Will Lucas tie the gap between the trilogies with Episode Three?

[mini-rock]

Originally posted by zeroplate
well, for what it's worth, here would be my take on it:

The Jedi are arrogant and stoic to a fault. The whole idea of having no connections to people, the emotional detachment, and the Jedi playing the role of the 'old world' religious leaders all points to them as being severly flawed. What makes Luke different from the Jedi that have gone before him is that he places more value on the lives of his friends and family than he does on the Jedi code of behavior and training. Anakin does the same thing, but obviously loses the battle to stay good (and we don't know how yet.) Luke wins that battle (and ultimately, Vader does too I guess) and Luke shows that you have to have a balance between these high-minded ideals that the Jedi stand for and a more basic connection to the people around you.

It's not enough to just be connected to the whole universe through the force-- it's a case of seeing the whole and not the parts. The Jedi to me are painted in a very negative light. Sure, they are great warriors and they are revered, learned people, but they are unable to see what's going on with Palpatine because they are too stuck in their old ways. They believe that the Jedi order and the rules surrounding it should always conquer all, but in truth, they are lacking what most humans would consider very basic human qualities.

If you look at Star Wars as a mythic story arc, it's kind of a classic tale of the old, established powers-that-be crumbling under their own failure to grow and change. Anakin and Luke represent varied attempts at changing with time and bringing more humanity and empathy and love to the Jedi order.

If you follow out the logic of Yoda's warnings to Luke, then Luke should not confront Vader and the emperor, should not help his friends, and should stay with Yoda to complete his training. Well, in the end, obviously Luke made the right choice, which meant that Yoda was wrong. Of course, you could always say Yoda was telling Luke what he needed to hear, but the films don't support that. After Luke leaves, Yoda is concerned that he is going to fail... so obvioulsy he wasn't using reverse pyschology.

So, that's it. There's no reason for Palpatine and Sidious to be two different people, and in fact, this is a case where everything points to them being the same person and that conclusion makes the most sense. In the larger scale of the story, the idea that Palpatine is just a clone doesn't help. What we need to see is the fall of the Jedi not at the hands of one sith, but under the weight of their own lack of forsight. And that's what I think we'll see.

Damn zeroplate, that was a damn good post.

[DINVADER27]

Looks as if some of you don't even pay attention to the DVD commentaries or don't read Lucas interviews. On the EP1 DVD Lucas refers to Sidious being "introduced as a hologram, the same way he was introduced in Empire Strikes Back." At the end of the EP2 DVD he refers to Sidious as the Emperor. Also at the end of Ep1 "But, which was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?" camera pans over to Palpatine. McCallum was quoted as saying "Palpatine is Sidious, no clones, no twins, nothing like that." I will find the date and location of that qoute at theforce.net

[2-1B]

Well said, DIN

[Figurestasher]

OK fellas, just a few things...

Palpatine = Darth Sidious.

Why does Anakin have to have a father anyways?

I feel Yoda has just a HUNCH (remember the darkside clouds everything) about Palpatine being a Sith Master, and that Mace doesn't have a clue.

The Gungans, Jar Jar, and Naboo should be destroyed whether its in a freakin' video game or not.

As for the poll, well I have faith in Lucas tying them all together and ultimately making a film that we all shall enjoy and talk about for years to come. After all it all began in his mind a long time ago in his galaxy far far away.

P.S...hoping less CGI as well but that is like hoping I'll go down to my local TRU and find a ToyFair Vader.

[SNAYSON]

the past two prequels have been lack luster. no way near the original trilogy. the only thing that seems to tie the prequels to the orignal trilogy is the names of characters, so i have my doubts on how good of a job Lucas is going to tie-in episode 3 to the orignal trilogy. For me and a few star wars fans that did grow up watching the original trilogy, the prequels so far have been a disappointment. The novels and comic books seem to have better continutie and tie-in to the original Lucas trilogy than Lucas's own prequel movies.

[LuckytheWonderLlamaM]

I predict that some stuff is going to happen. Speculation is pointless. But that doesn't stop us from doing it! HOw about a guess on the Title - my guess: Revenge of the Sith.

Kinda brings it full circle.

LONG LIVE THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE!!!!

Oh, by the way...the reason why the Expanded Universe panders better to the Original Trilogy than the Prequels is because up untill now, Lucas kept a tight hold on the Clone War era. Now that the New Jedi Order is ending, they are shifting focus to the Clone Wars!

LONG LIVE THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE!!!!!! YOU ARE A FOOL TO IGNORE IT!!!

[Mar10Sir]

I think there will be some gaps (like the covering of 3PO's frame, which was done by Shmi on the AOTC novelization) and mistakes (like the fact that Owen was supposed to be Obi-Wan's brother according to the ROTJ novelization and not Anakin's step-brother).

While Lucas did have the idea of the whole plot involving the rising of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi, this was a broad treatment which he had to trim down for the new movies.

Some of the changes from the original script were Anakin's age (in the first draft of the EI script Anakin was supposed to be older than on the film) and Obi-Wan's rank (in the first draft, Obi-Wan was already a Jedi Knight and he went alone to meet the Trade Federation's barons).

I think he miscalculated and realized that the whole backstory was far too complex to trim down to three films. Too bad. This leaves for more than a few loose ends. Well... we'll see how he ends up with this.

For sure, we'll see Palpatine proclaim himself emperor, destroy most of the Jedi (perhaps he'll use the Death Star which we already got a hint at on AOTC or some other device to eliminate them massively while battling on the Clone Wars) and reveal himself as a Sith to the remaining Jedi. Obviously, we'll see Anakin's fall to the dark side and his famous fight with Obi-Wan that leaves him all scarred and bruised.

[Darth Spectre]

Yes, Revenge of the Sith or Fall of the Jedi...anything else would be a disappointment...which we can kinda expect at this point from George. LOL

[jeffonthego]

To me "Rise of the Empire" says it all.

It also ties in with "Empire Strikes Back" - ie, Empire needs to appear before it can strike back.

As for tying the trilogies together, I believe it will in substance, but of course that doesn't mean that Episode III will actually spawn all the years until Episode IV.

Every film has had a gap, often in years, until the next one, so of course Ep III will be no different.

For those who say that the estimated 20-year gap is not enough for the Clone Wars. Of course it is. How long do you think wars take?

As for the death of all Jedi, I don't know, I wonder. I've always found it strange that of all the Jedi, the Empire would allow the strongest one, Yoda, to escape. Not to mention of course Obi-Wan, or even the Skywalker kids for that matter. I don't keep up on the Expanded Universe, but I imagine that other Jedi survive here and there. Anyway, regardless if this is so, we certainly don't need to see all the Jedi die in Ep III. By the end of the movie, we will know that things have gone very bad and maybe that the Jedi Order is cast aside, with the later movies confirming just how bad things went.

This idea is what I'm talking about. For those people trying to imagine how Ep III is going to fit in every last twist and turn, outcome of every character, ýou're on the wrong track. Ep III just needs to show how us the origins of the things we already know.

For example, we just need to see the Empire rise, we don't need to see it wipe everything else out - the fact that there is a 'rebellion' in Ep IV confirms that, otherwise, the Empire is completely dominant. We don't need to see every Jedi die, just that the order loses its position and the hunt for Jedi begins - Ep IV will tell us they all died. Get the picture?

As for tying in more characters in Ep III, it can be fun, but it's not always critical. (Though shame on you Lucas for a nice tie-in on Greedo, filming it and then leaving it as a deleted scene!). But they shouldn't go overboard on this sort of thing. Greedo was a nice one, because we already knew he lived on Tatoine, so why not have him grow up there. But we don't need to encounter origins of Han, Lando and everyone in Ep III. Do too much of this and then it becomes too unbelievably coincidental.

Lastly, if there is one thing I would like to see though, it is Yoda's flight to Dagobah. Maybe it's not necessary, afterall he may have wandered quite a bit before finally taking refuge there. I just want to know, why Dagobah? And, also how is it that he could be allowed to escape? It's this last point that I really bugs me. One theory that would make me happy is that Anakin/Vader allows Yoda and Obi Wan to escape - out of personal loyalty to them his former master and grand master. If you think this is unthinkable, I disagree because I don't see Vader as becoming hateful, but simply as trying to bring 'order' to the galaxy. Having removed the Jedi Order, letting Yoda and Obi-Wan doesn't conflict with this. But that's just my idea . . .

[jeffonthego]

One more thing . . .

As someone who doesn't read the novels, I don't consider any differences in the movies to be "mistakes" (as some people here have suggested).

I understand the appeal of reading more Star Wars stuff (whether books, novels, games or whatever), but whoever follows that other stuff, it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Sure Lucasfilm may licence these and even approve them, but does anyone really believe that George Lucas actually follows all that stuff?

And, in the end of the day, when Lucas sits down with his pencil and notepad in his study to write the scripts, he will write the story that inspires him at that point - regardless of what has been done in these other products.

And for the vast majority of filmgoers that only have the films as points of reference, it suits us just fine.