Create Your Own Star Wars: What If? Season?

[Derek Metaltron]

Basically create a synopsis for a season like Marvel's What If consisting of nine to ten episodes with alternatives for the Star Wars Universe you'd most like to see! Here's mine...

Episode 1: What If... The Master Survived Instead of The Apprentice?

When Obi-Wan is separated by Maul from his Master Qui-Gon, his death leads to a different path for young Anakin as he grows into maturity.

Episode 2: What If... Rogue One Had Maintained A New Hope?

Captain Andor, K2-SO and Jyn Erso manage to escape the destruction of Scarif, only to find themselves enveloped in the destines of a Farm Boy, Smuggler and Princess.

Episode 3: What If... The Force Had Awakened in Finn Sooner?

Discovering his connection to the Force on Starkiller Base, a surprised Finn journeys with Rey to search for Luke Skywalker, putting him at odds with Kylo Ren.

Episode 4: What If... The Chosen One Still Knew His Future?

As the Son of Mortis unleashes his power in the galaxy, Anakin grapples with his destiny and the lure of the Dark Side alongside a troubled Obi-Wan and Ashoka.

Episode 5: What If... Han Solo Had Learned Order Instead Of Rebellion?

Forged into an exemplary Imperial Pilot, Commander Solo is attached to the rising ISB Agent Gideon, putting him into the crosshairs of both a former lover and the Mandalorians.

Episode 6: What If... Ben Solo Had Never Been Shown The Dark Side?

As the New Jedi Order prospers, Ben Solo faces his final test alongside Master Skywalker as an old evil rises alongside his granddaughter.

Episode 7: What If... Count Dooku Had Activated Order 66?

A simple decision sees Dooku and Ventress united against his old master instead of against each other, twisting the Clone Wars into a different outcome as the Skywalker family stands united.

Episode 8: What If... Luke Had Joined His Father?

Turned on Bespin by Lord Vader, Luke and his father prepare for a coop against the Emperor while his secret sister uncovers a new destiny.

Episode 9: What If... The Force Had Never Prospered?

In a galaxy bereft of Jedi or Sith, the war between Empire and Rebel still marches on as Emperor Tarkin and Grand Moff Thrawn seek the destruction of the Ghost and its crew.

Episode 10: What If... The Force United All Together?

As the shadow of Mortis threatens every universe, the Force calls a group of heroes from many worlds to oppose the power of the Dark Side.

Christmas Special (Hour Episode): What If... Fives Had Saved The Galaxy?

Fives is able to get the truth and intentions of Order 66 out to the public, forcing Palpatine into a new directive as the Jedi moves against him.

###

I tried to get a mix of eras and concepts, but I think these would all be interesting. I figured since Order 66 failing is so popular a concept it deserved its own special extended episode.

[godisawesome]

Nice idea! I might go a little crazy on some…

What If?… Maul slew Ben Kenobi?

Instead of Kenobi winning the single-stroke battle, Maul wins it, attacks the Lars Homestead to capture Luke, and raises him for a decade as his own twisted, bitter dark side weapon. Yoda senses it, and goes to Alderaan to train Leia, while Luke’s emergence with Maul as a rival to Palpatine and Vader ends with Vader discovering their relationship, with he and Luke trading kills of their masters. Leia, trained as a Jedi and accompanied by Yoda, leads the Rebellion against Vader, gets “I am your brother!” from Luke, but manages to win Luek back to the light, with Vader allowing himself to die after being rejected.

What If?… Jango Fett escaped Geonosis?

Jango’s jetpack kicks on just in time for him to lift off and escape Mace’s reach… only for Dooku to have seized Boba as an insurance policy against Jango giving away too much information. Jango then ends up being both Dooku/Palpatine’s main agent under duress, but also the main target of a Jedi manhunt headed by an increasingly bitter Anakin (since Jango was the one hired to try killing Padme.) The Clone Wars shifts entirely once Jango joins up with Maul in an attempt to free his son, accelerating the breakdown between Maul and Vizsla woth Jango becoming the reluctant head of the Death Watch after a duel, but his involvement also meaning the Separatists, Jedi and Republic get fully involved in the Mandalorian plot…

What If?… Luke was captured on the Death Star?

Luke gets blasted non-lethally by a savvy stormtrooper when freaking out at Obi-Wan’s death. Vader takes him prisoner, discovers who he is, but Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost manages to keep Luke from falling. Vader, meanwhile, is furious at Palpatine’s deception and standing on a Death Star, so with Tarkin orders the Death Star to Coruscant, leading to the capital being destroyed as Palpatine and his guards attack the Death Star, with Vader dying in a mutual kill with Palpatine. Leia manages to convince Han to rescue Luke thanks to Han’s guilty conscience, so it turns into a simultaneous attack run on the Death Star by all Galactic Forces that fear Tarkin too much to let him reign (so imagine Piett and some Grand Admirals backing up the Rebellion) while Han and Leia lead a rescue attempt that doubles as assassin of Tarkin… with Yoda arriving as a last minute reinforcement.

What If?… Vader won the Duel on Mustafar?

…This one’s just the ending from the old ROTS Video Game played through. Vader kills Palpatine, becomes the Emperor, and takes his place in the OT.

What If?… Rey were Luke’s Daughter?

This is a two-part season finale that also sort of breaks the rules, since we’re altering something huge before TFA, but letting TFA play out otherwise, save for the ending:

- Instead of being quiet at the end of TFA, Luke ends it by saying in a quiet, shocked and horrified tone of voice: “…Daughter?!?”

- Rey opens TLJ being shocked at the reveal, and when Luke haltingly and guiltily explains that he thought she and her mother had died years ago, Rey freaks out, her abandonment issues rising to the fore, and her sorrow, anger, and horror at being abandoned and being related to Kylo cries out across the universe… changing the rest of the movie from **** to gold!

Finn feels it and it keeps him motivated away from a stupid regressive plot that ignores his TFA character arc, so we skip the entire crappy plotline there and end up with him encouraging Poe to do something more productive than a lame-ass “Mutiny On The Bounty” plot, with them instead infiltrating the First Order’s Unknown Region bases, crossing the Knights of Ren, and discovering Finn’s Force power + discovering Rey’s mom, Mara Jade, who’s been captured and put in a coma.

Kylo, also alerted by Rey’s Force scream, throws a hissy fit at how having a cousin messes with his fragile insecurities, and actually trains under Snoke… but he and Rey *so* connect via Snoke teaching him how to reach out in an attempt to find this other Skywalker (because Palpatine is scared). This backfires, because Kylo attempts to mentally attack Rey, allowing her to again invade his mind, but also uncover how Snoke is manipulating him with visions, leading to Kylo turning his rage for the death of Han against Snoke.

Thus, while Finn begins the plotline for a Stormtrooper Rebellion, with the Space Chase being completely ignored (Thank God!), Rey has a rough training time with a more believably broken Luke, where in she has more empathetic reasons to be tempted to the dark side, as she agrees to help Kylo kill Snoke after separating from her father… while fully intending to kill Kylo after, like a normal person would instead of a piece of arm-candy for the villain. Snoke is killed aboard the Supremacy, but Rey’s attempt to backstab Kylo fails, as he defends himself by brutally beating her, goes darker, and she barely escape his mad, frothing-at-the-mouth rage when Luke projects to save her. Rey is reunited with Finn and her mother, but he can tell she’s much darker herself than before, making her feel even worse and putting a more believable romance between Rey and Finn in jeopardy…

…And we end with Kylo confronting Palpatine directly afterwards using his increased dark side powers, stopping a Force Lightning barrage in midair, and slaying the old man, being possessed by the Sith but now also a far more believable main villain.

- The TROS equivalent begins with Rey still tainted by the dark side and in denial of it, refusing to talk to her father’s Force Ghost, while Mara Jade kind of takes some of Leia’s place in the story for Rey, having her own complicated relationship with her daughter. Finn ends up Leia’s confidante, as she helps train him and gives him an understanding for how Kylo was brainwashed like he was, but isn’t strong enough to break from that and possession. Rey and Finn also have an unresolved romantic tension between them because of her darkness.

Kylo, meanwhile, is freakin’ nuts, and a terrifying “final boss” of the Saga, displaying his full Skywalker-level power, and specifically being treated as the “curse of Vader” given form, so there’s some symbolism to what Rey has to defeat without succumbing to herself. He uses those Death Star Destroyers to launch an assault upon the Galaxy that culminates in a duel between himself with his knights against Rey and Finn after Finn triggers a Stormtrooper Rebllion that gives the Galaxy the reinforcements it needs. Cue an epic duel where Finn manages to defeat some Knights of Ren, but gets smashed by Kylo, triggering Rey and Kylo’s final, mostly mental battle.

Rey successfully overcomes her issues, which allows Luke and Anakin’s Force Ghosts to join her in excoriating Palpatine’s spirit and healing Ben’s mind. Ben is horrified into near catatonic state… but when the ship explodes, he survives in marooned exile, Rey and Finn hook up to form the new Jedi, and people stop pretending that The Last Jedi was a healthy film for the series.

…Maybe I went a bit too far on that last one.

[ChrisIII]

Dark Horse actually did do a What if?-esque Star Wars series, the Infinities trilogy.

A New Hope was basically What if the Death Star destroyed the Yavin base?

ESB was What if Luke died on Hoth?

ROTJ was What if they seriously botched Han's rescue?

It even had some action figures.

Nothing for the prequels though (although the OT stuff did incorporate recent revelations from the prequels, such as Boba Fett being a clone, Vader slaughtering the sandpeople etc.)


You might have seen the "Vader the white" image around; that's where they came from.


One of the ideas for Battlefront III was going to be something like this as well, with Sith Obi-Wan, Luke, Mace etc and Jedi Vader. Concept art is around on several sites.


Seriously though this could be a cool idea, especially since they're willing to do some experimental animation with Star Wars (Visions)

My own twist to the TPM idea would be if Qui Gon and Obi-Wan both survived. Qui-Gon takes Anakin as his apprentice but Obi-Wan is still somewhat bitter about the whole thing, and could fall under Sidious's sway, taking a role similar to Dooku.

Also to the Vader wins Mustafar becomes Emperor thing-what if he managed to get off the planet with Padme alive and raise the twins? Padme of course wouldn't be happy but perhaps would work against her husband with the fledgling rebellion, and the twin's loyalties would be tested.

[Derek Metaltron]

Nice idea! I might go a little crazy on some…

What If?… Maul slew Ben Kenobi?

Instead of Kenobi winning the single-stroke battle, Maul wins it, attacks the Lars Homestead to capture Luke, and raises him for a decade as his own twisted, bitter dark side weapon. Yoda senses it, and goes to Alderaan to train Leia, while Luke’s emergence with Maul as a rival to Palpatine and Vader ends with Vader discovering their relationship, with he and Luke trading kills of their masters. Leia, trained as a Jedi and accompanied by Yoda, leads the Rebellion against Vader, gets “I am your brother!” from Luke, but manages to win Luek back to the light, with Vader allowing himself to die after being rejected.

What If?… Jango Fett escaped Geonosis?

Jango’s jetpack kicks on just in time for him to lift off and escape Mace’s reach… only for Dooku to have seized Boba as an insurance policy against Jango giving away too much information. Jango then ends up being both Dooku/Palpatine’s main agent under duress, but also the main target of a Jedi manhunt headed by an increasingly bitter Anakin (since Jango was the one hired to try killing Padme.) The Clone Wars shifts entirely once Jango joins up with Maul in an attempt to free his son, accelerating the breakdown between Maul and Vizsla woth Jango becoming the reluctant head of the Death Watch after a duel, but his involvement also meaning the Separatists, Jedi and Republic get fully involved in the Mandalorian plot…

What If?… Luke was captured on the Death Star?

Luke gets blasted non-lethally by a savvy stormtrooper when freaking out at Obi-Wan’s death. Vader takes him prisoner, discovers who he is, but Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost manages to keep Luke from falling. Vader, meanwhile, is furious at Palpatine’s deception and standing on a Death Star, so with Tarkin orders the Death Star to Coruscant, leading to the capital being destroyed as Palpatine and his guards attack the Death Star, with Vader dying in a mutual kill with Palpatine. Leia manages to convince Han to rescue Luke thanks to Han’s guilty conscience, so it turns into a simultaneous attack run on the Death Star by all Galactic Forces that fear Tarkin too much to let him reign (so imagine Piett and some Grand Admirals backing up the Rebellion) while Han and Leia lead a rescue attempt that doubles as assassin of Tarkin… with Yoda arriving as a last minute reinforcement.

What If?… Vader won the Duel on Mustafar?

…This one’s just the ending from the old ROTS Video Game played through. Vader kills Palpatine, becomes the Emperor, and takes his place in the OT.

What If?… Rey were Luke’s Daughter?

This is a two-part season finale that also sort of breaks the rules, since we’re altering something huge before TFA, but letting TFA play out otherwise, save for the ending:

- Instead of being quiet at the end of TFA, Luke ends it by saying in a quiet, shocked and horrified tone of voice: “…Daughter?!?”

- Rey opens TLJ being shocked at the reveal, and when Luke haltingly and guiltily explains that he thought she and her mother had died years ago, Rey freaks out, her abandonment issues rising to the fore, and her sorrow, anger, and horror at being abandoned and being related to Kylo cries out across the universe… changing the rest of the movie from **** to gold!

Finn feels it and it keeps him motivated away from a stupid regressive plot that ignores his TFA character arc, so we skip the entire crappy plotline there and end up with him encouraging Poe to do something more productive than a lame-ass “Mutiny On The Bounty” plot, with them instead infiltrating the First Order’s Unknown Region bases, crossing the Knights of Ren, and discovering Finn’s Force power + discovering Rey’s mom, Mara Jade, who’s been captured and put in a coma.

Kylo, also alerted by Rey’s Force scream, throws a hissy fit at how having a cousin messes with his fragile insecurities, and actually trains under Snoke… but he and Rey *so* connect via Snoke teaching him how to reach out in an attempt to find this other Skywalker (because Palpatine is scared). This backfires, because Kylo attempts to mentally attack Rey, allowing her to again invade his mind, but also uncover how Snoke is manipulating him with visions, leading to Kylo turning his rage for the death of Han against Snoke.

Thus, while Finn begins the plotline for a Stormtrooper Rebellion, with the Space Chase being completely ignored (Thank God!), Rey has a rough training time with a more believably broken Luke, where in she has more empathetic reasons to be tempted to the dark side, as she agrees to help Kylo kill Snoke after separating from her father… while fully intending to kill Kylo after, like a normal person would instead of a piece of arm-candy for the villain. Snoke is killed aboard the Supremacy, but Rey’s attempt to backstab Kylo fails, as he defends himself by brutally beating her, goes darker, and she barely escape his mad, frothing-at-the-mouth rage when Luke projects to save her. Rey is reunited with Finn and her mother, but he can tell she’s much darker herself than before, making her feel even worse and putting a more believable romance between Rey and Finn in jeopardy…

…And we end with Kylo confronting Palpatine directly afterwards using his increased dark side powers, stopping a Force Lightning barrage in midair, and slaying the old man, being possessed by the Sith but now also a far more believable main villain.

- The TROS equivalent begins with Rey still tainted by the dark side and in denial of it, refusing to talk to her father’s Force Ghost, while Mara Jade kind of takes some of Leia’s place in the story for Rey, having her own complicated relationship with her daughter. Finn ends up Leia’s confidante, as she helps train him and gives him an understanding for how Kylo was brainwashed like he was, but isn’t strong enough to break from that and possession. Rey and Finn also have an unresolved romantic tension between them because of her darkness.

Kylo, meanwhile, is freakin’ nuts, and a terrifying “final boss” of the Saga, displaying his full Skywalker-level power, and specifically being treated as the “curse of Vader” given form, so there’s some symbolism to what Rey has to defeat without succumbing to herself. He uses those Death Star Destroyers to launch an assault upon the Galaxy that culminates in a duel between himself with his knights against Rey and Finn after Finn triggers a Stormtrooper Rebllion that gives the Galaxy the reinforcements it needs. Cue an epic duel where Finn manages to defeat some Knights of Ren, but gets smashed by Kylo, triggering Rey and Kylo’s final, mostly mental battle.

Rey successfully overcomes her issues, which allows Luke and Anakin’s Force Ghosts to join her in excoriating Palpatine’s spirit and healing Ben’s mind. Ben is horrified into near catatonic state… but when the ship explodes, he survives in marooned exile, Rey and Finn hook up to form the new Jedi, and people stop pretending that The Last Jedi was a healthy film for the series.

…Maybe I went a bit too far on that last one.

These are all really interesting concepts! And don't worry about the Rey as Luke's Child one being weird, I suggested an episode where the Force and all the Jedi and Sith don't exist after all (whilst still suggesting the Empire would be a thing). I think the difficulty with Sequel era What Ifs is that Disney would probably take issue with any indication that story was better than what we got (or at least Kathleen anyway)...

[godisawesome]

These are all really interesting concepts! And don't worry about the Rey as Luke's Child one being weird, I suggested an episode where the Force and all the Jedi and Sith don't exist after all (whilst still suggesting the Empire would be a thing). I think the difficulty with Sequel era What Ifs is that Disney would probably take issue with any indication that story was better than what we got (or at least Kathleen anyway)...

I actually don’t think Kennedy herself is actually very sensitive about the ST (or, more accurately, what TLJ did to the ST.) The pivot she put the company on once Solo crashed into Filoni and Favreau shows her more formidable business instincts, and while I thinks he likely was initially thrilled with Johnson and TLJ, she strikes me as unsentimental and less likely to be in denial… which I think some of LFL’s staff may be in, judging from how guys like Pablo Hidalgo or Jason Fry (two dudes I otherwise respect) seem to get their hackles raised when people (like John Boyega, for instance) point out issues with TLJ.

I think of Kennedy smelled money in a What If? Star Wars series, she’d do it and embrace whatever ideas they threw out.

The Story Group members who showed they cared more about Ben Solo than Rey, Finn, Poe, Luke, or the rest of the story? They might have an issue…

[ChrisIII]

How about what if....Chancellor Valorum wasn't removed, or even if he was, the other two candidates won the Chancellorship? What would Palpatine do then?

[Derek Metaltron]

How about what if....Chancellor Valorum wasn't removed, or even if he was, the other two candidates won the Chancellorship? What would Palpatine do then?

I have often wondered what might have happened if Padme, Mon or Bail had ended up being Supreme Chancellor… but Palpatine would probably just arrange after a short period of time for an accident to happen to the new Chancellor.

[godisawesome]

How about what if....Chancellor Valorum wasn't removed, or even if he was, the other two candidates won the Chancellorship? What would Palpatine do then?

The boring response would be that it actually aligns Palpatine’s time table better, but by delaying them all a bit; that he simply has to maneuver to be Supreme Chancellor concurrent with the Clone Wars, but also doesn’t have to try and manipulate and emergency powers bill yet and worry about a term limit.

But the more interesting response would be a new Chancellor being worried about the return of the Sith, giving the Jedi a mandate to find Maul’s body and kickstarting a new conflict when Maul is found alive, but insane, before Palpatine can get in position.