My sourness is based on the completely unnecessary Phantom Menace. So much of that could've been excised entirely and the rest put on as introduction to Ep. II and we could've gotten a Clone Wars flick. In that case, at least, the pretty graphics would be expected to take center stage.

Lucas has lost his damn mind. He wants to make a series because he sees a way to broaden his base, but he no longer has any respect for the cohesiveness of his creation, so anything his does from this point on is weird, tangential tripe. Still, Tim could save it easily. That's how much respect I have for the man.

I'm curious what you meant when you said "they don't hold to their own internal logic" because I've heard many things said about them but I've never heard that before. I'll admit I like the prequels (I hope people don't dismiss my taste because of that). I think Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee have put in great performances and I'd argue that Hayden Christenson (I know some love to bag on him for his performance) did a fantastic job in Clones. I liked Jar Jar Binks and I don't think The Phatom Menace was a waste.

Well Tim did say Jar-Jar was his bitch.

ETA: Or was it the other way around?

Well, for instance, midichlorians are inborn, but the Jedi are a celibate order. No wonder there are so few of them.

"Well, for instance, midichlorians are inborn, but the Jedi are a celibate order. No wonder there are so few of them."

Yes, midichlorians can be passed on through the generations but that's not the only way obviously. Regular parents can have kids that are strong in the Force as well, and when that occurs the Jedi take them at a young age and train them. It's like in the real world, two highly intelligent parents can give birth to a highly intelligent kid but two parents of average intelligence can also give birth to a highly intelligent kid. Also, I'd like to point out, I don't think we as the audience are meant to agree with how the Jedi operate. Their overconfidence and tradition proved to be their downfall. I think a key difference between the prequels and originals is family. The Jedi want their followers to sever all ties to the world because they believe that makes them stronger but what George Lucas will show in Episode III is that policy simply doesn't work. Family and friends is what helped Luke succeed where Anakin failed.

Regular parents can have kids that are strong in the Force as well, and when that occurs the Jedi take them and train them.

Right. So they're systematically removing kids with midicholirans from the breeding population.

Imagine if all college graduates were joining the Catholic priesthood.

How about Tim?

I read Herc's suggestion of either Tim or Jane.

I felt immediately protective of both and put an Anti-Lucas voodoo perimeter around their homes.

So what about Phantom Menace and Clones contradicts the original trilogy?

I mean, there's some dumb shit like how Obi Wan supposedly squirreled away Luke to Tatoine (and then hid there himself) because Tatoine was so far away from civilized space. But then it turns out that Vader grew up on Tatoine, and in fact knows Luke's adoptive parents. And you'd think that when Vader ran into C3-PO at Lando's place, he'd at least go, "Hey threepio, how's it going?" considering that be built the fucker.

So there's stuff that now makes little sense... anything else? What is directly contradicted by Phantom Menace and Clones?

Amidala is Queen, but it's an elective office?

What kind of nutso planet elects a teenager to wield supreme executive power? And why would you use the title and costume of inherited nobility for an elective office?