I was going to title this "In Defence of the Preludes",
but if three films made over a decade ago have to be re-explained then either they were not very good in the first place or the people watching weren't really paying attention. And reference is made also to The Force Awakens.
Soooooo, well the first critique of the Star Wars prequels is that Lucas keeps reinforcing the...
Hang on, what message is he trying to say?
In each film Palpatine gains more power at the hand of an ineffective Galactic senate.
I understand the point about sacrificing liberty for efficiency but did this really need to be repeated three times? To underline the point that the senate will be dissolved later? It gets repetitive and it turns people off.
The Father is the Hero and not the Son.
When the original saga was completed, with the final release of "Revenge of the Sith", one could make the case that Anakin was the true hero after all by defeating the elitist Jedi AND Sith orders. There are also the many visual references to ancient Rome so the message is in there about the danger of giving up democracy for convenience. This also resonates in Yoda's warning about how the Dark Side is the "easier, more seductive".
Anakin is depressed and suicidal?
I personally think (the Darth) Vader (in the original trilogy) would be devastated at the crimes he committed when he was called Anakin and in fact is probably near-suicidal, but he is kept alive (both in terms of will to live and physically) by the constant pain of his injuries and by Sidious' constant use of the Dark Side. As an aside, this might be why Sidious hides behind the position of Emperor.
Consider, from Vader's perspective, that Padme would almost certainly have been executed as a Jedi sympathiser. We have to think that this is why Vader hates being called Anakin. Therefore Anakin really is dead: it was Anakin who killed the younglings in the Temple, not Darth Vader.
Also, Anakin wasn't really in a position to refuse Sidious as he would have been killed along with the rest of the Jedi. If you think about it, one might as well be alive with some hope that your loved ones are too than being dead with the same result.
Note: I do think it would make sense for Vader to be suicidal. This could explain his murderous attitude towards his "subordinates" (note that Vader has no clear/actual position in the chain of command) in that he is hoping for a suicide-by-Imperial scenario. Or he wishes he had better troops and misses leading clones?
Repeating the same plots?
To be fair the same thing or similar happens in the preludes, although often in the reverse order and reversed scenario.
For example: The good guys win in Jedi while the baddies win in Sith. In Sith and Jedi the Sith Master watches his apprentice being defeated by a much younger combatant.
Also, TPM and TOTJ: Gungans aid "insurgents"/Ewoks aid Rebels, not to mention the intro of all that Republic armour in 'Clones and Imperial armour in 'Empire.
Finally, Anakin blowing up the reactor in the droid control ship/Luke firing a torpedo into the cooling duct of the First Death Star.
Child generals. Child soldiers.
Childish Plots and Dumb Jedi?
More so than the previous six films with their varied set of annoying ridiculous characters? Star Wars is a children's film really, the characters are very two dimensional but they do come alive in many of the novels. Not a criticism of SW as a whole, just saying, and don't take it so seriously.
Surely they know that Dooku had the clone army created, so why did they continue to blindly trust their soldiers right up to the end? So, are the Jedi really that stupid?
If you think about these events from the perspective of Republic citizens it looks like the Jedi created the clone army-and had Dooku leave-all so they could eventually take over the Republic.
It is perhaps a shame that corporate profits had to come first.
However, there is nothing in the prequels as filmed that contradicts anything stated in the original trilogy. Yes, Leia remembers Padme but even this can be explained by their connection to the Force, and Leia being born last. Perhaps crucially this strongly suggests that Luke will follow Anakin's path and become a Jedi and Leia will become a senator.
Luke is even trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi!
Which would perhaps be a surprise to one viewing all the films in chronological order only-something else which passes the minds of grumpy Trilogy-only fans.
Finally, though: do people really not get that Jar-Jar Binks is a completely racist stereotype? THAT cod-Jamaican patois.
I find it more than off that this is overshadowed in fan's critiques in favour of his chronic clumsiness. According to canon, Binks has panic attacks. And is probably suffering from dyspraxia (or everyone else in the galaxy is). But doesn't that emphasise his mortality compared to the Jedi in a way that doesn't make the Jedi look like superheroes? Well, yes.
but if three films made over a decade ago have to be re-explained then either they were not very good in the first place or the people watching weren't really paying attention. And reference is made also to The Force Awakens.
Soooooo, well the first critique of the Star Wars prequels is that Lucas keeps reinforcing the...
Hang on, what message is he trying to say?
In each film Palpatine gains more power at the hand of an ineffective Galactic senate.
I understand the point about sacrificing liberty for efficiency but did this really need to be repeated three times? To underline the point that the senate will be dissolved later? It gets repetitive and it turns people off.
The Father is the Hero and not the Son.
When the original saga was completed, with the final release of "Revenge of the Sith", one could make the case that Anakin was the true hero after all by defeating the elitist Jedi AND Sith orders. There are also the many visual references to ancient Rome so the message is in there about the danger of giving up democracy for convenience. This also resonates in Yoda's warning about how the Dark Side is the "easier, more seductive".
Anakin is depressed and suicidal?
I personally think (the Darth) Vader (in the original trilogy) would be devastated at the crimes he committed when he was called Anakin and in fact is probably near-suicidal, but he is kept alive (both in terms of will to live and physically) by the constant pain of his injuries and by Sidious' constant use of the Dark Side. As an aside, this might be why Sidious hides behind the position of Emperor.
Consider, from Vader's perspective, that Padme would almost certainly have been executed as a Jedi sympathiser. We have to think that this is why Vader hates being called Anakin. Therefore Anakin really is dead: it was Anakin who killed the younglings in the Temple, not Darth Vader.
Also, Anakin wasn't really in a position to refuse Sidious as he would have been killed along with the rest of the Jedi. If you think about it, one might as well be alive with some hope that your loved ones are too than being dead with the same result.
Note: I do think it would make sense for Vader to be suicidal. This could explain his murderous attitude towards his "subordinates" (note that Vader has no clear/actual position in the chain of command) in that he is hoping for a suicide-by-Imperial scenario. Or he wishes he had better troops and misses leading clones?
Repeating the same plots?
To be fair the same thing or similar happens in the preludes, although often in the reverse order and reversed scenario.
For example: The good guys win in Jedi while the baddies win in Sith. In Sith and Jedi the Sith Master watches his apprentice being defeated by a much younger combatant.
Also, TPM and TOTJ: Gungans aid "insurgents"/Ewoks aid Rebels, not to mention the intro of all that Republic armour in 'Clones and Imperial armour in 'Empire.
Finally, Anakin blowing up the reactor in the droid control ship/Luke firing a torpedo into the cooling duct of the First Death Star.
Child generals. Child soldiers.
The Jedi were simply stretched dealing with the Separatists. This was the case even before the war broke out when Kenobi and Skywalker were sent out on separate assignments. I assume many systems had already seceded by this point and were inaccessible to the Jedi. This would also have left a number of Jedi trapped in the middle of an assignment.
To add: there are many real-world parallels with Star Wars. One is the number of commissioned officers modern militaries have, particularly the high number of generals/staff officers. Generals (real world) would not spend all their time leading armies in the field, they will have other duties. In a standing army commissioned officers will have a variety of duties as doctors, surgeons, psychologists, analysts and aides to senior officers.
I think the Jedi reflect this quite well in fact; there are some who train younglings, there would be many Jedi on diplomatic missions and many who are too old to have any active involvement other than giving advice. The Jedi Temple itself being something of a nursery/kindergarten, officer cadet school and retirement home. It is probably right to say that there are around a thousand Jedi actually participating in traditional military roles, the rest as described.
Childish Plots and Dumb Jedi?
More so than the previous six films with their varied set of annoying ridiculous characters? Star Wars is a children's film really, the characters are very two dimensional but they do come alive in many of the novels. Not a criticism of SW as a whole, just saying, and don't take it so seriously.
Surely they know that Dooku had the clone army created, so why did they continue to blindly trust their soldiers right up to the end? So, are the Jedi really that stupid?
It is a suspicious plot point and could have been done differently. I suppose the reason events in Episode 2 happened as they did was so that:
1. The clones could be produced secretly,
and,
that 2. The Jedi would be the ones to discover them.
1. The clones could be produced secretly,
and,
that 2. The Jedi would be the ones to discover them.
If you think about these events from the perspective of Republic citizens it looks like the Jedi created the clone army-and had Dooku leave-all so they could eventually take over the Republic.
I'd also point out that the clone war lasted just long enough for the Jedi to (perhaps eventually) trust the soldiers under their command. But the Jedi did not know that Dooku created the clone army, they were told Syfo-Dyas commissioned it. Obi-Wan would have no idea who Tyrannous is when Jango names him, neither would he have any way of knowing this "Tyranous" is a Sith Lord or that he and Dooku are the same person. Yes, Jango is on Geonosis. Very suspicious, but only as Nute Gunray's bodyguard.
Some of the war materiel was secretly funded and channelled to Kamino by Chancellor Palplatine himself in the years before the war. Otherwise orders were placed, again by Palpatine, for warships from other systems. Legally without a standing army the Republic could not actually use them and clearly no-one in the senate put two and two together. This repeats the point that the senate could have done a lot more both to stop the clone war and prevent Palpatine's rise to power.
What would have happened had Anakin killed Palpatine after he himself had killed Mace Windu?
Has anyone not read "Dune"?
Specifically God Emperor. Anakin would have still turned to the dark side and caused Padme to die during pregnancy. Or perhaps she would miscarry. Eventually she would die but Anakin would order the Kamino cloners to clone his wife, and probably Shmi also. Padme would assume the role of the repeatedly-cloned Duncan Idaho while Anakin, perhaps not declaring himself Emperor just Grand Master of the Jedi Order in perpetuity, unlocked the secret of eternal life, sustaining himself through judicious use of the dark side.
What could have been done differently?
Crucially, the prequels could have been done very differently but this would only have worked if Lucas hadn't made three more feature films. A comic or television series could have portrayed the Republic and Anakin's fall in better detail-and retained the 1930's serial episodic style that made, if I am being honest, all the films bar New Hope and Empire awkward.
What would have happened had Anakin killed Palpatine after he himself had killed Mace Windu?
Has anyone not read "Dune"?
Specifically God Emperor. Anakin would have still turned to the dark side and caused Padme to die during pregnancy. Or perhaps she would miscarry. Eventually she would die but Anakin would order the Kamino cloners to clone his wife, and probably Shmi also. Padme would assume the role of the repeatedly-cloned Duncan Idaho while Anakin, perhaps not declaring himself Emperor just Grand Master of the Jedi Order in perpetuity, unlocked the secret of eternal life, sustaining himself through judicious use of the dark side.
What could have been done differently?
Crucially, the prequels could have been done very differently but this would only have worked if Lucas hadn't made three more feature films. A comic or television series could have portrayed the Republic and Anakin's fall in better detail-and retained the 1930's serial episodic style that made, if I am being honest, all the films bar New Hope and Empire awkward.
It is perhaps a shame that corporate profits had to come first.
However, there is nothing in the prequels as filmed that contradicts anything stated in the original trilogy. Yes, Leia remembers Padme but even this can be explained by their connection to the Force, and Leia being born last. Perhaps crucially this strongly suggests that Luke will follow Anakin's path and become a Jedi and Leia will become a senator.
Luke is even trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi!
Which would perhaps be a surprise to one viewing all the films in chronological order only-something else which passes the minds of grumpy Trilogy-only fans.
Finally, though: do people really not get that Jar-Jar Binks is a completely racist stereotype? THAT cod-Jamaican patois.
I find it more than off that this is overshadowed in fan's critiques in favour of his chronic clumsiness. According to canon, Binks has panic attacks. And is probably suffering from dyspraxia (or everyone else in the galaxy is). But doesn't that emphasise his mortality compared to the Jedi in a way that doesn't make the Jedi look like superheroes? Well, yes.
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