Posted by There are many camps when it comes to the Star Wars franchise. There are those who only like the Original Trilogy. You find a few who hate the Prequels but love The Clone Wars series. There are even some out there that love the Prequels and hate the Original Trilogy (GASP!!). I am in the camp that likes the franchise as a whole. I will defend the Prequels when no one else will.
There is something about the two trilogies that bother me though. I can overlook the campiness of Jar Jar BInks or the fact that they tried to get scientific by explaining that the Force was controlled by midichlorians. But, there are inconsistencies between the prequels that I cannot get past.
NUMBER ONE
In the Prequels, we learn that R2-D2 and C-3PO were with Anakin and Padme during the fall of the republic and the rise of the Empire. R2-D2 even knew that Darth Vader was his original owner Anakin Skywalker. Why would Artoo not give Luke that information about his father? Why would he pretend not to know Yoda when they met on Dagobah? Why would he lie about being the property of Obiwan Kenobi?
R2-D2 had a lot of information that could have served his current owner and the rebellion. R2-D2 knew Luke and Leia were the offspring of Anakin. He was present during their birth. He knew that Obiwan Kenobi was not telling the truth on Tatoonie when he was telling Luke about his father.
When George Lucas created R2-D2, I don’t believe that he intended to have the droid owned by Anakin in the prequels. He did this to create some sort of bridge between the two trilogies causing a bunch of inconsistent flaws with character. I don’t believe that R2-D2 would have kept information away from Luke Skywalker about his heritage.
NUMBER TWO
This one is a minor inconstancy. The Phantom Menace takes place 32 years before the events of A New Hope. In that film Obiwan appears to be in his early twenties. Fast forward to Attack of the Clones which was 10 years after The Phantom Menance, Obiwan appears to be in his thirties now with beard. 3 years have passed by in movie time when we see Obiwan again in Revenge of the Sith which is about 19 years before A New Hope. He still appears to be in his thirties, might have just turned forty. I think you may see where I am going with this. What happened to make Obiwan age so rapidly in 19 years? He appears to be in his late sixties yearly seventies in that film.
It is even worse for Anakin. He is around ten in The Phantom Menance. 10 years later, he would be twenty in Attack of the Clone. Revenge of the Sith, which is 3 years later, 23 -24. Return of the Jedi takes place 4 years after A New Hope. That would be 23 years after Revenge of the Sith. That would make Anakin 47. Instead if you watch the Original Trilogy (before the special editions removed him) Anakin was clearly in his sixties as a Jedi spirit. Is this why they retconned Hayden Christensen as the Jedi spirit?
NUMBER THREE
Obiwan loves to lie. I mean seriously by the time A New Hope rolls around, you cannot trust anything that comes out of Obiwan’s mouth. These are some of the stories he told Luke in the Original Trilogy that we know did not happen the way he explained.
Obiwan tells Luke that Yoda was the Jedi Master that trained him. We know this to be wrong considering that his Master was Qui Gon Jinn and after his death, Yoda granted Obiwan the role of Jedi Master. Not any time that we know of, did Yoda train Obiwan. You may argue that Yoda trains the younglings, but just because he teaches a bunch of kids does not make him the Jedi that trained him.
Another story he told Luke was that his father wanted him to have his lightsaber when he was old enough. We know that the last time Obiwan and Anakin met, things did not end so well for Anakin. He was kind of hacked into a stump and was telling Obiwan he hated him blah blah blah. Obiwan picked up the saber and took it away. I don’t remember Anakin having this conversation with Obiwan.
One story involves Obiwan modifying the relationship of Anakin and Owen. He tells Luke that Owen did not agree with Anakin’s ideals and that he did not want him to get involved with the war. THESE TWO “BROTHERS” BARELY KNEW EACH OTHER. The only thing that I feel Owen knew of Anakin was that he massacred an entire village of Sand People to get his mother back.
NUMBER FOUR
Picture this, Luke and Leia in the Ewok village high up in the trees. It is a touching moment between two friends telling each other a little bit about their pasts. Luke asks Leia if she remembers her real mother to which she replied that she did, a little bit. Her mother dies when she was really young. Luke then asks her what she did remember about her to which Leia replied “Just Images really, feelings. She was very beautiful, kind, but sad. Why are you asking me this?” Luke states that he has no memory of his mother.
The problem here is Padme died right after Leia was born. There is no way that Leia could have known her mother or at least witnessed her being sad. Some people stated that she felt these things through the force but I don’t buy that. This is one of those mistakes that George Lucas did not think about when he was writing the Prequel Trilogy. Ugh.
WRAP-UP
These are the inconsistencies that bother me when watching these films together as a saga. There are things that the two trilogies line up on, but that will need to be a future article. Please feel free to comment below if you feel that I missed any, want to give your own theories or just want to leave a message. Thanks for reading!
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