The Kurtz Outline / The Other Skywalker
Mar 17, 2017 21:47:45 GMT -6
MormonYoYoMan and owlorbs like this
Post by Falconer on Mar 17, 2017 21:47:45 GMT -6
Gary Kurtz, who worked as producer of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, has spoken on various occasions on how, circa 1980, he and George had planned Episodes 6, 7, 8, and 9. You can google it and find some interesting quotes. Of course the outline was vague, but, basically, Episode 9 was going to be the point at which the Emperor is finally defeated.
There are several threads left dangling at the end of Ep.5:
According to the 1980 outline, in Ep.6 Luke would indeed have confronted Vader and, I suppose, defeated him after rejecting Vader’s plan to overthrow the emperor and rule with him. Han would have died in Ep.6. But that doesn’t mean Luke and Leia would have ended up together; their destinies led them to different paths. Leia becomes a Queen and Luke “rides off into the sunset.” Very bittersweet. Leia in this scheme was not the Other Skywalker. The Other Skywalker is, indeed, Luke’s sister (not Leia but a new character), who shows up from elsewhere in the galaxy in Ep.7-9.
Of course, Lucas eventually decided on a different direction for Ep.6 (and Kurtz left the project). He wanted to wrap things up and have a cheery ending; make it kid-friendly; sell a lot of toys. Leia is the Other Skywalker, resolving the love triangle. Luke miraculously never turns to the dark side, despite repeatedly giving in to his anger. Vader choose Luke over the Emperor not as part of a planned coup but as a spur of the moment change of heart.
But, the Other Skywalker plot is still dangling, and here’s why. Why would you introduce Another Hope only to decide, nah, don’t worry about it, Luke’s got this? Leia never needs to use the force to save the galaxy or redeem her brother.
There are a couple of ways to resolve this post-Ep.6 as it stands. One would be to have Luke fall to the Dark Side anyway, and be redeemed by Leia. This is the road taken in the Dark Empire comic book series. I find this approach believable and satisfactory.
Well, it occurs to me that the other approach is to stick with the outline and introduce Another Skywalker—another sister for Luke other than Leia, who shows up from elsewhere in the galaxy in, you guessed it, Ep.7-9. I have seen a lot of theories about Rey, but, even having come up with this theory I have googled it and am not really seeing it around. She could be Luke and Leia’s (much younger) sister! I’m not really sure of any of the details of how she was spawned or ended up where she did when she did looking slightly too young to have been born before Vader’s death, but, whatever, it being sci-fi there are about a million ways it could have been done.
There are several threads left dangling at the end of Ep.5:
- Vader genuinely wanting to overthrow the Emperor along with Luke
- Luke starting down the dark path and forever it dominating his destiny
- “That boy is our last hope.” “No. There is another.”
- The Han-Leia-Luke love triangle trending in Luke’s favor
According to the 1980 outline, in Ep.6 Luke would indeed have confronted Vader and, I suppose, defeated him after rejecting Vader’s plan to overthrow the emperor and rule with him. Han would have died in Ep.6. But that doesn’t mean Luke and Leia would have ended up together; their destinies led them to different paths. Leia becomes a Queen and Luke “rides off into the sunset.” Very bittersweet. Leia in this scheme was not the Other Skywalker. The Other Skywalker is, indeed, Luke’s sister (not Leia but a new character), who shows up from elsewhere in the galaxy in Ep.7-9.
Of course, Lucas eventually decided on a different direction for Ep.6 (and Kurtz left the project). He wanted to wrap things up and have a cheery ending; make it kid-friendly; sell a lot of toys. Leia is the Other Skywalker, resolving the love triangle. Luke miraculously never turns to the dark side, despite repeatedly giving in to his anger. Vader choose Luke over the Emperor not as part of a planned coup but as a spur of the moment change of heart.
But, the Other Skywalker plot is still dangling, and here’s why. Why would you introduce Another Hope only to decide, nah, don’t worry about it, Luke’s got this? Leia never needs to use the force to save the galaxy or redeem her brother.
There are a couple of ways to resolve this post-Ep.6 as it stands. One would be to have Luke fall to the Dark Side anyway, and be redeemed by Leia. This is the road taken in the Dark Empire comic book series. I find this approach believable and satisfactory.
Well, it occurs to me that the other approach is to stick with the outline and introduce Another Skywalker—another sister for Luke other than Leia, who shows up from elsewhere in the galaxy in, you guessed it, Ep.7-9. I have seen a lot of theories about Rey, but, even having come up with this theory I have googled it and am not really seeing it around. She could be Luke and Leia’s (much younger) sister! I’m not really sure of any of the details of how she was spawned or ended up where she did when she did looking slightly too young to have been born before Vader’s death, but, whatever, it being sci-fi there are about a million ways it could have been done.
