My theory

[Psab Keel]

This is the most logical theory I could come up with:

Anakin is "betrayed" by Obi-Wan when Obi-Wan is ordered by the Jedi council to expell Anakin from the Order after they discover his hidden marraige to Padme. Anakin resents Obi-Wan for this and thinks that he was working against him. The Jedi discover this information when it is revealed that Padme is pregnant with a child.

Padme who feels responsible for Anakin's expulsion, is consoled by Obi-Wan who tries to comfort her. Anakin sees this and turns to the only person who he can trust. Since the Jedi have betrayed him, his best friend, and his wife, he forsakes his love for Padme, his friendship for Obi-Wan, and his vows to the Jedi Order.

He then turns to Palpatine, the only man who he can believe in. Meanwhile Palpatine has orchestrated all of this and implicates those closest to Anakin in an attempt to lure him to the Dark Side. Palpatine sees that Anakin is powerful (Ep.II) and wants him to destroy the Jedi- the last thing standing in his way.

The Jedi see that Anakin has aligned himself with Palpatine, who has just declared martial law in the entire galaxy, and once secure in his office of power, declares himself Emperor.

Obi-Wan sees what Anakin has become, and tries desperately to warn Anakin of the Emperor's plans that led him to believe that he was betrayed.

Anakin will not listen, nor budge, and soon their arguing turns to battle, and they fight a furious lightsaber duel. Anakin falls into the molten pit, and Obi-Wan fears that he is dead. When Obi-Wan leaves, Anakin emerges and gives himself completely to the Dark Side.

Once the Emperor has rescued the former Jedi from certain death, Anakin, now Darth Vader, swears full and total allegiance to the Empire, and begins his hunt for the remaining Jedi. He helps the Empire Destroy the Temple and all the Jedi in it, but he does not know that Obi-wan and Yoda have escaped.

Obi-Wan hides Padme and is shocked to learn that she has twins ( the reason why Vader only knows of Luke, and not Leia until ROTJ) They then decide to split the twins to keep them safe from the Emperor, and Vader.

Padme is escorted to Alderaan with Bail Organa and his royal family, where she dies broken hearted, and Leia is given to the care of the house of Organa. (Why Leia remembers her mother slightly-"Images really Feelings"-Leia. If they start training Jedi as infants as we now know from the prequels, then it is entirely possible that she would have some vague recollection of her mother.) The droids memories are wiped clean of any connections to the dicsussed persons. (Why the droids don't remember Obi-Wan or Tatooinne)

Meanwhile Obi-Wan escorts Yoda to Dagobah with the infant Luke to hide the Jedi Master in the swamps. (Thus why Luke finds the planet familiar in ESB) Obi-Wan then travels to Tatooinne, to hide and gives the infant to the Lars to raise. He goes into hiding and changes his name to Ben Kenobi.

The End

Comments, Questions? Thoughts? Cookies?

Psab

[kdp100]

The Jedi see that Anakin has aligned himself with Palpatine, who has just declared martial law in the entire galaxy, and once secure in his office of power, declares himself Emperor.

Hmm, makes me wonder at what stage Palpatine actually DECLARES Martial Law? According to opening crawl of ESB, it happens after the destruction of the 1st Death Star.

However, if the Senate is still sitting up to this point, then why is the Imperial regime seen as being so tyrannical?

Maybe Palpatine declares several different periods of Martial Law throughout his reign - to consolidate his power-base in the early years, and then again at the time of the OT when the Rebel Alliance has started to score significant victories against the Empire. (Parallels with "Julius Caesar" suggest themselves here.)

There might be different degrees of Martial Law, and possibly the Battle of Yavin just intensifies matters?

[Wookiee]

It's a little too late for this idea, but how about this-

Add about 7 or 8 years to each movie in the prequel trilogy.

I think it would work out well, here's what you get:

No little kid Anakin in TPM. He's already a teenager, and the character can channel the frustrated teen-age angst towards being a slave and wanting to escape. Plus the absence of a cheery little youngster makes the character immediately darker from the start.

The Anakin-Padme romance is a little more grounded and passionate, not just a teeny bopper infatuation.

Padme gives birth to the twins earlier, and they are about 6 or 7 years old in Episode III. This way, Lucas gets to have a kid actor since we know he wanted that, but now it's little Luke, not little Anakin. Now, there's much more suspense in keeping the twins hidden from Vader, as they've been living in hiding for years, and have never met, or maybe they meet, but aren't allowed to know each other's identity. The Obi-Wan/Vader Showdown is much more loaded now, due to years and years of mounting tensions, and the characters are older and wiser.

Anyway, just a fleeting thought.

My only problem with the whole prequel trilogy was starting it with Anakin so young. I think it set the whole thing up akwardly, and doesn't allow Anakin and Padme to mature enough, since the films can only capture a small slice of their lives.

[JesusFreak]

I love your theory Psab. Having Anakin feel betrayed by Padmé mostly, would definitely turn him to the dark side, nice thinking!

[Chewtobacco]

Originally posted by Wookiee
Add about 7 or 8 years to each movie in the prequel trilogy.



Better yet, why not leave everything the way it is and add an Episode 3.5 to be released in 2008!

I hate to miss all the stuff that's going to happen as Leia and Luke are growing up and Vader is opening cans of whoop ash throughout the galaxy.

[plo koon 200]

Well, it might be nice to see Luke as a kid but one scene in EIII has already been filmed and that is the scene where Obi-wan delivers the baby Luke to Owen Lars. So, it is highly unlikely that theory could possibly work.

[mini-rock]

Originally posted by plo koon 200
but one scene in EIII has already been filmed

I'm curious how you know this. What or who is your source?:)

[plo koon 200]

This was confirmed in an EII documentary that you can view over the internet at Starwars.com and later confirmed further by TFN who goes into greater detail telling what happened in that scene. Also, McGrgor mentions deliviring the baby in one interview. This was confirmed a year ago so I can't easily find the links.

[mini-rock]

Really? I never heard about that. Thanks for the info plo koon 200, I'll check out TFN to see if I can find it.:)

[Chewtobacco]

Originally posted by plo koon 200
This was confirmed in an EII documentary that you can view over the internet at Starwars.com and later confirmed further by TFN who goes into greater detail telling what happened in that scene.

I agree that this is most likely the scene filmed furing Ep. 2. However, the documentary in Ep. 2 stated only that one scene was filmed in the Tunisian desert to save the crew from having to go back to the desert. It didn't say which scene. The problem with TFN is that it isn't the official SW website so any confirmation on that site wouldn't be an official one.

The bottom line is that we're guessing. Based on some pretty reliable sources.

I don't like it when fans confirm rumors by saying "George Lucas said so himself" or "confirmed on Sir Steves, The Force.net, rebelscum.com" or whatever.

[mini-rock]

Interesting. So Tatooine won't be in EP3 much at all.

BTW, I could not find that info over at TFN, and anyway I always take ANY info with a grain of salt.

[Beast]

I remember the info about Tatooine as well. If I recall correctly, there is also an article in the Star Wars Insider that showed a bearded robed Obi-Wan carrying somthing wrapped in cloth on Tatooine. They also discussed filming that last scene, but it could be mass hysteria that is making me remember it. If it is true, that would likely have been when they were filming the final shot for E3. :)

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[TheDarthVader]

I remember reading something about that scene for epIII also. It seems like it was in a magazine...don't remember which one... oh well. I believe it.