STAR WARS: EPISODE 6: REVENGE OF THE JEDI. Something has bothered me since 1983, and I could not put my finger on what it was. I remember distinctly feeling that something was missing.
From 1977 to 1980, STAR WARS (we'll add the Episode 4: A New Hope later) was endless playtime. The stories continued without limitation...as large our imagination could create. But it was simple. There was nothing to speculate; nothing to ponder...just play. No great mystery to solve, no threads to tie. Just entertainment. Sure, Vader was still out there chasing Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie, but good guys being chased by bad guys was simple, pure and easy.
But in 1980...the story changed. STAR WARS: EPISODE 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The anticipation changed. Our vision of Lucas’ galaxy changed. From 1980 to 1983, we were left wondering would Han be saved? If so...how? Who WAS this Jabba the Hutt he has been running from? Would the Princess be able to save her scoundrel? As for Vader...could it be that the most evil, powerful bad guy in the galaxy is actually not the murderer of Luke's father, but in truth his father in disguise or, uh, what? What did that even mean? Was he lying? If so, why?
There was so much to ponder...so much to imagine. The expectations were boundless. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that our building anticipation over those 3 years would come up short once STAR WARS: EPISODE 6: RETURN OF THE JEDI was over.
Don't get me wrong...the finale to ROTJ was amazing. It was a Joseph Campbell-esque epic climax and it was for the ages. Luke's burst of anger at the thought of Vader corrupting Leia accompanied an angelic chorus culminating with the maturation of an impatient farm-boy becoming a hero and the redemption of a villain in the face of his own humanity. Classic does not begin to describe it.
The great trial at the heart of both Luke's and Vader's heroes journey was the conflict within. The choice between good versus evil. But more importantly, it was a diatribe on the dangers of hate leading to more hate and the power and universal difficulty of severing the vicious circle of evil.
It was basically George Lucas screaming from the top of his lungs his support and hope that the ideals of non-violent resistance echoing the ideals of Thoreau, Gandhi and MLK would live on in a new generation. Defeating evil in the Star Wars trilogy was not met out with a sword, but with an open heart expressing love and hope.
The seeds for this were clearly planted back in 1977 when Obi-Wan informed Vader that if he was striken down, than he would became more powerful than Vader could possibly imagine. Within the story this could mean that Obi-wan would become a Force Ghost and thus overcoming death. But another meaning could be that his death as a martyr to the cause would inspire Luke and others to fight even harder for freedom and justice. Leia knew that the stronger the grip of tyranny would lead to more and more resistance as star systems would slip through his fingers counter-intuitively as he tightened his grip. Man is not meant to live in fear, and good people would resist evil and imposition on their freedom even at risk to their lives and well-being.
This is still balanced with violent ends when necessary. Stormtroopers, TIE-Fighter pilots and Imperial Naval personnel along with the The Emperor's death is certainly a violent one. As was Jabba the Hutt's. So, there is room for violent solutions when all options are exhausted. But in Star Wars, this is only a last resort.
For Luke.
And for Vader.
But there was an emptiness left when the stories ended. A sense of dissatisfaction that it was over. I remember my 10 year old self discussing this with my father at the time. He said to me that because the story was over, there was a sense of finality once all the strings were tied.
But now, looking back over THIRTY years later, I realize that not all the strings were actually tied up very well. And it has been an on-going discussion throughout the fandom regarding flaws in Star War, in general, and Return of the Jedi, in particular.
Sure, Luke’s story and Vader’s story were completed to near perfection...but what about the rest of the characters? The rest of the myriad of stories.
The first big flaw I saw was that Leia never has HER epic hero moment. (Now that I have a daughter...I REALLY realize this). And when I got thinking of that, I realized that Han doesn’t really have much of an epic moment, either. And when i got to thinking of THAT I remembered how bad Boba Fett’s end was, too. And on and on.
So, I decided to fix them.
(And it does not involve a new dance number...which was delightful, but, ultimately unnecessary). This is not dissimilar from the Star Wars: Infinities comics that came out just after the Prequels. Those wonderful comic books explored how small changes had been consequences. That is basically what I have done here, too.
But my changes are targeted and specific. And they have a purpose related to the existing narrative. They are to demonstrate and explore what could have been done (should have been done?) in order for all of the characters to have the same heroic climax that Luke, Vader and the Emperor were given.
The full script edit is in a few parts. I fleshed it out as much as possible. The original script is in black and my edits are in blue. I inlcuded links to the full versions of the edited scripts with each summary below.
- The first part is from Scene 53 (Mon Mothma's Briefing) and Scene 54 (Lando and Artoo leave together). The revision to Scene 53 presents a new, more logical intelligence planning briefing that shows the exceptional preparation of the Rebels for their final push and also actually gives Leia a reason to go to the forest moon. Scene 54 adds some additional pathos to the parting of the heroes and the demonstrates the growth of Artoo's character. It gives a chance for powerful character interactions highlighting both the relationships between Luke and Artoo as Knight and Squire and the basic relationship bewteen Artoo and Threepio as best friends (the two everyman characters that were present from in the first sequence of Star Wars back in 1977). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AiKNC0dK_X7jfnoAs0Z90HobzU8tv6W9Yg1SKTfaW3o/edit
- The second part is from Scene 76 to the end. Scene 76 is the scene in the Ewok village where Luke tells Leia that Vader is his father and that she is his twin sister. It just seems dumb that Leia's reaction is for the two of them to run away from Vader. The strong character that she is would immediately want to confront Vader, just as Luke wants to. The scene begins the same. But from page 3 on, the simple changes introduced in Scene 76 (and earlier in 53 and 54) begin to send ripples through the rest of the narrative. The rest plays out much more dramatically: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z8DhD7mglgMpgH3ikTAmbxBAPTef-wbmLgc-5-8yfIw/edit
How it was in the 1983 movie
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How it should have been
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| Leia decides at the last minute, to join the command team. In all of the months and weeks of preparation for the mission, this never came up in discussion. It didn’t occur to Han to speak with her before the briefing. | The rebel plan all along is to search out local help in whatever form they find for information and possibly military support. This diplomatic mission is lead by Leia, and she will need a translator/protocol droid. That would be the Princess’s (and Threepio’s) reason for being on the forest moon. Han would still lead the attack on the bunker. |
| Leia never directly confronts her real father, Darth Vader…the man that tortured her, killed her adopted father…and mother…and blew up her planet and everyone she ever knew and loved. And then hunted her and her friends like dogs. | Leia is on Death Star during Endor attack. She plays a critical role in the Throne Room stand-off. She initially goes to support Luke but with plans to kill Vader if Luke fails. She ends up being the reason Luke calms down and centers himself in the Light when he starts down the path of the Dark Side. |
| Once his interaction with the Ewoks is over, C-3P0 has no purpose. Certainly he has no purpose being in the middle of a warzone in a forest. The Ewoks show up unannounced…the rebels did not expect them beyond showing them where the bunker is. Threepio really has no reason to be in the thick of the fight. | If the plan HAD been a real coordinated military plan it would have required a translator between the rebel commandos and the native resistance (the Ewoks). |
| Artoo has no purpose being in the middle of a warzone in a forest. (He wasn’t even able to open the door.) | Artoo should have been aboard the Millenium Falcon during the attack. He is an astromech droid…he was literally built to fight on a ship. He knows the Death Star better than any droid in the rebellion, plus he faced and was defeated in the first Death Star battle. If he has one at all, the Death Star, in essence, is Artoo’s nemesis. And Artoo should be pivotal in destroying it. |
| Boba Fett dies dishonorably in a slapstick quirk. | Boba Fett survives the Sarlacc Pit (because he is the best bounty hunter in the galaxy…and happens to have a rocket pack). He implements the Emperor’s plan with the Bothan spies that led to the Rebel attack the Endor Moon. As payment for arranging for The Trap, he is allowed to be present on the moon to honorably kill a fully coherent and non-blind Han Solo. I’ll get to Fett’s death below. Hold on...you’’ll like it. |
| Chewbacca shoots a few nameless Imperials and swings on a vine like Tarzan. | Han and Chewie have a more physical melee fight during Endor attack. Chewie “wookies-out” and becomes the fierce beast we were promised in 1977. He tosses a few stormtroopers off the top of the shield bunker. In order to save Han’s life, while Han’s back is turned while setting the charges, Chewbacca leaps from the roof, mid-air at a flying Boba Fett, ripping off Fett’s helmet, clawing his face as it tears off. He is critically wounded…stabbed by Fett in the side as they fall to the ground. |
| Han shoots a few nameless Imperials and blows up the antenna after the Ewoks make the area safe. | After seeing Chewie stabbed, Han jumps on a passing speeder bike and chases Boba Fett, who is fleeing with his jetpack. After shooting Fett’s jet pack, he jumps on him from the moving speeder bike, faces and defeats his nemesis, Boba Fett in awesome, valiant, death-defying hand-to-hand combat. In an epic act of self-defense, Han shoots first, and with Fett’s own blaster, disintegrates the hunter leaving only Fett’s empty helmet revealed at the edge of the brush as the smoke clears from the charred forest floor . |
| Anakin Skywalker dies, never having seen his daughter with his real eyes. Alone, Luke burns his father's cybernetic body to ashes. | Anakin Skywalker dies, having seen both his children with his real eyes. Together, Luke and Leia set fire to the crude matter that house the luminous being that was their father. Hand in hand they stand together to close this chapter of their hero journey's ready to start anew. A boy, a girl and the Universe. |
The comic book would have at it’s heart, the following three images (perhaps what would become the cover):
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Top Image:
Front view of cockpit of Millennium Falcon while racing inside Death Star with R2-D2 as the Navigator sitting behind Lando and Nien Numb.
Middle Image:
From the smoking roof of the shield bunker, Han Solo is firing at Bobo Fett
as Chewbacca leaps through the air at Fett who is flying toward them with his jet pack.
Threepio is seen watching all of this from the edge of the brush.
Bottom Image:
Darth Vader holds Leia afloat choking in air,
she is clutching her neck with one hand, a blue lightsaber in the other.
Vader’s other hand holds his red lightsaber aimed
at Luke who is charging with his green lightsaber
while the Emperor laughs with glee.
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Splash page
Darth Vader holds himself on the railing, his severed stump smoking
as the Emperor’s evil blue lightning bolt surge
through the writhing, anguished bodies of Luke and Leia
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These slight modifications and mash-ups have HUGE consequences on how the narrative of the adventure plays out. This is not a regular piece of fan fiction. This is a serious commentary on the essence of storytelling and the culmination of the true hero’s journey. It is a observation on and a proposed correction of a series of big flaws that have been staring at us for 20 years
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