The week in photos!
Fixing the Prequels: Revenge of the Sith (part eight)
Yeah, we’re doing this. And this time, we’re gonna finish it. (I mean, this time as in, this time restarting this series. I’m not finishing it in one post.)
When last we left, long long ago, Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi had parted for the last time, as friends. Obi Wan was off to Utapau to look into the rumors of General Grievous’s location, while Anakin was still stuck on Coruscant, not really doing much of anything except keeping and eye on Chancellor Palpatine, who is continuing to sow distrust of the Jedi in Anakin’s heart. It hardly helps that the Jedi themselves are already planning to take over the Senate and depose the Chancellor, seemingly for benevolent reasons.
This has always been, for me, the most interesting part of Palpatine’s plan for the Jedi. He is not going to conquer them directly; he is setting them up so they have only one move available, and all the while they believe they are the ones calling the shots, so when he springs the trap, it will be all the more stunning to them. Palpatine isn’t just making up all that stuff about the Jedi not trusting him and planning to seize power: all of that is true. But Palpatine is also able to make Anakin believe in him and doubt the Jedi, which is made easier because the Jedi so clearly don’t trust Anakin to begin with.
Ultimately, then, the Jedi downfall is their own fault. The hanged themselves; all Palpatine did was give them the rope.
To the actual movie. This is make-or-break stuff, here. Anakin is about to finally fall to one side, or the other. I’ll be taking a bit of a different approach here: instead of detailed examination of the actual script, I’ll just reference the script and quote it when I absolutely have to. But for the most part, I’m just going to lay out my various fixes, because for the most part…well, this is the part of this film that I’m having the most trouble with “fixing”, because I’ve always greatly admired it and felt that George Lucas never really got enough credit for it.
So on we go. Mainly I’m going to be trying to highlight story beats that are there in the original film but are often missed (maybe because Lucas didn’t highlight them strongly enough), and there is one story element that I would add, for reasons I get into below.
When last we left off, Obi Wan Kenobi was surging into battle against General Grievous, and lots of other battles were taking place as well. The Jedi Council was having a secret discussion as to what they would have to do about Chancellor Palpatine once the war is over, and Anakin – the most powerful of all Jedi – is just hanging around, taking messages to the Chancellor.
In the film, we cut from the Jedi Council talking to Anakin walking into the Chancellor’s office. I’d make a small insertion here to draw out the contrast:
EXTERIOR: Space – Utapau – Battle Montage.
We tour five or six planets on which battle rages, with the JEDI leading CLONE TROOPERS into war. We see OBI WAN, PLO KOON, and others in action, ending with YODA.
Sudden cut to:
INTERIOR: Coruscant – Night – Palpatine’s office.
ANAKIN stands in a corridor between PALPATINE’s main ceremonial office and his smaller office where PALPATINE sits at a computer desk, studying maps as he confers with COUNCILLORS via hologram. ANAKIN can’t quite hear what is being discussed, and he clearly struggles with this obvious waste of his talents and time. He wanders from one large sculpture, and tries to look interested in a stone carving that dominates an entire wall.
PALPATINE: Yes, thank you.
The holograms fade.
PALPATINE: Anakin?
ANAKIN breathes a sigh of relief as he finally joins the CHANCELLOR.
PALPATINE: My apologies, Anakin. Affairs of state aren’t always adventurous.
ANAKIN: I bring news, Chancellor. The Council wants you to know that General Kenobi has engaged General Grievous.
PALPATINE: Ah. Well, let’s both hope he is up to the challenge.
ANAKIN: He will be.
PALPATINE: I’m sure he will. His skills are well-known, after all. Still…a shame that the Council chooses to use their best warrior as a messenger. They could have sent a droid with that news. You should be out there, partaking in the great adventure!
ANAKIN: A Jedi doesn’t crave adventure.
PALPATINE: No, I suppose not. After all, the Jedi are known for their avoidance of temptations. It’s one of the things that keeps the people of the Galaxy from ever really trusting them. Fortunately you have managed to avoid falling into that trap.
ANAKIN: I don’t know what you mean….
PALPATINE: Yes, you do. There are things in your heart other than being a Jedi and focusing all your attention on the Force. You don’t see the Force the way the Jedi do, Anakin. You see the Force as a tool to do things…great things…things that will help the ones you love.
ANAKIN stands.
ANAKIN: I should return to the Council.
PALPATINE also rises.
PALPATINE: Have you thought about what I told you? About the ability to stave off death?
ANAKIN: It’s impossible. It’s…not the way of things.
PALPATINE: Who is to say the way of things? The Jedi, with their focus on only one aspect of the Force? Anakin…let me help you.
The words hang there. PALPATINE stares at ANAKIN, refusing to back down. He’s committed now.
ANAKIN: How can you help me? You can’t teach me this power.
PALPATINE: I can help you find it.
ANAKIN is slowly beginning to realize as they move into the dark corridor, the one with the stone carving. PALPATINE begins to slowly circle ANAKIN as he talks.
PALPATINE: You live in fear, Anakin. You live in fear that the ones you love will die and you will be powerless to stop it. But you needn’t be powerless. There is greater power in the Dark Side of the Force than anyone can possibly imagine.
ANAKIN: Dark side? How do you know of the Dark Side?
PALPATINE: I had a mentor too, once. He took a curious young boy and taught him many, many things. After he died I continued learning. If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the narrow and dogmatic view of the Jedi. Think how useful my knowledge would have been to you earlier…your arm might not be that of a droid…your mother might still be alive.
ANAKIN: I couldn’t have saved Mother….
PALPATINE: You know you could have. And you know you can save Padme, if only you are powerful enough. And you never will be, unless you become my young apprentice.
ANAKIN: Apprentice?
PALPATINE: The Jedi will never let you achieve your true potential. You must know this. Your destiny lies upon a different path. Join me, Anakin. Join me and I shall complete your training. You will wield the power of the Force in greater measure than anyone in history. Learn the Dark Side–
ANAKIN ignites his lightsaber.
ANAKIN: No! Stay away from me. You’re a Sith Lord – no, you’re THE Sith Lord! Darth—what was it?
PALPATINE: Sidious.
ANAKIN: I’ll never join the Sith.
PALPATINE: Won’t you?
ANAKIN: Never.
Silence as ANAKIN holds his lightsaber blade up, in the ready-to-strike pose.
PALPATINE: Would you really strike? I am defenseless.
ANAKIN: A Jedi doesn’t use the Force for attack….
PALPATINE: A lesson Count Dooku learned well, wouldn’t you say?
ANAKIN raises his lightsaber.
PALPATINE: Think, Anakin. You know that things are amiss. Who has trusted you more, the Jedi? Or me? Who has taught you more? The Jedi? Or me? I would entrust you with power like you have never known, like no one has ever known. The Jedi use you as a message boy. Master Windu has never trusted you. You know this to be true.
ANAKIN: Stop….
PALPATINE: Your destiny does not lie with them. It lies with me. Search your feelings.
ANAKIN: I…I am a Jedi….
PALPATINE: You are angry.
ANAKIN: The Jedi don’t give in to anger….
PALPATINE: I can feel your anger. It gives you focus. Makes you stronger.
ANAKIN stands there, his lightsaber up. PALPATINE returns his gaze. Then ANAKIN lowers his weapon and deactivates the blade.
ANAKIN: I won’t kill you.
PALPATINE: But will you give me to the Jedi, knowing that they plan to take power? Knowing that I hold the key to saving Padme from the fate you know is coming for her? And what then? A pat on the shoulder? You still won’t be a Master. You will still be on the outside, looking in. You will never be a Jedi, Anakin. Not truly. You know this.
PALPATINE sighs and turns to walk to his office.
PALPATINE: I will not flee. I have no need to flee. You must do what you feel is right, of course.
PALPATINE disappears into his office, leaving a clearly disturbed ANAKIN.
I change this scene to put a lot more emphasis on Anakin’s growing sense of distrust of the Jedi, and his growing sense that they distrust him. But the whole way it plays out – the silence of the scene, the way Ian McDiarmid varies his voice to show when he’s being the Chancellor and when he’s letting it all hang out as a Sith Lord, and Anakin’s confusion as to what to do – has always been one of my favorite things in this movie.
Next we cut to Obi Wan’s battle with General Grievous, which I wouldn’t change at all. It’s great how it ends with Obi Wan using a blaster and then tossing the “uncivilized” weapon aside. But when we return to Coruscant, Anakin tells Mace Windu that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, and Windu orders Anakin to stay behind while he and some others go to arrest the Chancellor. This leads to a visually gorgeous scene as Anakin, waiting in the Jedi Council chamber, looks across the city to the building where Padme lives, and she looks back. His pain is evident, and he finally gives in and goes to try and assist Windu in such a way that will leave Palpatine alive to help Anakin save Padme.
It’s here that I would make maybe the biggest changes:
(Just after Obi Wan’s fight with Grievous)
INTERIOR: Coruscant – evening – PADME’s apartment.
ANAKIN enters the apartment, looking for PADME. But she isn’t there, and C-3PO greets him.
C-3PO: Oh! Master Anakin. It is good to see you.
ANAKIN: Hello, 3PO. Is Padme here?
C-3PO: No, I’m afraid she isn’t.
ANAKIN turns to leave.
C-3PO: But there is another visitor waiting for you.
ANAKIN turns to see MACE WINDU enter. His expression is grim.
ANAKIN: Master Windu!
WINDU: Skywalker. Interesting that you would come here, instead of back to the Temple.
ANAKIN: I…I had business with the Senator.
WINDU: You’re a Jedi. There is nothing pertaining to Senator Amidala which falls under the mandate of your current assignment. But you’re not here for official business, are you? Or Jedi business.
ANAKIN is caught, and he knows it.
WINDU: Attachment is forbidden by the Jedi code. Did you really think we wouldn’t find out about your marriage?
ANAKIN: Master…I have news…about the Chancellor.
WINDU: The Chancellor will no longer be an issue. Master Kenobi has destroyed General Grievous, and the Separatist forces are falling apart on all remaining fronts. The war is as good as over. Now, the Jedi and I will force the Chancellor to step down.
ANAKIN: Master, you must listen to me!
WINDU: I never trusted you, Skywalker. I allowed Yoda to talk me into allowing your entry into the Jedi Order. I should never have done that, but I can atone for that mistake now. You are hereby expelled from the Jedi. Your rank is stripped, and until the Council can deliberate on your permanent status, you are under house arrest.
ANAKIN: Master, no!
ANAKIN starts to reach for his lightsaber, but WINDU raises his hand, and ANAKIN’s lightsaber flies from his belt to WINDU’s hand. Then WINDU snaps his fingers, and three JEDI enter.
WINDU: Keep him here.
WINDU starts toward the exit.
ANAKIN: You can’t take on the Chancellor!
WINDU looks at ANAKIN one last time, and then leaves, without another word. ANAKIN remains behind as the three JEDI each take up position at one of the exits.
And…we’re going to leave off there. I had set this up earlier, though; it seems to me that Mace Windu learning of Anakin’s secret marriage would be the perfect thing to make him act on his distrust for the young Jedi, and it’s that lack of trust that plays a huge role in Anakin’s tipping over the brink into Darkness. Plus, Windu’s refusal to listen to Anakin’s attempts to warn him about the Chancellor play into the tragic fall of the Jedi, adding to the many, many ways their doom is self-inflicted.
I’d keep going, but this entry is pretty long, and the scene is about to unfold. So next time, Anakin finally fulfills his destiny, to the unfortunate chagrin of all concerned. Tune in, Star Warriors!
Share This Post
Something for Thursday
Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s revisit of Carl Sagan’s seminal Cosmos arrives in just a couple weeks. One of the finest aspects of the original show was its music, carefully selected to form almost its own version of the Voyager record. Here are a few selections of the Cosmos music!
That last work is the first movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1, by the way. And this site seems to be an exhaustive “track listing” for each episode of Cosmos. Hard to read, but useful.
The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.
Share This Post
Answers, the third!
Continuing the cavalcade of answers!
From one of my anonymity-preferring readers:
Do you ever lie in bed unable to sleep? (Either waking in the middle of the night or simply unable to get to sleep in the first place.) If you do, does your brain run through all the things that make you anxious or stressed? Or embarrassing things that happened to you? What works to get you back to sleep?
I’m lucky that I don’t get insomnia much. But it does happen sometimes, almost always when I get stupid and drink caffeine too close to bed time. I try to avoid caffeine after 5:00 or so. What will happen is this: I’ll lay there all groggy and stuff, but not falling asleep; frustration will build as I wonder why I can’t sleep; then, suddenly, I’ll snap awake with a furious realization: that damned Pepsi I had!!!
I do wake up in the middle of the night a lot, but I rarely have a great deal of trouble getting back to sleep. I’m pretty lucky, that way. Anxieties about things can weigh on me, though. But mostly, when I’m not asleep and the lights are out, I’m often thinking about writing stuff — either plot details or I’m running through scenes in my head or I’m fantasizing about my inevitable Hugo Award win. That sort of thing. Stress, things that anger me, goof-ups I’ve made — I try to avoid thinking about these kinds of things when I’m trying to drop off to sleep.
When you are home, do the cats follow you around?
Lester follows me around. He thinks he’s my cat, but he’s really not. I don’t know why on Earth he would ever think that he’s my cat.
Yeah, that’s a mystery. No idea why he thinks he’s my cat.
Julio will also follow me around, but he’s the more traditional type of “cat following the master around”: “Oh, you’re going to the kitchen! And my food bowl is empty-ish! Or it’s less full than it was! Hooray! Thank you, fine food bowl filler guy!” Julio’s not much for following me around. Although he does like his cuddlin’ now and again….
Sigh.
More answers to come! And feel free to ask, if the mood still strikes!
Share This Post
A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter
Happy Birthday to The Wife!!!
“Our marriage has outlasted all of the world’s leaders except for Castro, and if we keep talking, arguing, making love, and dancing to the Ramones-gabba-gabba-hey-it’ll probably keep working.”
–Stephen King
We may not have the years that Stephen and Tabitha King have, but we’ll get there. You can sort of tell these things. It’s pretty much a done deal. The last year has seen a lot of transition in our lives, some of which isn’t even over yet. Most all of it is pretty good, but good or bad, I can’t imagine facing the future with anyone else beside me…or me beside anyone else.
And at least we’re not just a couple of chickens….
…as we face danger….
And we’re not that far from being like this…
Here is our Official Song from the last year:
(See, there was a period where every time we went to drive someplace together, even if it was five minutes away, this song would come on the satellite radio in her car.)
Anyway, please raise your coffee mugs or rum glasses or water bottles at some point today for The Wife’s birthday, as we continue writing our own story together, Two People From Buffalo Face The World And Win (which might just be the actual title)!
(Note to self: This list is now several years out of date. Add some stuff next year!)
Share This Post
Sentential Links
Linkage!
:: Saying you’re going to stop eating meat to prevent animal suffering is like saying you’re not having children to prevent child abuse. Pacifism doesn’t create change. Ever. (Oooooh, I love Jenna Woginrich and her blog and her books, and I love the full-force with which she is attacking her pursuit of the life she has decided she wants. But this bit here stuck in my craw the second I read it. The post is a collection of “life lessons” Jenna has learned, and a lot of them are great. This one, though, bugs the hell out of me. First, the comparison in the first sentence just doesn’t make sense at all, but that’s not what bothers me. “Pacifism doesn’t create change, ever”? That might come as news to the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, and Jesus of Nazareth, to name a few. And while I’m at it, Tennessee is almost certainly a fine place, but to my way of thinking, no state that doesn’t have any coastline either along ocean or Great Lake is in the “Best state” conversation. But that’s just me and my love of great bodies of water talking….)
:: You know that icy stab of fear that penetrates your chest when you realise you’ve made a huge mistake? (Oh, do I ever…!)
:: Let me ask you a question: after you heard Louis CK’s rant, did you step away from your screens for even an hour? Or did you “like” it, forward it and then go right back to playing Candy Crush Saga? Or checking your emails? Or tweeting something about whatever exciting sandwich you ate today? And if you did, do you often take the advice of rich people who don’t have the same daily grind that you do? Sure, it’s nice to pull over and listen to a Bruce Springsteen song and have an emotional moment, especially when you don’t have a “9 to 5” you have to get to. But a lot of other people want to check the news and need to stay in touch with work. (Aaron thinks that LouisCK is as full of crap as I did last year. Great minds think alike and all that! Speaking of which, I need to return to that topic, now that I actually have a smartphone….)
:: Arthur Chu’s play does not bother me. (Me either. I don’t know what the big deal is. It boils down to “But that’s not how they’ve always played!”, plus, I think, a bit of the old “Oooooh, Chinese guy.” Ken Jennings did some of these things, but geez, look up “Nice white guy next door” in the dictionary, and it’s his picture you’ll find there.)
:: Hello? Anybody out there? It’s good to see you all again. It’s been far too long. You’re probably wondering just what the hell happened and where I’ve been, and why it’s taken so long to get this place back in business again. At least… I hope you’re invested enough to be curious about all that. (Jason Bennion is blogging again, huzzah!)
More next week!
Share This Post
Answers, the Second!
Time to answer some more of the questions from Ask Me Anything!, the February 2014 edition! These are from a couple of readers who wished to remain anonymous.
How much time do you spend out of doors in winter? Do you find that you get through winter better when you spend more time outside? What do you like to do outside?
Well…I suck at getting outside in the winter. I really need to, and yet every year, I don’t. Ugh. This is something that needs to change…next winter. (Too late this winter, I suppose.)
What would I like to do? Well, when I tried them in the past, I enjoyed both cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. I suppose I wouldn’t completely rule out downhill skiing, but I’ve never done that before, and in any event, I’d be limited by what I can spend on gear. I’m really not the type of person to have tons of gear around.
So, yeah: I need to get outside more in winter, and I have things I’d love to do. So what’s the holdup? Who knows. So I think that’s a good goal for next year: come up with something to do outside. For one thing, I can buy a pair of quilted overalls!
How often do you have to buy a new computer? Do you budget in advance for technology purchases by saving up for them?
For cheaper tech stuff — like my tablet — I buy that sort of thing when I have the money to buy it straight-up. Ditto the videogame systems: I find that if I know I’m going to want something, it doesn’t take too long to sock away the money to get it, especially since I’ve long been in the habit of saving a chunk of each paycheck.
Computers are more expensive, obviously, so those I tend to buy on payment plans, currently through Dell for the existing computers at Casa Jaquandor. This doesn’t tend to be terribly painful, as in a lot of cases I don’t need a new monitor or whatever. Frequency of purchase? Well, I tend to be really resistant to Ooooh shiny! as a factor, because there’s always a new batch of Ooooh shiny! to contend against. Today’s state-of-the-art machine is hopelessly outdated so quickly that trying to stay caught-up makes no sense. I know people who have literally owned every incarnation of iPhone, and I think, why?
I tend to treat computers as cars: I use them until it is simply no longer tenable to do so, when performance suffers to a high enough degree that there’s not really a choice anymore. The shortest period we’ve managed to get out of a computer is two years (a real lemon of an HP desktop we got four years or so ago); the longest is five, and we tend to get at least four. I got five years out of my first laptop, and in reality, it was still functional when I replaced it — in fact, I still have it, so I could probably still use it as a strictly writing machine. It was getting really slow for Web stuff, but running Open Office was just fine. It’s a Windows Vista machine, and in honesty, I might have kept it going even longer than I did but my hand was somewhat forced by the arrival of Windows 8. I knew that Windows 8 was likely to be problematic at first, and I didn’t want to jump on board the new OS so soon after release, so if I wanted a Windows 7 machine, it was then or never.
In terms of future computers, who knows…hopefully this machine lasts me until 2016 at least, and by then, who knows what will be out there. I love using a laptop this size, and I hope that the constantly-predicted “death of the PC!!!” doesn’t come to pass. But who knows? When I get my next tablet, probably next year I guess, I’ll likely get an eight-inch model (my current one is seven inches), and then maybe I get a USB keyboard to use with it, if there’s an OpenOffice app by then.
From a different reader:
Don’t you feel weird wearing overalls when they’re out of fashion?
Well, obviously I don’t! Fashion is a pretty dumb concept, really — just taking overalls as an example, they were common in the 1970s and the 1980s before they became really popular in the 1990s, and then they disappeared in the 2000s, a casualty of the sudden decision by the fashion world that clothes are supposed to cling and reveal. Baggy and big went out the window in a pretty big way.
But here’s the thing: I’ve never bought into the idea that something can “look good” one year and then “look bad” the next. I get that tastes change and we get tired of stuff, but the idea of clothes becoming laughable is downright silly to me. I have zero interest in adhering to what the “fashion” people tell me is OK to wear. And besides, the fashion people are telling me that overalls are fine now, anyway. So there’s that…but really, do you actually need societal permission to wear what you want, anyway? Sheesh!
Funny, though: I recently bought a bright yellow fleece pullover that I like a lot. My preferred winter attire is a nice warm fleece under a pair of overalls, topped with a scarf. Warm, but no pesky heavy coat to remove every time you go in our out. But then I realized that I can’t wear that particular yellow fleece under any of my pairs of blue overalls, because then I end up looking like a long-haired hippie version of one of these guys:
Hey, I love the Minions as much as the next person, but I’m not doing Minion cosplay.
A third reader:
How does a pie in the face not hurt??!!
Heh! Well, I suppose it could hurt, if you’re getting hit with a frozen pie that you didn’t thaw. Or maybe you didn’t close your eyes just before impact. Or maybe someone put some kind of caustic chemical in the whipped cream. Or maybe the person hitting you is a dumbass. Geez. You should never have to say “Ouch!” in the course of being pied.
Now, if you’re asking just why a standard-issue pie in the face doesn’t hurt, well, I don’t know. It’s probably something to do with physics and stuff, the force of the impact being absorbed by the cream and custard as it smooshes all over. I’m sure you could do all kinds of math and stuff, with coefficients of the viscosity of whipped cream and that sort of thing to figure it out.
More to come! And feel free to ask more questions, either here or on Facebook or Twitter or whatever. I’m always open to queries!
Share This Post
Sunday Burst of Weird and Awesome
Oddities and Awesome abound!
:: While I enjoy reading criticism, I don’t really take critics all that seriously, and here’s yet another example why. It’s always fun reading critics of the time trashing what would go on to prove iconic. I know that critics like to posit themselves as the educated arbiters of what’s good and what’s not, but ultimately, they’re just people paid to tell us their opinion of stuff.
:: A $60000 fountain pen? Check out the customer reviews.
More next week!
Share This Post
Symphony Saturday
After listening to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony last week, I figured it was time I listened to what is generally considered Schubert’s crowning orchestral masterpiece, his Symphony No. 9 in C Major. Or it’s his Symphony No. 7. Or it’s his Symphony No. 8. The numbering of Schubert’s works is always problematic, because of how relatively little is known of his life. But anyway, it’s a bit of a shock to go from the two movements of the Unfinished to this long, epic work. Schubert’s 9th, usually called simply “the Great”, runs nearly an hour, and it’s all orchestra — no chorus here as in Beethoven’s 9th.
Schubert, like Beethoven, straddled the boundary between the Classical and Romantic eras, and thus brought some of each sensibility to his work. Schubert’s works — at least, the ones that I’ve heard! — are pretty solidly Classical in their form, but the melodic subjects tend to be Romantic in feel, with long tunes and more chromaticism than you hear in Haydn or Mozart. This symphony is no exception: long tunes in long passages that occasionally seem almost “stuck”, before subtly moving on in such a way that you don’t even notice. Schubert can, at times, be almost hypnotic in the way he deploys dreamy melodies backed by ostinati.
Looking at background information on this work, again I’m struck by the fact that it was almost certainly not performed publicly until well after Schubert’s death. He is one of the great, canonical examples of a great artist who was completely ignored while he was alive. I hate those stories.
The next four installments of this series may be a bit on the personal side. Reason? We’re coming to the symphonies of Berlioz.