This past Wednesday, Marvel's What If...? series concluded its first season, and it was AWESOME! I really loved that series, and am super hype for a potential season 2. But it did get me thinking... how cool would it be to have little "what if" scenarios for Star Wars! These are just a few episode ideas that I thought might be pretty neat.
What if... Luke and Leia switched?
Yes, the good old classic "twin swap" alternate universe. To be fair, it's a super fun idea. We know from From a Certain Point of View that Yoda was much more eager to train Leia than Luke, and thought that she would become the Jedi the galaxy needed- he feared there was too much Anakin in Luke. He probably would have better gotten that opportunity had Leia started from the same path that Luke did. Either way, it would make for a very fun story!
What if... Ahsoka accepted the Jedi Council's offer?
One of Ahsoka's biggest decisions was her choice to leave the Jedi Order in "The Wrong Jedi." But what if she had taken another path, and accepted the Jedi Council's offer to bring her back into the order? How would her story have changed, and perhaps even the bigger question- would this have changed Anakin's story, and the whole galaxy's story? It's certainly an interesting thought, and something that might be fun to explore.
What if... Poe found Rey?
In The Force Awakens, after the crash of the TIE Fighter, Poe and Finn are separated. This is when Finn finds Rey, and they launch on their grand, life-changing adventure. But what if things had gone a little differently? What if Poe had been the one to find Rey first? How would these stories have changed? Would Finn have found his way to the Resistance? So many questions that arise from just one change in the story.
What if... Finn defeated Kylo Ren?
Another sequel trilogy question- what if Finn defeated Kylo? In their battle, Kylo is able to incapacitate Finn, which gives Rey the opportunity to fight him herself and call upon her newfound Force abilities. But what if instead, Finn had gained the upper hand on Kylo and used his own Force abilities? Would he have gone to train with Luke afterwards, or maybe even both him and Rey?
What if... Anakin killed Palpatine?
This is probably the biggest one. While of course many, many, many things lead to Anakin's fall, this here was the tipping point- when Anakin made the decision that really pushed him down the dark path. When given the choice between Mace and Palpatine, he chooses Palpatine... but what if he didn't? What if he had sided with Mace Windu and helped him kill the Sith lord? The whole galaxy would change, be vastly different from the stories as we know them- and it would be really, really interesting to see.
A What If...? style series for Star Wars would certainly be interesting (I mean, we do have the World Between Worlds now, so we can get funky with time and all that if we really want to), and I think would be loads of fun! I have a few more... not so happy ideas to share next week, so stay tuned for that!