Luke would win, Palaptine would splat.

Luke is the clear overall winner, even though he rarely bothers to really use his powers. The fact of the matter is that Luke is pretty much a Sith Lord's worst nightmare. At the end of the day, Luke Skywalker doesn't lose.

IMO, read: Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole Wedge's Gamble by Michael A. Stackpole The Krytos Trap by Michael A. Stackpole The Bacta War by Michael A. Stackpole Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston Iron Fist by Aaron Allston Solo Command by Aaron Allston Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn The Last Command by Timothy Zahn Isard's Revenge by Michael A. Stackpole I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn Legecy (comic series) by Jon Ostrander and Jan Duursema. Really, any of the comics by Ostrander and Duursema. They have K'Kruhk, the somewhat unkillable Whiphid Jedi, and his really sweet hat.

Nah. My sneaky SI is straight, but he'd definitely /flirt with a guy to get what he wanted. He wouldn't do anything beyond flirting, but having grown up a slave and having grown into a manipulative bastard, he's got no problem with flirting with men. A similar thing would apply to a female smuggler for me - she'd be comfortable flirting with guys, but there's no way she'd take one home. My Imperial Agent will flirt with anything up to and including a Hutt. And if things go further, well, training taught my Agent to lie back and think of the Empire.

My favorite option along those lines comes from the Sith Warrior quest line, where you run into a pair of Jedi sent to stop you in Chapter I. The dialog for a Light Side Sith basically goes like this: Jedi A: Aha, you've fallen into our clever trap. Sith Warrior: So I have. Well, you're not the Jedi I've been looking for, so I'll be leaving now. Jedi B: Oh no you don't! We're Sith killing Jedi! We'll kill you too! Sith Warrior: O RLY? Jedi B: Yep. So, attack us! Sith Warrior: Nah. Jedi A: Uh oh. Jedi B: What are we waiting for? Jedi A: He's not attacking us. Sith Warrior: Nope. Not my style. I've got no reason to fight you chaps. Jedi B: You are Sith! Attack us so we can kill you! Sith Warrior: I'd really rather not. By the way, have you noticed that you're veering dangerously close to the Dark Side? Jedi A: He's right! We can't attack him offensively. That's not what being a Jedi is about. Jedi B: JEDI SMASH! Sith Warrior: Sigh. [Jedi B gets roflstomped] Sith Warrior: Well, that was unfortunate. Jedi A: Oh, bugger off.

My own personal pet peeve in the EU is that generally speaking OMG A THREAT TO THE REPUBLIC AND ALL OUR HEROES HAVE BUILT is present in virtually every novel. Really, I'm fine with the heroes not having to save the entire galaxy with every mission. Or even an entire planet. Also, cut the bugs and organic tech. Very few people want it in Star Wars. While I'm at it, in the current ongoing series, the method of electing a President seems to be to get really drunk and pick whoever would be the worst possible candidate for the job. The politics of the post-ROTJ expanded universe make my brain hurt. If real world politics were as dumb as the politics of the expanded universe, Osama Bin Laden would be Secretary-General of the United Nations. Muammar Gaddafi would have had the job previously.

I think that the PT era Jedi are actually the most pragmatic of Force-users in a way. Smart? Not so much. But pragmatic. The entire purpose of Jedi training in the PT era (and for that matter, in the TOR era) is to ensure that the person doesn't fall to the Dark Side. It's not about doing the right thing or saving the galaxy. It's about making sure that the person learning how to use the Force never opens him or herself up to potentially corrupting influences. Why is that pragmatic? Because if they can do that to everyone who is Force sensitive, they never have to deal with the whole "dark side" thing. A single powerful Dark Side user can cause great suffering for millions or billions or more. It's pragmatic to take steps to avoid that.

I mostly blame Troy Denning. He seems to be the constant in the worst parts of the EU since Del Ray took over. Jacen's end, IMO, should have been *** pwning Jaina and then turning off his lightsaber and walking away. The Fate of the Jedi series would have then had Jaina, Ben and Luke looking for Jacen. One of the first planets they reached would have had Vestara Khai, who would have been forced to come along to avoid getting killed by her own people. Luke would have tempted her to the Light Side. He would point out that he was able to effectively handle himself against an entire planet of Sith, and he's willing to teach her that power. Basically, a mirror to the Dark Side "Come to the Dark Side, if you want to help your friends" bait-and-switch line. The Abeloth plot line still exists; this time, Jacen is communicating with Jaina to provide indications of where Abeloth is going next. Jacen makes a few cameo appearances, not always in the flesh. The series wouldn't have any of the Coruscant idiot ball politics that the series currently has. No Leia, no Han, no random additional characters. They might make guest appearances, but no more. Just focus on the Jedi and their hunt for Jacen. Luke would initially keep the party to a minimum for fear of Jacen, reasoning that Jaina and Ben have less to fear from Jacen then the average Jedi. Later, fear of Abeloth would keep the group's numbers down. Tahiri might be recruited at some point. Vestara's relapse into the Dark Side would happen much earlier, around the midpoint of the series. Jacen would be a very morally ambiguous character throughout the series - for example, they'd find that on Nam Chorios Abeloth was draining the Tsil Crystals for power. By taking control of the Golan defense stations in orbit, Jacen was able to rain down orbital bombardment on the planet, effectively killing most life on the planet, severely weakening Abeloth, and preventing her from making further gains there. In the end, Jacen and Luke would work together to kill Abeloth, and then Jacen would wander off again into the unknown.

Fair enough. I still think that Yoda and Obi-Wan were at best going with the flow and keeping their heads down, but this does help explain why they took that approach. The question is how long they would have waited - Yoda seems to have died from natural causes, and Obi-Wan looked old for his age as well.

Obi-Wan as a Jedi was amazing. Obi-Wan as a teacher was a failure. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan absorbed all of the important lessons Qui-Gon taught. As a teacher, he held to the strict Jedi Code. Yoda was just as bad at it. I agree and believe that had Obi-Wan trained Anakin like Qui-Gon would have, Anakin's fall would be averted. The result would have been a conversation like this: Anakin: Master, I keep dreaming about my mother, in pain. Obi-Wan: Anakin, do you believe that this is a vision through the Force? Anakin: Yes, master. I'll try to focus on the mission though. Obi-Wan: Anakin, what does your heart tell you to do? Anakin: To go to her. Obi-Wan: It occurs to me that no one would think of looking for Senator Amidala on Tatooine. I'll ask that Master Windu take over the investigation into where the assassin came from. As for the expanded universe, quality varies greatly. I'm a fan of the Timothy Zahn novels, the Stockpole and Alliston novels are also usually worth reading. Any of the comics by Jon Ostrander are worth reading, especially his Legacy of the Jedi series with Jan Duursema. The expanded universe provides us with what I consider the optimal version of the Jedi Code ("Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force."), and I was surprised to find one of the better explanations for how Luke Skywalker sees the what it means to be a Jedi in one of the more recent novels: "to protect those who were victimized and could not defend themselves. To trust, to love, to be willing to give of oneself. To fight and risk one's life for those ideals" (Ascension, page 190).

In the Emperor wins, the Emperor will EAT THE GALAXY. As the Emperor failed to devour all life in the galaxy, the Emperor lost. Of course, that doesn't mean that the Empire lost. I think that the most likely explanations are one of three: A. The Sith Emperor dies, the Sith and the Empire defeat the Republic. Since the Sith lack the Emperor to keep them in check, and since there's no one else to fight, the galaxy descends into civil war. One faction is able to enlist the aid of the Jedi, and after some period of time (potentially decades, potentially centuries) the Jedi and their faction are able to finish retaking the galaxy and defeating the Sith. B. The Sith Emperor dies, the Sith and the Empire defeat the Republic. A schism develops among the Sith, with those who follow the Light Side on one side (including the Sith Warrior and the Sith Inquisitor?) and the traditional Sith on the other. The resulting schism leads to the Light Side Sith gaining the backing of the Imperial military, since they tend to be sensible types who are loyal to the Empire, and who don't particularly appreciate the power games and random executions that Dark Side Sith engage in. The Light Side Sith team up with the Jedi, defeat the Dark Side, and are eventually absorbed into the Jedi Order. The Imperials eventually allow for a democratic system, and the galaxy transitions back into being a Republic. C. The Republic wins.

How I would have written the prequels, starting with the Phantom Menace: Episode I opens with Naboo being threatened by the Mandalorians. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Senator Palpatine, to investigate. Since it's his homeworld (he was its king, but he abdicated to become a Senator, and was succeeded by his daughter Amidala), he ensures that there's no official record of his request. The Jedi are looking into the problem for him as a favor, as he's been one of the biggest supporters of Jedi in the Senate. The opening crawl covers most of that, pan down to the Jedi vessel running from the Mandalorian command ship. The Jedi ship is hit, and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon put on space suits and go outside just before its destroyed. They make their way into the hold of the Mandalorian ship through the fighter bay, and sneak up to the bridge. There, they see Darth Maul, giving orders. Realizing from the conversation they overhear that things are worse than they had imagined and that he's a Sith (the Darth part gives it away), they head for the shuttle bay, and sneak onto one of the invasion ships heading down to the planet's surface. They land, rescue Queen Amidala, and take off. Mandalorian fighters launch after them, and the ship takes damage; R2D2 makes stopgap repairs and the ship makes it to lightspeed. They're forced to go to Tatooine to make repairs. Qui-Gon and Amidala have some verbal sparring, with Amidala essentially saying that the Jedi need to impose order on the galaxy, and Qui-Gon saying that different people have the right to their own freedoms, and that there's too few Jedi to effectively police the galaxy. Amidala suggests that fear can keep the local systems in line, fear of their lightsabers. Qui-Gon demurs, saying that that's the philosophy of a Sith, not the Jedi. Obi-Wan tries to send a message to Coruscant, but the long range transmitter is one of the things blown out on the ship. They land on Tatooine and Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Artoo head out. Amidala follows them as the handmaiden Padme. While they're arguing about whether or not Padme should be allowed to come An explosion rattles the spaceport. The Mandos have followed them, and they just blew up the Queen's yacht. Mandolorian patrols are screaming by overhead. The heroes break into a house to get off the streets. The resident of the house pulls a blaster on them, and the Jedi are hard pressed to talk him down - mind tricks are not working. Still, he's attracted to Padme when he sees her (even pulls the "Are you an angel?" line - she rolls her eyes, he shrugs and says he's seen it work before). When he realizes that the Mandalorians are after them, Anakin says he'll help them - Mandalorians killed his mother. The Mandalorian general, Grievious (human at this point), arrives in Mos Espa. Maul tells them that the Jedi must be eliminated, that the galaxy cannot yet know that the Sith have returned. The Mandolorians start systematically destroying homes, with people inside. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon go to take the fight to the Mandalorians, while Anakin sneaks Padme out on his speeder bike. A chase scene occurs through Mos Espa and then Beggar's Canyon, with Anakin driving the bike and Padme on the back, shooting at the Mandalorians after them. Anakin manages to get her to his older sister's (Beru Lars, nee Skywalker) place, out on the edge of the Dune Sea. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon go out to face the Mandalorians, but there's a ton of them, and they make a strategic withdrawal. Qui-Gon trusts in the Force, leads them to a dead end; Obi-Wan complains, Artoo warbles a suggestion, and Qui-Gon uses his lightsaber to slash machinery in the dead end, releasing a ton of chemical smoke. The Mandos can't see through it, their suit sensors are scrambled, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escape in the confusion along with Artoo. Artoo figures out where Anakin and Padme are, they go out to meet them at the Lars homestead. Owen wants them all out of there. They sneak off to Mos Eisley, steal a Mandolorian ship, and head to Coruscant. Anakin comes with them, seeing it as a chance to get off that rock. Qui-Gon tests Anakin for the ability to use the Force (not a blood test, more like Qui-Gon putting a helmet and blast shield over Anakin like Obi-Wan later did to Luke and having him swat blaster bolts). Anakin passes with flying colors. Qui-Gon is privately amazed with Obi-Wan - normally, a raft of tests are necessary to check for Force sensitivity, and the blocking blaster bolts while blindfolded thing is usually something a Jedi is just learning in their fifth or sixth year as a Padawan - for Anakin to do it untrained is unprecedented). Arriving on Coruscant, Palpatine greets his daughter and thanks the Jedi for saving her. The Jedi go to the Temple, report that the Sith have returned. Qui-Gon also mentions Anakin, and suggests that he be trained. Yoda rejects it out of hand, as he's too old. Mace Windu is more open to the idea, saying that Jedi have been taken in at older ages in the past. Yoda rejects that, saying that Jedi trained as adults are at too high of a risk of turning to the Dark Side. The Council sides with Yoda. Palpatine notices Anakin is staying close to Padme, and she doesn't seem to mind much. He acts fatherly towards Anakin, and tells him he thinks that he has great potential. Anakin mentions that the Jedi tested him, and how, and Palpatine suggests that he'll have a word with the Jedi. The Galactic Senate meets. Padme speaks before the Senate, saying that whether the Republic wants to admit it or not, they're at war. The Supreme Chancellor maintains that things can still be resolved diplomatically, and the reports from the Jedi that the Mandalorians have allied with the Jedi's ancient enemy cannot be independently verified. Also, they're ridiculous - the Sith were wiped out over a thousand years ago. Palpatine vouches for the honor and integrity of the Jedi. Padme calls for a vote of no-confidence. The Supreme Chancellor falls, Palpatine is elected Supreme Chancellor. He authorized a military expedition to Naboo, but notes that the Republic has a very small military. Qui-Gon is chosen to lead the Republic armed response against the Mandalorians, and he takes five other Jedi Masters with him. Padme goes with them - she has a one sided argument with her father where she says its important that she go in person, that the troops will respect her for it. Anakin takes a hint from Qui-Gon, and tags along with the Queen. Arriving in Naboo, they intercept a transmission that suggests that General Grievious and Darth Maul are on the planet. Qui-Gon leaves Obi-Wan in charge of the fleet, and goes down to the planet with Padme and her best troops, along with the five other Jedi Masters from the Council. Their object is to get to the throne room, because from there they can prevent ships from taking off from Theed, and trap Grievious and Maul on the planet. They encounter Maul while storming the palace. Qui-Gon and the Jedi Masters surround him, Padme and her troops and Anakin keep going. Qui-Gon is cut off from the rest of the Jedi when Mando reinforcements show up; he drops back to handle them. Obi-Wan is in command above, and turns out to be pretty darn good at being a general, with his fleet fighting the Mandolarians to a standstill. Down below, Darth Maul starts cutting through Jedi Masters. Padme and Anakin and the troops make it to the throne room, where Grievious waits for them. A very small number of Mandolarians cut through the Republic commandos, though Padme accounts for one herself. At one point, a Mandolarian gets the drop on Padme, shoots away Anakin's blaster, and Anakin instinctively force-chokes him to death. Down to just Grievious, Anakin and Padme, Grievious uses a concussion grenade, and Anakin goes flying. Grievious picks up Padme by the hair, and announces that the new Supreme Chancellor will pay dearly to get her back. Up top, the Republic fleet is hard pressed. The Mandalorians have regrouped, and someone has assumed command in Darth Maul and General Grievious' absence. Down below, it's down to Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul. We also see Anakin getting up sneakily, and grabbing armor off of the guy he force-choked. The Mandalorian flagship goes up in flames, and Obi-Wan presses the advantage. Anakin walks up behind Grievious, wearing a Mando gauntlet. Grievious is giving his evil villain speech to Padme. Anakin shoots him in the back with a missile, and Grievious goes flying out the window, his jet-pack just accelerating him into the ground. Darth Maul does a "You can't defeat me," to Qui-Gon; Qui-Gon allows himself to stabbed in the chest so he can repay the favor to Maul. Both die. Obi-Wan senses his masters' death, and his jubilation at beating the Mandalorians fades. In the epilogue, we see that the Republic is now trying to gear up for war, but it just doesn't have troops to match the Mandalorians. Palpatine convinces the Jedi to train Anakin, Anakin thanks him for the offer and asks if there's anything he can do to thank him - Palpatine says to keep in touch. The Mandalorians back off, and a cease fire is declared. There's a moment where Padme looks about to kiss Anakin, but then doesn't. The Jedi wonder to what extent are the Sith behind the Mandalorian invasion. In a formal Jedi ceremony before the Order, Obi-Wan takes Anakin as his apprentice. Roll credits. It has the same structure as the original, but no Gungans, Anakin is significantly older and cooler, and you have Mandalorians rather than the Trade Federation. Padme is Palpatine's daughter, unaware that he's Sith, but with a lot of ideas that are distinctly Imperial. She believes very strongly in the rule of law, that fear can be used to keep people in line, etc. As for the reworked Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, I haven't figured them out yet.

I want to play as a Gungun Sith Inquisitor, with an Ewok companion that has a personality like Jaesa's. "Yousa be fallen' to da Dark Side now, okieday?" "YUBYUB!"

I'd love to see Vette, Risha, and Kira all meet up in a neutral bar.

In terms of raw strength and ability in the Force, Luke Skywalker is second to none, not even his father. Luke learned enough about the Force in what was at most a few weeks of training that he acquitted himself well on Bespin. He didn't win, didn't have any hope of winning, but he evaded Vader's attempt to carbon freeze him and he escaped in the end - how many other Jedi can make that claim? In the Expanded Universe, Luke basically says screw raw power, I'm going to trust the Force. He very deliberately keeps his power usage in check, instead relying on the Force for intuition and guidance. In the EU, Luke can and does go toe-to-toe with an Eldrich Abomination that was so unkillable and dangerous that an ancient race built a black hole cluster to imprison it. The only downside to Luke as a Jedi is that he's had at least four people he's taught turn to the Dark Side (out of several hundred); in two of the cases, it involved an ancient Sith Lord, in one it involved Luke thinking he could train someone who was mentally on the Dark Side when he started his training, and in one it involved a person being tortured, influenced by a Sith while being tortured, potentially being influenced by the Eldrich Abomination mentioned above, and seeing a vision of the future that indicated he needed to go Sith to save the galaxy. Also, I'm convinced that Luke is still alive as of the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. I figure that he figures that if you save the galaxy yourself, it'll be safe for a week. But if you help other people learn how to save the galaxy, they can keep saving the galaxy and you can keep enjoying retirement. Also, the man clearly enjoys trolling Cade.