# Lucas calls SWIII "a tearjerker" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214 "2005-03-18T22:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/61 "2005-03-20T20:20:33Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I dunno, I think several tons of overripe fruit might be a fitting way to snuff out the Max-Sennett-on-PCP abortion that is Jar-Jar. You’re being too easy on him. I think he should trip and fall down the 800 flights of stairs in the chambers of the Senate until he reaches the bottom, broken and battered, landing on the pod containing the delegation from the planet of Big Hungry Alligators. With no sound. In slow motion. Set to “The Blue Danube Waltz.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/62 "2005-03-20T20:20:57Z")
I’m not really into the EU stuff either, and looking into it, it turns out that I’ve misinterpreted stuff that I’ve heard second-hand. It’s the [Dark Horse _Dark Empire_ comic book series](http://www.wheelon.com/comics/dark_empire.htm) in which Luke pledges himself to Palpatine, immersing himself in the Dark Side. I had assumed that it was set in between Ep V and Ep VI, and that kind of made sense because Luke’s tone is so different in RoTJ – but as it happens, this was supposed to take place _after_ RoTJ. [From starwars.com](http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/palpatine/?id=eu): > [@](#): > > [Five years after the battle of Endor,] the resurrected Palpatine struck. Using his dark powers to invoke a Force storm of great magnitude, Palpatine swept Jedi Master Luke Skywalker to Byss. There, he revealed himself to Skywalker, and unveiled the true strength of the dark side. Faced with an immortal enemy, Skywalker did the unthinkable – in order to defeat the dark side from within, Skywalker knelt before Palpatine, and declared himself his new apprentice. In these dark times, it seemed the Emperor had finally won. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/63 "2005-03-20T21:46:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I fell asleep in the theater for Episode I (remember the big end battle? I don’t!). And I honestly can’t recall ANYTHING about Episode II (lucky me, right?). Has Anakin created his BLUE lightsaber yet? After all, that’s the one that Ben gives Luke. Most of the bad guys, in my recollection, have red. Yes and no. In some scenes in the DVD release (you know, the Extra-Extra-Special one where all the mistakes are finally corrected and we have Lucas’s TRUE VISION that he was unable to show us before), Luke’s lightsabre is green. Since that’s absolutely exactly what Lucas wanted to show us all this time, maybe he did inherit a green one from dear ol’ Dad. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/64 "2005-03-20T21:53:59Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I’m not really into the EU stuff either, and looking into it, it turns out that I’ve misinterpreted stuff that I’ve heard second-hand. > > It’s the [Dark Horse _Dark Empire_ comic book series](http://www.wheelon.com/comics/dark_empire.htm) in which Luke pledges himself to Palpatine, immersing himself in the Dark Side. > > I had assumed that it was set in between Ep V and Ep VI, and that kind of made sense because Luke’s tone is so different in RoTJ – but as it happens, this was supposed to take place _after_ RoTJ. > > [From starwars.com](http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/palpatine/?id=eu)::smack: So, is this pure noncanonical bullshit, or Lucas’ projected story arc for the third trilogy? (Always assuming.) ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/65 "2005-03-20T22:56:00Z")
It’s hard to say one way or another. EU stuff DOES have an official imprintur,and often it’s better written and plotted than the movies, and there is some attempt at continuity (well, moreso now with these new movies than before). I still say Yoda was wrong. Luke still did a lot of good, and everything turned out fine in the end: he redeemed his father and led things to the defeat of Palpatine. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/66 "2005-03-21T01:38:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yes and no. In some scenes in the DVD release (you know, the Extra-Extra-Special one where all the mistakes are finally corrected and we have Lucas’s TRUE VISION that he was unable to show us before), Luke’s lightsabre is green. Since that’s absolutely exactly what Lucas wanted to show us all this time, maybe he did inherit a green one from dear ol’ Dad. The only time Luke’s saber has ever been green was in RotJ, which was the saber that he created in order to complete his training. Luke’s saber sometimes appears to be a lighter blue/almost whitish color in A New Hope, but never does he possess a green saber until Return of the Jedi. Anakin only loses one saber in Attack of the Clones, it gets cut in half in the droid factory. The two sabers Obi Wan and Anakin had in the fight against Dooku were just on loan because the Jedi probably assumed that their sabers would have been taken after capture. The green saber gets destoyed during the duel with Dooku and the blue one is still in the grasp of Anakin’s severed arm. Anakin and Obi Wan have both created new sabers for Episode 3, seeing as how they had to replace their old ones which were destroyed or taken. Anakin’s blue saber will be taken by Obi Wan after the duel and given to Luke, who will have it until he loses his hand to Vader. Afterwards, Luke will construct his own green saber. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/67 "2005-03-21T01:41:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So, is this pure noncanonical bullshit, or Lucas’ projected story arc for the third trilogy? (Always assuming.) Lucas originally had nine episodes planned, because in Episode 6 he was going to make Luke kill Vader and fall to the darkside. Episodes 7, 8, and 9 were going to then be about Luke as a dark lord, and Leia training to win him back from the darkside. But when it actually came time to make Return of the Jedi, Lucas decided he wanted to wrap everything up in that episode, rather than make 3 more. So no, there will be no 7, 8, and 9. Lucas decided against that back in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/68 "2005-03-21T01:43:44Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > Lucas originally had nine episodes planned, because in Episode 6 he was going to make Luke kill Vader and fall to the darkside. Episodes 7, 8, and 9 were going to then be about Luke as a dark lord, and Leia training to win him back from the darkside. > > But when it actually came time to make Return of the Jedi, Lucas decided he wanted to wrap everything up in that episode, rather than make 3 more. So no, there will be no 7, 8, and 9. Lucas decided against that back in 1983. And there’s now talk that Lucas will hire Kevin Smith to do a TV series, thus completing the contradictory cycle of Lucas and WTF is up with Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/69 "2005-03-21T03:15:22Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > But when it actually came time to make Return of the Jedi, Lucas decided he wanted to wrap everything up in that episode, rather than make 3 more. So no, there will be no 7, 8, and 9. Lucas decided against that back in 1983. Pity . . . there’s still so much to be done. I mean, just killing the Emperor doesn’t automatically restore the Republic – or eliminate the flaws that caused it to fail. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/70 "2005-03-21T05:17:28Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > And there’s now talk that Lucas will hire Kevin Smith to do a TV series, thus completing the contradictory cycle of Lucas and WTF is up with Star Wars. Well, let’s hope the TV series will showcase the early years (before Ep. 1) instead of going forward, post-ROTJ. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/71 "2005-03-21T06:09:07Z")
I’d prefer any TV series going to the time period of “Knights of the Old Republic” games (1000 years before ANH, IIRC) rather than being around the two trilogies time period. ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/72 "2005-03-21T06:24:38Z")
**DataZak** , I don’t have a cite for this, but apparently Mark Hammil is involved in the TV series too, and there’s suggestions it may be called, ‘The Adventures of Luke Skywalker’ (which is cheesy, so I’m hoping it’s changed. There needs to be more matinee serial flavour in the title). I think it could work, Hammil has grown a lot, and I think he’d handle the role of a tortured, lone Jedi wandering the galaxy during the restoration of the Republic. Very _Kung Fu_ if it’s done properly. Again, no cite, but I understand his role would be a recurring thing, rather than central to the series. I’ve also not heard anything about it of late. Anyone have other details? ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/73 "2005-03-21T07:01:58Z")
Let them adapt the Thrawn trilogy novels for TV. That’d be fun to watch. Probably wont happen but I can dream. Maybe they should just go with an animated series. Ron Perlman can play Admiral Thrawn. ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/74 "2005-03-21T07:36:11Z")
An animated version of the Thrawn Trilogy would be very cool indeed. Or an animated version of Splinter in the Mind’s Eye (but they’d have to tweak the story to fit into the overall series -and it’s not like George hasn’t altered the story to make it consistent before). ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/75 "2005-03-21T13:09:50Z")
I think that a pretty good TV-series could be made based on the Rogue/Wraith Squadron novels. It could even be made non-animated if it avoids using any of the famous characters like Luke, han, Leia etc instead focusing on the pilots in the squadron. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/76 "2005-03-21T15:50:08Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > Lucas originally had nine episodes planned, because in Episode 6 he was going to make Luke kill Vader and fall to the darkside. Episodes 7, 8, and 9 were going to then be about Luke as a dark lord, and Leia training to win him back from the darkside. > > But when it actually came time to make Return of the Jedi, Lucas decided he wanted to wrap everything up in that episode, rather than make 3 more. So no, there will be no 7, 8, and 9. Lucas decided against that back in 1983. Uh… cite? From all the documentaries and interviews I have read, there would only be 1 part, which got split up into three. Never has there been talk of 9 episodes. (as far as I know) ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/77 "2005-03-21T16:26:32Z")
The “trilogy of trilogies” buzz has been around for a very long time. Here’s [one site’s take on it](http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/tickermaster/listing.cfm?TMID=1016): > [@](#): > > Staying in theaters for about a year and a half, it [_Star Wars_] earned about $260 million in first-run, building the House of Lucas. \ Quickly scrambling in the face of all this cash, Lucas uttered seven words that would become a cliché for directors of surprise hits the world over: “I always imagined it as a trilogy.” Or in this case, a trilogy of trilogies, which was later scaled back to the six films we’re going to get. Googling “Star Wars” and “trilogy of trilogies” also brings up [this interesting link](http://stuffo.howstuffworks.com/short3-.htm): > [@](#): > > In the early 1980s, Lucas claimed he envisioned “Star Wars” as a trilogy of trilogies. But in more recent interviews, he’s made it clear that he has no intention of doing Episodes VII, VIII and IX. Contradictions aside, it does look like Lucas is keeping the option open. In an interview with the British magazine “Hotdog”, Peter Mayhew, the actor who plays Chewbacca in the original trilogy and in the upcoming “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” said that “his contract also stipulates that he’d be required to appear in Episodes 7, 8 and 9.” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/78 "2005-03-21T16:33:10Z")
You know, when I first saw the thread title I read it as "Lucas calls SWILL “a tearjerker.” I may yet be proven right too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FellowshipoftheBling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/47e85d/32.png) [@FellowshipoftheBling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FellowshipoftheBling)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/79 "2005-03-21T17:02:14Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > Anakin only loses one saber in Attack of the Clones, it gets cut in half in the droid factory. The two sabers Obi Wan and Anakin had in the fight against Dooku were just on loan because the Jedi probably assumed that their sabers would have been taken after capture. He also drops one in coruscant during the chase scene at the beginning, at which point they make it sound like its a common occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/80 "2005-03-21T17:19:16Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > Let them adapt the Thrawn trilogy novels for TV. That’d be fun to watch. Probably wont happen but I can dream. I would so be down for that. Who would you get to play the Dark Jedi? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214.md?page=5)