yoda. Is it true?

 

Yes, it came straight out of The Making of ESB.

 

Thank goodness they didn't name him Buffy.

 

Indeed.

 

"Yoda" being named Buffy? I'm surprised more people aren't familiar with that - it is the single silliest idea ever considered for the films, including the borderline-incomprehensible "The Journal of the Whills" original treatment and the bit in a ROTJ draft where Obi-Wan comes back to life for the final battle.

 

Buffy the Empire Slayer!

 

I really wish the ROTJ had wookiees instead of ewoks help Han, Chewie, and Leia knock out the shield generator. If they wanted plush toys, they could've just made Wicket be a young Wookiee. Just because Chewie knows technology doesn't mean his species is technologically advanced. Han could've just taught Chewie how to use Star Wars technology.

It's much better how they did Anakin's conversion scene in the film. An earlier version had Anakin pretty much being convinced by Palpatine to become a Sith earlier by Palpatine's words alone, and when Anakin intervenes in the Mace/Palpatine battle, Palpatine isn't in the apparent position of seeming helpless. In the earlier version, Palpatine and Mace are both calling out to Anakin during the standoff, and Anakin finds what Palpatine says more persuasive. Since Palpatine is playing helpless in this earlier version, Anakin would still have reason to believe that Palpatine might overwhelm Mace with his Force lightning. So, Anakin doesn't have to act. From his perspective, Palpatine might win the battle on his own.

In the final version, Anakin must choose -- either he doesn't intervene and Palpatine "dies" and he has no chance of saving Padme or Anakin does intervene and the "weak" Palpatine is arrested ("He must stand trial!") and Padme has a chance to live. From what he knows, Anakin basically makes the moral choice even though he's doing it for selfish reasons. However, Anakin didn't figure that Palpatine was playing weak, and so he's totally surprised when Palpatine bursts back to life and fries Mace.

This version is better in two respects. It forces Anakin to choose. Also, it allows Palpatine to be sneaky and manipulative and a very calculated planner -- since Palpatine set up this situation beforehand that would place Anakin in the position where he would logically choose to side with the Sith, the very group he was supposed to destroy.

 

I agree with this. Also, though I don't get into the EU myself, I've heard that there's a backstory about the Empire having enslaved some Wookiees and Han having rescued Chewie from this slavery (EU fans feel free to correct me if I messed that up). Having Wookiees instead of Ewoks in ROTJ would've then added more emotional resonance for EU fans.

 

i find it weak but you know fanservice always ushers in the ruinazation of art

 

I honestly loved that. It was sooo creepy and proved Anakin went off the deep end. (Especially considering he had a casual sense of humor while on the lightside)