I loved Star Wars, thought Empire Strikes Back was okay, was sadly disappointed by Return of the Jedi, hated Phantom Menace and groaned through Clone War. My major beef with Lucas was the way he collapsed the entire universe into Anakin Skywalker. The entropy began when Vader turned out to be Luke’s dad, it continued when he also turned out to be Leia’s dad and it accelerated when it turned out that he was from Tatooine and he built C3P0. In my opinion, the plot line annunciated by Obi Wan in Star Wars would have been fine: Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin.

What should have happened then was for Luke to become a Jedi like his father and settle the vendetta: Hello. My name is Luke Skywalker. You killed my father. Prepare to die. Return of the Jedi could have been the actual return of the Jedi Order; Obi Wan via Luke could have rescued a bunch of beings Vader kidnapped who were strong in the Force (he was trying to turn them to the dark side) and the Jedi could have come back. Picture Vader and a bunch of Stormtroopers turning around when a blast door opens and there is Luke and 15 or so others with lightsabers drawn. Return of the Jedi (plural) instead of Return of the Jedi (singular).

So when I saw the trailer for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I found it very interesting the way they edited Obi Wan’s speech from Star Wars. When he is telling Luke about his father, in this trailer, they omit the part about him being killed by Vader. Humm. I wonder if Lucas is trying to get himself out of this corner? I have heard that Lucas claims to have had this plot line laid out from the beginning. I doubt it. Why did he have Luke kiss his sister in Empire Strikes Back? Why did Obi Wan lie so badly about Vader? I mean really, it would have made more sense for him to say that Luke’s father was a pupil of his and that Vader murdered him rather than claim that Vader was the pupil. Why didn’t C3P0 recognize Tatooine since he was built there?

Still, there is at least one concept that seems to have been there from the beginning. I remember reading back in the 70s that the reason Vader wears a suit and has to have a machine breath for him is because he and Obi Wan were fighting and he fell into a lava pit. That seems to be born out by the trailer so we shall see.

Will I see Episode III? I don’t know. Probably. The kids will want to see it and I would be interested to see how Lucas connects the dots from Episodes I through IV. I’m just afraid that we’re going to see Anakin build the Millennium Falcon and sell it to Lando, introduce Chewie to Han Solo and get Boba Fett started in bounty hunting. The universe may continue to collapse.