CT How did you envision Star Wars before the prequels?

So this one is more intended for the older fans that remember a golden era before the prequels came into existence. The prequels added a radical twist on the Star Wars narrative and this may, or may not have been what fans thought about the story of Star Wars before the events or during the events of the films.

I thought it would provide a fascinating insight. So what did you think of the following:

• The Jedi, their philosophy and how they were organised.
• The dark side and its origins.
• How the Galactic Empire was born.
• The Emperor.
• Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker.
• And also whatever else you feel is relevant to add that may conflict with the current narrative.

I look forward to the replies, should be interesting!

 

I can't really remember but one thing that stuck in my mind was that Obi Wan might turn out to be Anakin's father.

I also imagined, for many years, a scene where someone is about to have their saber taken away from them when they ignite it and impale the person taking it from them. Seriously.

 

I imagined there were an equal number of Sith and Jedi, constantly fighting and that the "Clone Wars" was something that depleted both sides.

I also pictured Anakin/Obi-Wan being about the same age.

 

I had the image of Luke's father turning in some similar fashion to Luke from ROTJ - not necessarily under the same distress, but standing in some dark room with large windows, and finally accepting and giving in to the offer.

With a sense of pride, satisfaction, and glee - himself kind of a distinguished English type, maybe 30s or 40s, with a dark streak of pride underneath.

He had dark hair I think... lol

 

Any other ideas?

 

Difficult to cast my mind back that far. I know I thought the Jedi were more like wandering warrior-monks who patrolled the galaxy like superhero guardians. Not such a formal structured order with close ties to government.

I had an image of Anakin being more of a high society upper class type who was hugely talented & became arrogant & corrupted. That's due to Vader's formal manner of speech in the OT. "What is thy bidding..." etc. I wouldn't have guessed he'd be a poor boy from the desert like Luke. I actually thought Luke & Leia's mother would be the commoner who Anakin fell in love with.

I'd pictured the Empire coming into being pretty much how it went down. Palpatine corrupting the Old Republic from within.

Definitely wouldn't have picked Yoda to be portrayed as he was. I thought he was an ancient teacher who hadn't personally fought for centuries. Which was GL's idea for the character up until he made the PT:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/en...-of-the-jedi_n_3313793.html?section=australia

 

The only thing I actually envisioned was a Jedi with a look similar to Luke's in ROTJ, standing against the backdrop of space with a yellow-bladed lightsaber in his hand

Beyond that, I just assumed that Owen was Anakin's biological brother, that Obi-Wan served directly under Bail Organa during the Clone Wars, that Anakin was around 20 years old when he and Obi-Wan first met, that Leia was a couple of years old when her mother died and that Yoda was Obi-Wan's primary mentor.

That's about it, I think.

 

I assumed as well that the Jedi were wandering do-gooders, going around and righting wrongs like they were in a Kurosawa film. That training and structure more closely resembled Luke's Jedi Academy. That the Clone Wars were fought over the ethical and practical applications of clones, rather than... taxation. That Bail Organa was a military man in his younger life. That it was Yoda and Obi-Wan adventuring around, and not Ambien Jinn. The political center of the galaxy I never gave much thought because it hadn't had screen time at that point. Seems like it's been removed altogether for the ST now .

 

I like this! I watched the OT shortly before I watched the prequels (a few days in-between) and I must say, this is the exact Star Wars galaxy I had imagined. The prequels really did distort my view of the galaxy but you grow to accept it.

 

... or not.

 

Oh no... When I sometimes watch parts such as "I hate sand", I tend to disregard them completely. I know what you mean!

 

I imagined the Jedi as ronins, not an institution.
I thought there were just a few Jedi across the universe: not thousands....

I imagined the Dark Side and The Emperor as being the same thing as if his body were just a materialization of the evilness.
The Emperor using a lightsaber? No way!!!! He was not a warrior: he was some sort of shadow/death entity.
The lightning he was able to cast was some kind of connection to the evil nature, not something a Jedi could learn...

Since the Rebel Alliance would destroy the Death Star, the Emperor would die anyway. So Vader's return was not meant to save the galaxy or destroy the evil: Vader just had saved Luke (from death) and himself (from darkness).
No chosen one at all: Luke was the only hero... Luke had saved Vader!!

Anakin was a starship pilot at his 30s when he first met Obi-Wan (at his 30s also).
Anakin never knew about Yoda, because the old master taught Obi-Wan a loooong time ago. The Emperor never knew about Yoda either.

Yoda knew about Vader and The Emperor because of what he had sensed, and because of what Obi-Wan had told him.
Yoda wasn't hidden: he just lived there since always....

The Force ghosts were a natural stage for any fallen Jedi.

OMG: The ROTS final duel, including the "You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!", is almost exactly what I thougth...
But I thought Vader were more machine than man because the Dark Side was consuming his body, and Vader's head scars were an almost-mortal-strike from Obi-Wan's saber.

 

I pictured Padme as older(not old just older than in the PT) and more regal, like Galadriel in LOTR. We meet Anakin as a teenager and progress from there.

 

I remember, as a small kid, being told by my Dad that Vader wore his suit because he fell into a volcano, so I've always believed this and wasn't surprised when almost two decades later we saw in ROTS that is basically what happened. So I'm wondering just now if everybody always knew that back in the 80's and 90's? Was it common knowledge then, like it is now? Was it in some early EU? How did my Dad know this? Or was he just guessing all those years ago, and got lucky?

 

Your dad's theme song right now:

 

Yes! That was the only time I felt a palpable emotional reaction to the PT based on story and script. The music always knows how to tap into the soul and feelings, but that's John Williams being a master. Ewan's delivery there was spot on. It wasn't really an earned moment because of how bad the rest of the execution was, but it still had ripples, along with the babies going to their adopted parents, because of the connective tissue to the OT.

 

Lucas revealed the volcano backstory in interviews going back to the early 80's, possibly even late 70's. I wouldn't say it was common knowledge, but it was known to fans who were hardcore enough to read his interviews.

 

Thanks I thought it might be something like that. Maybe my Dad was a bigger Star Wars fan than I thought he was.

 

This.

This is the Star wars I would envision; had it not been for those damned prequels. The Emperor, you have spot on! Seriously, that is exactly what I thought of him. If it's any consolation, there is a thread that discusses Palpatine's body being in a stage of evolution at the time of RotJ. Almost as if he is becoming an omnipotent etheric entity, Lucas stated it was a race against time to stop the Empire and also the Emperor from becoming too powerful. This idea is all a matter of interpretation but I buy it! Nevertheless, the Emperor's portrayal in the PT was one of their few redeeming qualities.

I sometimes wished the prequels could be retconned and we could start over...

 

So this is rather silly, but one thing I envisioned about the prequels was that Anakin would look exactly like Luke. Not just similar. No, I thought he would look exactly the same as Mark Hamil from 1980. Why, you may ask, did I think this? Well let me preface by saying that I didn't always come up with the most logical conclusions as a kid lol. But the reason is that I had learned in ROTJ that Vader was Anakin. Then, when I rewatched the trilogy, I noticed this in TESB:


The face behind Vader's mask was Luke's. But I very cleverly knew already that Luke was not Vader (you see, Vader was actually Luke's father). And so, I made 2 and 2 equal 5 as I came to the genius conclusion that Anakin used to look exactly like Luke.

 

Hah! Oh man, young child perceptions. I'd only seen random elements when I was little, so for the longest time I had this false memory of a scene where Vader is kneeling to his master, and my child mind somehow put Jabba the Hutt there... so I thought Vader answered to him most of my childhood!

Another friend who'd only seen clips, prior to seeing the films, thought that Luke was being trained by the two droids to become a Jedi as they wandered around.

It's actually kind of amazing how the mind and memory work, and just how fallible our perceptions can be!

 

Perhaps he was......conspiracy theory time!!

 

I imagined Darth Vader hunting down the Jedi one by one, as they were spread all over the galaxy. I viewed the Jedi order through more of an Arthurian lens, so the "round table" like Council made sense, but I didn't see them as all being concentrated on and based out of Coruscant.

I imagined Anakin growing up on Tatooine in pretty much the same fashion as Luke, and that he was corrupted by power. I imagined the Clone Wars to be the Jedi vs. Empire led by Darth Vader.

Always imagined Palpatine to be just about as portrayed.

 

Prior to the release of AOTC, I had a different idea of how Anakin was going to be married and how it would tie into the start of the Clone Wars. Instead of a private ceremony on Naboo, I actually thought Anakin and Padme's wedding was going to be a huge, major event that took place on Coruscant, with all sorts of senators, politicians and Jedi in attendance (in retrospect, almost like the beginning of The Godfather). Then, in the midst of the ceremony, the Mandalorian army swoops in and breaks up the entire party, thus inciting the Jedi into battle and consequently kicking off the Clone Wars.