ST The ST: What Would You Change/Revise?

Could have even done something cool with a 'berlin wall' or an iron wall type of set up too. Where a section of the galaxy is behind enemy lines. This side is still Imperial (or as you say Mandalorian or some other new entity) The people there are either pro this new side, or starving or trying to be freed. And people like Han Solo are smuggling goods in and people out.

 

Yes. Lots of really good story opportunities that would have translated easily to the big screen, and not been too politically complex for a mass audience.

In the TV world, on the other hand, I hope there’s a lot of political complexity.

 

I'd add more Phasma. Had great potential, but largely wasted. Hated how she just shows up just to fight Finn.

Like: What if somehow Phasma noticed Finn and Rose escaping to Crait and she quietly follows them. She doesn't tell the FO, she just wants personal revenge. She wants to personally recapture the traitor/escaped slave. Throughout the film, we keep seeing Phasma getting closer, or hunting them. Tension is building on this little side quest. Not only is the Resistance in trouble, but so aren't Rose and Finn. We learn more about Phasma and her methods. Her connections on Crait. Knowing that Finn is being hunted to get placed back into slavery could have added a deeper twist to the child slavery plot. This goes on until Finn finally makes his choice to fight. No one is going to enslave any more kids. He finally make a choice and confronts her. And knowing that Finn and Phasma have a history, it could have been amazing showdown. Well earned and critical to the entire story.

 

I think you meant Canto Bight, not Crait. If so, I agree. That would have been an improvement, if executed well.

 

Oops. Brain fart. Can't edit that now.

 

I wonder if they'll continue to make it a theme. Create a character don them in the best armor/outfit get people excited about collecting figures, cosplaying, etc then make that character a complete non-factor in the saga. They should have a Skunkworks section with top minds on that.

 

The same, but worse, was done with Constable Zuvio. He didn't even got an appearance in TFA.

When the first pics of the collecting figures appeared, i thought of him being an awesome villain character appearing in the movie.

 

I would make it better.

 

I would keep a lot of the general story, but here’s how I would change it:
EPISODE VII

Text crawl can say something about it having been a time of peace and prosperity under the New Republic, but there are still dangers lurking.
Start with Leia as Prime Minister/Chancellor of the New Republic. It has just been leaked to the press that Vader was her father, and that is a scandal. Her and Han are still together, and he is still the lovable scoundrel.
We meet Luke training young Ben at his academy.
Flash to night, and the explosion of the academy, Luke pulls himself out of the rubble with R2.
5 years later (time established by text on screen or a quick line of dialogue “It’s been 5 years since that happened” ):
The rest of VII is roughly the same as TFA, with some stuff cut out to make room for the extra beginning and slight rearranging. SKB can destroy capitol/NR military command or biggest base, then Leia shows up later with the remnants, now called the Resistance.

Can then keep VIII as is, or slightly change the reason for Luke’s failure with Ben, perhaps include the Knights of Ren.


These changes get us back to the Rebs vs Imps, but IMO gives us a better understanding of why Han and Leia broke up (their son), why Han went back to smuggling, why there is a Rebellion vs a NR military. Still keeps the mystery of what happened at the academy and why a Luke went away.

 

I would change my number one gripe with the last jedi. Give threepio his red arm back!

 

Yeah. I didn’t recognize him without it.

 

Anakin, Obi Wan and Yoda (sober, not drunken) should have been in Ep 8. Their omission was ludicrous.

And 90% of TLJ’s script should be scrapped.

 

Yes, the credits and the music in the end was great!

 

My idea doesn’t change much at all in the content of the movies, but a lot in the context.

I want the ST war to be reframed as something comparatively small and ****** compared to the OT one. Worlds torn by CW and under imperial boot in the OT are not ruled by any big entity as the NR fell, so they’re a little confused but the FO isn’t *everywhere*. They’re all show and what we’ve seen in the movies is basically the entire FO fleet and capabilities.

That way the legacy of the OT3 is more intact for the whole galaxy, yet stakes and cool battles can still happen on a smaller scale.

 

I also think the Force ghosts should have been in the story. Frankly in TFA or Episode 7 to begin with.

 

I was dismayed with nearly every direction The Last Jedi took, including and especially the handling of Rey, Kylo, and Luke. One thing I liked about The Force Awakens was the way these characters were introduced. Issued forth were tantalizing puzzle pieces I hoped would legitimately comprise a slowly revealed and fascinating backstory. Unfortunately this never happened and now there’s no going back as far as I can tell.
So, to assuage my grief I invented my own backstories for these characters.

Pre-ST timeline, starting a few years after ROTJ –

1. Luke starts a school to train a new order of Jedi Knights. He recruits priests and scribes knowledgeable in Jedi lore to help him. One of them is Lor San Tekka, a surviving Jedi priest of Alderaan’s royal family. With the help of the Republic Luke scours the galaxy and dismayingly finds only a handful of trainees, all of whom have at best a weak Force-sensitivity. Nevertheless he begins training them to become Jedi.

2. Leia gives birth to Ben. The pregnancy and delivery is so traumatic that she becomes barren. Eventually she and Han allow Luke to teach Ben. He is a Force prodigy, the first student to inspire Luke. His abilities make him prideful and selfish. He asks Luke to teach him powers for manipulation and Luke refuses. Luke is suspicious and thereafter Ben hides his desires under a cloak of virtue.

3. The Republic receives a distress call from an unknown system begging for salvation from an evil god. Luke goes and discovers a paradise-like planet that is technologically primitive and never had a visitor. He finds the village that sent out the distress call. They and others are enslaved by a satanic-like cult that sacrifices innocents to its leader, granting him immortality. This cult leader is Force-powerful and worshipped as a deity.

4. Luke confronts the cult leader, there is a cataclysmic showdown, and the entire cult dies in a fiery disaster, including, he thinks, the leader. Luke hardly escapes and is shaken to the core. Back in the village he senses a strong Force-presence in an orphaned baby whose parents were sacrifice victims and takes her home with him.

5. Han and Leia adopt the child and name her Kaida (no special meaning). Under a premonition Leia asks that her origin remain secret – only she, Han, and Luke can know. As she grows up Ben becomes attached to her. After a few years she joins Luke’s school. Like Ben she is prodigious.

6. Ben starts to venerate his grandfather and the dark side. In secret he begins calling himself Kylo Ren and recruiting other students, calling them the Knights of Ren.

7. The cult leader has survived by feeding off the life of a surviving cult member then going to the village and feeding on them. He finds the transmitter and sends out a message. He is picked up by a rogue ship, slaughters the crew, and navigates to a planet of Republic dissidents who call themselves the First Order. He lies and kills his way into power, promising to crush the Republic if they will make him their supreme leader.

8. Ben starts reaching out to the dark side. Snoke responds and promises him the power he seeks. Ben meets secretly with Snoke and learns several perversions of the Force, including how to invade and erase a person’s mind.

9. Snoke learns from Ben everything about Luke and the school. Desiring vengeance he orders Ben to destroy the school and kill everyone, saving only one to convey to Luke that Ben is responsible for the slaughter.

10. Luke goes off-planet to a Senate hearing about the growing First Order threat and while away Ben carries out Snoke’s orders, destroying the school and killing everyone but Lor San Tekka. He saves Kaida from execution, telling his knights that he will personally dispose of her. He also spares a boy that is Kaida’s age, deciding to bring him to Snoke for evaulation.

11. Ben takes Kaida to Jakku in the Millenium Falcon and gives Unkar Plutt the Falcon in exchange for taking her. Before leaving he tells Kaida that mom and dad will come for her on Jakku so she must stay put. Then he wipes her mind of all memories. At some point she dubs herself Rey since she has no memory of her real name.

12. Luke returns home and finds everyone dead except Lor San Tekka, who tells him what happened, that Ben betrayed him, and is training under a new master. Luke is devastated. He goes to Han and Leia and tells them. They are destroyed by the news. Their relationship ultimately cannot recover from the blow and Han does what he thinks is best which is to leave Leia and save her from being reminded of their lost children.

13. Ben, now openly Kylo Ren, returns to Snoke with the boy who speaks defiantly to Snoke. Snoke angrily wipes his mind and turns him over to join the ranks of the First Order. (This is Finn)

14. After battling the cult leader, hearing about the new leader of the First Order, and finding his school destroyed by a traitorous student, Luke starts to piece things together. He tells Leia his suspicions about the true identity of Snoke. Since the Republic is unwilling to respond to the First Order’s aggression, Leia covertly begins a private resistance to deal with the threat.

15. Luke travels to the Jedi Temple, hoping to find some key to defeating Snoke, Ben and his former students. He leaves a map with Lor San Tekka should someone in the resistance need to find him. When Luke gets there his X-wing goes down and he’s marooned.

What is most satisfying for me in these backstories is the way they resolve into the title and plot of Episode VII. Now Rey and Finn’s force awakenings make sense.

 

I would change Kylo Ren's role as someone outside of the Skywalkers
Maybe a Luke's fallen apprentice or a secret apprentice of Vader/Palpatine

Rey as daughter of Luke/Han and Leia and Luke's Jedi would still be alive

 

One extra topping - As his nephew and niece and most gifted students, Luke passes on his green lightsaber to Ben and his blue lightsaber to Kaida. Ben feels his birthright has been usurped, that the saber rightfully belongs to him, not Kaida. When he destroys the Jedi school the lightsaber is missing and he becomes obsessed with finding it.

 

Star Wars follower: Master Yoda, what would you change about the sequels?
Yoda: Everything!

I'd go for Lucas' original sequels. Or I'd write out a mapped out script to tie the saga together. Focusing on the OT cast and an array of new characters who play the role of Jedi students, Imperials, villains under Darth Plageuis, the Shaman of the Whills etc. I'd have a proper hero's journey for the young cast (including a female protagonist) rather than Rey and co.

 

here is my backdrop for Episode 7, which I call Shattered Empire (FYI I honestly came up with that title well before it was announced as the title of a Marvel, post-ROTJ comic).

here were the conditions I imposed on the story:

1. No Sith or Dark Side users - that goes against Anakin's arc, completed in ROTJ.
2. we have to SEE Luke pass on what he has learned. This cannot happen in between 6 and 7. It's the only thread that Lucas left open in ROTJ, and it should not happen off screen
3. There has to be a compelling reason or reason(s) why Luke has not restarted the Jedi in the 32 years after ROTJ - why should the Jedi exist at all in a universe that has been purged of the Sith/Dark Side users? Why was it so important for Luke to pass on his knowledge?
4. There has to be a compelling threat that rises to challenge the status quo, that will make it logical for Luke to restart the Jedi now. This threat should not just be a new set of bad guys, but perhaps the Alliance/Republic itself (or both!)
5. The new jedi order that Luke starts has to learn the lessons of the past Jedi failures and be a true force for good in the galaxy

With those provisos, I came up with this backdrop for the story. There is more if anyone is interested. Would love your feedback.

Star Wars - Episode VII: Shattered Empire

Chaos in galaxy - no Jedi to support the Alliance. Alliance cannot finish off the remnants of the Empire. Terrorism, poverty, unrest is everywhere. Sith are defeated but the Alliance has not consolidated the peace and Luke Skywalker hasn't been seen for decades. There are no known Jedi (Leia is a Jedi but is hiding that from everyone - except her husband Han and their daughter - Rey).

Alliance wants Jedi reestablished so they can finish off Snoke and remnants of Empire and restore order and peace to the galaxy. Leia is president of Alliance. Luke has not yet restarted the Jedi - only Leia knows where he is - he has secluded himself and is training himself to be a Jedi Master with the original Jedi texts at the site of the original Jedi Temple (Ach-To). He is afraid of sith rising again and his father/legacy being maligned if he is not ready to pass on what he has learned. He was a great Jedi Knight but he has had to prepare to be a Jedi Master. Alliance wrongly blames Luke for chaos and Snoke and the First Order rising. Leia trusts in Luke’s timing. Luke feels he could make things worse if he starts the new Jedi when he isn’t ready.

Snoke takes control of the remnants of the Empire just before the events of Episode VII, and in an early scene reconstitutes the remnants of the Empire, along with other forces, as the First Order. Their goal is to restore order to the chaos, defeat the Alliance, and wipe out the legacy of the Jedi and the force.

Snoke hates Jedi (background - Jedi led to family's death). Snoke thinks Jedi are quixotic and superstitious. Thinks people don't need Jedi and hokey religions to reforge a great society. Snoke tries to convince people that Alliance and old Jedi order are their enemy and that he can bring order to chaos.

 

I like this a lot, particularly the idea of making the antagonists the insurgents.

I would make the ST about the Alliance earning its transition into the New Republic, and a new jedi order earning its role as the true guardians of peace and justice.

 

@Miles Lodson I really like your ideas about where Luke's head is at. I hope that's the route they take for Luke between the trilogies.

 

@DarthPhilosopher thanks. In many ways I could buy that the OT Luke was still on an island 32 years after ROTJ. What I find really hard to buy (even though I still enjoy TLJ, oddly) is that he is there because he had utterly failed to pass on what he had learned already. I could buy some failure on his part, but not off screen. The character deserved much more than that.