I grew up watching the Star Wars prequel trilogy and love them to no end. But they are flawed films, so, like others before me, I’ve been working on my own fix. I’ve also become a little obsessed with creating a ‘no-spoiler’ version of the prequels. One that could be watched before the original trilogy without spoiling any of its twists.

This will be the final entry in this series, focusing on the battle that was set up in part 13. A full list of entries can be found here.

The Jedi Arena Battle

The previous entry in this series ended with the Jedi revealing themselves to the Geonosians and Mace Windu, after confronting Dooku on the balcony, jumping down into the arena to lead the Jedi against a host of Battle Droids. The resulting Jedi battle, like the previous monster fight, can play out in more or less the same way as the film.

The Jedi will charge at the Battle Droids, Obi-Wan will fight and kill the crab-monster, and a random Jedi will jump up onto the balcony and be shot down by Django Fett. Django will then jump down into the arena, kill the bull-monster and then himself get killed by Mace Windu. Meanwhile, Anakin and Padme will be using a Geonosian chariot to fight. Padme can still have her line about aggressive negotiations.

A quick point on lightsabers. During my version of the droid factory scene, I had Padme find Anakin’s lightsaber and give it to R2-D2 for safekeeping. That’s to set up Luke’s ploy in episode 6. It was tempting, on that basis, to include an episode style lightsaber launch, but I’ve decided not to. That should be saved for Luke.

Instead, Obi-Wan and Anakin will be given spare lightsabers, just as they are in the actual movie. R2, meanwhile, can do the C3PO repair sequence.

There is one addition that I want to make. During the fight, perhaps following Django’s death, a soldier should approach the balcony and inform the Confederate General that more Republic ships have been spotted entering orbit. The General, already uneasy about the Jedi arrival, will promptly leave for the command centre. This is to make the clone’s arrival a little less deus ex machina.

As in the film, the Jedi will be defeated and preparing for a fight to the death, when a squadron of clone gunships arrives to save them. The key change I’m making here is that Yoda won’t be involved. Again, I don’t want him to appear until episode 5. Instead, it will be the Republic Judicial Officer. The Jedi will fly away on the clone transports, and Boba will be seen holding Django’s helmet.

The Battle of Geonosis

I am going to make a few changes to the Battle of Geonosis.

There are a lot of cool shots in the film (the Clones and Droids fighting in a dust cloud is particularly good) and I want to keep as many as possible. But the battle’s narrative could be clearer and more character focused.

First, I want to have all the named characters on the same clone transport, instead of multiple transports like the film. This will allow Windu and the Judicial Officer to catch up the main trio on what’s been happening.

As they fly away from the arena, with Republic transports landing all around them, the Judicial Officer can shout over the engines that there was an emergency meeting of the senate and that the Chancellor has folded all assets into a new military, “We’re in the army now, master Jedi.” This should be very brief.

Mace Windu will order the transport to land at an assembly area, where he and the Judicial Officer can get off. Windu will be informed that an elite Clone unit is awaiting his command, and the Officer will be informed that “all forward positions are advancing.” Obi-Wan will stay on the transport, declaring that he needs to catch Dooku before he gets off-world.

Anakin and Padme will insist on helping Obi-Wan. He should initially be resistant to this (it’ll be dangerous). But they’ll insist, emphasising the mission’s importance. Obi-Wan, recognising that he needs all the help he can get, will reluctantly agree. The trio will leave on the transport as the Clone Army begins its attack.

Meanwhile, Dooku can be at the Geonosian command centre with the Separatist Council. He might comment, as in the film, about how quickly the Jedi formed an army. Another Separatist should insist that they get the new Battle Droids off planet (to fight the Republic galaxy-wide). Dooku can then message the Confederate General, ordering him to slow down the Republic forces whilst they evacuate the Droid Army.

For bonus points, Dooku can still check on a Death Star schematic produced by the Genosians. He might refer to it as the weapon, or something else mysterious. In a chronological viewing, this will hopefully seem intriguing. Dooku can then depart for his own ship.

The main trio’s transport should then be seen flying through the unfolding carnage of the battle. Anakin’s order to target a Confederate Ship’s fuel cells, from the film, can be included here. They can then receive a message from the Judicial Officer, informing them that they’ve located Dooku.

This can be followed by a scene of the Judicial Officer ordering the artillery to target the nearest Federation Star Ship. As in the film (minus Yoda), the falling ship will create a large dust storm. Queue the shot of Clones and Droids fighting in the dust.

Watching from the transports, Padme can comment in horror that this is what she was trying to prevent. Across the battlefield, the Confederate General will likewise be watching in horror, from his own transport. Only the General will get shot down.

Since a big part of this film involved the characters attempting to prevent an escalation of the conflict, the battle should be portrayed as a tragic horror. It shouldn’t just be two CGI armies fighting each other.

The Confederate General’s transport will crash into the field, and he’ll be killed. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, the Judicial Officer will be gunned down by Battle Droids whilst leading a squadron of Clones. I introduced these characters in my version of episode 1, so I’m hoping their deaths will add weight to the episode 2 battle. It will also explain why they’re not in the Clone Wars.

Dooku

As the dust clears, the main trio can intercept Dooku’s speeder on the way to his ship. As in the actual film, however, an explosion will cause Padme and a couple of Clones to fall out of the transport, landing safely in the sand dunes. Anakin will initially want to land and help them, and Obi-Wan will say no. This is a chance for another character moment.

Obi-Wan can shout that Padme is fine and that, as in the film, catching Dooku is too important to go back for her. He should add, though he didn’t want to admit it, that he can’t defeat Dooku alone. “I need your help, Anakin.” This is key to Obi-Wan’s character arc, about his stubborn overprotectiveness.

Meanwhile, Padme will instruct the Clones to get another transport and to call Mace Windu as well.

Anakin and Obi-Wan will confront Dooku in his ship hangar. Unlike the film, however, they’ll initially be working together. Anakin shouldn’t just charge in and try to fight him alone.

Nonetheless, it should be clear that Dooku outmatches them. He can kick Anakin aside and then swipe at Obi-Wan’s leg, cutting him and causing him to fall. Dooku should then raise his lightsaber to kill Obi-Wan, viewing it as revenge for Qui-Gon.

Anakin should jump in to save him. He’ll use the force to pull Obi-Wan to one side, grab his lightsaber and then, duel-wielding, fight Dooku solo. It should make for a fairly cool scene. But Dooku should still win. After a few moments of fighting, Anakin will lose his hand and be seconds from death.

In the actual film, Yoda enters the hangar and saves them from Dooku. This won’t happen in my version. Again, I want to save Yoda for the episode 5 reveal. Dooku might still reference that Yoda was his teacher, but there shouldn’t be any more than that. I also don’t want to feature any force lightning. That should be saved for episode 6.

Instead, Obi-Wan, seeing Anakin’s imminent death, should use the force to throw Dooku across the hangar. He’ll crash into a pillar, and it will take a moment to recover.

Epilogue

That pretty much brings us to the end of the film, but there is one more scene I want to add. As Republic medics begin carrying Obi-Wan and Anakin out of the hangar, they can have a brief heart-to-heart. It’s needed to conclude Obi-Wan’s character arc.

Padme can then arrive with Mace Windu and several dozen Clone troopers. Dooku will use the force to throw a ton of stuff at them, which Obi-Wan and Mace Windu will catch, and then escape whilst they’re distracted.

Anakin, now sedated, can joke that Obi-Wan shouldn’t blame himself for the fact that he lost a hand. Obi-Wan can respond by thanking Anakin for saving him from Dooku. He can reiterate that Anakin was right: he does need help sometimes. Anakin, in turn, can thank Obi-Wan for saving him.

At this point, they can be joined by Padme and R2-D2. Padme should return Anakin’s lightsaber, telling him that R2 was looking after it. He should be noticeably relieved about this. Padme and Anakin’s dynamic here should also cause Obi-Wan to raise an eyebrow, suspecting their romance. The scene can end with the trio speculating about where Dooku went.

The film’s closing montage can then play out in the same way as the actual film. Dooku will leave Geonosis and go to an abandoned factory on Coruscant, where he’ll inform Darth Sidious that the Republic has declared war. “Everything is going according to plan.”

Anakin and Padme can then get married at the lake house on Naboo. Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Bail Organa (in place of Yoda), meanwhile, will discuss the outbreak of the Clone Wars. The film will end with Chancellor Palpatine looking out over his newly formed army.

End of Part 14

And that wraps up episode 2. This series did become a lot longer than I intended, and there are a few elements I’m still not entirely happy with. Still, there were a lot of important narrative beats to work through. I’m reasonably happy with how it went.

There will probably be a short wait before I start on episode 3. I suspect that it will be more difficult to create a no-spoiler outline of that film, so I’m going to take my time with it. I want to make sure that it’s good.

See y’all then.

-Dexter