Okay, this is written for those many who have May 19, 2005 circled on their calendar. Who are scheduling the rest of their lives around this event. What event? Why, the presentation of the "final" episode of Star Wars, a movie event that has been unfolding over the last almost 20 years. The rest of you, go read the New York Times or something.
My fiancee and I have been preparing in the best of geek ways. We're watching all the movies and going over fine plot details.
During February we started with episodes 1 (The Phantom Menace) and 2 (The Attack of the Clones). Then last weekend we watched episode 4 (A New Hope) and intend to watch episodes 5 (The Empire Strikes Back) and 6 (The Return of the Jedi).
This is a very interesting process alright. For example it's been years since I'd seen episodes 4/5/6, largely because they weren't on DVD (until last fall). Even more, it's watching the story unfold in a different order than it is in the memory. My memory has it in the 4/5/6/1/2/3 order because that's the order George Lucas chose for presenting the story.
The main thing on my mind is that Episode 3 is so completely telegraphed, I expect to come out of the theater totally bummed. Maybe George has some twists up his sleeve, but the story line is so clearly heading in a particular direction because episodes 1/2 were so careful to show the groundwork that created the action in episodes 4/5/6.
Annikan becomes Darth: Watching A New Hope over the weekend it was interesting seeing Darth Vader in action, knowing that little "Anni" grew up to become him. It's one thing to see a villain and hiss at them, but it's yet another thing to have seen him as a child, watch him grow up, watch him have his first love, and see how he becomes a villain. Maybe we can see this and learn some compassion for the real villains in our world, because they all were little children themselves at one time.
In any case, it's obvious that during Episode 3, Annikan is going to have a split with the Jedi Council. In episode 1 this was foreshadowed with the Jedi Council at first refusing to train him. I was surprised, in fact, that this council of the supposed wise would be so blind as to be shocked to see fear in a young boys heart when that young boy had just been taken from his mother. While he would obviously be excited at the adventure, a situation like that is rife for abandonment issues, so of course he is going to have some fear. But for Yoda to rant on about Fear leading to the Dark Side is rather short sighted of him and the council. One would think that such a wise council would know a little basic Psychology and be able to help Annikan adjust more healthily than their initial rejection of him.
In episode 2 the turning of Annikan Skywalker into Darth Vader was even more foreshadowed. The anger and hatred over finding his mother tortured by the sand people, and how he "slaughtered them like animals".
Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru: When we first saw Lars' compound in the desert in episode 2, it was funny hearing him introduce his son, Owen, and his son's girlfriend, Beru. Because we knew who they were, and what would eventually happen to thim. Speaking of which, I was wondering just how directly involved Darth would be over the decision to burn that compound and everybody in it? One would think that Annikan/Darth would hold a grudge to them over losing his mother to the sand people.
Annikan and Padmay's children: Annikan and Padmay are now married, and are no doubt going to have some children. We know that Luke is Annikan's son, and that Leia is Lukes sister, which then must mean that Padmay bears twins. But Darth would not have known of these children or he would have hunted them down. Hence we can expect episode three to have a sequence like so:
- Annikan gets mad over something and maybe flips to the dark side immediately
- Padmay learns of her pregnancy
- Padmay is scared of who Annikan becomes, and goes to the Jedi council for protection
- The Jedi council arrange for the safety of her children
- Padmay perhaps gets killed by Darth
But, I'm confused that Yoda and Obiwan would choose Owen and Beru to foster young Luke Skywalker. Maybe Padmay chose to place Luke with them? It will be interesting to learn about Aldebran, how that place is chosen for Leia, why it was chosen to separate the children, etc. I expect that the children are hidden because if Darth knew of them they'd be seen as a threat because they would no doubt be strong in the force. Hence I expect Darth would hunt them down and kill the children if they were known.
Why do I get the feeling you'll be the death of me: I couldn't help but laugh when Obiwan said that to Annikan.
Obiwan Kenobi, meet Annikan Skywalker: A match made in heaven, no doubt, facilitated by Qaggon.
The Death of Count Dukku: There can only be two Sith, right? Since Dukku is currently one of the two Sith, then when Annikan becomes Darth that means Dukku must die.
Master Siphodeus and the Clones: It's a puzzle who Siphodeus is, and why he ordered the Clone Army that was so helpful in episode 2. This isn't discussed in the movie, so who could it be? Well, I noticed that the fellow-who-becomes-emporer is named Darth Sideous, and the similarity in the names between Siphodeus and Sideous is interesting. Methinks, and I'm guessing here, that Sideous was Siphodeus. And that Siphodeus ordered the Clones around the time he went to the dark side, forseeing that if the Jedi Council were to have an army that he would be able to engineer the destruction of the Republic.