This one has been sitting on a shelf for a while now, I never got around to take pictures of it until now to test my new camera setup. I tried to recreate in gif the scene in RotS where Grievious shows off before his fight with obi-wan…
EDIT: if you can’t see the gif working on browser -> [x]
Friendly reminder that Padme had a subplot in Episode III where she was going against Palpatine’s actions and she, Bail Organa, and Mon Mothma (her only appearance in the prequel trilogies) basically formed the early version of the Rebel Alliance, but the entire thing was deleted.
Apparently this subplot was cut at the last minute because Lucas wanted to keep the focus on Anakin, but tbh this would have strengthened Anakin’s storyline as well as the film overall. In the final scene of the subplot, Palpatine starts sowing seeds of doubt in Anakin about Padme’s loyalty to the Republic and to Anakin himself, and it helps show that not only did the Empire begin in ROTS, but so too did the Rebellion.
Plus, it has the added value of reinforcing how Palpatine essentially had full control of the Republic long before it formally became the Empire; by the time he declares himself Emperor, the title is little more than a formality. The Petition Of The Two-Thousand is a blacklist that Palpatine can use in the early years of the Empire to scapegoat any political opponents and eliminate them, silencing any opposition. It also gives Padme and clear and powerful legacy in the history of the Rebellion, almost as a martyr.
Finally, we have the artistic value – the contrast between Anakin and Padme, as their politics divides them and they each help to form the Empire and the Rebellion respectively, culminating in the final symbolism of them lying on their respective operating tables clad in black and white.
Also a friendly reminder that Padme also had a subplot where she was beginning to see the evil in Anakin and was actually working with the Rebellion to kill him before it was too late,
REMEMBER THIS SCENE? Remember how sappy and forced the dialogue was?
According to someone who worked on ROTS, there was supposed to be a reveal right after their sappy talk where Anakin leaves and members of the consul come out, revealing that Padme is working with them to try and see Anakin’s motives and whether he is turning to the dark side or not, basically turning Padme from a lovesick girl to an informant who is betraying her husband for the greater good
REMEMBER THIS SCENE AS WELL?
According to the same guy, the original scene would be Padme coming to the planet after Anakin kills the younglings to assasinate Anakin for the Rebellion while there is still time to do so (here’s the original scene art for it)
According to the cast member, as the two are embracing, Padme has a knife in her hands aimed at Anakin’s jugular, knowing the situation and almost accepting that he has lost Padme, he at first doesn’t say anything, basically saying ‘ok then, kill me’. But at the last minute Padme breaks the bond because she realizes she can’t kill the man she loves, this anakin kills her.
This would have done so much not only for Padme’s character, but also for the movie’s overall plot and story and I will be forever angry at Lucas for cutting it! Like…what the hell was he thinking?????
Remake the prequels remake the prequels remake the prequels remake the prequels remake the prequels remake the prequels remake the prequels REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS REMAKE THE PREQUELS
She holds a knife to his throat, he doesn’t resist, but she loves him too much to actually end his life. The rest plays out as normal iirc.
I’m guessing it was cut because the idea of Anakin dying at that point is absurd, so the scene would have no tension. It’s a shame though, it would make Padmé a lot more tragic (knowing she needs to kill him but being Unable to even with the fate of the galaxy at stake) and Anakin a lot more evil in direct comparison (since he has fallen so far that he Can kill her). It would also make his accusation that Padmé brought Obi-Wan to kill him make waaaaaay more sense.
I would say that Padmé being in denial as she is in the film is probably more realistic?
But SW has never cared about that, it cares about story and themes and characters and tragedy, so they really should have gone with this ending.
Count Dooku’s iconic curved lightsaber hilt is coincidentally similar to the curved hilt sabre of historic king and emperor Charlemagne, of whom Christopher Lee (who portrayed Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus) was a direct descendant.
Seriously though the Dark Side can so easily be used as an allegory for mental illness it’s all about emotions like Yoda telling a young Anakin that he’s experiencing Fear when he says he’s cold (honestly though of course Anakin is cold he spent all his life on a desert planet and suddenly he’s in a totally new climate of course he’s cold Ugh that’s so stupid) and Qui-Gon especially cites Anxiety and there’s this whole thing where in the prequels the Jedi kind of suppress all their bad emotions which doesn’t really work and Anakin’s trauma and paranoia and Fears are what leads to his downfall but then in the EU books Luke teaches how emotions are only dark when not understood and you need to embrace negative emotions somewhat to properly move past them. And every major character in the films have differing views of which emotions to trust if any and how to balance Thoughts and Feelings (Vader’s dialogue implies both will ultimately betray you) and like obviously the concept of The Force is vague and nebulous enough to be used as an allegory for just about anything but I think this is the most helpful way to think about it.
The scene on Endor is so important to me for many reasons but one of them is that in it, Han Solo apologises. Which marks one of the very few times that I’ve seen a male character apologising for getting jealous of his own volition, not because he got yelled at or anything, but because he realised that Leia was upset and that this was not the time for him to get petty and stupid over his own insecurities, and I love that.
Because jealousy is so often portrayed as a funny or even romantic thing, a sign that the guy is in love or whatever, when in fact, jealous behaviour is almost always hurtful or even controlling behaviour. As an instinct or reaction, it’s very human and understandable, but when I see characters acting jealously, I see them acting in a way that’s possessive, manipulative, controlling, hurtful, and ultimately, lacking in trust. No one ever does nice things out of jealousy.
Here’s the thing: who Leia falls for is her choice. Who Leia trusts and confides in is her choice. Who Leia has a relationship with is her choice. And Han knows this. He gets momentarily jealous and annoyed because he’s been away from her for a year and he’s scared of losing her and maybe she doesn’t care as much as he does, and they’re back to fighting, and he doesn’t know what to do about any of it. He tried asking her outright, and that didn’t work, and that’s Han out of ideas. Not like Luke, who’s good at this emotional stuff, damn him anyway. But then Han realises very quickly that Leia’s upset, and he’s being petty and unhelpful and making everything worse. Luke just left, and whatever he is to her, whatever they said to each other, Leia is upset.
Leia, obviously, doesn’t really care about love triangles right now. Leia has just had several major revelations, she has a brother, she has a father, they might kill each other, and she’s also in the middle of a life-or-death mission. What Leia needs right now is just someone to be on her side, not demands for answers or petty jealousies. She doesn’t want to talk about it. She needs to process it all first.
So then it’s Han’s choice whether he storms off in a huff because she’s not putting him first, or turns back to comfort her because he’s putting her first.
He chooses the latter. He chooses her. He puts his jealousy and his insecurities to the side, he swallows his pride, he apologises for losing his temper and being an idiot, and he doesn’t try to offer an excuse or explanation or justification for it, either. He just says “I’m sorry” and stands there, saying nothing, making it clear that he’s here for her in whatever way she needs. Putting her first. No expectations. Because he has no idea what Leia needs or wants right now so he’s decided to just give her a chance to tell him.
He’s also made himself vulnerable, because you know that between these two, an apology is a Big Deal, a major score for the other side. But what it also means is that Leia can now turn to him for comfort, because he’s being sincere, so she can be, too. You can tell it surprises Han, because of course he didn’t even realise he was doing it right, but unlike their earlier fights, this one ends well because what do you know, a relationship is about trust and consideration and putting each other first.
The point is: Han realises that he’s being an idiot, he apologises for it, he doesn’t make excuses, and he doesn’t demand any particular reaction to it. It’s a genuine apology and it’s given, with no expectations or conditions attached, for a behaviour that’s romanticised far too often. It turns the “jealous lover” trope around and puts the romance where it ought to be: in the apology, aka the act of genuinely putting the other person first.
JainaSolo1994 
