ST The Mystery

Well, you asnwered that in your original post:

Pretty much describes the situation I mentioned, dontcha think?

Anyways, it's more mysterious then the following suggestions:

Those aren't really mysteries since we already know the answers. Anakin destroyed the Jedi because he craved power and wanted to save Padme. He turned around and destroyed the Sith later because his son showed him how to be a true hero. The Empire was handed the reigns of government in RotS and used their galactic army to hold control. Vader and Palpatine hunted down remaining Jedi and solidified power leading into ANH.

No offense, but none of these should be dealt with in the ST. The ST is taking place 30-40 years after Jedi, so it shouldn't focus on events that happened 20 years before Jedi.

 

It doesn't really defy expectations when revolutionaries turn into power hungry dictators. It's actually a standard trope.

Ah, but what precisely was his destiny? Maybe it entailed destroying the Jedi just like the Sith. Discussion on this very board shows that Anakin's role is still not at all clear.

Yes, and was that all they did? Who says they didn't have skeletons in their closet?

Anakin's destiny may be connected to the destiny of his grandchildren.

 

How about another miracle baby? The Star Wars movies always seem to double up on things like twin Skywalker kids, twin suns, master and an apprentice, and two Death Stars.

There can be only one chosen one, but there's nothing saying there couldn't be two miracle births.

 

It hasn't been in Star Wars, and I can't think of another popular saga where it's happened. Standard trope in reality, not in popular entertainment.

I thought the movies were pretty clear. The Jedi had a prophecy about the destruction of the Sith. They thought Anakin would fullfill it. Anakin made horrible choices, but in the end Anakin did fullfill the prophecy. Then Anakin died. That story was told and was his destiny, a destiny that is already fullfilled and doesn't need expanding on in the ST because it's not clear to some people posting on the internets.

Now you are expanding your original ideas. Skeletons in the closet could be interesting, especially if they involve secret apprentices that are new Sith or beings created by Palpatine or Vader using Plagueis' power. How about beings created by Vader in the same way he was created? Those would be interesting skeletons.

Seeing as he fullfilled his destiny and is dead, there is no need to shoehorn him into the ST. Let Luke, Leia, and the grandchildren have their own destinies.

fixed it for ya

 

There may be more to the prophecy than we yet know. The filmmakers have to look for ideas for how to expand the story, because right now it is completed. And the prophecy was always a rather vague thing.
And maybe Anakin isn't the only one chosen by the force. Maybe the prophecy involves more persons than we know right now.

That was my original idea. What do you think I meant with "What did Vader and Palpatine do in the twenty years of their rule?" in the context of creating mysteries?

 

The Force should remain the quintessential SW mystery, to be sure, but aspects of it should be explored. The Netherworld should be explored, but remain a mystery, as should light and dark side immortality. A specific mystery surrounding the Force itself might be interesting, especially surrounded by a character like Luke. These are very meta-physical mysteries. Others should include more concrete mysteries involving plot in terms of who is responsible for an assassination attempt, terrorist attacks, biological warfare and/or virus outbreaks. Should the ST provide another Sith Lord puppet master mystery to solve? That's a tough one. We've seen that already. An awakening of an ancient evil might be called for, but again it's difficult to judge. I would prefer to see a mystery surrounding the Sith. If the ST has any chance of matching or surpassing the previous trilogies in story content, exploring the Sith and all their powers provides the best shot. But that's just me. I think the Sith are far more interesting than the Jedi at this point.

 

Expand the story PAST the prophecy. The prophecy had to do with Anakin's arc. Anakin's arc is done with, finito. The ST is about expanding Luke's (and perhanps Leia's) arc(s) and developing new arcs for the new generation. It isn't about re-opening Anakin's already closed arc.

This is why the prophecy idea of Lucas' was a bad idea. People don't see the story as existing beyond this ONE character arc.

I thought you meant what they were doing in the context of the Empire ruling the galaxy, and like the other points, we already knew the answer. They were hunting down Jedi.

Had you asked what hypothetical things could've possibly been done, or even used the term skeletons, then I would've taken it differently and as you apparently intended.

 

Yes the prophecy was a bad idea, I agree. But the situation can be easily salvaged. Like it or not, the prophecy is important and the ST is supposedly a direct continuation of I-VI. Fortunately it can be made into something better and more interesting, like say a cyclical prophecy about many chosen ones. And that's just from the top of my head. The prophecy needn't be only about Anakin. Maybe the children and grandchildren of the special one are in some way special too?

What's mysterious about that? The entire thread is about possible mysteries, about options, not answering banal questions.

 

I see the mystery initially involving the return of the Sith and how that could be possible if the Prophecy was fulfilled as previously believed. Quite apart from its role in the story being concluded, I think the Prophecy could be used to great effect in this regard, because it's something the audience should be wondering anyway.

On top of that, I think we'll get another mystery about the identity of the Sith Lord whose presence becomes known. And then if, say, we learn that Palpatine is in the background of this, there will also be the mystery of how he managed to return.

 

The ST can continue the story of I-VI without continuing Anakin's arc. The main problem with the prophecy is it causes some individuals to think the saga's only storyline is the prophecy. It's not. Anakin's chosen one story ended at VI. IV-VI overlapped the end of Anakin's story with the beginning of Luke's. The ST can (and based on Lucas' comments will) continue the saga by continuing (and most likely concluding) Luke's story. There are 9 episodes, but the prophecy deals with Anakin's 6, not Luke's 6.

 

Darth_Pevra if they adjust the prophecy in this trilogy its just going to be a gigantic cluster. So you have a trilogy that is all about the prophecy, a trilogy that makes no mention of the prophecy, and then you have a trilogy that changes the prophecy for the sake of a new story? They'd be better off going back cutting out any of the prophecy BS from 1-3 and re-releasing the cut up prequel movies as official material. It would make a lot of people angry but hey the originals have already been butchered to death let's butcher up the prequels a bit for the sake of continuity. Make Anakin just a badass Jedi who turns to evil instead of the Jesus of the Star Wars universe. While they're at it they can take out the midichlorian stuff too.

 

Claiming that history repeats itself and that there is a chosen one every generation wouldn't automatically result in a giant cluster****. Imo it's not that hard to grasp.

 

Whatever happened to Jar Jar?
Did he die?
Was it a gruesome death?
Did he suffer?

Good. *sigh of relief*

 

They should just show luke talking and in the background the news says "Senator Jar Jar Binks was brutally murdered today, No leads"

 

That could come off as a rip-off of The Matrix.

 

There was more than one chosen one in Matrix? I have willfully forgotten so much about those movies...

 

"If you could drain the Naboo River in a 6 inch tube, then how many bantha steaks can you fit on Obi-Wan's roof?"

I want this mystery explored.

 

At the end of Reloaded, Neo is revealed to be the sixth "One".

 

What makes a force user more powerful, video game midichlorian count (super ultra Yoda level) or faith in the force.

That might be an interesting tension for the ST.

 

Here's the thing, you need a high midi count to manipulate the force, without it there is no chance to be a force user.

Faith in the force won't allow you to manipulate it without the high midi count.

As evidenced by characters such as Tenebrous, faith isn't required in the slightest.

 

The movies never actually said that.

 

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?"

"May the Force be with you."

"May the Midi-Chlorian count be with you." It just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

 

Look at all the rebels that said may the force be with. Could they use it? Nope. Only Luke could. You know why? Because he has a high midi count and they don't.

Midis are not the force, they are only the mechanism for manipulating the force.

It was abundantly clear in the PT that you needed a high midi count to manipulate the force. The EU emphasized this point. The same point Lucas has stated as far back as his late 1970's memo.

 

Maybe this idea will change?

I'd like to see a character with a low midi count be the hero/heroine. Their faith allows them to access their full potential and makes them more than a match for someone with a crazy high count.

If faith doesn't mean anything in SW, then it's no better than a video game (imo).

Faith in yourself, friends, the Force. The power of the individual against forces bigger than them.

 

I agree. While it's true that those with higher midi-chlorian counts have greater potential in achieving awesome Force feats, it doesn't mean that they can realize this full potential. Through intense discipline and the willingness to open oneself to the Force fully, a Jedi with a lower midi-chlorian count can achieve more impressive feats with the Force than one with a higher count that hasn't opened himself or herself as fully. I do agree that this theme of faith in following the will of the Force, using it to guide one's actions, should be further explored in the ST. A way for the underdog Force-user to come out on top, against the odds.

Basically, one is right to believe that "the Force works in mysterious ways."

Regarding Plagueis' obsession with unlocking the secrets of the midi-chlorians (from Book of Sith), Luke had this to say:

Recall that a long-running theme in TPM was that of symbiosis; I think midi-chlorians neatly fit the bill as a thematic element of symbiosis, a way for lifeforms to "listen to" and "touch" the Force. But it is only but one piece of the puzzle; faith in the will of the Force may be more powerful. Perhaps we can see the clash between faith in the Force on the side of the Jedi versus the manipulation of life and midi-chlorians on the part of the Sith faction, maybe from the legacy of Darth Plagueis or the man Muun himself.