Would we view the Star Wars Saga differently without Episodes I-III?

Think about it.
If Lucas never did the prequels, would we see them from a different perspective?
We would probably be asking much questions that do get answered in the prequels, like the clone wars & how Anakin became Darth Vader.

What do you think?

Just like we did between the years 1983 and 1999, we would view the saga as a trilogy that tells the story of Luke Skywalker and his friends and his relationship with his father. With the PT, we get a bigger perspective on things and Anakin Skywalker seems much more central to the story than he did before.

EDIT: Regarding how we would view the first trilogy.... Well, we would obviously have no idea what the clone wars were really about and we wouldn't know squat about Padmé and how important she was to Anakin's fate.
I think most of us would assume that he turned to the dark side simply because he was power-hungry. Which, from one point of view, is true. We wouldn't know that his greed related directly to his wife, though. Also, we wouldn't know that he went against the Jedi code while still being one of them.



Prequels - they change things
/LM

For me the biggest things that the prequels add to the OT are Vader's strong ties to family, the origin and nature of Stormtroopers and the relationship Palpatine has to Vader.

The way family is revealed to be a central concern in Anakin; this adds greater logic to the Jedi tactics of sending Luke to face Vader. Also when Ben says "That boy is our last hope" and Yoda replies "No .... There is another." it really solidifies that Luke and Leia are the last hope. They're the last hope, not because of their force potential alone; but because of thier force potential and being the children of Anakin. They know direct confrontation won't work so the kids are the only ones who can stand a chance to bring Anakin back around. When Ben allows himself to be struck down; he glances at Luke and grins back at Vader. It could be at this moment that he formulates the plan. The way I saw the OT before the PT was simply that as long as new force potentials were born, there was always hope, but now I see where Lucas was probably trying to go with it.

By showing us that Stormtroopers are clones that are 100% loyal to the Emperor, it helps establish a solid stability in the Imperial regime. Having everyone surrounded by these loyal clones insures a much lesser probability of rebellion inside and outside the government. I used to wonder why the Stormtroopers chose to be bad guys. I mean sure it's a war and people choose sides, but eventually after 20 years of fighting people would begin to ask questions; like what are we fighting for? and are the rebels really my enemy? The nature of the clones prevents that kind of thing in the primary ranks. This also shows why only officers ever get punnished for mistakes whereas the Stormtroopers seem to enjoy immunity. Also when the Emperor is killed; there's now a lot more credibility in everyone being free all at once as we see in the end celebration, because with the Emperor dead, the chain of command and perhaps all the programming the clones are given shuts down and awaits new orders from new leaders.

By establishing Palpatine as an influence on Anakin at a very young age and for such a long duration, adds greater logic in the Jedi choosing to keep the twins away from the Emperor until adulthood. This was the primary reason we have Episode One begin with Anakin as boy. I'm not entirely sure if it was intentional, but it serves as an excellent example of the kind of Jedi Anakin would have become had his life experience been more like Luke's. Before I had always wondered why the Jedi were sitting on their duff until Luke comes along, but now I see that protecting the children from the Emperor's grasp meant keeping a low profile, and that was more important than any last ditch effort to seek confrontation with the Sith. That coupled with the point about Anakin's close ties to family, brings in a layer of logical character motivation for all the characters involved.

And to think some people think the prequels are all just about the CGI and have no story

I bet there would be a fan outcry and petitions demanding the prequels from Lucas.

good post YYZ.

Yeah.

"It's 2006! The 30 Year Anniversary is *next year* (or have you forgotten?)

Where are the 'Prequels' you promised us (back in the 80's, somewhere...), Mr. Lucas?!

Where are the PREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeQUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEELSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssss!?!?!?!?!?!?"

I bet that there would also be a bunch of people complaining that the Saga wasn't complete, because Episodes VII-IX were never made, and...

Oh, that's what's going on today...

If Ben's plan was to have Luke turn Vader back to the light, then why does he tell Luke that Vader is "more machine than man" and could not be turned back? I agree with you, the prequels make it clear to us the true reason why Luke and Leia are the last hope, because they are the only ones who can turn Vader back. But I don't think Ben realized that. Yoda may have, but he says nothing to that effect. The only two who really believed that Vader could be turned were Luke and Padme.

The entire saga, I-VI, is a complete character arc concerning Anakin Skywalker. He goes from good to evil and back to good, thus completing the arc. Without I-III we only see half of the arc, beginning when he is evil and ending with redemption, and thus the focus of the Saga would not be Vader so much as the kids, specifically Luke. It would be about his journey towards the revival of the Jedi. The redemption storyline would still be there, but it would be obscured. The prequals bring the story arc of Anakin into sharp relief and makes it the focus. Thus, the prequals, particularly Revenge of the Sith, serve to strengthen the Saga.

Very good one ! I never thought it that way, but you must be right. It is not because the Jedi were almost extinct that it shouldn't be possible to find potential Force users. But Luke has this special characteristic that noone else (except Leia) would have.

Ben's plan is not to turn Anakin back to light. As you say, he doesn't believe this is feasible. If Luke has more chance to defeat the Dark Lord, it is because of the weakness that Vader would have by confronting his own son, giving Luke more chances to win. That's the way I see the plan.

I don't know a lot about EU, but from the movie perspective, there is nothing that can tell us that the Stormtroopers are still clones. They could as well be simple (yet well trained) soldiers ! Why would fleet personal be only normal men, while stormtroopers would be only clones ? If clones are better, why not use them everywhere ? If not, why continue to use them at all ? Although there is no evidence of the contrary neither. So they might be, but I'm not certain at all about that !

Prequels are very important for understanding the entire saga. Though I personaly prefer OT, Prequels are essential.

Anakin-Vader, Clones-Stormtroopers, Cliegg-Owen, Republic-Empire, Separatist-Rebelion... those are the elements that make saga whole. Simply amazing.
Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, birth of the twins, Qui-Gon... there would be no saga without those elements.

to be honest before the PT i always thought that anakin turning back to the light-side was really lame and stero-typical. but now i have a deeper appreciation for it.

Yes, without the PT, the OT doesn't have as much emotional punch.

Like Vader re-joining Obi-Wan and Yoda at the end of the ROTJ.

Before the PT, this scene is:

After the PT, this scene is: ...... ... ... ... ...

I would not be talking about Star Wars right now if there was no Episodes I-III. It would be one of those things that I may make a funny reference to now and then and pop in once every 3 years to reminisce.

But the PT arrived just in time for interactive Games like KOTOR, a plethora of new EU novels, the internet to talk to people about Star Wars.....

And to top it off, they were good. They added an element to the OT that is very important. "Why are they fighting?" To me it seemed the Galaxy was always as it was in the OT, and these Rebels, instead of just hanging out at the Cantina, decide to go nuts and beat up on the evil guys just because they were mean.

Now I got to see a functioning Civilization, an intergalactic senate, and just how damn "mean" those evil guys were. The depth of people and places, intertwining stories, and the incessent scheming of Palpatine really add a great deal to the saga.

Carnage

i think the question is not would we, it is "did we". and i would most definitely say yes.