User blog:Brandon Rhea/THE CHOSEN ONE: What's changed so far?

Those of you who read the first two drafts of Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One will remember how the novel began. I’ll give a brief rundown of those who don’t.

Attack of the Red Pen
In the midst of a legal dispute between the Trade Federation and a peaceful backwater world, a dispute that spiraled into a planetary blockade, two Jedi are dispatched by the Supreme Chancellor to resolve the dispute. The leaders of the Federation, being manipulated by a Sith Lord, attempt to kill the Jedi, forcing them to flee to the surface of the planet&mdash;just as the Federation invasion is beginning. The new goal of the Jedi is to find and rescue the planet’s queen. Along the way they encounter a Gungan by the name of Binks who takes them to his underwater city, where he was banished from, and they use the Force to get the Gungan leaders to help them out. Then, they make their way, Binks in tow, to the capital city and rescue the queen before escaping the planet and the blockade for safe harbor on Tatooine.

Sound familiar? That’s because it’s basically the first 25 minutes of . There are only a few differences, which Atarumaster88 described as taking a red pen to Episode I to make only a few corrections: the two Jedi are Obi-Wan Kenobi|Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jard Dooku instead of Obi-Wan and, the Sith Lord is Darth Maul instead of , the planet is called Utapau instead of (though everything else about the planet is the same), the Gungan is called Jar Binks and is not an idiot like , and the queen is named Sabé Arcadia and she is not the Chosen One’s future love interest. Other than those few minor details, the plot and pacing was exactly the same.

Not anymore!

A desert story
This novel is written from the perspective of Michael Lars, the man who will soon take the name Annikin Skywalker as he moves closer to the destiny it is foretold he will fulfill. While there are certainly scenes throughout the novel that Michael is not in, this story is told mostly from his point of view. Therefore, there are no longer any scenes set on that idyllic planet, now called Ondos. Why? Because Michael is not on Ondos, and there are ways of learning more about what is happening there from Michael’s perspective, rather than from four of five chapters of content that he is not involved with. The same goes for the rest of the Republic.

The Chosen One begins and ends in the desert. The story does not leave Tatooine until Michael leaves Tatooine. There are no space scenes until Michael is in space. Because of that, I break with typical Star Wars tradition and I do not open the story in space. The desert is the first thing you see. Tatooine is the only planet you will see. This is not a traditional Star Wars story. This is the story of how we get to the traditional Star Wars story with different planets and strange aliens and all the other wonders associated with Star Wars. It is a desert epic.

Solus described the first few chapters as ones where you don’t learn anything about the overall plot. That is true. These chapters are the Ordinary World, the first step of the Hero’s Journey. You learn about some of the characters, particularly Michael Lars, before the journey enters the Special World. This includes his dreams, his nightmares, and all the horrors of the planet he regretfully calls home.

More to come(?)
Interested in having more updates for The Chosen One before the release of the first four chapters? Let me know what you’re interested in hearing about in the comments below!

Brandon Rhea (talk)