MusicallyInspired wrote:We do know that the "last remnants of The Old Republic" were still around to be "swept away" and that "the Emperor dissolved the council/senate permanently" by the beginning of ANH. The Republic was still around enough to not have been overthrown years before the Clone Wars/Jedi fall/Anakin's turn. That simply had to have happened all at the same time.
We know that Ben Kenobi fought in the Clone Wars... and that he was a Jedi Knight, the same as Luke's father.
We know that Luke's father followed Obi-Wan on some "damn fool crusade"
And we know "for a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace for the republic... before the dark times... before the Empire"
And we know that Luke's father was a young Jedi who "killed Luke's father"
And "now the Jedi are all but extinct"
Leia's hologram says "Years ago, you served my [adopted] father in the Clone Wars."
So I had said:
Tawmis wrote:
They didn't need to explain the fall of the Old Republic, that could have happened generations ago... it could have focused on the growing rise of the Empire, and the creation of the Death Star (which should have taken an insane amount of time; and the only problem I really have with TFA, because making a killer planet should have taken more than 20 or 30 years or whatever time passed)... So I would have liked to see the prequels focus on the power of the Empire, and how it affected everything... and could have had this small, Jedi rebellion, trying to put a stop to it... and Anakin, growing more and more furious that the Jedi are not willing to do "what it takes to win"... which eventually leads him to conflict with the Emperor, who turns him successfully (so the scene would have been similar to how he tried to turn Luke, but failed...)
So I don't see, how we needed to see anything about the Old Republic's fall. We have no time frame for it. Only that the Jedis were the guardians of peace for it. The Empire could have certainly crushed most of the Republic 18 years (roughly, since I gauge Luke to be about 18 in ANH). So I don't see why Episode 01 couldn't strictly be about the Empire already in power, and the Jedi fighting against the Empire, and make the main focus about Obi-Wan and Anakin, during their fight against the Empire, having learned about the Empire's plan to create a "Death Star." (This gives the Empire 18 years to make this spherical dome of death, before we see it in ANH {and Rogue One}). That way, we at least have a time line for the Death Star - and not just, "They made it, and kept it a big secret, and no one saw this coming!" And I think, showing the Empire doing all that it's doing (clones for Stormtroopers, building a Death Star), over the course of the 3 movies, we see Anakin fall to the dark side, because he's frustrated and angry, that the Jedi won't go tick for tat and do what "it takes" to put an end to the Empire.
So I'd see the first Episode as Anakin, happy, falls in love (setting up Luke and Leia). Episode 2, is where we see the focus from happiness to frustration with the Jedi. Episode 3, he begins going out doing things on his own, some pretty dark things (against the Empire), and it eventually leads him to confront the Emperor - who successfully turns him (as I said above, similar to the scene where he tried to turn Luke and failed).
And the 18 year gap between Episode III and Episode IV, would be Vader hunting down and eliminating the Jedi, leaving them "all but extinct."