A script twist that George Lucas thought was going to cause several holes in the franchise.
Return of the Jedi remains a sci-fi classic and one of the most beloved Star Wars films.
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Many fans know that Return of the Jedi, the epic conclusion to the classic Star Wars trilogy, was exposed to constant changes during its making. One of the examples that we shared with you was the inclusion of the Ewoks, somewhat hated characters that were created on the fly to replace what was originally going to be a Wookiee army.
In addition to various changes during our heroes’ adventure on the moon of Endor, George Lucas came to think an alternative ending to the movie and although it includes similarities with the conclusion that we end up seeing on our screens, it was added a twist that would change the franchise forever.
The change that could turn the death of the Jedi into something without much importance
Thanks to the book The Star Wars Archives – Episodes IV – VI, 1977 – 1983 we know that the second Death Star was not going to be the scene of the final duel of the film. Luke thought of Had Abbadon, the capital of the Empire and a place full of lava lakes, something very similar to the volcanic planet Mustafar.
The Emperor’s Throne Room was originally going to be suspended above a lake of lava
In this finale, Luke would manage to defeat Darth Vader after an intense duel, also reaching cut off his opponent’s hand as a sign of revenge for being maimed and defeated in The Empire Strikes Back. The protagonist would also be tortured shortly after by the Emperor after refusing to kill Darth Vader after managing to defeat him, awakening the anger of his apprentice.
From here some very interesting changes happen. Darth Vader would save his son and both he and the Emperor would fall into a lake of lava, leaving Luke as the only survivor and without having any emotional farewell with his father.
The most striking thing would not be this, but a twist in the script that would happen later and which consists of the resurrection of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker himself due to the strong connection they had with the Force. In the end, Lucas chose to discard that idea and show them as ghosts who were limited to observing the victory of our protagonists.
The possibility that some Jedi masters may be resurrected due to his link with the Force It would have greatly changed the future of the franchise, making it impossible for us not to wonder why Obi-Wan was not resurrected sooner to help the protagonists or if Anakin deserved to achieve that bond due to all the evils he did as Darth Vader. Lucas decided not to complicate things and closed the plot of these 3 characters with a simple scene that makes it clear that Anakin managed to be forgiven both by the Force and by Yoda and his former master Obi-Wan.
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