For those who haven't seen them Belated Media on Youtube has proposed alternate stories for Star Wars episodes 1 and 2 to make them good. The problem is that this alternate story line is hard to bring back to link into episode 4 which might explain why he hasn't done a "What if " for episode 3.
So since it is the holidays, I thought I would take a crack at rewriting all three.
The six films together tell the story of Anakin/Vader's fall from grace and eventual partial redemption. The original trilogy tells this story indirectly while other characters are the main focus of the story, whereas the newer trilogy tries to have Anakin as the main character but because his story is so slow there is not actually that much for him to do in each film so they were padded out with boring/confusing politics and excessive flashy combat. To fix this the main character for the new trilogy should be Obi-Wan and his journey from naive Padawan to wisened Master.
The overarching villain of the franchise is Palpatine/the Emperor as the Sith puppet-master but mainly focuses on his proteges (Vader, Maul, Dooku, Greivous, the Trade Federation etc..) who do most of the action on his behalf. The original trilogy had a single main enemy in Vader but the newer trilogy has a new bad-guy for each film since Palpatine is working in secret so we don't get invested in any particular enemy. Again to rectify this we can just keep Maul around to be the warrior bad-guy, and Dooku to be the evil-leader, and Palpatine as the master manipulator.
Episode I:
This film begins again with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on their way to mediate a trade dispute between the Trade Federation and
Once on Alderaan, Qui-Gon advises Obi-Wan to keep his lightsaber out of sight on the planet due to the strict prohibition of anyone but special police units carrying weapons. The Jedi have to push their way through a crowd of hungry protestors to enter the royal palace to meet Queen Amidala. She stand firm on the prohibition of weapons which has held since the end of the last civil war. As Qui-Gon explains Dooku's threat the protest outside the palace turns violent and Amidala accepts she must go to the capital to convince the Republic to step in to break the siege. The Jedi offer to take her since they already have permission from Dooku to enter and leave the Alderaan system, to seal the deal a security officer runs up to report the protesters have breached the royal hangar. However, as soon as they are out of the Alderaan atmosphere they find themselves being attacked by a single small fighter of unknown design, Qui-Gon remarks on the unusual skill of the fighter-pilot (foreshadowing that it was Darth Maul). They manage to escape the fighter but have sustained heavy damage requiring them to stop for repairs on Tatooine.
On Tatooine, Qui-Gon goes with Obi-Wan to find the appropriate parts they need, remarking on Obi-Wan's talent in finding things and mechanical talent, Amidala insists her maid Padme join them. Padme banters with Qui-Gon and explains that Tatooine has been overrun by refugees fleeing poverty and starvation from other Trade Federation blockades, as a result anything you can imagine can be bought, sold or gambled on Tatooine. Obi-Wan is drawn to merchant next to the pod-racing stadium where they find Anakin Skywalker arguing with his pod-racing sponsor and the shop owner, Watto, to enter him in the championship race despite his inexperience. When they finish Obi-Wan enquires after the parts they need checks they are in good working order. Meanwhile Qui-Gon is fascinated by Anakin having sensed how strong the force is with him, which explains his ability as a pod-racer pilot, and thinking he could be the Chosen One of prophecy. Qui-Gon uncovers the fact that Anakin is bound to Watto by debts he inherited after the mysterious death of his parents. Using the persuasive power of the force Qui-Gon convinces Watto give them the parts they need and release Anakin in exchange for all of the prize money if Anakin wins the championship pod-race. When Anakin wins the race, Qui-Gon is convinced he is the Chosen One and confides this to Obi-Wan. However, Anakin is reluctant to leave Tatooine, the only planet he has even known but warms to the idea after seeing the Jedi's ship and Qui-Gon promises to let Anakin fly her, he is fully convinced after becoming infatuated with Padme during dinner on the ship while she describes the beauty of Alderaan. At the same dinner, Obi-Wan voices concerns to Qui-Gon about the trickery his master used to secure Anakin's release and his disregard for the fact that Anakin is too old to be trained as a Jedi. Qui-Gon assures Obi-Wan that Anakin's original debt and the cost of the parts had been more than paid for by the winnings and it was Watto was using exploitative interest rates to force Anakin to keep racing for him, and assures Obi-Wan that the Jedi Council will make the final decision whether Anakin will be trained. Once again as they leave Tatooine they are pursued and attacked by the unknown fighter but with Anakin at the helm they escape unscathed after a few insane maneuvers. During the escape Anakin and Obi-Wan develop a mutual respect since Obi-Wan who helped build and repair the ship and Anakin who can fly the ship with such skill.
On Corusant, Amidala and Padme attend the Galactic Senate while Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Anakin go before the Jedi Council. The Jedi Council reluctantly agree to let Anakin be trained as a Jedi and admit him to the academy on Corusant. Once Anakin leaves to get settled in the academy, Jedi hatch a plan for Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to assassinate Dooku by blowing up his command ship from the inside to make it look like an accident since they aren't allowed to interfere. Meanwhile, Palpatine convinces the Senate that taking on the Trade Federation militarily is too risky and would be too expensive, but they agree to increase shipments of humanitarian supplies to Alderaan. To apologize to Amidala for undermining her argument, Palpatine offers to use his position as head of the Jedi oversight committee to ensure a Jedi escort for the supplies the Senate agreed to send while escorting her back to the ship. There they meet up with Anakin, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, where Anakin is saying his good-byes. Palpatine immediately senses that Anakin is very strong with the force and ingratiates himself by promising to look out for him while his friends are away.
On their way back to Alderaan, Amidala confesses that she intends to attack the Trade Federation to free her planet since the Senate will do nothing. The two Jedi reveal their secret mission to her as well and together they create plan to use the Alderaan attack as a distraction for the Jedi to infiltrate and destroy the command ship. Things go pretty much according the plan and the Jedi are able land in the command ship's fighter-bay during the chaos of the space battle, low and behold the mysterious fighter is also parked in the fighter-bay. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon make it to the engine room to find Darth Maul waiting for them. They fight while the space-battle rages on and the Alderaan's are slowly losing. Qui-Gon orders Obi-Wan, who is not as skilled with the lightsaber, to set the charge and get out-of there because they are running out of time, soon the Alderaan forces will be defeated so it will be too late. Obi-Wan sets the charge but Darth Maul is able to use the situation to kill Qui-Gon. Enraged by the death of his master Obi-Wan forces Darth Maul back and looks like he might win until Maul uses a clever faint to jump into a nearby pod and escapes. With Darth Maul gone, Obi-Wan rushes back to Qui-Gon who makes him promise to train Anakin before expiring. Footsteps and shouts are heard in the hall outside the engine room, so Obi-Wan sets timer on the bomb and makes his escape. The command ship explodes setting off a chain reaction with the rest of the fleet which has been damaged by the Alderaans. The film ends with the Alderaans celebrating victory, and Obi-Wan requesting permission from the Jedi Council to go after Darth Maul.
The End
Episode II
Episode III
