WHAT IF I MADE THE PREQUELS? - EPISODE 3

Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith

By this point in my Star Wars prequel timeline, the Clone Wars have been raging for about 15 years. Ten years between Episodes 1 and 2, and five years between Episodes 2 and 3. At this point, everyone is more than ready for the Clone Wars to be over and done with, and luckily the Republic and its Clone Army is on the verge of victory. Ever since the events of my Episode 2, the Clones have had the upper hand in this fight, even with the Chancellor still missing. With the war coming to a close, the galaxy is a very different place than when we began Episode 1, as is Anakin Skywalker, who through the course of these past few years has become battle hardened and strayed further and further from the path of a true Jedi, but more on that in a while.

We open, much like the actual Episode 3, with a large-scale bit of space conflict. Why not, it’s visually brilliant to look at and after all, the name of the saga is Star Wars, why not have some wars in the stars?

After a few months in hiding, Grievous’ flagship has come into view, and the Republic have launched an all-out attack, led by Anakin and Obi-Wan. The point of this fight is to show both the difference between cruiser to cruiser combat compared to fighter to fighter, but also how good of a pilot Anakin is, and how ready he is for a fight.

Needless to say, he’s a skilled pilot, and after some dogfighting him and Obi-Wan board Grievous’ ship. While this will play out similar to the film, there are some differences. While Obi-Wan and Anakin make their way through the ship, we get glimpses of the brotherhood the two share, but it’s clear that it’s starting to fray at the edges. This war has changed Anakin and Obi-Wan knows this. While it’s nice to see that brotherhood still there, it seems almost forced at this point. Finally, they make their way to the bridge, where Grievous is waiting for them, more battle damaged and robotically enhanced than ever. By this point, he’s a lot closer to his film counter-part.

For the first time, Grievous uses his trophies against the Jedi, and very quickly Grievous’ extra arms and genuine skill come into play.

While he puts up a strong fight against the Jedi, they quickly over power him. But while Obi-Wan shows restraint in killing Grievous, thinking he should be brought to the Republic, Anakin deals the killing blow, claiming it in the name of the many Jedi Grievous has killed. What worries Obi-Wan the most is that while Anakin undoubtedly struck Grievous down in anger, he still seemed strangely calm about it. The two argue for a moment, but ultimately, they know they are running out of time to complete their mission. From here, they make their way to the brig, finding the lost Chancellor Palpatine, who by this point is weak and incredibly frail. (After all, it’s got to be a convincing imprisonment even if you are the one behind it.) They get the Chancellor to the hangar, and escape on a gunship that has landed to pick them up. As they escape, the Republic fleet turns on the flagship, and destroys it in one swift stroke, once again led by Admiral Tarkin.

Back on Coruscant, Palpatine’s return is heralded as the end of the war. He is welcomed back a hero, because after all, he’s been a prisoner of war for the past five years. In the Senate, Palpatine, using his new-found popularity, announces his plans to reform the Republic once the Clone Wars have ended, and yes, this later leads to the formation of the Empire. This announcement is received well by the Senate, but the Jedi watching on are less than enthused. They sense that Palpatine’s new order will be more control than freedom, and they return to the temple suspicious of actions.

Back in Palpatine’s office, he and Anakin are talking through events and generally catching up. Once the small talk is settled, Palpatine offers Anakin a place at the head of the Republic army, essentially becoming Palpatine’s right hand man for the last days of the war. Anakin, a tries and tested warrior eager for glory, readily accepts.

This mutual respect between the two is easily seen and becomes incredibly important later on.

Later on, a plea is received is received from the Utapau system, and Palpatine sends his army, with Anakin at its head, to fight the battle. The Jedi Council, un-nerved by Anakin’s lack of interest in their own plans and worried of Palpatine’s, send out a message to any of the Senators also suspicious of his plans. A handful come to the Jedi temple, including the now heavily pregnant Padme, who Obi-Wan is more than happy to see. The Senators and Jedi talk through a plan of action to take against Palpatine.

On Utapau, Anakin leads the Republic forces to a quick and decisive victory. His military prowess quickly shines through, and it’s clear the Clones are honoured to serve alongside him.

With the battle won, Anakin begins to interrogate the Separatist leading the attack. With no Obi-Wan to restrain him, Anakin’s interrogation quickly becomes nasty, and as Yoda desperately calls for him to restrain himself, Anakin blocks his voice, and after almost killing the Separatist, Skywalker finally gets answers as to where Maul is hiding.

Returning to Coruscant, Anakin is hailed as the Republic’s new hero. He finally has the glory he’s been seeking, and he knows it. As Palpatine’s new order begins to take shape with Anakin as it’s General, the Jedi Council begin to debate their place in this fight. The galaxy is a changed place and they can no longer affiliate themselves with Chancellor Palpatine. With bonds broken, and publicly so, Anakin must decide which is more important: His ties to the Jedi or his place in the Republic. Choosing the Republic and the glory it brings, he is excommunicated from the order.

A Jedi no more...

With Anakin now in the know of Maul’s whereabouts and Palpatine urging him to seek his revenge, Anakin sets off for the Mustafar system. At the same time, the Jedi order also comes into that knowledge, and send Obi-Wan to end Maul and his tyranny once and for all, unaware that Anakin is also en route.

Meeting on Mustafar, the two very nearly comes to blows before Obi-Wan says the obvious: They’re here for the same thing. While they may no longer be brothers in the eyes of the Jedi, they’ve got a long history, and the two agree to go on one last mission together, even if the tension between them is clear as day.

They're not enemies at this point, but this temporary alliance is very uneasy.

Back on Coruscant, the Jedi have come to the conclusion the Palpatine needs to be stopped before he takes complete control of the Galaxy. Sending a group of Jedi, including Master Windu, to arrest the Chancellor, thus enacting a coup against him, they go to his office. Once there, they make little small talk, and soon enough Palpatine remarks that an attack against him would be an attack against the Republic. Citing that his imprisonment has no reason to make him a hero, Windu ignites his blade.

As Palpatine begins to laugh, he unleashes his lightning on the Jedi, who caught off guard, suffer a very painful death as Palpatine stands over them cackling.

Like this, but with more evil laughter...

With the Jedi dealt with, Palpatine calls a squad of Clones into the room. Telling them that the time has come for the Jedi to be swept aside for the emerging Empire, Palpatine tells them to Execute Order 66, justifying it in the Senate as they have committed treason, the punishment for which is death.

And so, to the background of sad music, the attack on the Jedi temple begins…

And with the Clones outnumbering the Jedi by the thousands, they stand little chance. Within hours, the temple, and the treasonous Jedi inside, are destroyed.

The Jedi purge should be both brutal and emotional. The heroes of the Clone Wars destroyed by the soldiers they served alongside. While the Clones don't have chips in their heads in this version, their undying allegiance is to the Republic, not the Jedi. Yes, there can be a few defectors here and there, but most are striving for the same goal...

Back on Mustafar, Obi-Wan has spent his time there with Anakin trying to show him the error of his ways. Their journey through Maul’s castle, which will later go on to become Darth Vader’s, has been long, and Anakin is eager for the fight to be over with. After enough time spent together, though most of it bickering and arguing, the two agree that they can’t take Maul alone. Only together will they best him, but they both have opposing views on what to do once he’s bested. Before they can argue again, Maul steps into the room.

He looks more run-down than the last time the two Jedi saw him, all those years ago on Geonosis. As they talk briefly, it becomes clear Maul has been in hiding on Mustafar ever since, his hatred slowly becoming his insanity. He remarks that not matter the outcome of the fight, the war is over, and even though it is victorious, the Republic is dead, as has been his Master’s plan all along. He remarks that a new Empire is rising, and that when he wins this fight, he will return to his Master and take his rightful place at his side. With this both Anakin and Obi-Wan come to the same realisation: Palpatine is, and has been all along, Maul’s Master. The Sith Lord unknown to the Jedi. With this, Maul ignites his blade, and attacks the two heroes.

While his fury is still there, Maul is no longer the fighter he was, and his weariness quickly sets in. With the two heroes clearly having the upper hand, they best him quickly. This isn’t about some flashy Lightsaber fight. That comes in a moment. This is about emotional depth. Maul is bested and going against the vengeance that used to cloud his mind, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to let Maul live, and that his life here is punishment enough for the fallen Sith. Anakin, somehow agreeing with his former Master, switches off his blade. But sensing Skywalker’s imbalance, and wanting an end to his own suffering, Maul looks up to Skywalker from the ground, and says ‘I wonder…What hurts more? That pain of everything I’ve ever taken from you, or the fact that to me, you mean nothing?’

With this, Anakin becomes enraged, and in one stroke ignites his blade and kills Maul, horrifying Kenobi. Anakin stands over Maul’s body, breathing heavily, and Obi-Wan can feel his anger. Just as Obi-Wan reaches out to his former apprentice, Anakin stops him.

‘Everything you ever did, all of my training, all those years of war…’

‘I was trying to make you a Jedi.’

‘You were wasting my potential. You knew what I could become, you’ve always known. That’s what you don’t see Obi-Wan. The fact that I am better than the Jedi.’

‘Anakin…you’re talking like…’

‘I’m talking like for the first time in my life, I’m in control of my destiny. Ever since you found me in that Junkyard, you’ve halted my potential. But now I am free.’

‘Don’t do this Anakin.’

‘What will you do? Try and stop me? How could you…I see your mind. You won’t kill me.’

‘I will do what I must.’

The two ignite their sabers, and so begins the battle of the heroes.

The battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin is ferocious. Anakin by this point is fuelled only by rage, while Obi-Wan is merely trying to stop Anakin. He’s on the defensive, but at the same time he knows what he has to do during this fight. They battle through the castle, and soon enough find themselves outside. My version of this fight is basically the same as the real film’s, but with a slightly different ending. As the two continue to clash, it becomes clear that Anakin’s attacks are powered only by rage, while Kenobi is doing his best to remain calm minded. The two find their way onto a bridge crossing a river of lava below, and for a brief moment, Anakin bests Obi-Wan, falling from the side of the bridge. A moment passes, and Anakin, hauling himself up and over Kenobi, attempts the same manoeuvre Obi-Wan used on Maul all those years before. Knowing the move all too well, Kenobi blocks the strike, and the two battle again. Lava from the river below spews upwards, and…

As the lava crashes down around them, the bridge begins to melt. Looking for an escape but finding none, the two are forced to fall with the bridge, but both jump to shore moments before it hits the river. With Obi-Wan landing safely, he looks around for Anakin, who has fallen much closer to the river, and is trapped underneath rubble from the fallen bridge. Just as he escapes, lava from the river spews onto him, not covering him completely, but causing something far worse than pain. Ignoring it, Anakin goes again to attack Kenobi, who seeing Anakin’s fury, knows he will stop at nothing.

Seeing Anakin’s metal arm is almost melted from the lava, Obi-Wan realises that he has, for the time being, the upper hand. For the first time in the fight, he stops blocking, and starts attack, knowing Anakin is less of a match with his weaker arm. With a flurry of movements proving too quick for Anakin, Kenobi knocks Anakin’s Lightsaber aside, slices off Anakin’s remaining arm and strikes his legs.

With the battle won, Kenobi picks up Anakin’s saber from the ground and places it on his belt. Looking down to Anakin, Kenobi sees his former apprentice beaten and defeated. Anakin is screeching in agony, but not for help.

‘I’m sorry Anakin. You were my brother. I never wanted this.’

Obi-Wan turns away for a moment, but before he leaves turns back to Anakin, who’s trying to haul himself up the side of the river plain.

‘I saw the imbalance within you…I shouldn’t have tried to block it out.’

‘I will find you Obi-Wan…You cannot hide from me!’

‘I’m sorry Anakin…I’m so sorry.’

As more lava spews onto Anakin, Obi-Wan is horrified by the site in front of him. His former apprentice, even more than that, his brother, burning in front of him.

As Anakin burns, Obi-Wan leaves his apprentice behind, knowing that he’s lost to the dark side.

Leaving Mustafar and his fallen apprentice behind, Obi-Wan flies off, clearly shaken by the fight. Before long, he comes across a Cruiser, and after he hails them its revealed the Rebel Senators are onboard, along with Padme. Once Kenobi is onboard, he arrives just in time for the births of Luke and Leia. After it’s done, he sits down with Padme and tells her what happened on Mustafar, and that Anakin has fallen to the Dark Side. To which she replies, ‘The children…he’s their father.’

Cutting back to Mustafar, Palpatine has found Anakin’s body on the shore of the river, burnt and broken, but still alive.

Taking Anakin back to Coruscant, he brings Anakin to the Empire’s infirmary to be, for want of a better term, put back together.

On the Cruiser, the Senators agree that Palpatine’s new Empire must fall, not matter the cost. And so, the Rebellion is born.

Talking to some of the Senators afterwards, Kenobi learns the fate of the Jedi, and that he is the last of their kind. However, his mind is pre-occupied with Anakin. Talking with Padme, they agree that the children must be separated. Padme takes Leia and goes with Bail to Alderaan, thankful that she never got the chance to tell Anakin about the children with him being away fighting the war. Meanwhile, with advice from Yoda on what to do, Obi-Wan departs the Rebellion, knowing that from here on, his fight will be protecting Luke by taking him to the one planet Anakin would never return to. He finds Anakin’s former friend Owen Lars, and after some time, convinces him that son of Anakin the one who abandoned Owen in the Junkyard, or not, the child needs a home. Obi wan pleads with Owen that the child is innocent from Anakin's betrayal, and Owen vows to raise him far away from the grasp of Anakin and the Empire, and to not fail him in the way Anakin failed him years before.

With Obi-Wan know watching over Luke, we cut back to Coruscant. Anakin’s body has been brought back from the brink of death, and we linger on this shot, as Darth Vader takes his first breath…

Roll Credits.