Given my Premises for this Fan-Reboot-Fiction, what must happen in Episode I in order to set us up for II, III, and finally end up at IV in a way that makes sense of all the hints the Original Trilogy gives us?
Here are my ideas:
- Anakin’s incredible pilot skills must be shown right away. Let us say that after failing to become a Jedi, this young boy turned instead to machinery and came to love starships, anything with a motor.
| - Anakin’s backstory, his “ghost” in his past that haunts him and subconsciously drives his actions, must be hinted at just enough to create intrigue: Why did this powerful, Force-sensitive boy fail the Trials? How, Obi-Wan wonders, “amazed at how strongly the Force was with him,” could the Jedi have failed him from the Trials?
| - Obi-Wan’s modus operandi of using the Force for deception and misdirection must be displayed, but also his skill with a lightsaber, because that’s too cool to ignore.
| - By the end of Episode I, Anakin must have transformed from feeling unworthy of being a Jedi, since he failed the Trials, to accepting his destiny as Obi-Wan’s apprentice.
| - By the end, Obi-Wan and Anakin must be just beginning to not only relate to each other as mentor and student, but also they must be just starting to be friends, as Obi-Wan says in IV: Anakin was his “good friend.” Then, when Episode II begins, years later, their absolute trust and friendship will be central to that story, a friendship solidified under constant threat of the Clone Wars and galactic turmoil.
Also, I had forgotten what Obi-Wan says about his younger self in this clip:
- Yoda says, “Much anger in him (Luke), like his father.” And Obi-Wan responds, “Was I any different when you taught me?”
- And Yoda also says, “Adventure! Heh! Excitement! Heh! A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless!” Obi-Wan responds: “So was I, if you remember!”
- Takeaway: Obi-Wan, though already a Jedi Knight in Episode I of my re-imagined prequel, must have some lingering anger and recklessness he needs to overcome before he can truly be considered a Jedi Master.
- Takeaway: Some of Obi-Wan’s lingering anger and recklessness might influence Anakin towards the Dark Side, contributing to Obi-Wan’s sense of guilt for not being able to teach Anakin as well as Yoda.
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Additionally (but this isn’t so important to the plot) I think we should see a lightsaber built onscreen — Anakin building his own lightsaber — since we haven’t seen that yet in any Star Wars movie. How cool would that be? The fact that the audience got to, from a certain point of view, build it along with Anakin would give his lightsaber greater significance, too, especially when the audience sees it again in IV, then also in VII when Rey finds it.
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We’ll use this diagram, of course, in keeping with how George Lucas structured his Original Trilogy.
The trick is that, at the end of Episode I, Anakin’s Special World of being initiated into the Force becomes his New Ordinary World. From that new starting point, in Episode II he will have to confront a New Special World, and so on.
This is how life works, after all: Your Ordinary World in high school is High School, your Special World, into which you must make a journey in order to progress as an individual, would then be College, or the Military, or Entering the Work Force, etc…. But then, once you’ve mastered those Special Worlds, they become your new Ordinary World, and some new Special World of challenge arises: Post-College Adulthood, or Marriage, for example.
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STAR WARS
Episode I (Re-Imagined)
(What should its subtitle be?)
It is an era of war in the galaxy.
The Clone Wars threaten the life
of the entire REPUBLIC. The JEDI,
guardians of peace, are stretched
too thin across the stars.
Desperate and out of options,
the JEDI COUNCIL has ordered
Force-sensitive candidates who
failed the Trials to be found
again to help resolve the conflict.
To that end, young Jedi Knight
Obi-Wan Kenobi has followed
a rumor telling of a mysterious
young boy living on the Outer
Rim planet of Tatooine…
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ACT ONE
Obi-Wan arrives on Tatooine in a modest cargo ship disguised as a trader. (Jedi robes are a hated sight by the slavers of the galaxy.) Landing in Mos Espa’s spaceport at night, he briefly muses to his R4 droid about how long his task should take. He begins using the Force to search for the boy and, lightsaber concealed, heads into the city.
Cut to daytime. Anakin and Owen are in Mos Espa buying supplies for their mother’s moisture farm when Anakin feels a prompt from the Force. Looking for its source, he and Owen spot a beautiful girl, fearful but with set jaw and determined eyes, being hustled along with other captives into the courtyard of a palace — Jabba the Hutt’s Mos Espa headquarters. Sneaking into the courtyard, they hear these new slaves will be prizes in the next day’s swoop bike race. The last time Anakin used the Force it got the two of them in serious trouble (a hint at Anakin’s past Force-use events which started the rumor that Obi-Wan heard), but in spite of Owen’s misgivings, Anakin is convinced he has to follow the Force. He convinces the race master to let him enter, a human boy surely with inferior reflexes compared to his alien opponents. Using most of the moisture farm’s funds, he buys a junked bike and spare parts and modifies it during the rest of the day and night so it can compete with the custom-made, high-end bikes of the other racers. Next morning, the Force is with Anakin and he overcomes every cheating trick of the “wretched hive of scum and villainy” that are his opponents, winning the race.
(On second thought, maybe this can still be pod-racers, because they are pretty cool. But I remember the N64 game “Shadows of the Empire,” which featured a sequence where Dash Rendar had to race through the canyons of Tatooine on a swoop bike fighting off other swoops to get to Luke’s little hovel, and I always thought that would be cool in a movie. It’s negotiable, let’s say.)
When the race master doles out the prizes for the top racers, he is compelled to give the girl and several other slaves to Anakin, causing an uproar. A mere moisture farmboy, owning slaves!? The second and third place racers (Sebulba and some other alien) accuse him of cheating. Things look ugly. A calm voice rises up over the crowd: Obi-Wan steps in, saying, “the boy won fairly, I’ll take my own winnings and go,” and most of the racers repeat this and do so. However, Jedi mind tricks do not work on Jabba (as per Return of the Jedi). The Hutt calls him out and the slavers in the crowd draw blasters and vibro-staffs. Anakin, Owen, the girl, and the rest of the slaves take shelter where they can, but when Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber Anakin cannot help but watch. In the ensuing fight Obi-Wan’s lightsaber skills are on full display, but at one crucial point Anakin saves Obi-Wan using the Force to pull blasters from slavers’ hands (Vader takes Han’s blaster on Cloud City). Obi-Wan then uses the Force to conceal them in a dust cloud while he, Anakin, Owen, the girl, and the other slaves escape using Anakin’s swoop bike and a stolen landspeeder. The girl, riding with Anakin on his swoop, thanks him and says her name is Padme.
Cut to arrival at Shmi’s moisture farm. Shmi is furious Anakin and Owen stayed in town overnight and didn’t get much-needed supplies, but when she hears Anakin saved slaves she relents. Obi-Wan steps in, praising Anakin for his bravery. He explains he is a Jedi and asks Shmi and the others if they have any idea what kind of turmoil the galaxy is in due to the Clone Wars. Backstory: Dozens of quickly produced clone armies in multiple wars across the stars. He says that the Jedi need help, and that when he was last on the planet Alderaan he heard a rumor of a mysterious boy with odd powers living on a desert world in the Outer Rim. Anakin’s reply is cut short by Padme’s outburst: “Alderaan!?”
Padme reveals she is from Alderaan’s sister world, Naboo. She says she was a handmaiden to the queen, whose parents, the former king and queen, were killed only days ago (revealing her true identity will wait). She and the other handmaidens were sold to slavers and the “queen” has become the puppet of her enemies. She warns Obi-Wan that Naboo’s usurper will use Queen Amidala’s name to join with Alderaan’s enemies. Obi-Wan promises to get help from Commander Bail Organa of Alderaan’s military, his friend, and get Padme back to Naboo so she can clear Queen Amidala’s name and restore her throne.
Obi-Wan asks Anakin to come with him and train to become a Jedi, but Anakin refuses. He reveals he was selected by the Jedi as an infant, taken from Tatooine to grow up on Coruscant in the Jedi Temple. He went through the initial training, but when he failed the Trials (around age 12), the Jedi sent him back to live with his mother and help the impoverished moisture farmers. Anakin fears he would fail again. Obi-Wan doesn’t believe Anakin could have failed the Trials, telling Anakin that his instincts are good and the Force is clearly with him, and that he himself could pick up Anakin’s training where it left off. The galaxy needs more Jedi. When Owen points out the Hutts will be watching the Jedi’s ship, Anakin agrees to help Obi-Wan and Padme get back to Mos Espa’s spaceport, the least he could do, considering his actions got them into this mess. Obi-Wan promises to come back and return the other freed slaves to their homes after all this is over, then he, Anakin, Owen, and Padme take the landspeeder back into town at night.
Shmi can make up her losses by selling the swoop bike.
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ACT TWO
Nearing Mos Espa, Obi-Wan tries to reach R4 on commlink with no success. They raid a junkyard for spare crates as faux cargo, then take the landspeeder to the spaceport hangar. Jabba’s thugs guard the way, but Obi-Wan, still disguised as a trader, convinces them to let him pass and get on with business, using the Force to keep their minds off himself and the three teens whom the guards had seen before in the courtyard struggle.
Once inside, Anakin feels another prompt from the Force. It becomes more urgent as they near the ship and Obi-Wan continues having no success reaching R4. Obi-Wan drops the cargo ramp, Anakin cries out warning, the four find themselves flung on their backs from a Force push. Inside the ship’s cargo bay a lightsaber hisses to life, filling the hangar with dark red light.
Obi-Wan ignites his own saber and calls, “Who are you?” The dark figure (Darth Maul) attacks. Their battle begins destroying the hangar, alerting Jabba’s thugs, compelling Anakin, Padme (who has had self-defense training since she was a royal child), and Owen (who has hunted wamprats and is good with a blaster) to fight, too. When opportunity arises, Anakin grabs Owen and Padme and rushes them into Obi-Wan’s ship, where they find poor R4’s dome melted by lightsaber. Anakin fires up the engines and hovers to the top of the hangar’s walls, where Obi-Wan and Maul are still in combat. Obi-Wan sees his chance. He summons the Force, blasts Maul away, and leaps into the cargo ramp. Anakin guns out of Mos Espa.
Padme mentions she had seen the Zabrak (Maul’s race) during the coup. Obi-Wan is visibly shaken. Anakin, remembering some of the Jedi lore he learned as a child, mentions the word “Sith.”
Obi-Wan would have mused further, but when he realizes Anakin is flying back toward Shmi’s farm he lashes out — there is certainly a tracer on the ship, what is he thinking!? The Jedi quickly apologizes, saying he is angry at himself for not being more aware, should have been able to sense the Sith’s presence. Owen takes the controls and flies to the Jundland Wastes as Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme search the interior for the tracer. Anakin finds the ship’s hyperdrive sabotaged. Sensors pick up a blip. No time to land and make repairs or search the hull. Anakin thinks he can fix the hyperdrive, just needs a little time. Owen flies low into canyons, but Maul’s Interceptor streaks in and fires. The shields and armor barely hold. Anakin finally gives the go-ahead. Obi-Wan takes the stick and blasts into space, Maul in pursuit, Anakin making finishing touches to his hasty repair job. Obi-Wan sets course for Alderaan, saying he must alert the Jedi Embassy there about the appearance of the Sith. The hyperdrive kicks in under protest and they jump to lightspeed at last.
Hyperspace transit, a brief time for character building and exposition: Owen is upset about leaving Shmi, but quickly realizes there was no choice. Anakin continues to inspect the hyperdrive, finding it damaged to the point where the journey will be much slower, so the crew settles in. Obi-Wan needs rest. Owen does, too. Anakin tries to fix R4. Time for Padme and Anakin to talk: Padme speaks about growing up on Naboo and visiting Alderaan with “the queen” and seeing the Jedi Enclave there. She asks about Anakin’s time growing up on Coruscant. Anakin talks about what that initial training was like, feeling the power of the Force. He gets shy about failing the Trials. Padme asks how he ended up on Tatooine. Anakin wins points with her mentioning how he has tried to use the Force and his training to help the moisture farmers there, as a Jedi should. Obi-Wan wakes up and wants to start training Anakin (very much like training Luke on the Millennium Falcon in IV, yes), but Anakin is hesitant, even though he can already levitate objects and he naturally taps into the Force to enhance his reflexes. Obi-Wan directly asks what reason the Council gave for failing Anakin from the Trials, mystified they would send him away, especially in wartime. Anakin says it is because he failed, truly believing he wasn’t good enough. Obi-Wan asks about Shmi, if there is something special about her. Owen and Anakin reveal they are only step-brothers. Who was Anakin’s father? No one knows, Shmi has never said.
Suddenly, the ship is yanked out of hyperspace. Too soon, they have not quite reached Alderaan. The same pirates and slavers who sold Padme to the Hutts have used a mass shadow interdictor device to pull them out of lightspeed. They are dead in space surrounded by looming gunships and fighters. Obi-Wan muses the Sith must have sent a message ahead. Padme, using the ship’s communicator, secretly puts out a distress signal as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Owen prepare for boarders. But before the pirates can board, the Loyalists of the Naboo military, led by Captain Panaka, flash out of hyperspace together with an Alderaanian dreadnought helmed by Commander Organa (there is a now “Star Wars Legends” book series that centers on the “lost fleet” of Alderaan, which boasted dreadnought battleships before Alderaan disarmed, as Leia says in IV: “Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons…”). The pirates flee, are captured, or killed. Obi-Wan’s ship comes out of the battle too damaged for lightspeed so Bail takes them into the dreadnought hangar and they fly to Alderaan.
Sequence of flyover scenes showcasing the beauty of Alderaan and the Jedi Enclave there. (I’m imagining Naboo and Alderaan to be two worlds around the same star, like Venus and Earth. But, as Naboo has no molten core, it would have to be closer to its sun in order to stay warm enough for life. Alderaan, on the other hand, seems snowy and temperate in those brief scenes of its landscape we get at the end of Episode III, when Bail and his wife are seen with baby Leia, so I would imagine Alderaan would be slightly further away from its sun than Earth is from our sun, though not as far out as Mars. Unless, of course, it was just winter in those scenes….)
Before departing the dreadnought, Obi-Wan asks how Bail knew to come to their location. Bail says he was following Panaka’s signal. How did Panaka know? Upon landing, they are immediately called to the Citadel of Defense to report. Captain Panaka and “Warlord” Jarr of the Gungans begin the debrief.
(Yes, I’m keeping Jar Jar, but his character is vastly reworked. As I see it, Jar Jar’s character is the Overlooked Outcast considered a Fool by his own people. I think that is a good character archetype to have, but Jar Jar Binks was too much the Fool, beyond the point of suspension of disbelief. Warlord Jarr (I’m dropping the singsong “Jar Jar” and the Telly-Tubby-sounding “Binks”) can fill some of that role, but in a more appropriate-to-wartime way. Let us say he recognized early on in the Clone Wars, and even more so during the coup, that the Gungans and the Naboo would need to unite to save the planet to which they both belong. For his opinions, and for some bad inventions and battle tactics in the past, Boss Nass cast Jarr out of Gunga City, so Jarr made his way to Theed and offered his services to Panaka just as the coup was turning violent. He calls himself “Warlord” because it is his aspiration to be one (which could be his humorously repetitive insistence, “someday, I will be”), not because he is one, and of course given his gangling appearance it is hard to think of him as a warrior. He could almost be the Gungans’ Don Quixote. However, he does truly have fighting skills nonetheless, as he must have experience hunting dangerous creatures in the underwater Naboo wilderness.)
(Back to the plot:) Panaka and Jarr reveal what they know about the coup (filling in the narrative gap for how the Naboo Loyalists joined with their Alderaan allies), and Padme, as handmaid to the queen, is called upon to tell what happened with her during the coup and afterwards, in which she tells the story of Obi-Wan’s and Anakin’s bravery on Tatooine. Naboo’s Galactic Senator Palpatine is there, and he takes “great interest” in Anakin, the boy who was not a Jedi and yet could use the Force … Padme brings the story to the pirate ambush, then Captain Panaka reveals that he received the royal distress signal. Padme tries to say that all handmaids to the queen are taught this secret signal, but Panaka, as captain of the royal guard, knows better, revealing only the queen could know it. Owen asks Anakin if he knew he had saved a queen. The (what, prime minister? King? Alderaan has to have some kind of royalty, too, a royal family of which Bail is a part, for Leia’s cover as “Princess of Alderaan” to work in the future): The King of Alderaan and Commander Organa pledge Alderaan’s support to Senator Palpatine, Queen Amidala, and the Naboo Loyalists and immediately get to work with them on war plans to break the usurper’s blockade.
Palpatine personally thanks Anakin for his part in rescuing “his people’s queen,” offering him his friendship. Then, in the battle planning, disgusted with the Republic for being unable — or unwilling — to send help to Naboo (“There are ‘more important’ conflicts in the Clone Wars that have Chancellor Valorum’s attention”) he informs the others that it will be up to the Loyalists and Alderaan alone to liberate Naboo. Captain Panaka reveals what they are up against: the usurpers have taken a new tactic in the Clone Wars, not only using clone soldiers but also mass-produced battledroids, which means they must be a part of or allied with the Trade Federation. (Let us say that in the past the Republic strictly regulated the factory mass-production of droids – this is why you see handcrafted droids on Naboo like R2-D2 maybe – but after the outbreak of new cloning technology and the proliferation of that technology which led to the Clone Wars, the Republic was no longer able to monitor the production of battledroids sufficiently.)
Palpatine then lays out what is at stake in this battle — the Clone Wars, if complicated further by quick- and mass-produced droid armies, could become something from which the Republic will never recover.
While battle plans are still being made, Obi-Wan takes Anakin and Owen to the Jedi Enclave. Its structure reminds Anakin of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, calling up good memories he hasn’t often reflected on since failing the Trials. In the Enclave, Obi-Wan reconnects with his old friend and unofficial mentor, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
(I decided to keep Liam! Considering the form of their names, I think they must be from the same planet, or culture at least, which would contribute to their friendship. But Yoda is still Obi-Wan’s official Jedi Master).
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan trained together on Coruscant, and Qui-Gon has since become the Jedi Liaison for their Alderaan Enclave. He and Obi-Wan together have been stationed on Alderaan, coordinating Jedi peacekeeping efforts in that sector of the galaxy. After learning about Anakin, Qui-Gon tests his blood. “It’s off the charts,” producing further astonishment that the Jedi would turn Anakin out of the Order, but Qui-Gon doesn’t tell all he knows, or suspects. Not yet. Then Obi-Wan relates the attack of the Sith. Qui-Gon immediately contacts Coruscant, and after traveling up the Jedi hierarchy he reaches Yoda and the Council. After updating Yoda on the situation on Naboo and the threat of the droids in addition to the clones, Obi-Wan warns their time is short, considering the Sith must have something to do with the coup on Naboo. Yoda warns Obi-Wan not to go after this Sith alone. Qui-Gon steps in and says he will go with him.
One last thing: Obi-Wan says he has found one of the youths who failed the Trials, Anakin Skywalker, and requests permission to train him. Either him or Master Jinn, who is more qualified — or, better yet, Yoda himself. Obi-Wan suggests that a Force-sensitive being with Anakin’s level of potential would surely need Yoda’s expertise and guidance. Yoda’s hologram face twitches, and says he will think on it. Obi-Wan is incredulous, but says he will await his Master’s decision.
Obi-Wan, now changed back to his Jedi robes, and Qui-Gon return to Anakin and Owen. Anakin is practicing his Force senses. Owen asks to go home, which Obi-Wan thinks is best. Then Owen tries to convince Anakin to come with him — Shmi needs them both, and this “idealistic crusade” will likely get him killed. Obi-Wan says the choice is Anakin’s, but he also says he believes Anakin could be a great help to the people of Naboo, and to the Jedi and the galaxy. Qui-Gon agrees. At the very least, the Naboo Loyalists and Alderaan will need pilots, and as Alderaan and Naboo have refused to use clone soldiers (they are a kind of Swizerland star system in the galaxy) they are shorthanded, so he could be of great service. Anakin says yes, somewhat in awe of the two Jedi Knights and being inspired by the Force in the Enclave. Owen thinks this is a mistake, but knows he cannot stop his step-brother. Commander Organa spares a shuttle to take Owen home. (Owen has refused the “Call to Adventure.”)
Then Bail tells Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Anakin that plans are being finalized and hints that “Warlord” Jarr is the key. He and the Queen have come to an arrangement, but their two peoples are estranged… A montage follows showing preparation time leading up to the final battle: Anakin training in an N1 Starfighter for his part in the plan, getting advice from Master Qui-Gon, “don’t think, feel, trust your instincts.” Long-range scanner reconnaissance lays out the Trade Federation forces in siege around the planet, with several large battleships and their one command ship. Jarr’s Gungan watercraft is shown being loaded into a captured pirate ship, and Obi-Wan and Bail go over modifications to it. Bail, talking with Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Padme, and Jarr, lends them the use of his protocol droid, C-3P0. Palpatine tells Jarr that if he “pulls this off” he will make sure the Gungans get a seat for Naboo in the Galactic Senate. Finally, the combined Naboo Loyalist and Alderaanian fleet, of modest size, is shown in orbit around Alderaan, with the captured pirate ship out front pointed at Naboo. On the ship are Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Padme, Anakin, Panaka, Jarr, C-3P0, a few Naboo Loyalist guards, and also the astromech droid R2-D2, Padme’s personal droid saved from the coup by Panaka, who has a key part to play in the modified pirate ship. Anakin is piloting. Padme gives him a kiss before they go to lightspeed while the rest of the fleet stays behind in formation.
It is a very short, in-system jump. Almost immediately they flash out of hyperspace, Naboo bright and blue in the cockpit’s windows, with the Trade Federation ships in orbit. Immediately the hail comes in. Anakin, being the only person there whose face probably isn’t in Trade Federation records, disguised as a pirate, responds, voice disguised, saying he has captured the fugitive slaves who escaped from them earlier. Confused, the Nemoidian TF representative says he is unaware of any escaped slaves. Before Anakin can panic or think of a response, the image changes to that of Nute Gunray. He demands that Anakin let him speak to Queen Amidala. The image widens to show Padme’s handmaid (Kiera Knightley) on the throne in Theed Palace, with droids and cloned Nemoidian soldiers keeping blasters trained on her. Gunray gloats that they have uncovered Padme’s ruse and that at first they had planned on holding her handmaid at ransom, but, instead, a fake puppet queen is better than a real puppet queen, so they don’t need Padme any more. The holocomm ends with Gunray ordering their ship to be blasted out of space.
Anakin lurches through evasive maneuvers, then Commander Organa and the Alderaan and Naboo Loyalist forces jump out of hyperspace and the space battle begins. Anakin steers the ship through the maelstrom of lasers until R2 takes over remote control from inside the Gungan vessel. Anakin scrambles down to the cargo bay and leaps through the Gungan hydrostatic barrier. Just as he steers the ship into the atmosphere over the right coordinates, R2 sends a signal, the ship explodes apart at the welded seam, and the Gungan vessel plummets through the sky (Obi-Wan’s Trojan Horse). As they free fall, a few outlier vulture droids track them. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon use the Force to blast away any that get too close, but one gets through and blows them off course. They ask Anakin for help and together the three follow “Warlord” Jarr’s directions, using the Force to nudge their vessel towards the right lake. The Gungan craft hits the water, streamlined, and dives deep. A few vulture droids cannot pull up in time and crash. Bail sees they have made it through and calls for the planned retreat.
Obi-Wan expressly congratulates Anakin for his help, “well done,” and Anakin says he could feel the Force so clearly … it was exhilarating.
The heroes travel through the planet’s liquid water core. Brief downtime: Obi-Wan asks Qui-Gon what he knows about why Anakin was turned out of the Order. Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan what he knows about the prophecies in the Book of the Whills about a possible “Chosen One” … Anakin, Padme, and Jarr are in the Gungan craft’s cockpit, so they do not overhear, and the audience is only teased with not much more information about the Prophecy.
With Anakin next to him, fascinated by the strange technology, Jarr steers the craft through the core, escaping monsters, until they reach Gunga City. With the help of C-3P0’s translations, Queen Amidala, Jarr, and Boss Nass come to an agreement and the two races of Naboo reconcile, especially when Jarr confirms that Senator Palpatine will give them a seat in the Galactic Senate. War plans are made: Capture Nute Gunray and force him to call off the droids, or destroy the command ship, or both.
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ACT THREE
(The two-pronged attack of The Phantom Menace is still in play:) Jarr and the Gungan Army assemble in the plains outside Theed and draw the majority of the Droid Army out of the city, leaving the elite Nemoidian clone soldiers and a small contingent of battledroids to defend the viceroy. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Panaka, Padme, Anakin, C-3P0, R2-D2, and a few Naboo Loyalist guards use Gungan craft to pop up in the river (like how Obi-Wan, Jar Jar, and Qui-Gon get to the city in the movie the first time, just later on in the plot with more than one craft).
(From here my re-imagining admittedly looks a lot like the real movie, but like I said, not every aspect of the Prequels should be redone:) Obi-Wan’s strike group sneak into the royal palace, free Loyalist pilots in their holding cells, and then make their way to the hangar, where Anakin takes R2 and joins the pilots as they take off on their sabotage mission to the droid command ship. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were going to help Padme get to the throne room to free her double and arrest Nute Gunray, but then Darth Maul returns and they are drawn into their epic 2-v-1 battle (this is the main reason I wanted to keep Qui-Gon, because how awesome was their “Duel of the Fates”?). Padme and Panaka and their Loyalists fight through the palace at the same time as the lightsaber battle, the battle between the Gungans and the Droids on the plains, and the space battle is raging.
After taking out a communications jamming array on one of the Trade Federation ships, Anakin sends a signal to Bail, and the Alderaanian dreadnoughts flash back into Naboo space. The ship-to-ship and fighter-to-fighter battle grows intense, but Anakin’s pilot skills prevail and together with Bail’s flagship they manage to destroy the droid command ship, and the battle in the field with the Gungans ends in triumph with the droids deactivating. This, consequently makes Padme and Panaka’s task that much easier, and they end up facing only the Nemoidian clone soldiers, who are quickly dealt with; Gunray is captured and Padme’s handmaid is freed. However, Anakin cannot celebrate, as he feels the pain of Qui-Gon and is compelled to streak down to the palace again. Using his senses (if Leia, untrained and already an adult stuck in her learning, can find Luke hanging under Cloud City, then my re-imagined Anakin who already had initial Jedi training can certainly “stretch out his feelings” and find three Force-sensitive individuals) Anakin finds Obi-Wan in peril from Maul. Contrary to R2’s high-pitched warnings, Anakin flies dangerously close to the spires of the palace and to the bridge where Obi-Wan is hanging (I’m redoing their final duel moments as outside on the palace somewhere, because I’m not really sure what that area was supposed to be in Episode I — some kind of power plant? It seemed exorbitantly large: where did they fit it inside the palace? And the laser-barriers and the lack of handrails on the catwalks over a seemingly bottomless chasm always seemed a little much to me, even for Star Wars). Anakin’s flyby and strafing blast distracts Maul long enough for Obi-Wan to do his awesome flip and cut Maul in half, sending the Sith tumbling into the water below (I’m trying to make it so this re-imagining would not also require much of the Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows to have to be redone, because in them Maul survives, gets robotic legs and becomes obsessed with revenge on his master, Sideous, and also on Obi-Wan).
Anakin lands in the hangar and rushes back to the outside bridge to find Obi-Wan cradling Qui-Gon’s head. Before he dies, Qui-Gon promises Anakin that he may certainly become a Jedi if he will devote himself to the Force, and says that Obi-Wan ought to be his trainer. Obi-Wan thanks Anakin for saving his life, then Qui-Gon breathes his last.
The penultimate scenes will be a montage of the following: Qui-Gon’s funeral pyre with Mace Windu and Yoda discussing the Rule of Two (as they do in the actual movie); the celebration of the peace newly gained between the Gungans and the Naboo; and then Anakin and Obi-Wan returning to Tatooine, Anakin hugging Shmi and Owen in such a way as to let the audience know he made his decision; then, Obi-Wan and Anakin head to the Enclave on Alderaan, where Anakin begins his training. After this some time elapses, with brief flashes of Anakin in his new Jedi Apprentice robes training with Obi-Wan and, more importantly, laughing with him — their friendship is becoming real — and also alone, levitating, fighting with training drones, and learning new Force skills.
The final minutes of my re-imagined Episode I will be of Anakin at a workbench, assembling his iconic lightsaber. Once he places the focusing crystal in its housing and seals the handle, he ignites it. Then, the last thing he does is send a ping through his holo-vid, which is quickly answered. “You finished it!” we hear, then, panning up, we see Padme smiling at him through her hologram, and the last thing we see is Anakin’s grinning face bathed in his lightsaber’s glow.
Fin.
***
There are some obvious problems with my re-imagined story: Qui-Gon’s death won’t mean as much, because he is only in half the movie and he is not Obi-Wan’s beloved master, and the reconciliation between the Gungans and the Naboo should probably be foreshadowed earlier on — maybe Jarr has to be captured and sold as a slave along with Padme in the beginning, so he is there from Tatooine onwards. I’ve never had training in screenwriting, so there is probably too much content for a feature-length film. But, all in all, I had fun writing and imagining this, and fun is all this is about anyway.
On to Re-Imagined Episodes II and III!
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