For a lot of fans, the "Jedi lost their way" take really comes down to:
"I never saw the Jedi Council genuinely be kind to Anakin in any meaningful way, so I just filled in the gaps and assumed they were dicks to him".
From there you get the myths that the Jedi manipulated him, only cared for him because of his power, forbid him from seeing his Mom, Mace in particular hated him, etc etc.
Well, quick reminder: in George Lucas' script, Anakin refers to the Jedi as his family.
But hey, if "not enough evidence" is a factor, how would we fix that?
PITCH: A five-issue comic book miniseries, featuring self-contained tales of young Anakin's interactions with various Jedi - seen from their POVs - about how they all come around to liking him, only to epilogue each issue with events from Episode III.
Not all of these are fully developed, but just to give you an idea...
Issue #1: Yoda.
Lesson: "letting to of what you fear to lose"
Set only months after Episode I, Obi-Wan is off on a mission, and Anakin is shadowing Yoda, for the day. Both are reluctant...
Yoda is still grappling with Anakin's uncertain future, maybe reeling from Qui-Gon's death and Yaddle's disappearance.
Anakin misses his Mom, and the last conversation he had with Yoda was the elf telling him he shouldn't be scared for his mother (or so Anakin thinks).
Throughout the day, shenanigans ensue.
Yoda takes Ani to a Council meeting and he keeps interrupting by asking Yarael Poof why his neck is so long, or asking Oppo Rancisis if he ever trims his hair. Giggles from all but Yoda.
Yoda mediates a negotiation between Senators and the subject of Malastare podracing comes up, so Anakin hijacks the meeting.
Yoda goes to Thustra to fight off mercenaries for the King and Anakin tags along, seemingly becoming a burden for Yoda.
However, despite their bumpy start (Anakin being a brat and Yoda being a grump) Anakin and Yoda bond and Anakin's input seemingly becomes the key to the mission's success.
Yoda discovers he admires Anakin's outside-the-box thinking and finds kindness deep in his heart. The issue's narrative voice is Yoda talking to Qui-Gon, noting how similar Anakin and Qui-Gon are.
Anakin realizes that Yoda trained the master who trained the master who trained his master... so that makes him his sort of grandpa! That's so wizard!
Once the task at hand is over, Yoda and Anakin have a moment and talk about the idea that Anakin misses his mother.
Yoda comforts Anakin, explaining that his mother let him leave the nest, and in life things come and go, things which they may grow to care for. But as Jedi, they must be able to let go of these attachments, when the time comes.
Anakin asks if Yoda ever lost someone he cared about. Yoda answers that he's almost 900, by now. A lot of loved ones of his came and went. Qui-Gon was one of them. Yaddle, too. Another one (thinking of Dooku)... still hurts to this day.
One day, it'll be up to him to be as strong as his mother, who Yoda adds might've made a wonderful Jedi. And who knows, maybe he'll see her again, once Anakin becomes a Jedi himself.
Anakin smiles.
Epilogue:
Anakin scowls.
We're seeing Yoda's scene with Anakin in Episode III through Yoda's POV. As he did years ago, Anakin still has problems with attachment... but in this case, he doesn't even tell Yoda anything. So Yoda can only give a general answer.
As Anakin refuses to elaborate on his premonitions and leaves, Yoda feels powerless, and can only hope he was able to help this troubled young man who, day after day, reminds him less of Qui-Gon and more of Dooku. Dooku who died yesterday.
Issue #2: Kit Fisto
Lesson: "don't try to be some 'Chosen One', just be yourself"
Anakin undergoes a trial that involves swimming. And he grew up on a desert planet. So of course, he fails. At night, he steals Obi-Wan's breather and sneaks out of their quarters to go to the pool and train.
He puts the breather on wrong and is about to drown but fear not! Jedi Knight Kit Fisto and his dashing smile are here to help!
He shows Anakin how to put his breather on right and shows him how to swim and fight underwater.
Now, this isn't just a pool. It's a pool in the Jedi Temple! So it's filled with a whole lot of marvelous fluorescent flora and fauna, I'm taking Avatar-style stuff.
So the swimming lesson becomes a lesson about the Living Force (who said it should just be Qui-Gon's thing? Lucas certainly didn't), using water as a metaphor.
The overall idea of the issue is that Anakin is concerned... he left his Mom behind, hoping to make her proud, make Qui-Gon proud, make Obi-Wan proud and live up to this expectation of being the Chosen One... but he's struggling at basic stuff like swimming! How's he gonna be this big time Jedi, one day?
Kit reassures Anakin: he shouldn't aspire to be a "Chosen One". All any Jedi should aspire to be is the best version of themselves.
Next day: Anakin passes the trial, Obi-Wan congratulates him, and Anakin completely misinterprets what Kit was telling him in a hilarious way by saying something silly and cocky like:
"I just had to remind the water that I'm the best me there is so it better let me float or else."
Which gets an eye roll from Obi and a giggle from Kit.
(BTW, maybe we can have Nadar Vebb help Anakin swim too! Maybe even set him up as passing that trial the first time round with flying colors to contrast with Anakin, maybe he's an antagonist that comes around by the end, I dunno)
Epilogue:
As Mace battles Sidious in the other room, Kit Fisto, still breathing, rises to his feet and takes a few steps, intent on helping his friend despite his wound, but collapses... he's not gonna make it.
He turns around, stares at the ceiling. Is this how it ends?
Anakin appears in his line of sight, looking around at the dead Jedi, shocked. Kit smiles (ROTS novelization reference) as Anakin rushes into the adjacent corridor.
His last thought is the knowledge that everything's going to turn out alright, now that the Chosen One is here.
Issue #3: Mace Windu
Lesson: Control your feelings, don't let them control you.
Simple story. Obi-Wan was captured by a bunch of IG-11 assassins, allowing Anakin to escape and rescue a Senator's daughter. Now, Anakin and Mace are on a mission to get him back.
They make their way through a jungle filled with traps. Anakin is rushing, he's angry at the droids and afraid for Obi-Wan and it's making him do dumb stuff. After it happens a second time, Mace scolds him.
Around a campfire, Anakin apologizes for his impulsive behavior.
Mace comments that it's understandable. He only started being a Jedi, like, 5 years ago. Mastering your emotions isn't an easy thing to do, and in Anakin's case it's twice as hard. Anakin pries: is that why Mace didn't want him to become a Jedi?
Mace hesitates. Then says it, point blank: "yes".
And while he's sorry for being blunt, the fact remains that last week he threatened two of his fellow initiates with a lightsaber to the face.
Anakin points out that they were bullying him because they were jealous of his skill.
Against all expectation Mace smiles and reveals that he can relate to that. His own classmates would bully him for the same reason. You know who'd step in, in that situation? Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon was like a big brother to Mace, always had his back.
After sighing, with a calmer tone, Mace says he'll have a chat with those students. But Anakin needs to double his efforts to keep his feelings under control, lest he become enslaved by them.
The way he went about it was by developing Vaapad. He demonstrates it to Anakin, whose eyes are filled with stars.
Mace concludes that while he did have misgivings, he has faith that Anakin can find the way to do it.
In the morning, Anakin and Mace storm the castle filled with assassin droids. One of the droids sees they're losing and electrocutes Obi-Wan, hoping to unbalance them. Mace orders Anakin to stay focused, Kenobi can take it! And Anakin does!
Once the courtyard is cleared, Mace lifts the remaining droid torturing Obi-Wan with the Force and crushes it into a ball of metal.
As they walk away, Mace lets out a "good work, Skywalker."
Anakin asks Mace if he can teach him Vaapad-- Mace cuts him off with a "Nope".
"C'mooon!"
"Don't push it, Skywalker."
Epilogue:
In the Chancellor's office, Mace reflects the lightning back onto Palpatine's face.
The Sith seems out of commission.
And Mace is scared shitless. He almost died, a few seconds ago. His instinct is to run. He uses shatterpoint, tries to sense the future because Force knows he's got no idea what the hell he should do next. And that's when he sees it:
The various ways Sidious can kill him and Anakin.
Stop Mace's blade mid-air and Force Push them out of a window,
snap their necks with the Force,
crush the crystal in his lightsaber and let it blow up in his face.
Palpatine is faking and there are barely any scenarios in which Mace and Anakin are walking out of this room alive. And even if they do capture him, then
Sidious can bribe judges and Senate officials and supposing that doesn't work either, he can
escape any prison, kill thousands of clones in one night and
set up a new power base, starting from scratch.
This either ends now or the galaxy is doomed.
For a full second, the gravity of it all terrorizes Mace... then he chases his fear and musters his courage.
Anakin argues but Mace knows what he must do. He prepares to end the conflict once and for all, like a true Jedi would.
Anakin argues again, and Mace detects something else. Wait, why is Skywalker scared?
As he falls, Mace realizes the very thing that he feared would happen, a long time ago, has finally come true:
Anakin let his emotions rule him... and it doomed them all.
Issue #4: Shaak Ti
I was thinking for this one, we can have Obi-Wan bring her in as a sparring partner so she can demonstrate Jar'Kai to Anakin.
I haven't thought of a deeper lesson for this one, I just like Shaak Ti, folks, she's awesome :D
If anyone has suggestions, put 'em in the replies.
Epilogue:
(This one will definitely age poorly when The Mandalorian Season 3 comes out tomorrow!)
Order 66 rages as Shaak Ti protects a group of elderly Jedi in charge of the babies. She takes clone after clone down as she escorts them to an escape room the notices one baby left in the infirmary: Grogu.
Suddenly, she senses an overwhelming darkness approaching this wing of the temple. She thinks fast, she takes Grogu, crosses a corridor where 2-3 Jedi are killed (which is what Grogu remembers in the flashbacks)...
... and goes to a meditation room nearby. The shadow closes in and Shaak Ti realizes who it is: Skywalker.
We catch her moments later as she finished recording a message in her Holocron (the one from Star Wars #9)...
"It's up to you now. Don't let our deaths have been in vain. Don't let this be the end of the Jedi."
... then places it in Grogu's pod and hides him in an air vent. She sits on the chair, pretending to meditate.
The door slides open. Anakin enters the room, senses something in the air vent. Shaak Ti realizes he's about to find Grogu and distracts him: "what is it Skywalker?"
He stabs her. She falls.
He picks up her saber as he prepares to engage Cin Drallig and his apprentice with two lightsabers, just as she showed him.
A tear rolls down Shaak Ti's eye.
She looks at the air vent, sees Grogu's wet eyes peer through the grate. At least he's safe.
Issue #5: Obi-Wan
Lesson: Be less cocky, beware of Palpatine, ffs
Obi-Wan and Anakin are on a mission, maybe they're being chased by monsters, maybe it's in the middle of a firefight, maybe Anakin is trying to stop a train.
Bottom line: Anakin gets cocky and tries to do something incredibly stupid, thinking he can pull it off... and almost dies.
Obi-Wan manages to save him, but that hits him like a ton of bricks.
"I almost lost him."
Anakin's justification? Something along the lines of: he told the Chancellor he'd manage to do a triple flip next time he's on a mission, and that he'd try to catch it on a holovid.
So Obi-Wan loses his shit on Anakin, takes his saber and grounds him for a friggin' month.
Privately, he feels guilty. He almost lost Anakin and it would've been on him. His promise to Qui-Gon would be broken, Shmi's sacrifice, wherever she is, would be rendered pointless... and Anakin would be dead.
He talks to Mace and Yoda, who tell him not to blame himself. Obi-Wan takes this to heart and realizes who's to blame.
He goes to see the Chancellor.
And it's awkward af.
Put yourself in Obi-Wan's shoes. How do you tell your boss, the leader of the free world, to back off because he's a bad influence on your kid, in the most diplomatic way possible?
But he somehow manages. He puts his foot down and asks Palps if he wouldn't mind being a bit more hands-off.
Note: for one page, we're on Palpatine as he remembered every time he undermined everybody else's lessons.
"Don't listen to Windu, your emotions are what make you human."
"Still, a bit heartless of Yoda to not even send someone to free your mother. I'm sure they had their reasons."
"Trust me, you're definitely a Chosen One, even if Jedi like Master Fisto don't see it."
Then Palpatine smiles. "Of course!" He even apologizes and agrees to step back for a bit, he understands that he may have inadvertently undermined Obi-Wan's authority. My bad, Master Kenobi. My bad.
Back in Anakin's quarters, Obi-Wan enters and sits next to Anakin on his bed. Silence.
What follows is a scene like this one in The Lion King:
Obi-Wan admits that Anakin really scared him today.
Anakin is sorry, but at the same time, he knew Obi-Wan would be there to save him in case he failed.
Obi-Wan explains that he won't always be able to be there to have Anakin's back. Anakin dismisses that, saying he trusts him.
"As long as we're together, it'll always turn out alright."
Epilogue:
As their dialog from the previous scene continues, Obi-Wan watches as his Padawan, his ward, his brother, his everything for the past 13 years, kneels in front of the Chancellor on a hologram recording.
So yeah, that was my attempt at writing Star Wars ^^' Thank you for making it this far!
Why only 5 issues? Well, it could be 6 issues. Could be 12, released monthly. I focused on 5 because I didn't wanna spend too much time photoshopping collages. Other scenarios could feature:
Saesee Tiin teaches Anakin flying maneuvers and finds he also has much to learn.
Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura partner up with Obi-Wan and Anakin. Anakin initially finds a kindred spirit in Quin, even wonders if it would be possible for two knights to do a "Padawan swap", but eventually he sees that - as cool and laid back as Master Vos is - maybe he needs a Master who'll give him a bit more structure than the guy who'll let him stay up late.
Anakin and A'Sharad Hett going through a trial together. #Tatooineboys #arooo #kraytdragonsounds
Here's why I wrote these story ideas down:
There'll always be fans who see the Prequel Jedi as corrupt and arrogant, regardless of how much evidence from Canon or Lucas you provide to dispel the notion.
But sometimes, Star Wars transmedia content is used to fix inconsistencies or bolster ideas that were only alluded to in the films, or show a different point of view.
We got this recently with Shadows of the Sith, for example, which helped smooth some plot-holes from the Sequel Trilogy.
Sometimes, the material around the movies manages to re-contextualize and make the characters or the film itself more endearing, to fans. I mean, that's what The Clone Wars did for a lot of Prequel haters.
And I'm just disappointed this approach wasn't used to help the Prequel Jedi's perception among the fandom.
'Cause these are characters that have slowly been reframed as "the corrupt/complacent establishment" by authors who didn't find them likeable when they watched the films, when they were originally supposed to be "the underdogs who're doing their best".
An approach that was being taken during TCW was "let's question whether the Jedi are really all that good and moral and pure".
Nobody ever said they were, it's just that they tried to be their best selves, but whatever, let's play "devil's advocate", sure. Let's get some new points of view.
But skip to almost two decades later, and Star Wars has played "devil's advocate" with the Prequel Jedi so much that seeing them in a negative light is now mainstream.
So, now... how about we explore:
The trauma Mace Windu felt when he was actively seeing people he grew up with get shot to shreds by battle droids on the daily.
The ex-Jedi Knights who come back to the Order to help their former family, instead of focusing on the ones who left.
Rael or Sifo-Dyas calling Dooku out on his ideological bullshit and forcing him to face the fact that he's just a crook who talked himself into betraying his brethren.
The young Padawans whose masters went to Geonosis and never came back.
Plo Koon being attacked by a mob because he "looks evil" and both the Republic and the Separatist's war propaganda reflects badly on the Jedi, framed as “baby-snatching warmongers in their ivory tower”.
How about - instead of focusing on a series set 200 years prior, y'know, Back When The Jedi Were Great™ - we roll up our sleeves and question whether or not the Prequel Jedi were all that bad?
Just a thought.
853 notes
·
View notes
any new Star Wars essays in the making, or are you moving on?
I don't know, honestly.
Part of it is "life gets in the way," I'm working a lot and so whatever time I have left is spent just messing around or meeting with my loved ones.
I've got a bunch of stuff in my drafts. I don't mind sharing it here, most recent to oldest:
Sort of a joke post of me pointing out how stressful being George Lucas' producer must've been, like this guy really DIDN'T WANT to write his fucking scripts, did he? Poor Rick McCallum. Abandoned because who gives a crap.
'Ask' reply on how EU-fueled fandom perception of the Jedi was flipped by the prequels.
'Ask' reply about the themes in Ahsoka and why the show doesn't know what it's about. Problem is, I go about it starting from the basics, so nobody's gonna sit through reading a tematic breakdown of the first Pirates of the Carribean movie, The Batman and the original six Star Wars films before I even get to the show at hand.
"Part II" post about what Ahsoka, Rebels and TCW get right about lightsaber duels, which the Prequels never did.
Quote collection & analysis on just how complex the Prequels were meant to be (in the late 80s, Lucas intimated that the Sequels were the story that was supposed to have gray morality, not the Prequels)
Quote collection on how the themes and principles of Star Wars align with Lucas' own opinions and philosophies.
Quote collection on Lucas defining Anakin's flaws.
Quote collection on Lucas talking about the fact that we need to be more proactive, which aligns with what Lumi points out sometimes about the Jedi: they should've been more politically engaged because we all should be.
Why I approach Lucas as "word of god".
Personal life/joke-y post dating from the time of the WGA strike about how Jack Black's School of Rock lyrics "In his heart he knew, the artist must be true, but the legend of the rent was way past due!" applied to me. Abandoned because I didn't wanna bum everyone out.
Correcting the notion that Dark Times-era Jedi such as Kanan or Ezra or Ahsoka represent what Jedi were supposed to be.
A comprehensive end-all outlook on how Anakin's flaws all tie together. I've written this one twice and I don't know how to differentiate it from my other posts.
A secret "Part 3" to my TLJ Luke post, in which I point out that RJ's being too "indie", while being a strong point for a big chunk of the film, hampers the film's ability to make Luke feel as badass as he does on paper. I want to illustrate a storyboard for this one, but that takes time.
The evolution of Star Wars' approach to transmedia.
Debunking Star Wars myths: a (very) comprehensive outlook on children in the Jedi Order.
Problem is that only like 2/3rds of these are fully-written... and I still need to find the relevant clips, turn them into GIFs, etc etc.
There's many other interesting Asks in my inbox btw. But I'm already behind on all these, so I haven't begun to touch them.
Then there's the drawings.
I wanna draw a comic of the meeting between Yoda and Dooku in Dark Rendezvous. I wanna finish the comic fight between Maul and Ben. I wanna draw Mace, Shaak Ti, I've got a Luminara fan-art that was supposed to be ready for Jedi June 2022 and an Anakin drawing that looks weird. No time, nor am I skilled enough.
(Like, I trace, that's what I do, it's not a secret I've said so before... but it takes me a long while to do so. I'm not fast at drawing, let alone coloring.)
I could commission some of these, but there are obvious obstacles there.
There's fun tidbits I've discovered here and there but nobody will care about them and I usually try to not drown my blog with bs posts.
Then there's the bigger problem.
All the things I've listed above? I'm not 100% motivated to finish. But a lot of the new stuff I wanna write about is hella negative.
I had a lot of stuff I wanted to say about Ahsoka. But it wasn't all good. It was mostly me bitching, be it about the show or the fandom's reactions to it.
I've also got more stuff to say about Filoni's take on Star Wars, but I've talked about why it's inaccurate like 8 times already, and I don't actually dislike the guy, like there's plenty of things he knows and does that I think are awesome but also people won't stop putting him and his takes on a pedestal and--
oh shit, there's Acolyte too, I forgot about that, gray morality galore, here we come. But here too, like... I've talked a couple of times about why this entire gray morality thing is actually just the gen X-ers trying to make the prequels "cool" and "complex". but I've never explored properly, with quotes and research and shit. but i've talked about it so many times that at this point it'd end up like the Filoni rants, redundant. "we get it already." as if this show didn't have haters lined round the block for absolutely sexist reasons.
Don't get me started on the mountain of lies and/or idiocy that is the YouTuber Star Wars Theory.
And yet he said one thing a few months ago which struck a chord within me and it's the fact that Andor is awesome, excels on all levels because it's treated seriously, like a proper show, not a Disney Plus one... why wasn't Obi-Wan Kenobi? Why wasn't Book of Boba Fett? And I've already established multiple times that I enjoyed Kenobi (yes, including the Reva parts) and I've established that I know what they were going for in Fett and I've established that this is mainly a "Disney Plus didn't know how to structure a fucking show pre-WGA strike" issue more than anything else... but when I think about how these could've been treated instead? When I look at the characterizations and emotional stakes of like Fargo Season 5? It's infuriating. Because it's not bad (talking about Kenobi, BOBF is awful)... but it could've been EXCELLENT and instead it was just "okay" to "good".
I just miss live action lightsaber duels, man. Like, good ones.
and i dunno. maybe I should just let it rip on all this. "go off, king!"
but I think there's so much negativity re: Star Wars that adding my thoughts on these subjects, no matter how structured and reason, will just blend into a wave of needless, un-constructive hate.
maybe I should finish the writings in the drafts and just post them with no gifs, maybe just still images?
but doing any of that feels like a step back.
So that's where I'm at right now.
45 notes
·
View notes