The Prophecy And in time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as : THE SON OF THE SUN. And he shall bring Balance to the Force. "Journal of the Whills, 3:12"
Lucasfilm have announced the go-ahead of a series of twenty 3 minute cartoons detailing various duels and battles set during the course of the Clone Wars ! The creator of Samurai Jack, Genndy Tartakovsky, will helm these mini-productions, pitched as an episodic Band of Brothers and involving such characters as Obi-Wan, Anakin, Mace Windu, and even Yoda and Padmé !
They are scheduled to be shown on american TV in the autumn of 2003, and for now it's too early to tell what the international or online presence might be.
Certainly, unused movie concept art has been recycled for this, most notably introducing a female Dark Jedi bearing two curved lightsabre hilts ...
Follow this link for discussion on this news in the VE Forum !
Nathaniel
Reed, 23rd February 2003
The Pit of Lava !
16th February 2003
Anakin Skywalker falls to his death !
As Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke in Episode VI : Return of the Jedi, "the good man who was your father was destroyed." The forumer's version of Episode III nears its end !
Meanwhile, forumer DarthMichael, inspired by the forthcoming final episode, has produced more excellent artwork !
Here we have a chilling foreboding of things to come, as Anakin's preferred political institution comes into force.
Remember : any fan-made pics for Episode III are most welcome ! Email them to me via the link at the bottom of the page or post them in the forum here. If they are for the Virtual Edition of Episode III please make their format 470x200px ....
Nathaniel
Reed, 16th February 2003
Darth Vader disarmed !
9th February 2003
In the forumer's Virtual Edition of Episode III, the Duel of the Fates continues !
Obi-Wan Kenobi, tasked with returning his former padawan, Anakin, back to the Light Side of the Force or killing him, slices through the Sith Lord's wrist, disarming his former friend !
I have modified forumer Jedi Jackson's image, below, of Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting, to show the TIE fighters attacking the fleeing Nubian spaceship ...
Remember : any fan-made pics for Episode III are most welcome ! Email them to me via the link at the bottom of the page or post them in the forum here. If they are for the Virtual Edition of Episode III please make their format 470x200px ....
When we first saw the teenage queen of Naboo, we recognised one path of destiny rushing to face its nemesis. Episode III will see Padmé, the wife of Anakin Skywalker, become the mother of Luke and Leia, the only hope remaining for a Galaxy teetering towards a brutal New Order.
But how will her story play out in this final episode ? She has been shown as a stong-willed, independent, and impassioned force to be reckoned with, and the primary plots of the Prequel Star Wars films have revolved around her manipulation or demise : the capitulation of her homeworld and the opposition to the Military Creation Act are the Lucas 'McGuffins' that are the backdrop to the story of the Skywalker family. So two years later, what denouement will occur to put her life in jeopardy ? Will she be pitted against Count Dooku, or, finally, the Neimoudian, Nute Gunray, who holds a personal vendetta against her ?
Similarly, will Padmé become more closely aligned with the remaining Jedi Order ? Who will know of her marriage to Anakin, and what early role will Bail Organa of Alderaan be playing ? Would her close family on Naboo shelter the married couple, and will they be privy to her pregnancy ?
With rumours of telescoped timeframes, will Lucas show us two carefree people in love, and then reveal their division and separate paths during the movie ? Alternatively, he could elect to re-introduce us to a heavily-pregnant Padmé, where the birth of her Twins is imminent.
Leia dimly recalls her mother to her brother on Endor. Will we see the Twins' mother die, or will her departing figure be the final image that we will hold of her ? The Twins are separated and carried to sanctuary on Alderaan and Tatooine, but who will be asked to come to this awful decision, and to carry it out ?
Padmé Amidala Naberrie Skywalker will remain a pivotal character right up to the moment the closing film credits begin to roll. This thread discusses the birth of the Twins, while this thread discusses what might happen when during Episode III, as does this one, which focuses more on the events as they affect a pregnant Padmé.
Meanwhile, forumer DarthMichael has produced these two decisive pictures relating to the Jedi Purge.
This one shows Darth Vader receiving his orders from his Sith Master.
He says "Anakin, who I like to believe would eventually be dispatched by Palpatine to lead the effort in eliminating the remaining Jedi, confers via hologram with the Chancellor while a Jedi starfighter can be seen in the background getting chased down by a couple of Republic Gunships over Coruscant."
While this one is a dynamic dogfight over the skies of Coruscant, Sith starfighter chasing Jedi victim !
It's Anakin in his modified blue fighter chasing Obi-Wan through a deserted part of Coruscant. Palpatine follows in one of the tailing Gunships, watching in delight. He adds, "eventually they'll reach the fiery depths of the planets undercrust, where the duel will take place..." The picture has echoes of the Death Star trench run from A New Hope !
The last two weeks of january brought us lots of mini stories from Episode III production, and some of them confirmed long-held beliefs in the Star Wars Lore !
Most exciting if they turn out to be true is what the Voice of Darth Vader revealed recently at a lecture. James Earl Jones indicated that he would be involved for the last reel of the last episode, after "Anakin has fallen into a volcano". Long-time fansite webmaestro, T'Bone, first broke the news here, followed soon after by theforce.net who were able to include an audio file of the quote ! SImilarly, this earlier spy report from tf.n suggests a possible vulcanic, lava-flowing planet as a setting for Episode III
Regardless of how the Forumers' Virtual Edition of Episode III is playing out, this dynamic setting has been unofficial 'canon' since the early 1980s, when Lucas was giving out tidbits of backstory. Though such sources as the superb 'Annotated Screenplays' by Laurent Bouzereau remind us that other ideas have been considered by Lucas, most notably a nuclear reactor location, most fans hope that the fiery setting will be the one for the Obi-Wan -- Anakin Skywalker showdown !
Forumer & artist Ben Christensen has conceptualised this stunning picture of Darth Vader drawing on the darkside of the Force to survive his fate ....
Other reports to surface recently have been this one about a new 'Hero' spaceship that Production Designer Gavin Bocquet revealed, and early casting news, again from T'Bone, about Alethea McGrath reprising her role as Jedi Archivist, Jocasta Nu, and australian Clayton Watson announcing that he will have a role.
Finally, a recent quote from Samuel L. Jackson that he is to meet up with the "stunt co-ordinator" early to begin his training : one can only wonder if he is referring to that Master of the Lightsabre, Nick Gillard ... ?? And if it would tie in with the actor's plea to George Lucas to give his character a Grand Finale ! :o))
And nearly forgot : last week, I was preparing a few changes to the VirtualEdition.net, which I hope to unveil come March !
