Monday 8 March 2010

Things the Star Wars TV Series can do that will make it awesome (Part 2)

Love them or loathe them, one thing above all is obvious: The Star Wars prequels split the community upon their release. With George Lucas' announcement of a live-action television series focusing on the events between Episodes 3 and 4, speculation is rife about some of the things that are to be included in the series. Lucas has clearly and definitively mentioned that Darth Vader and Sidious will not be directly featured, and that there may be a plot line involving Leia, but other than that most has been left to speculation. E14, therefore, lists this week some more of the ideas we think could make the show worth watching.

Read part 1 here

No Battle Droids

I would hope that this would be a given from a canonical perspective in any case, considering that Order 66 has put the Clone Troopers firmly in the hands of Emperor Palpatine. However, I wouldn't put it past Lucas to write in a storyline where there was one detachment left on some remote planet or something. These robots started off with a small amount of my respect, as in Episode 1 I saw them kill off a shitload of Jar Jar Binks' colleagues, and one can of course dream that the floppy-eared wanker would be next. Of course, that didn't happen, and Jar Jar Binks went on to have great success as a politician, while simultaneously unwittingly bringing destruction and tyranny upon the galaxy.

Nice work, tosspot.

Anyway, while fans of the Saga would be aghast at the idea of Jar Jar making his presence known in the TV series (and I'm semi-convinced that it will probably happen at some point), I think the far greater risk is the inclusion of Trade Federation battle droids in some capacity. They're not in the least bit fearsome, especially as they've been reduced to the source of a few cheap visual gags and slapstick humour in the third movie.

Develop the stormtrooper thing more. Have the clone troopers as a gradual fade-out with the conscription of the Empire gradually replacing them. Obviously, the series should be somewhat themed on subterfuge and sabotage, as the Rebel Alliance is going to be on a weaker footing at the beginning of the series at the very least. Gradually, the focus will be on the movement gaining power. Eventually, citizens of the galaxy will have to decide where their allegiances lie, and this could be a good point of conflict for some of the characters in the series (particularly if the themes of Imperial espionage are as prevalent as they could be).

As few Jedi as possible


This is probably the one that you might find yourself disagreeing with on this list, but I have my reasons. My logic on this one is not entirely dissimilar from my logic when it comes to why I think the prequel trilogy was a mixed bag. Now, I watched the Original Trilogy as a young kid, and part of my enjoyment was the surprise involved. I first found out that Darth Vader was Luke's father in Episode 5, not in Episode 3. There's plenty to be said for the element of surprise in that movie, they even kept it from Mark Hamill until the first take!

A lot of the magic surrounding Jedi in the Original Trilogy stems from the fact that all the way through Episode 4, Obi-Wan is talking about how powerful the Force is as an all-encompassing energy field. Then he decides to use his infinite power to guess that a planet's been destroyed, make a little noise to distract a couple of jobsworths and then gets cut down by a guy in a black suit by a laser sword, leaving you thinking "Ok, what the fuck?" until the next movie, where he FUCKING APPEARS AS A GHOST! How bollocking awesome, right? Then a little puppet guy lifts a ship out of the water! What the hell is better than that?

Anyway, part of the appeal of the Jedi is that throughout the trilogy the amount of power being demonstrated amps up considerably from movie to movie. From Episode 4's minor actions to Luke choking a couple of pig-looking guys in Episode 6, the amount of clout given to the Force ramps up more and more until finally Palpatine turns Luke into a battery before being tossed into a reactor shaft by Darth Vader.

So what do they do in Episodes 1-3? Chuck the Force around like it's soft drinks at an AA meeting (not the automotive assistance people, the alcoholic people). Even Yoda, the little puppet guy who was supposed to be surprising when he demonstrated his power in Episode 5, jumps around like a whippet with a firework up its arse. Don't ask me how I can make that comparison by the way, let's just say that there's sweet fuck-all to do in Medway without running your own geek blog, and I didn't always have that.

Here's an idea: make the Force more about inner strength again. All well and good showing plenty of lightsaber battles, but they'll get boring thrown into several episodes in a row for ten minutes at a time. Now, as it stands, Lucas has only intimated at a possible inclusion of one Jedi in the form of Quinlan Vos, whose comic book appearance was allowed by Lucas on the condition that under no circumstances was he to be killed off. Intriguing, I'm sure you'll agree, and the inclusion of one Jedi would be welcome as long as he doesn't appear too often.

Better yet, make him a very secluded character. If you've read Legacy, you'll understand what I mean when I say that he should be treated in the same way as Cade started off at the beginning of the series. If you've not, then I'll sum it up: he's a Jedi, but he makes a point of hiding it and only shows his hand when it comes to life-or-death situations. Have Quinlan Vos as an undercover Jedi in hiding, and make a side-story about his attempts to avoid detection. It'd make for great TV, and he can always do the jumpy-jumpy slashy-slashy if needed to bring in the ratings.

1 comment:

  1. "they even kept it from Mark Hamill until the first take!"

    AND it is the first take of this i wish to see!! dya think mark hamil unleashed an almighty-robot-chicken-stylee "HOLY FUCKING ASS CRACKERS!"?

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