Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One

"And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior..."

- Tagline

Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One is a novel written by author Brandon Rhea and edited by fellow author Victor Dorantes. The novel is the first episode of a re-imagining of Star Wars Saga known as Brandon Rhea’s Alternative Star Wars Saga. The novel deals with the emergence of an eighteen year old from named Annikin Skywalker as the possible prophetic Chosen One, as well as the start of the Clone War. The novel also serves as an introduction to a romantic relationship between Annikin and and Padmé Naberrie, a serving at the  on the metropolitan world of Coruscant.

Rhea devotes a great deal of the novel to the beginning of the end of the, as well as the mysteries surrounding a supposed clone army on the watery world of and the , who have not been heard from for centuries. The rest of the novel is devoted to the rise of Annikin Skywalker and his feelings surrounding the less-than-welcoming Jedi Order, as well as his feelings for Padmé Naberrie who also disagrees with some of the principles of the Jedi regarding love and attachment. Another major theme is deception, most notably with the ruthless slavers of the Trade Federation and Darth Maul as they plot against Utapauan Queen Sabé Arcadia in a massive blockade of Utapau.

The novel is followed by a sequel that is simply titled Star Wars: Episode II until the release of the full title. The novel is set to deal with the continuing adventures of Annikin Skywalker, Padmé Naberrie and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as other characters such as Yoda, Mace Windy and Malus Palpatine. Very little else is known about the story of the novel, though it will continue and end some major plots from The Chosen One and will begin other new plots. Episode II is due to be released in Summer 2008.

Preface

 * Before Romeo and Juliet
 * Before Tristan and Isolde

Just over one thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven years after the birth of one savior in Nazareth, one man took it upon himself to begin the story of another savior, Luke Skywalker. Twenty two years later, the story of the father, Anakin, another savior, was told. But like all historical events, the story of Anakin and Luke is subject to interpretation. That’s the interesting thing about stories. While one might believe they know everything there is to know about legends, other accounts might arise that tell a drastically different tale. This is one of those tales. Twenty-eight years after you first saw the warship fly over the desert wastes, you were told that the saga was complete. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The saga of the star wars is far from over.

Twelve years after the brief Stark Hyperspace War, turmoil engulfed the Galactic Republic. The outlawing of the slave trade in the outlying star systems was met with great dispute and hostility, particularly from capitalistic corporations such as the Trade Federation. Hoping to force the Galactic Senate to change their policy on slave labor, the ruthless Federation moved a large blockade of deadly battle cruiser to stop all shipping to the small, peaceful world of Utapau. But there was a more sinister plot at work, one that involved the takeover of the Galactic Republic itself. While the Galactic Senate endlessly debated the alarming chain of events, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum secretly dispatched two powerful members of the Jedi Order, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, in the hopes of settling the growing conflict as quickly and as peacefully as possible.

What he did not know was that sending the Jedi was just what his enemies wanted....

Table of Contents

 * Prologue - The Tragedy
 * Chapter One - Elusive Feelings
 * Chapter Two - Federation Hospitality
 * Chapter Three - Invasion
 * Chapter Four - Otoh Gunga
 * Chapter Five - Allusions
 * Chapter Six - Escape
 * Chapter Seven - Tatooine
 * Chapter Eight - Annikin
 * Chapter Nine - The Hermits
 * Chapter Ten - The Cloners
 * Chapter Eleven - The Ophuchi
 * Chapter Twelve - Prophecy
 * Chapter Thirteen - Bargain
 * Chapter Fourteen - Freedom
 * Chapter Fifteen - Tracking a Mandalorian
 * Chapter Sixteen - Coruscant
 * Chapter Seventeen - Anakin and Padme
 * Chapter Eighteen - Politics as Usual

Reviews

 * Not a bad start. Rather ambitious undertaking, though. - Solus, TheStarWarsRP.Com/Star Wars Fanon
 * Overall, I admit I am rather envious of this piece of work and your writing skill, to change the characters to what they should have been in the original works. - Xwing327, TheStarWarsRP.Com/Star Wars Fanon
 * I think it is very very good. You are very talented, my friend, very talented. - em.cecile, TheStarWarsRP.Com
 * Very intense beginning. Looking forward to more. - KELIA,
 * Wow, this is amazing. I agree, that was an intense beginning. I love it!...This is an incredible AU. - MarasFire,
 * Interesting, this I'd like to see more of. - The_Loyal_Imperial,
 * Very interesting beginning. This has the earmarks of a very well done alternate universe story, and I'm enjoying it immensely so far. Looking forward to more. - Jedi_Linewalker,
 * Wow! I have been blown away by the spectacularity of this fic! I'm so hooked. - JENNA,

Dramatis personae
In order of appearance:
 * Darth Plagueis
 * Darth Sidious
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Jard Dooku
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Finis Valorum
 * Nute Gunray
 * Rune Haako
 * Darth Maul
 * Sabé Arcadia
 * Veruna Arcadia
 * Malus Palpatine
 * Sio Bibble
 * Panaka
 * OOM-9
 * Jar Binks
 * Rugor Nass
 * Xendor
 * Darth Viea
 * Darth Invidius
 * Mace Windy
 * Ki-Adi Mundi
 * Yoda
 * Padmé Naberrie
 * Jonathan Bac
 * Ric Olié
 * R2-D2
 * Annikin Skywalker
 * Annikin Skywalker
 * Greedo
 * Owen Lars
 * Shmi Skywalker-Lars
 * Cliegg Lars
 * Beru Whitesun
 * C-3PO
 * Sarus
 * Lama Su
 * Sido-Dyas
 * Jango Fett
 * Shaman of the Whills
 * Bib Fortuna
 * Bib Fortuna
 * Bib Fortuna
 * Bib Fortuna
 * Bib Fortuna

Locations
In order of appearance:
 * Utapau
 * Theed
 * Theed


 * Coruscant
 * Jedi Temple
 * Great Jedi Pyramid


 * Tatooine
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary
 * Ophuchi Sanctuary



Organizations
In order of appearance:
 * Order of the Sith Lords
 * Witches of Dathomir
 * Trade Federation
 * Jedi Order
 * Third Sith Empire
 * Ophuchi Clan
 * Ophuchi Clan
 * Ophuchi Clan

Events
In order of appearance:
 * Invasion of Utapau
 * Stark Hyperspace War
 * Great Territorial War
 * Great Rim Lines War

Miscellaneous
In order of appearance:
 * Prophecy of the Chosen One
 * Prophecy of the Rana Hama

Cast
In order of appearance:
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi ....
 * Jard Dooku ....
 * Nute Gunray ....
 * Rune Haako ....
 * Darth Maul .... (Voiced by )
 * Sabé Arcadia .... Liv Tyler
 * Malus Palpatine ....
 * Sio Bibble ....
 * Panaka ....
 * Jar Binks .... Ray Fearon (voice)
 * Rugor Nass .... Unknown/not yet cast
 * Mace Windy ....
 * Ki-Adi Mundi ....
 * Yoda ....
 * Ric Olié ....
 * R2-D2 ....
 * Annikin Skywalker ....
 * Greedo .... Unknown/not yet cast
 * Owen Lars ....
 * Shmi Skywalker-Lars ....
 * Cliegg Lars ....
 * C-3PO ....
 * Sarus ....
 * Lama Su ....

Behind the scenes

 * Author Brandon Rhea never intended to begin the episodes of the Alternative Saga at Episode I. Instead, he planned on keeping George Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy intact and begin with an alternative Episode IV. However, after coming up with enough ideas for a new first trilogy, Rhea altered his plans and decided to create Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One.
 * The title, The Chosen One, was a title that Rhea had considered for some time, though he was never sure about it. In the beginning, he simply kept the name as Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, but after fleshing out a more detailed story for the Chosen One aspect he decided to name the novel as such.
 * The novel contains highly original elements, as well as elements of Lucas’ Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
 * The name Annikin Skywalker is based on the name, a name that appeared in the original drafts of Star Wars.
 * The idea of Jard Dooku being Obi-Wan Kenobi’s master came about after the creation of a crucial plot element for later on in the trilogy.
 * The first name of “Jard” for Jard Dooku was, coincidentally, actually created by SuperShadow.
 * The name of Sabé Arcadia was derived from three places; the name Sabé comes from the name of Amidala’s played by Keira Knightley in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Arcadia is derived from the name Joan of Arc, as well as the television show titled Joan of Arcadia which was also named after the legendary medieval warrior.
 * Jar Binks is a more serious and less comical version of.
 * The inclusion of Greedo was an homage to a deleted scene in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and the infamous cantina scene in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
 * The scene between Annikin Skywalker and Greedo was never planned and it did not come about until Rhea found an article on Wookieepedia about . The article includes Huttese phrases that have been found in canon, so the author took some of the phrases that he best felt would fit in a situation on Tatooine and created dialogue for Annakin to go with them, thereby creating the tense confrontation between the two characters.
 * Annikin wishing that “some disgruntled person decided to shoot” Greedo is a reference to shooting  in the infamous cantina scene in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
 * When Arcadia tells Annikin that she does not know how she will pay him to repair the hyperdrive, Annikin says that he is not looking for money. This is a reference to Shmi Skywalker's statement about the original Anakin Skywalker knowing nothing of greed in The Phantom Menace.
 * The change in Owen Lars' attitude was a major one between The Chosen One and Lucas' Attack of the Clones. In The Chosen One, Owen is not fond of outsiders and has many issues with Annikin, unlike Attack of the Clones where he was portrayed as the welcoming step-brother.
 * The scene where Arcadia tells Cliegg Lars that her father taught her to be self-sufficient was not originally planned. However, Rhea added it in as he felt that it would help add depth to the character rather than making her just a monarch who has never set outside the palace walls.
 * The scene where Annikin and Obi-Wan discuss Jedi philosophy was created due to Rhea's personal disliking of the fact that very little Jedi philosophy was talked about in Lucas' prequels.
 * The Ophuchi hermits were greatly influenced by the Freman hermits of Frank Herbert's Dune. Furthermore, the character of Sarus was influenced by the character of Stilgar, one of the Freman leaders in the Dune series.
 * The Kaminoans having a religion that they interpret as allowing them to clone sentient life was not originally intended. It was developed later after Rhea came up with the idea of showing a religion whose moral viewpoints were opposite of the viewpoints of the Jedi and the religions of Earth.
 * The name Sido-Dyas was the original name for.
 * The name "Ophuchi" comes from the very first line George Lucas ever wrote for Star Wars. In his first writings, he said that "This is the story of Mace Windy, a revered Jedi Bendu of Ophuchi, as related to us by C.J. Thorpe, padawaan learner to the famed Jedi."
 * The term "Shaman of the Whills" comes from a deleted scene between Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Parts of the Prophecy of the Chosen One were based on a fan fiction titled The Republic Falls by Stephen R. Burrows at STARKILLER: The Jedi Bendu Script Site.
 * The basic idea of the Whills came from a fan fiction titled Journal of the Whills: Episode I - The Preservers written by Brendon J. Wahlberg, though the actual fleshing out of the idea to turn it into a 100,000 year epic came from Rhea.
 * "Optivum Servator", "Argus" and "Rana Hama" were all based on Latin terms for "Chosen One", "Guardian" and "Frog Man", respectively.
 * first name is established as "Alsius". Rhea used the same Latin word as the first name of the Jedi General because it means "cold, frigid", reflecting the fact that Hoth is also an extremely cold and frigid world.
 * It is never directly stated that Jar Binks is the Rana Hama, nor will it be. It is solely based on interpretation.

Disclaimer
This novel is the first chapter of a re-imagining of  and should be viewed as such. While many of the characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jard Dooku, Annikin Skywalker and Mace Windy are present, albeit some with altered names, it should not be assumed that they will be taking part in the same events that they did in Lucas'  or his. Many of these characters will be drastically different and readers should approach the novel with an open mind and a metaphorical clean slate.

The novel also contains elements that could seem disturbing or inappropriate to some younger readers. Like any mature science fiction novel, this novel contains sci-fi action and violence which is sometimes more graphic than the traditional Star Wars story. If such things offend you, it is suggested that you do not read the novel if you do not want to. However, it is strongly recommended that you keep an open mind and read and review the novel for what it is rather than what you believe it should be.

In no way is it suggested that this novel is endorsed or licensed by George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd., or any of its subsidiaries. The author has also maintained that he will not change the plot or do anything else to alter the work, including adding homages to users of Star Wars Fanon and TheStarWarsRP.Com, if they are suggested and he does not agree with the suggestion. The only time he will change anything in the novel is if he agrees with it or it is officially requested or demanded by George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd., or any of its subsidiaries. However, if a suggestion by a reader makes sense and has the ability to enhance the story rather than change it then it will be given the consideration that it deserves.