What If? the Star Wars Prequels were good?
Michael Barryte of Belated Media
produces an in-depth rewrite of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith that addresses most of the criticism levied against the Star Wars Prequels.
The series can be watched here: Episode I, Episode II, Episode III.
Tropes found in the series:
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Many of the character relationships are changed for the revised script. Padmé is no longer the queen of Naboo, but of Alderaan, while Bail Organa is retconned as her brother. Owen Lars is a member of her pilot crew, instead of a random moisture farmer with no real connection to the heroes aside from being Anakin's step-brother that he met only once. Palpatine is not a member of the Senate in this continuity, but serves an intermediary between the two factions.
- Adaptational Heroism: Count Dooku isn't a villain in this continuity, even if he appears to be set up as one in the beginning of Episode II. Like in Canon, he was a former Jedi who left the Order because he was drawn to the Dark Side. But unlike Canon, he manages to resist Sidious' offer to take over the galaxy, and is killed by the Republic after Palpatine manages to frame him for being the man behind the attack on the Separatist / Senate meeting.
- Adaptational Nationality: In this continuity, Padmé is from Alderaan instead of Naboo.
- Adapted Out: Jar Jar Binks (or at least, as Michael stresses, he's not important).
- Age Lift: Anakin is not a child when he is (re-)introduced in Episode I, but a teenager or a young adult.
- Badass Normal: Owen Lars, who is introduced in this reimagined Canon as one of Padmé's pilots, is not force sensitive, but is pretty darn good at operating his clunky space ships to hold out his own in a space battle, and later helps Anakin fight an army of droids with his blaster.
- The Cameo: In Episode II, Palpatine arrives to help the Jedi / Senate ward off an unknown assailant with an army of clone troopers. Among his entourage is Grand Moff Tarkin, but his presence is not actually mentioned in the video, since he's not actually doing anything in the scene. He's also present in the war council in Episode III.
- The Chessmaster: Palpatine's role as an intermediary between two of the most powerful factions in the universe (Senate and the Jedi) allows him to pull more strings around the characters, and makes him even more dangerous than he already is. This is most obvious in Episode II, where he sends Darth Maul and his droid army to attack both the Separatist and Senators, and arrives with his clone army to be the Big Damn Heroes when things get dire. Then, he manages to convince everyone that Dooku is behind the attack, and sends the clones to blow up his fortress—which further cements his status as a hero in the eyes of the Republic, while eliminating a loose canon, whom he had failed to recruit, before Dooku can talk about his involvement with his dealings.
- Commonality Connection: Anakin and Owen bond over their impoverished background as Tatooine boys hoping to find a better life elsewhere.
- Fix Fic: The main purpose of these videos is to address most of the criticisms fans have with the Prequel trilogy, such as the excessive Call Forwards, over-reliance on Original Trilogy characters, and lack of narrative focus.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Anakin and Padmé's romance begins to bloom when Padmé helps take care of Anakin after he gets injured from fighting Darth Maul.
- Foregone Conclusion: In an attempt to defy this, Michael does not show Anakin transforming into Darth Vader after Obi-Wan defeats him in Mustafar, nor do we see Padmé give birth to twins. This way, new fans who watch the films in its sequential order will not be spoiled of the famous twist that Vader is Luke's father, or that Luke and Leia are twins.
- The Heavy: Darth Maul serves as the primary villain of Episode II and III. He's only a pawn to the Emperor, of course, but given that Sidious himself remains behind the scenes until the very last moments, Maul becomes the primary face of the unknown evil that is threatening the galaxy.
- Love Triangle: Averted. Despite adding some Ship Tease moments between Obi-Wan and Padmé in Episode I, and hinting that he might still have feelings for her in the beginning of Episode II, the relationship between the two isn't developed further, as script focuses more on Obi-Wan's friendship with Anakin, and his own growth as a Jedi. Between Episodes II and III, Padmé marries Anakin without there ever being a love triangle drama between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Played With. Anakin doesn't explicitly turn into a Sith in this reimagined trilogy, but his descent to the Dark Side is definitely caused by what he perceived to be the Jedi Council's disrespect of his abilities, and Obi-Wan's betrayal. The Jedi Council repeatedly refuses to give him the title of Jedi Master for seemingly no reason, while the revelation that Obi-Wan (apparently) only trained him out of a promise he had made with Qui-Gon seemingly implies that he never really saw Anakin as a friend and equal.
- Redemption Equals Death: Count Dooku is not evil, but he did leave the Jedi after being drawn by the Dark Side, and goes into hiding in his attempt to cleanse himself of the Dark Side's influence. Sidious attempts to recruit him into his ranks, but Dooku refuses—thus showing that he's managed to conquer his evil impulses—only for Sidious to kill him not long after.
- Related in the Adaptation: Bail Organa is re-imagined as Padmé's brother, and therefore Luke and Leia's uncle—presumably to give him a more plausible reason to adopt Leia after Padmé's death.
- Supporting Protagonist: The main character of the overall saga is Anakin Skywalker, but the viewpoint character of the revised Prequels is Obi-Wan.
- Tempting Fate: At the end of Episode II, Michael Barryte closes the video by saying that Obi-Wan has lost his master, then Count Dooku, to the Siths, but, thankfully, he still has Anakin, so everything's going to end up fine—right?
- Tragic Dream: Episode III opens with the heroes discussing their dreams for the future, with Owen expressing his goal of finally leaving Tatooine behind and starting a new life in Coruscant, Obi-Wan is hopeful for the new generation of Jedi, Padme wants to strengthen the Senate and unite the galaxy, while Anakin expresses confidence that he's more than proven himself worthy to sit on the Jedi Council. Of course, given Episode IV, it's meant to be a Foregone Conclusion that all their hopes are going to be shattered when Anakin becomes Darth Vader after the Jedi Council refuses to give him a seat in the Council, the Empire took over the galaxy and got rid of the Jedi and the Senate, and Owen is forced to return home to Tatooine in order to raise Luke in secret.
- Uriah Gambit: A downplayed version of this happens in Episode III where Anakin is laying out a plan to assault the Separatist base on Mustafar. It's a dangerous mission and he's under stress with Padme being held hostage, so when Mace Windu questions him one too many times he decides to have the Jedi lead the charge. He isn't out to destroy the Jedi specifically, but he's willing to send them to danger after the bridge between him and the order has fallen apart.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Count Dooku is a good guy, but stands as the face of the Separatist movements because, while in hermitage, he discovers that Darth Sidious has infiltrated in the Senate and is building a massive army to annihilate the Jedi.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Darth Maul is defeated by Obi-Wan and Anakin, Palpatine (who had been taken as a "hostage" by the Separatists) orders Anakin to kill Maul. At this point, Maul realises that he's just another loose end in Sidious's plans that needs to be eliminated.
