Star Wars fan theory that would make the prequels worth watching....

Lynus302 · Jan 18, 2010

....if it were only true. I'm still disappointed with the crap Lucas put on us with Episodes I, II, and III. I linked to this account from Cracked.com, and though it's though only a fan theory, it adds some very interesting twists and would give Lucas some major cred as a filmmaker were any of it remotely true. Too bad it's NOT.

It's a good read if you're a Star Wars dork like I am, though it is a bit long and I can't find the abbreviated Cracked article, so anyway:

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope
Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon, then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2.

Consider: at the end of RotS, Bail Organan orders 3PO's memory wiped but not R2's. He wouldn't make the distinction casually. Both droids know that Yoda and Obi-Wan are alive and are plotting sedition with the Senator from Alderaan. They know that Amidala survived long enough to have twins and could easily deduce where they went. However, R2 must make an impassioned speech to the effect that he is far more use to them with his mind intact: he has observed Palpatine and Anakin at close quarters for many years, knows much that is useful and is one of the galaxy's top experts at hacking into other people's systems. Also he can lie through his teeth with a straight face. Organa, in immediate need of espionage resources, agrees.

For the next 20 years, as far as 3PO knows, he is the property of Captain Antilles, doing protocol duties on a diplomatic transport. He is vaguely aware of the existence of the princess but doesn't know much about her. Wherever 3PO goes, being as loud and obvious as he always is, his unobtrusive little counterpart goes with him. 3PO is R2's front man. Wherever they land, R2 is passing messages between rebel sympathisers and sizing up governments as potential rebel recruits - both by personal contact and by hacking into their networks. He passes his recommendations on to Organa.

Yoda is out of the picture by this stage, using the Force-infused swamps of Dagobah to hide himself from Vader and the Emperor. Or something. He is meditating on the future and keeping in touch with Obi-Wan via the ghost of Qui-Gon Jin, which as comm systems go has the virtue of being untappable. Obi-Wan, on Tattoine, keeps in touch with Bail Organa and the other Rebel leaders by courier, of which more later.

As Star Wars opens, R2 is rushing the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. R2, not Leia. The plans are always in R2. What Leia puts into him in the early scene is only her own holographic message to Kenobi. Leia's own mission, as she says in the holographic message, is to pick up Obi-Wan and take him to Alderaan - or so she thinks. Actually, her father just wants her to meet Kenobi, which up to this point she never has. There's a reason for that.

Obi-Wan has spent the last 20 years in the Tattoine desert, keeping watch over Luke Skywalker and trying to decide on one of the three available options:
A) If Luke shows no significant access to the Force, then leave him alone in obscurity
B) If Luke shows real Force ability, then consider recruiting him as a Jedi. The rebellion needs Jedi. Now.
But, if Luke shows any signs of turning out like his father, then C) sneak into his house one fine night and chop his head off. With great regret but it'll save a lot of trouble later on.
Knowing this to be the case, Bail Organa (perhaps at the insistence of his wife) has found excuses not to send Leia to Ben for assessment of Jedi potential, largely for fear of option C.

To be fair to all concerned, Leia has shown no overt signs of a link to the Force. Luke on the other hand has. In his home-built hotrod aircraft, with no formal fighter pilot training and no decent instrumentation, Luke can regularly score centre-hits on 2-metre targets in complicated zero-altitude maneouvres. Until he attends the briefing on Yavin, Luke has no way of knowing that hardened combat pilots would consider that nearly impossible. To him it's easy. Obi-Wan, who saw Anakin's performance in the Pod Race, is nervous.

Much of Obi-Wan's behaviour in this film, and Yoda's in the next, can best be understood if they are frankly scared to death of what Luke might become. (Ben is also scared that he himself will make all the same mistakes he made with Anakin.)

Now, with the existence of the rebellion at stake, Bail Organa has finally told Leia to go see Obi-Wan and has sent her along with R2. The original plan would then be for Obi-Wan (with optional Luke and/or Leia in tow) to leave his exile and take the Death Star plans to Yavin, where they can be put to use. R2 (with Leia if Ben doesn't want to take her) would then carry on to Alderaan to maintain the cover story. The original plan does not survive contact with a large Imperial Star Destroyer.

R2 and 3PO bail out in an escape pod, landing in vaguely the right area of Tattoine, where R2's first priority is transport. He arranges to be captured by a group of Jawas and, once on board their transport, he makes a deal with them (possibly using emergency funds stored about his person) to take him where he wants to go. The Jawas refuse to go directly to Kenobi for fear of marauding Sandpeople but they agree to R2's second request : transport to the Skywalker farm. They even get to keep the purchase price if they can sell R2 and 3PO there. The Jawas shake on it and go through with the plan.

Seeing 3PO fail to recognise the farm where he worked for 10 years gives r2 a moment's amusement but, as soon as possible, he gets away and heads for Kenobi. Luke and 3PO follow, which may or may not have been part of the plan.

On first seeing R2, Obi-Wan has a twinkle in his eye and calls him "my little friend". Well, he is. However, when Luke wakes up and says that R2 claimed to be owned by an Obi-Wan Kenobi, he blandly says "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid." Ben has in fact owned several but the remark is aimed at R2 and translates as "You keep quiet. I'm not about to tell him everything just yet." Obi-Wan thinks fast and tells Luke a version of his past that does not involve a father who became a dark lord of the Sith. He wants to examine Luke a lot more closely before he risks telling him the real truth.

Although the Death Star plans need to get to Yavin as soon as possible, Obi-Wan needs to make one more diversion first. If the Empire knows that Leia is a Rebel leader, then they also know about her father and the whole Organa family may need immediate evacuation. Fortunately, before coming to Tattoine, R2 had already arranged transport, which is waiting at Mos Eisley, under the command of the Rebellion's other chief field agent and espionage asset. Chewbacca.

20 years earlier, Chewbacca was second in command of the defence of his planet. He's there in the tactical conferences and there on the front lines and is a personal friend of Yoda's. When he needed reliable people to join the embryonic Alliance, who else would Yoda turn to but his old friend from Kashykk? Given his background, there is no way that Chewie would spend the crucial years of the rebellion as the second-in-command to (sorry Han) a low-level smuggler. Unless it's his cover. In fact, Chewie is a top-line spy and flies what is in many ways the Rebellion's best ship.

The Millenium Falcon may look like a beat-up old freighter but it can outrun any Imperial ship in normal space or hyperspace, hang in a firefight with a Star Destroyer or outmaneouvre a dozen top-of-the-line TIE fighters. It's a remarkable feat of engineering and must have cost a colossal fortune to build. How does Han come to own a ship like that? He only thinks he does, actually it's Chewie's. Half-way through RotS, we see the Falcon landing at the Senate building on Coruscant. If it's the same ship (which of course it is) then it was the personal transport of one of the senatorial delegations - a much more likely source to commission its design. That delegatino must have later joined the Rebellion and given it the use of the Falcon. In fact, if the delegation is the one from Kashykk, then the ship may have belonged to Chewbacca as early as RotS.

Han is Chewie's front man. It's much better, and safer for him, if he doesn't know what's really going on. Chewie used to work with Lando Calrissian in a similar way but Lando wanted to settle down, so Chewie arranged for him to lose the Falcon in a card game to Han Solo, an even better choice as partner. Han and Chewie's working method is pretty much what we see in the cantina scene: Chewie make the contacts and sets up the deals, then turns them over to Han who haggles over the price and gives the final yea or nay. This lets Chewie wander the seamy underside of the galaxy pretty much at will, making contacts, gathering and passing information with no-one was the wiser, especially not Han.

Chewie persuaded Han to do business with Jabba the Hutt so he could make regular runs to Tattoine, where Chewie could pass messages between Kenobi and Organa. When R2's urgent message came through only days before, the only way for Chewie to get back to Tattoine in time was to make the "mistake" that forced Han to dump his cargo to avoid capture. As a down side, this led to Solo's getting a death mark out on him from Jabba the Hutt. Chewie was a bit upset about the need for that but figured they weren't going to be dealing with Tattoine for much longer.

En route to Alderaan, R2 and Chewie play stop-motion chess. This is the latest in a series of games they've played over the year in the back rooms of space stations and cantinas across the galaxy, but this is the first time they've done it in front of their respective straight men, so they put on a big show.

Then it all goes wrong again. Alderaan is gone and the Falcon is caught and brought aboard the Death Star. Only Han, Luke and 3PO don't know just how much trouble they're in but Obi-Wan has a plan and seems confident (but Jedi always do). Soon afterwards, R2 finds Leia in the detention cells and shouts that they have to rescue her, to which Chewie can only agree. If Vader learns he has a daughter, then they're all in deep trouble, so Chewie does his bit to persuade Han to go along with Luke's plan.

Then, on the verge of escape, Vader himself turns up only yards from both of his children, one of whom is leaking Force all over the place. Obi-Wan stages a distraction by letting himself die and go into the Force while the others escape. At this point, Chewie suddenly realises that he's been left in charge, not only of the Death Star Plans and the survival of the Rebellion but of the secret son and daughter of Darth Vader. With the Organas and Kenobi all dead, only Chewie, R2 and Yoda know who Luke and Leia are. And only Ob-Wan knew where Yoda has been hiding. Chewie is stressed out by the responsibility and R2 (who keeps making crude jokes about the whole affair) is being no help at all.

Chewie's first problem is what is happening between Luke and Leia. With a psychic link they can feel but don't understand, thrown together in a life-or-death escape, they are looking at each other with a sparky intensity that Chewie gradually recognises as Romantic Tension. He's no expert on human relationships but Chewie is fairly sure that that's Wrong, so he does the only thing he can under the circumstances - he throws Han at her. Han is at first not interested but after a while starts to warm to the idea with an intensity that gives Chewie new worries.

When they reach Yavin, Han decides to take the money and run and Chewie decides to go with him. Looked at in cold light, it's for the good of the Rebellion. Even if Yavin is destroyed, there'll be one agent who knows what's going on who can try and put something back together, but he doesn't feel good about it. When Han decides to turn around and join the attack, Chewie is all for it.

Han and Luke get medals but Chewie doesn't. Actually, Leia offers him one but Chewie turns it down. He got one of those things from Yoda about 20 years ago, but there's no way he can tell her that.

As the film ends, the three founders of the Rebellion are all gone. Bail Organa is dead, Yoda is out of contact and Obi-Wan's ghost can only talk to other Jedi. (So that would be Yoda then.) Thus, the field leadership of the rebellion has just been turned over to the daughter of Darth Vader. Chewie is really hoping that someone with an official rank greater than hers will get here real soon before he has to think really seriously about option C.

© Keith Martin 2005
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VooDooPope · Jan 18, 2010

interesting read. Thanks for posting.

RoxSqaud · Jan 18, 2010

VooDooPope said:

interesting read. Thanks for posting.
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Really?

Shovel Face · Jan 18, 2010

Lynus302 said:

As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa.
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Yoda and Obi-Wan had nothing to do with the Rebel Alliance.

Berkmaniac · Jan 18, 2010

That's pretty tight. Thanks for posting.

Master Baiter · Jan 18, 2010

RoxSqaud said:

Really?
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Yes really. I thought it was pretty cool too.

Ziggy · Jan 18, 2010

Lynus302 said:

....if it were only true. I'm still disappointed with the crap Lucas put on us with Episodes I, II, and III.
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Is it not Lucas' film? Does he not have full reign to do whatever the hell he wants? NSYNC members, Jar Jar Binks, all of it? Fans think they can play with someone elses baby now?

JunkyardDwg · Jan 18, 2010

How exactly does the prequel trilogy mess with canon?

DonnyMost · Jan 18, 2010

That tickled my inner nerd.

Special Patrol Group · Jan 18, 2010

This might be the best movie review ever, 70 minutes in 7 parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

Lynus302 · Jan 18, 2010

Shovel Face said:

Yoda and Obi-Wan had nothing to do with the Rebel Alliance.
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Yoda and Obi-Wan started the resistance at the end of EpIII, no? I only saw that movie once. Perhaps they finalized it or whatever you want to call it, but to say they had "nothing to do with it" is just ludicrous.

Perhaps it was all somehow some vast liberal conspiracy.

:grin:

[Ducks for cover]

Ziggy said:

Is it not Lucas' film? Does he not have full reign to do whatever the hell he wants? NSYNC members, Jar Jar Binks, all of it? Fans think they can play with someone elses baby now?
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This has nothing to do with anything. It's his story and he's free to ruin it in whatever way he sees fit. But in my opinion (and the opinion of many others), he turned it from a trilogy with Academy Awards won and nominations earned (including Best Picture) into a parody of itself.

JunkyardDwg said:

How exactly does the prequel trilogy mess with canon?
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I don't get what your asking. The writer accepts all six films as canon, and attempts speculation regarding prior relationships between R2, C3PO, Yoda, Chewie, and Obi-Wan. It's just a fan theory and nothing more than interesting to some.

Lynus302 · Jan 18, 2010

Found the Cracked article:

From Cracked.com
When George Lucas introduced his magnum opus, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, he tried to shoehorn in perhaps every damn character from the original series, the obese Rancor keeper from Return of the Jedi notwithstanding.

By plopping beloved characters as R2-D2 into the thick of previous events, many fans realized that Lucas had created Chrysler-sized plot holes. For example, R2-D2 and C-3PO basically witnessed Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, but this fact is never mentioned in the original trilogy. Neither is the fact that Yoda and Chewbacca knew each other (seen fighting alongside one another in Episode III), making it a spectacular coincidence that Luke and Obi-Wan just happened to run into him when looking for a ride off Tatooine in Episode IV.

The Theory:
Lucas tried to cover the "why in Episode IV does C-3PO seem ignorant of everything he saw in the prequels" plot hole by having Bail Organa wipe his memory. But One incredibly detailed theory LINK suggests that someone in the Star Wars universe realized that rebooting the droids was a godawful idea. After all, R2-D2 and C-3PO had just witnessed the rise of the Galactic Empire firsthand. Why the hell would the Rebels delete this precious intel?

According to this theory, R2-D2 must have convinced Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi to spare him a memory wipe, whereas C-3PO was not so lucky. During the 20 or so years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the two robots travel undercover; Threepio suspects that he and R2 are affiliated with the Rebels, but unbeknownst to the golden dandypants, R2 has been in communication with the Rebel Alliance the whole time.

In RoTS, Chewie is good friends with Yoda and a high-ranking warrior during the defense of Kashyyyk. Why would a second-in-command of the Wookiee army suddenly slum it with Han Solo, a smuggling lowlife? Because Yoda--who's holed up on his toilet planet--needed Chewie to be his eyes and ears.

The theory further states that Chewbacca convinces Han to work with Jabba the Hutt; this way Chewie can frequently visit Tatooine and keep tabs on Luke Skywalker. We further presume Chewie's other unofficial title was "Incest Cop," and he shoved Han into the mix whenever Luke and Leia capered off to play "Hide The Womp Rat."

Why does it make the film better?
The theory bestows the series' sidekicks with a much greater narrative dignity. It also makes Chewbacca's cameo in Revenge of the Sith something more than a totally crass reason to introduce the "Kashyyyk Resistance Fighter Chewbacca" action figure.

The theory adds some fascinating subtext to the original films, and also makes the prequels, well, worth watching. Most importantly, if this theory was true, George Lucas would get some serious critical cred. And Lord knows, he could use it.
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Coach AI · Jan 18, 2010

Ziggy said:

Is it not Lucas' film? Does he not have full reign to do whatever the hell he wants? NSYNC members, Jar Jar Binks, all of it? Fans think they can play with someone elses baby now?
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?
I don't think the OP said anything like that.

Also, lol@ 'golden dandypants'.

JunkyardDwg · Jan 18, 2010

Lynus302 said:

I don't get what your asking. The writer accepts all six films as canon, and attempts speculation regarding prior relationships between R2, C3PO, Yoda, Chewie, and Obi-Wan. It's just a fan theory and nothing more than interesting to some.
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In the first paragraph it says if we're to accept all films as canon then you have to change story lines in the original trilogy to better coincide with events in the prequels.

I don't recall anything in the prequels that contradicts anything said in the original trilogy.

Also, I think the article is jumping to a lot of conclusions and making quite a bit of assumptions. I don't recall any point in EpIII where Yoda, Obi Wan and Bail Organa start the rebel alliance. And nowhere do I recall Chewie as 2nd in command of the Wookies. It's safe to say he was high in rank...but 2nd in command is a stretch, especially considering we don't see him earlier in the film when Yoda goes to meet with the Wookies.

Not only that but it's placing much too importance on Chewie in the original trilogy, to the point where Han becomes a backseat driver? Han Solo becomes nothing more than a pawn within this alternative story; that's a disservice to the character.

I also think it's quite easy to believe, and rather heartbreaking at that, to see Chewie reduced to a copilot role for a dirty smuggler. If anything, his role in the Star Wars universe should have been expanded upon in the prequel films. I've always thought it would have been better to replace Jar Jar and the Gungans with Chewie and the Wookies. Yes, the first film was located on Naboo and not Kashyk. Well why not move it to Kashyk then, or maybe Chewie is part of a rogue faction of Wookies that finds redemption at the end of the first film, after helping the human population of Naboo defeat the Trade Federation. He's then welcomed back into the Wookie culture on Kashyk where he rises to a spot in the high command and helps to lead the resistance against a newly mobilized droid army. After helping Yoda escape though, he's forced to flee Kashyk once again and go into hiding, where eventually hooks up with Han.

Bandwagoner · Jan 18, 2010

this thing started off pretty interesting then changed into a method to make it seem like Chewbacca is he main character in star wars.

Awesome.

http://www.starwarfigure.com/pics/chewbacca2.jpg

Lynus302 · Jan 19, 2010

JunkyardDwg said:

In the first paragraph it says if we're to accept all films as canon then you have to change story lines in the original trilogy to better coincide with events in the prequels.

I don't recall anything in the prequels that contradicts anything said in the original trilogy.
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Not changed, but 'reinterpreted.'

JunkyardDwg said:

Also, I think the article is jumping to a lot of conclusions and making quite a bit of assumptions. I don't recall any point in EpIII where Yoda, Obi Wan and Bail Organa start the rebel alliance. And nowhere do I recall Chewie as 2nd in command of the Wookies. It's safe to say he was high in rank...but 2nd in command is a stretch, especially considering we don't see him earlier in the film when Yoda goes to meet with the Wookies.
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FWIW: A brief search found this from Starwars.com:<--this links to Chewies page and you can find the info on Bail at this site as well. It doesn't say anything about Chewie being 2nd in command but talks a bit about his relationship with Yoda. I remember them meeting, but I haven't seen the movie in quite some time.

....Alert to the likelihood that Palpatine would not give up power once the Clone Wars ended, Organa and Senator Mon Mothma were already putting proactive plans into motion. They envisioned an organization dedicated to preserving the ideals of the Republic, one that drew membership from idealists within the Senate but operated outside of the Senate chambers. Though they skirted around the word in these early tentative days, Mothma and Organa were planning rebellion.
---
Chewbacca is a veteran of the Clone Wars, the galaxy-wide conflict that pitted the clone armies of the Republic against the droid forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Wookiee was part of the high command tasked with protecting Kashyyyk from droid invasion. There, he served with fellow Wookiee Tarfful and the Jedi Master Yoda.

The wise Yoda had maintained a good relationship with the denizens of Kashyyyk, earning the respect of the mighty Wookiees. When events surrounding the rise of the Empire resulted in the clone forces betraying their Jedi generals, Chewbacca and Tarfful remained loyal to Yoda, helping the Jedi Master escape the clone trap.
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lost_elephant · Jan 19, 2010

Thank you for posting this. I love reading these fan-fiction posts...sometimes they are better than the real thing .

Maybe I'm the only one, but I enjoyed the three prequels. In fact, ROTS is my second favorite of the series after Empire Strikes Back.

IROC it · Jan 19, 2010

I kinda already HAVE been viewing the Original Trilogy in a different light.

There a great many things that are more deep to me... and others that became shallow.

And Vader's "NoooooOOOOooooOOOooooo!" near about ruined all 6 films.

bloop · Jan 19, 2010

lost_elephant said:

Thank you for posting this. I love reading these fan-fiction posts...sometimes they are better than the real thing .

Maybe I'm the only one, but I enjoyed the three prequels. In fact, ROTS is my second favorite of the series after Empire Strikes Back.
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yeah! in ROTS when Anakin went all badass I was like "YEAH"

and then when he killed those baby jedi I was like "awwwww"

then when Natalie Portman died I was like *cry*

that wrap up was AWESOME!!! one thing it didn't mention was how in the prequels Yoda was soooooooooooo much better as a sonic the hedgehog badass warrioR!!!! In the prequels he was all ZAM ZAM ZAM with his lightsabre when in the original movies he was all weak and didn't even have ABS

sarcasm off

prequels were lame and contradicted everything about the Force and the alliance that ever made them even slightly interesting. the way the 2nd movie ends, where Yoda struggles with rubble Sauraman the Grey drops on him BECAUSE IT'S REALLY BIG and BIG THINGS ARE HEAVY thereby allowing him to escape spits in the face of every lesson that Yoda was trying to instill in Luke in the original movies that "size matters not."

what else can you say about the Prequels than they took the most badass villain in movie history and singlehandedly made him a completely uncool, unthreatening, whiny, weak willed teenager with a raging boner and a stick up his ass for 2 movies

Cohete Rojo · Jan 19, 2010

How about this: Lucas saw the oppurtunity to make three more Star Wars films when CGI became an up and coming fad.

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Star Wars fan theory that would make the prequels worth watching....

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