Another 10 Ways The Prequels Made Star Wars A Better Saga

1. What€™s Next For The Jedi?

So with Episode III€™s closing the Jedi are all but defeated. Yes, this is largely because of a Sith lord manipulating events but this is also because of an absolute failure in their system. The Jedi have become emotionless, cold, and non-effective. Yoda€™s retreat to Dagobah isn€™t about hiding. It€™s about re-assessments and learning. It€™s about returning to what a Jedi is about and where the force may lead them next. At the end of Episode III, the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn makes a connection with Yoda from beyond the grave. Yoda informs Obi-Wan and presumably the two remaining Jedi spend the years between trilogies trying to work out what this means. What has given Qui-Gon this ability? Is there still more to learn about the force? Is there life after death or a way to prolong life? Sound familiar yet? The Jedi are essentially delving into realms that the Sith were toying with prior to the creation of Anakin Skywalker. Darth Plagueis was able to stop people from dying and arguably this is what the Jedi discover themselves mid-trilogies as the ability to come back from the dead as a blue ghost but again this is something not laid out within the films. It€™s really up to conjecture (and expanded universe tales) what this force power is, whether it€™s transferring to spiritual form or the basis for some sort of reincarnation, but Obi-Wan and Yoda seemingly have learnt to give themselves over to the force in the original trilogy after what they have learnt via Qui-Gon and this is enough to knock the wind out of Vader when he witnesses it. Originally this event was almost a shock and awe moment giving us, the audience the first glimpse into the magic of the force but after the prequels this large event between former master and apprentice has so much more weight and becomes a show of the next level of understanding and using the force. Anakin fell from greatness after his attempts to control life and death and now his former master does something with the force that he has never known about. He seems to be controlling life... and death. The knock on from this moment makes Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader an even more interesting character and all of this extra weight comes from the prequels. Now screenwriting tastes, filmmaking abilities, CGI effects, comic relief supporting character and all the other issues people have the prequels aside, calling the prequels a disaster, or terrible or a failure is just too strong a statement. Very few prequels, sequels, spin offs, reboots or remakes manage to pack this much thought and still be thoroughly entertaining pieces of popcorn fun blockbuster cinema. Sure, if you don€™t want to delve this deep into things, that€™s fair enough but there€™s so much in the prequels for fans to take and to readdress what they know about the Star Wars galaxy and really other than adding depth, the events still don€™t drastically change the effect of what came in the original trilogy beyond what you want to read into them. I did promise to add how all this relates to the upcoming Episode VII, and I€™ve hinted at bits and pieces, but I€™ll do a whole separate piece to cover my thoughts on where the Star Wars Saga could go next. However, saying that, with limited George Lucas input I€™m not entirely sure we€™ll get the same genuine Star Wars package we got with the prequels again. For me, George Lucas delivered a legitimate account of the fall of Anakin Skywalker and in turn made Star Wars a better saga with his important inclusions. My only hope is that this is re-created in the upcoming sequels because the idea of a ton of expanded universe riffs on the characters we all love worries me. Anyway, more on that in the next article. See you there. Agree or disagree that these points made Star Wars better? Let us know in the comments section below.