OK so going through the films and I will now re-write the main saga's story based on what I think will be better. Will it be better, probably not. But it would be for me. I'm going to go chronological and I'm going to impart a few rules to myself. Rule 1, minimal super huge character changes. Plot changes and focus changes are allowed but try to minimize character rule changes. Rule 2, Canon order of importance is based on age. The older the canon the more weight it has.
Episode 1 - Is actually Episode 2. With a few tweaks. First off. A change in the Clone Wars themselves. The Clones are the army of the republic already. Jedis are peace keepers who answer to the Senate but don't involve themselves in the War effort. We see young Anakin the Padawan to Obi Wan Kenobi. They are charged with protecting a Queen from a war torn plane that is Front Lines in a battle between the Republic and the CIS. Under siege Anakin and Obi Wan hold off a team of Bounty Hunters sent from the CIS. They repel the attack and Obi Wan chases after the lead hunter leaving Anakin to defend the Queen. Here is where we see the budding interest in their relationship. Nothing like surviving near death to start juices. Then a lot of this runs like AotC. Obi Wan captures the Bounty Hunter but they're killed by Jango. They wind up going to Kamino where you find out that Sifodius commissioned the Clones and you see Obi Wan confused. They follow Jango to Geonosis where you see the CIS leaders bolstering their army just like the original. And you have Dooku as the leader, the fallen Jedi. Obi Wan, Anakin and Padme all find out these events and transmit the information to the Jedi COuncil and inform them that Dooku has a red lightsaber and they think he's a Sith, just like in the movie Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padme are captured. This shocks the Jedi to the core, as a former council member is now a Sith Lord. Concerned about this at first they send a strike team to infiltrate this meeting. The Strike team meets Dooku on the stadium in Geonosis. He is Anakin, Padme, and Obi Wan on shackles on their knees when the team arrives. He threatens to cut them down leading to a tense debate with Mace Windu. THe debate ends with Jango Fett leading a battalion of B-2 Battle droids to the rear flank of the Jedi and Obi Wan getting the upper hand on Dooku. Dooku gets into a battle with Windu before escaping and the Jedi are surrounded by CIS battle droids. That's when Yoda and reinforcements arrive. Fresh off intel from the Supreme Chancellor that new more powerful droids were being built here he was set to dispatch the elite unit of Clone troopers there and Yoda offered to join them. This is described in a touch of dialogue later. Now battling the droids and attempting to Capture the Escaping Sith lord the Jedi and Clone troopers do battle on Geonosis. I'm largely fine with the ending except I'd change one thing. Anakin and Obi Wan battle Dooku. Dooku eventually bests them but instead of Yoda finding his way we get Windu. Windu does heavy battle with Dooku before Dooku escapes using a team of 3 MagnaGuards who attack Windu. Windu is losing when Obi Wan comes to his aid to defeat the MagnaGuards but Dooku is long gone. The film ends with Dooku on a ship, standing next to him is the currently unnamed General Grievous and before them a hologram of Darth Sidious and he congratulates them on killing many Jedi and intensifying the War efforts. Sprinkled through the film are talk about Anakin's virgin birth and so on so forth. Include something not in the script of AotC and have Obi Wan and Dooku while talking DOoku mention that Obi Wan's master was his Padawan and he should be upset that the council let his Master die at the hands of a Dark Side assassin and say nothing.
What I like about this movie - Nothing really happens in the Phantom Menace, and there's a massive gap between the first and second with minimal movement, a recast of the "star" of the trilogy, and more stuff that isn't good. What this helps do is set up the fall of the Jedi and Rise of the Empire a bit more in the films.
What I miss from the originals - Qui Jon and Maul are pushed to the back burner. That's rough but to me it's worth it.
Second film - here you see the Waning years of the Clone Wars. I like the idea of the Siege of Coruscant and I think opening there is fine. But I want the whole Battle. So the second film is about 45 minutes of combat that culminates with Anakin Chopping off Dooku's head. Grievous escapes having killed someone on the Jedi Council. Having been saved by Anakin Palpatine puts him on the Jedi Council but they decline him the Rank of Master. That I think is great as it sets up animosity between Anakin and the Jedi Order. Anakin is at this point kind of distancing himself from the Jedi we find out he secretly married Padme at some point in this film. We find out via posters/holonet news, etc. that he's a hero of the republic, a general who has won many battles etc. He's constantly met on the streets and even makes a public appearance before a chanting crowd for saving the Chancellor's Life. After this he accompanies Palpatine to the Opera where he tells him the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Palpatine sense a lot of confusion in Anakin. He begins to give Anakin Nightmares of his wife dying. Anakin begins to research Darth Plagueis but finds nothing about him. Mentioning the phrase Darth to master Yoda, Yoda informs him that Darth is a sith Title only. He didn't know this as he never heard DOoku's sith name (Tyranus) And he is confused. He goes to talk more to Palpatine as he's close to the Chancellor and that's when Palpatine makes his move and Anakin reports him to the Council. The following scene takes place just as it did before. Anakin disarming Windu and him being killed by Palpatine and Anakin swearing himself to Palpatine. The film ends with him being told to rise as Darth Vader.
Third film takes place a few months later. Palpatine has been in intensive care at a hospital under protection of Anakin and an elite Clone Guard. The Jedi are spread out throughout the Galaxy trying to hunt down Grievous, the person Anakin said killed Windu and maimed Palpatine. Anakin and Palpatine have been using this time as a means to plan their final strike. With the Jedi stretched thin they look to bolster the army again. Anakin uses his war hero title as a means to garner support for making Palpatine have war powers to make unilateral decisions about the War, despite Padme's pleas against it. It's at this point that anakin and Padme become strained. Palpatine now plays his final play. Sending Vader to Mustafar to end the War. Vader does that. He then sends word to the Senate that a Sith Lord and Grievous are on that planet. The Jedi send a strike team featuring many of their powerful remaining Jedis, Obi-Wan, Shaak-Ti, Plokoon, etc. After Anakin and Grievous murder the leadership of the CIS Anakin they go into an extended Battle with Obi Wan and the Jedi. Obi Wan is of course crushed to find his friend a Sith. He initially refuses to battle Anakin deciding to fight Grievous only but Anakin fights off 3 or 4 masters slaying them. Obi Wan bests Grievous before attacking Anakin. After a protracted battle Obi Wan defeats him and leaves him for dead on the planet before returning to Coruscant. Palpatine has left Coruscant at this point because he sensed Vader's peril. While he's gone Obi Wan and Yoda find out what actually happened and that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, they're awaiting his return. He returns after starting repair on Vader. Seeing Obi Wan and Yoda he talks to them a bit they attack him but before they connect he escapes and his guards step in. They get into a protracted fight where Sidious handles both Yoda and Obi Wan in a light saber battle, before unleashing a powerful blast of forcelightning that destroys healthy portion of the Senate chambers allowing Palpatine to escape and rally his guard and Obi Wan and Yoda escape with Organa and Padme. Using doctored footage Palpatine declares that his Legendary General Anakin Skywalker gave his life on Mustafar battling CIS leadership and the Jedi. The Jedi returned to Coruscant to overthrow the Chancellor and take power over the empire, he calls upon a reorganization of the government from the Republic into the Empire to fight the jedi threat. Immediately after the speech and declaring himself the emperor. He executes order 66. Here we see Clones turn on Jedi and we see proper Darth Vader storm the Jedi Temple. Killing Jedi Masters with ease. Raising the temple. Before going offworld to hunt Jedi who escaped Order 66. Obi Wan, Padme Yoda, and Bael are on a ship in outer space where Padme gives birth to her children. She knows given her profile she cannot raise her kids safely. She gives them up and goes to start a rebellion in the far reaches of the Galaxy. Allowing her to fulfil Leia's memory of barely knowing her as she visits Leia at some point before her death. Film ends with Palpatine and Vader discussing the beginning of the plans to build the Death Star.
ANH - I keep the majority of the story the same. Few minor tweaks would happen to smooth out continuity but overall I think the story is great.
ESB - WOuldn't change much at all. Maybe clarify the timeline a bit by having Han and Leia talk about how long they were on the run from the Empire.
RotJ - Would change a few things. First no Ewoks. I would have a primitive resistant force, but they wouldn't be cute little ewoks. Consider Lucas's original idea of WOokies or another race that should be challenging to humans wearing armor. Maybe a different race of beastly humanoids. Second. I wouldn't condense the climax. While you want Leia and Han involved, I would have come up with a different strategy. I think dividing the climax into 3 seperate battles was a mistake that takes you in and out of the action too often. Instead your early focus is on the land battle and Vader and Luke and the Emperor. After destroying the Shield Generator, Han, Leia and some others escape on an imperial transport where they join the rebellion forces in a short time with Han and Chewie in X-Wings and Leia running the battle with Ackbar. This is where Sidious reveals he doesn't care if the Generator is down and orders the death star to go fully operational and we witness the Death Star tear through one of the Rebel flagships and we see Han, Chewie, Lando, and Leia's reactions. Han, Chewie, Lando, Wedge and a few others go on a suicide run on the death star. We see a large collection of Imperial resources attacking the ships as Palpatine orchestrates the attacks. Seeing his friends in Peril Luke attacks Palpatine and Vader and Palpatine becomes no longer interested in the battle leading to a slight disorientation from his forces.Everything else plays out as it normally does.
TFA - Change very little. I would again cut the scene where Poe barks out orders to his pilots instead saving the Poe being Alive bit til after "That's one hell of a pilot" line. That was a huge missed point. I think killing Han and all that other stuff is fine.
TLJ - Wouldn't change much here. Minor tweaks that's it.
RoS - Would Change a whole lot. Wouldn't make Rey a Palpatine. Instead her parents were nobodies. But we instead find out that at the time of the events of Snoke dominating Ben solo that she was born with a dormant light side, a future chosen one. Can even include a bit where she finds out about this back on Jakku. Villain plot. Ren has spent all the resources of the First Order hunting down Rey. And has failed. She has distanced herself from the resistance and is escaping from planet to planet avoiding the first order on the Falcon with Chewie, Rose, and Finn. Outraged by this abuse of power and stark change from the days of Snoke. Hux begins a mutiny on Ren through a carefully orchestrated smear campaign. As Ren attempts to tighten his grip on the first order he loses control. Ren finally finds Rey and they have an extended lightsaber duel. Ending in a relative stalemate. Ben asking Rey to join him once more, and her declining. Eventually all the first order officers rebel against Ren outing him as their leader and naming Hux as the leader. Hux leaves ren bound and abandoned on Jakku just Snoke had abandoned Rey all those years before. This is where he tells Ren that Rey was supposed to overthrow Ren and become his new apprentice as Solo was getting too old. But she wound up having too much good in her. Anyway the first order begins dominating the Galaxy again and works to snuff out the resistance. Rey and Ben's connection is reopened. And Rey tells Ben that she'll be there to help him. They return Ben to the resistance where he's attacked but Rey steps in and defends him. He embraces his dying mother (battle wounds, age, or something, just breezing here to the finale of writing this out) he offers to lead a strike force on an attack against the lead star Destroyer of the First Order, Pryce's Star Destroyer that was formally his. The final setup is Ben giving his life to bring down the first order. Setup via a huge space battle kind of like the finale to RoS but without the dumb antenna mcguffins. Instead we get Ben, Rey, and Chewie in the X-Wing. Rose and Finn on a bomber/fighter/whatever. Heck we could even have a land battle going on. There's a number of ways this could play out. With the conclusion being Rey, Rose, Finn, and Ben landing on the destroyer and fighting their way to the bridge to turn the best ship in the first order against them. And they eventually succeed with Hux getting the killing shots on Ben. Ben in his death throws grabs Leia's lightsaber and destroys the center console causing the ship to become disabled. He then stands up fights off the first order to let Rey, Finn and Rose escape, after they do they go to the falcon to find Chewie has killed a bunch of first order troops who attempted to get off the destroyer off the Destroyer.
Anyway I will flesh out RoS later.
