Star Wars speculation
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To many, some of the appeal of the popular Star Wars series lies in speculating about what new developments and surprises will occur in the next installments.
During the release of the original trilogy speculation centred on the character of Darth Vader and the cryptic reference to the Clone Wars.
Fans wondered as to how it was that the noble Anakin Skywalker (the father of the trilogy's hero) turned into the evil Darth Vader. A popular rumour, based on an early interview with George Lucas, was that Anakin was injured in a duel with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi after falling into a pit of lava. This was revealed to contain elements of truth in the film Revenge of the Sith (he had already become a Sith by that time).
Much speculation also occurred on the precise nature of the "Clone Wars" referenced by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original film. Many fans thought that perhaps the evil Emperor had raised an army of clones to kill the Jedi Knights. It was revealed in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, however, that in fact the Jedi fought alongside the clone army. The clones eventually turned on the Jedi in Episode III.
With the release of Episode III, the Star Wars saga appears to be coming to a close. Rumours of another trilogy of Episodes VII-IX persist, however. Speculation on the so-called 'sequel trilogy' has been occurring for decades, with many different theories about what the new story will consist of. It appears that George Lucas did at one time plan to create a sequel trilogy. For many years now, however, both Lucas and LucasFilm have insisted that there will be no further Star Wars films after Episode III.
Most fan speculation occurs on message boards and Usenet groups, though there are some websites that list speculations. Note that any reports of the plot outlines of the sequel trilogy is simply speculation.
Trends of fan speculation
In reviewing Star Wars speculation, one can see many trends:
- Most speculators seem to believe that Lucas believes that the Expanded Universe is canonical and that Lucas will take utmost care in ensuring continuity with it. Essentially, something contradicting the EU is hardly ever proposed by speculators, even though Lucas probably is unfamiliar with most of the EU and has disregarded it in the past.
- Speculators have a tendency to engage in what as known as "fan fiction" syndrome, where new characters and events are very similar or related to existing characters or events. One example is "Zorba the Hutt", the uncle of Jabba the Hutt.
- Speculators almost universally presume that every element of Star Wars was intentional. In other words, there can be no such thing as a plothole, rather it is something which simply awaits explanation.
External links
- Episode III (Spoilers allowed) forum at TheForce.net (http://boards.theforce.net/Episode_III_(Spoilers_Allowed)/b10331/)
- Forums at Episode-X (http://www.toochilled.com/episode-x/boards/)
- Episode III Plot Outline (http://www.nightly.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=70;t=000900)
- Episode III Spoilers site run by DarthPsychotic (http://www.millenniumfalcon.com)