Star Wars is a massive and expansive franchise that’s always seeing new stories and lore added to its ever-growing canon. Even though George Lucas’ immersive, generation-defining saga can be seen as a testament to the merits of long-form storytelling and world-building, it also means there are some strange inconsistencies and funny coincidences within the Star Wars story universe. A fan-made video shows what Return of the Jedi might have been like with some more recently introduced narrative elements included in the mix.
Return of the Jedi was the final chapter of the Star Wars saga for a while. The epic conclusion for the original trilogy introduced fans to the amorphous crime boss Jabba the Hutt and saw Luke Skywalker finally take on his role as a Jedi Knight, confronting his father Darth Vader. While the film is cherished now, being one of the sacred installments of the beloved original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi actually received a lot of mixed reviews when it was released in 1983. Some viewers saw new additions like the cuddly Ewoks as being too kid-friendly and silly, but perhaps by that point, many fans had simply grown out of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Or maybe endings are just hard.
In the fan-made video uploaded to YouTube channel Auralnauts, we see Darth Vader discussing the feeble structure of the second Death Star and chastising an imperial commander for not changing the original plans that were leaked to the rebels by Galen Erso. Of course, this was shown in the 2016 standalone film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, when it was revealed that the Death Star's one weakness was actually intentionally created by architect Galen Erso, who hoped for its destruction. It is kind of hilarious to think that the imperial engineers and builders didn’t consider changing the design a little more when making the second super battle station.
The video then moves to Tatooine with the infamous scene where Luke Skywalker confronts Jabba the Hutt in his palace. Upon learning the young hero’s name, Jabba points out that many years ago, a young boy named Skywalker caused a big upset by winning a pod race. Jabba claims to have lost a lot of money on this race and doesn’t seem too thrilled to be meeting another Skywalker. This scene refers to the young Anakin Skywalker miraculously winning during the Boonta Eve Classic pod race at the age of nine in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. Jabba’s been running this town for a long time, so it would stand to reason that he might recognize the name.
The video features many other hilarious highlights, like Boba Fett yelling from the Sarlacc's belly and Vader having a very awkward conversation with his master regarding Padme. It’s all in good fun though, as the creators mention their love for Star Wars in the description and point out just how difficult world-building can be. You can watch Araulnauts other Star Wars-related videos on their YouTube channel, as they’ve also given this treatment to the previous two films in the original trilogy.
The Star Wars saga is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Auralnauts | YouTube