If Anakin had lost the race...

Could the outcome of the Pod race have been any different so that it could have more accurately paralleled Anakin's journey toward bringing balance to the force?

think about it
(Sebulba=Palpatine)

here's my theory.

Sebulba, knows of lil Annie's talents and uses them to his benefits. He uses Anakin in a way to run his other competitors off the track and causes them to crash (mirror palps using vader to kill the rest of the jedi). Then, when Sebulba has rid the race of his other competitors, he trys to kill Annie (mirror Palps offering Luke the job to replace Vader as his apprentice). Then all of a sudden out of some darkness in lil Annie's soul, the boy rams Sebulba's pod right into the side of a rock formation (mirror Vader killing Palpatine ine ep6).

When Qui-gon sees Anakin kill Sebulba, he is uneasy towards the idea of taking Anakin to be a jedi. but in the long run, he decides to just keep Anakin's tactic for winning the race a secret from the jedi council. this would add more depth to Qui-gon's character giving him sort of a dark edge. this can all come around to ep3 (speculation) when Qui-gon can come back as a ghost and reveal to Obi-wan that he saw the dark-side in Anakin from the start, and that he's sorry to have laid the burden of training him upon his shoulders.

Padme also having been their to witness Anakin killing Sebulba would in later episodes have to struggle with the fact that she and her feelings for him are leading him away from the order. she would then take a lot of heat from Obi-wan giving them both an emotional attachment that they fail to show later in the trilogy.

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so in my opinion George should have thrown out his idea of lil Annie being totally innocent in TPM, and given him this edge that a lot of people feel he needed.

Dont get me wrong though. i love episode one and the PT for all its worth, and its worth a lot, but i think that the story could have had a lot of potential if they built it off a secret Qui-gon and Padme had shared of Anakin's true nature.

Would anyone like to share their opinions of this new take on the Pod Race? is their anything that could have been added that i missed?

 

I like those ideas (although I also like the pod race the way it is). It would have been interesting to see Sebulba buy it at the end (kind of like Masala at the end of Ben-Hur's chariot race). If Anakin was the cause of Sebulba's death, I'd want it ambiguous as to whether it was intentional.

 

Could the outcome of the Pod race have been any different so that it could have more accurately paralleled Anakin's journey toward bringing balance to the force?

It's very accurate in paralleling Anakin's journey toward bringing balance to the Force. After Anakin wins the race, his Mom says to him "It's so wonderful, Ani. You have given hope to those who have none. I'm so very proud of you." And that does parallel Anakin bringing balance to the Force. In bringing balance to the Force, Anakin restores peace and freedom to the galaxy. He "has given hope to those who have none." Anakin bringing balance to the Force is hope fulfilled.

If Lucas went with the senario you describe, it would go against one of the reasons for showing us Anakin at such a young age.

I really think seeing Anakin at a time in his life where he is innocent and kind makes his fall that much harder to take and his redemption that much more satisfying.

 

I think if was saw young Anakin toss a piece of debris into Sebulbas Pod engines as he passes. And then to have that look of mischif in his eyes. Then see Sebulba eat it... that would have been more realistic.

He would already have been destined to become evil. We would have understood more of why Yoda and Mace did not want him trained.

It would have been awesome.

 

He would already have been destined to become evil. We would have understood more of why Yoda and Mace did not want him trained.

But, I don't see that we needed to know more than what we did as to why Yoda and Mace didn't want Anakin trained. It actually adds more mystery as to just why they don't want Anakin trained. Just what is it they see that we don't.

Besides, what Yoda and Mace were referring to with the danger of training Anakin was Anakin's future. The danger of what he could become in the future, not what he already was.

 

you have to admit. the scenario's offered above, whether it be ramming Sebulba into the side of a cliff or throwing the debris, its a lot better than the whole scuffle with Greedo thing.

 

...which got cut out of the film anyway, so it's a moot point really. Glad they chopped it.

Anakin intentionally killing someone? Nononono...not in my opinion. The more nasty things Anakin does as a child, the less sympathy we'll feel for him when he ends up a crippled near-dead cyborg. Keeping the kid good shows how his life choices ruin things, rather than being a bit Dark-Sidish right from the start.

 

i wouldnt think of it as Anakin intentionally killing someone, but rather Anakin playing just as dirty as his other opponents.

yeah no mischievious, evil smiles when he does it though. that would be too evil. he would have a MASK on anyway...

ooh, a MASK. another parallel.

 

But if you had him just a little evil and Qui-Gon couldn't see it... that would explain why Yoda and Mace felt the way that they do. Qui-Gon would be like give the kid a break, like he did in TPM.

 

If Anakin had lost the race... He would have been stuck on Tattoine until he could start a revolution.

 

i mean anakin losing the race
metaphorically speaking....