Count Dooku on Naboo?
A new picture of the scene filmed in Seville

[September 14, 2000 - posted by Roderick]

Yesterday, George Lucas finished filming the short scene (about four minutes) on the Plaza de Espa?a in Seville.

The picture above illustrates the scene. According to the latest reports on The Force.net, Ahmed Best was there, as well as Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid. Natalie was wearing a lightblue dress, and short hair... It appears that the scene contains a dialogue between Amidala and Palpatine. Hard to see where this scene would fit in... although it's interesting that Christopher Lee (Count Dooku?) is there as well...

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Discussion Forums!

Roderick

A handmaiden ?
Thoughts about the latest Episode II Select picture

[September 13, 2000 - posted by Roderick]

Today I've got some various bits and pieces for you.

Some thoughts about the latest Episode II select picture. Some speculated that the person in the picture is 'Queen Jamilla' played by Ayesha Dharker. Personally, I don't think this is very likely. The girl doesn't look like Ayesha. My first thought was: that could be one of the handmaidens. After comparison with some of the photos of the cast on starwars.com, I think the girl in the picture looks like Rose Byrne (notice how the girl in the picture has a small birth mark on her neck, and Rose has a small birthmark under her right eye). The girl also looks a bit like Natalie Portman. Not surprisingly, since Rose is said to be a 'decoy' for Padme, similar to TPM. I might be wrong about this, but I just wanted to share my thoughts with you :)

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Discussion Forums!

Roderick

WHOOHOOO!!! WHAT A SCOOP!!
Now THIS is podracing!! :)

[September 4, 2000 - posted by Roderick]

I've just finished posting and updating the new list of domain names on The Force.net. WOW!! When I discovered the list of domains registered by John Koenig yesterday, I knew I was onto something BIG. This is definitely Episode II material. No red herrings here!!! I sent a note to the rest of the Force.net team, and when Josh Griffin saw the list in the morning he completely freaked out :). I had a great time writing the commentaries on each name together with Josh. I felt the same feverish enthusiasm I also felt in the first years of the Virtual Edition, for example when I discovered the Racing Pods on the blurry photo in the German film magazine...

Below I reprinted our comments on the new domain names [there are HUGE PILES of spoilers contained in them!], as well as my comments on the list that was discovered yesterday by T'bone. Did you EVER see so much plot information on one day? I still can hardly believe it!!!

• DEXTERJETTSTER.COM - Sounds like a new character, could partly be inspired by Jett, Lucas' son. Dexter appears to have a restaurant (see below)
• ELIANSLEAZEBAGGANO.COM - Hard to say what this seems to be. Could be a character name, or some type of important object in the movie. Elian "SleezBag" Baggano? Maybe this is a fun poke at Elian Gonzales. :)
• GREATCLONEWAR.COM - Here's what appears to be the official title for the Clone Wars we've heard so much about for so long. The Great Clone War ... now hopfully we'll actually get to see it.
• KAMINOAN.COM - Sounds like a type of person or people
• PK-4.COM - A droid, which was cut from the early drafts of Episode II, makes a new debut in the prequel-sequel?
• MUSEMAGAZINE.COM - This is an online music magazine for women. It appears that the domain is registered by a contributing writer to the site, John Koenig.
• KAMINOANS.COM - See above, most definitely a group of something or someone.
• TYPHO.COM - Could be a character name.
• LORDTYRANUS.COM - This is one of the coolest names in the list. It appears to be a major character in the movie, perhaps a title for an evil person, or even... Sidious' new Sith Apprentice!!!
• CLONETROOPERS.COM - What the evolution of the battledroid army will become. An army of clones? Most definitely.
• WATTAMBOR.COM - Sounds like a character name.
• BERUWHITESUN.NET - Again a variation on the Official Site's list of names registered, this must be Beru's maiden name before she marries.
• SUPERBATTLEDROID.COM - Another very cool name on the list; is it possible we'll be seeing a souped-up version of the battledroids from The Phantom Menace?
• TOONBUCKTOORA.COM - Another character name from an Episode II govenrment sequence, and as some of you know he was a Senator in TPM, according to the Visual Dictionary. Perhaps a reference to Buck Rogers as well.
• DEXTERJETTSTER.NET - A .net variation on the very first name on the list, which would lend us to believe that it does hold some importance.
• R4-D17.COM - A new droid which makes it's first appearance in Episode II, we assume.
• PONUDO.COM - Sounds like an alien name to us, though all of the names sound alien enough when we first hear them!
• RISEFORTH.NET - Sounds like a possible title, though it would be VERY EARLY for that to even have been talked about. Perhaps this is a key line of dialogue in the film.
• KITFISTO.COM - We've received emails suggesting that this could be related to TPM's Kitster. Your guess is as good as ours.
• DEXTERSDINER.NET - Dexter's Diner. This is most definitely a restaurant in the sequel. Isn't the American Graffiti Ep.2 select picture (Mel's Drive-in) hinting at this place?
• INTERGALACTICBANKCLAN.NET - Interesting to note that money must play a central role in the movie. Pay off the bounty hunters? Corrupt the senate futher?
• ACKLAY.COM - Could be a character of the same name as Admiral Ackbar, or another alien, etc.
• DARWAC.COM - Sounds like a character name, or perhaps a significant item or object.
• CLONETROOPER.COM - What will eventually become the stormtrooper army. The army of clones.
• RISEFORTH.COM - Another rise forth domain. What could the significance be?
• AMBUFETT.COM - WOW!! First Boba, then Jango, not Ambu? Fett must be some type of title, this could again be a relation or another officer in the military.
• MASSIFF.COM - Another character or loction name. "Massif" in french is used for a region with huge mountains (e.g. "Massif Central")
• DEXSDINER.NET - Dex's Dinner. Another reference and variation to the diner. Must be a significant place, similar to the cantina in A New Hope.
• GEONOSIAN.NET - A type or person or people.
• CLIEGGLARS.COM - Again a reference to the person many believe is Owen Lars father.
• RUWEE.COM - Sounds like Wookie. An alien or an alien race?
• RISEFORTH.ORG - Another Rise Forth domain? Why? The name of a city perhaps?
• SHMILARS.COM - This is a very cool one!! It confirms the recent theories about Shmi being married to Owen's father!! (Cliegg Lars?)
• TIPOCA.NET - Sounds Italian, but could be anything. A city, a planet, a character?
• CLIEGG.COM - Cliegg Lars, possibly Shmi's husband in Episode II
• NABERRIE.COM - from Padme Naberrie Amidala. Suggest we might see the Naberrie family, as earlier reports indicated.
• TECHNOUNION.COM - Techno Union - this might not be Episode II related, but who knows? It could be the Episode II equivalent of the Trade Federation...
• TAUNWE.COM - Lucasfilm registered Taunwe.net and .org. Could be a planet.
• KOUHUNS.COM - Sounds like some kind of alien race.
• DARKROMANCE.COM - Dark Romance? Hmmm... wait a second! What about: "Episode II: Dark Romance"? This will definitely be a central theme in the movie.
• GEONOSIAN.COM - another alien race?
• SIDO-DYAS.COM - definitely a bad guy. Sounds like... SIDIOUS!!! This is a confirmed character in Episode II.
• HERMIONEBAGWA.COM - Hermione is a character in the Harry Potter book series. Perhaps George is trying to send a positive nod to the Potter books by including this name in the next prequel! (Thanks to 'Suboken' for this one)
• COMMERCEGUILD.COM - "Commerce Guild" like "Intergalactic Bank Clan", "Techno Union" and "Trade Federation"?
• SUPERDROID.COM - this again jives with a rumor which said that we'd see a new type of battle droids! Could these "super droids" be improved versions of the TPM battledroids?
• QUEENJAMILLIA.COM - This is REALLY cool. We already discovered yesterday that Lucasfilm registered jamillia.com/.net. Now we discover that Jamillia is a Queen. Jives with the rumor about a "Regal Leader" played by Ayesha Dharker!!
• DEXSDINER.COM - Dex's Diner. We always like a good buffet.
• PADDYACCU.COM - Paddy Accu. Name of an Episode II character?
• LUMINARAUNDULI.COM - From senator Luminara Unduli registered by Lucasfilm
• UVGIZEN.COM - Uvgi Zen or Uv Gi Zen - could be a Jedi name or the name of a bounty hunter.
  
  
• JANGOFETT.ORG (thanks to 'Obi-man' for the alert) - The name Jango Fett has been circulating on the web for quite a while now, but this seems to be the first 'official' indication that there is another Fett besides Boba in Episode II!
• JAMILLIA.NET - this is a new name that has been registred on September 1 by Lucasfilm.
  
• JAMILLIA.ORG
• ASKAAK.COM - There's also a new domain name "SENATORASKAAK". Senator Askaak (or Aska Ak) should be an important fellow in Episode II to merit his own domain name like this! :)
• BERUWHITESUN.ORG - Whitesun? Could this be Beru's family name? Whitesun is a name that already appears in the first Star Wars drafts (you can find these drafts in our multimedia section).
  
• BERULARS.COM - Beru Lars - after she marries Owen.. I wonder if we'll see their marriage in Episode II or III.
  
• CLIEGGLARS.NET - Cliegg Lars. Very interesting. Could this be another member of the Lars family? Lars' brother perhaps? His father? (after all, Owen is still young in Episode II). Cliegg and Deak were Starkiller's sons in the first draft... interesting!
  
• DARKJEDI.COM - Dark Jedi? Cool!
  
• ELAINSLEAZEBAGGANO.COM - Elain Sleaze Bag Gano? What a name! Related to Gasgano perhaps?
  
• HOROXRYYDER.COM - this is not a new name. It's senator Horox Ryyder, a character from TPM
  
• ISHITIB.COM - not a new name either: Ishi Tib was one of Jabba the Hutt's subordinates.
  
• KIADIMUNDI.COM - this is just Ki Adi Mundi..
  
• KITFISTO.ORG and .NET - Kit Fisto? Sounds new to me..
  
• KYBERDART.COM - Kyber Dart? Kyber?? This is VERY exciting. Could this be an indication that the idea of the Kyber Chrystal from the first drafts of Star Wars has somehow been integrated in Episode II? The Kyber Chrystal in the first Star Wars drafts is a small diamond-like object that intensifies either side of the force. The Chrystal was also appearing in "Splinter Of the Mind's Eye"
  
• LAMASU.NET - Sounds like the name of a city or a planet. Lamasu appears to be the name of a town in Tibet. It's mentioned on this website, and also here. However, according to T'bone, a Lamasu is an Assyrian 'guardian figure'... interesting!
  
• MADAMEJOCASTANU.COM - Madame Jocasta Nu?. Jocasta is a the name of Oedipus' mother in Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex". We know how much Lucas likes to integrate classic mythology in Star Wars, so there might be some clues there!!
  
• MASAMEDDA.COM - Mas Amedda is actually from TPM (he's the blue alien next to Chancellor Valorum in the Galactic Senate).
  
• PADMEAMIDALA.COM and .ORG - Padme Amidala. It looks like the name "Padme" is here to stay..
  
• SAESEETIN.COM Sae See Tin - a TPM name as well. Sae See Tiin is a member of the Jedi Council (thanks to Kevin Balla for the info). The weird thing is: Sae See Tiin is spelled with two i's on the official website. Did Lucasfilm make a mistake?
  
• SENATORASKAAK.COM - Senator Askaak (or Aska-Ak?) - could be one of the Senators we'll see in Episode II.
  
• SENATORLUMINARAUNDULI.COM Senator Luminara Unduli - Another Episode II senator? I like the sound of that name :)
  
• SHAAKTI.COM, .ORG AND .NET - Shaakti is the name of a Goddess in Indian Religion, and possibly an Episode II character from now on as well.
  
• TAUNWE.NET and .ORG Taun We? Or just Taunwe? Could be a name or a city or even a planet...

Share your thoughts in the Discussion Forums!!

Roderick

PS: I don't understand there are still people that get upset when they see these new character names. They criticize George Lucas for coming up with 'lame' names. Some people apparently always have to be negative about something. Just remember that we're all used to Jar Jar, Naboo, Sio Bibble, Darth Sidious and Gungans now, but these names sounded just as strange at first hearing as Dexter Jetster, Darwac, Sido-Dyas, Darth Tyranus or Kaminoans sound now. These names will sound completely 'normal' to our ears in the future, trust me!

Jack Thompson = Cliegg Lars?
Confirmation of yesterday's theory!!

Wow. I didn't expect my theory about Shmi marrying Owen's father to be confirmed so quickly!

Dark Horizons reports that Jack Thompson revealed that he is heading for Tunisia and that he plays Anakin's stepfather!!

Owen's bitterness - additional thoughts

Yesterday I wondered how Anakin would react to the fact that his mother married Cliegg Lars and that he now had a stepbrother, Owen. I suggested that his reaction might not be too positive. However, Lee Brown from Newsdroid sent in some additional thoughts about that theory:

"The main problem with that theory is that, according to Ben, Owen seemed to share some affection for Anakin, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted Anakin to not follow Obi-wan on the damn fool idealistic crusade. Doesn't sound like a relationship that went bad. And why would Owen want to care for Anakin's kid if he and Anakin were enemies? It also seems clear that Owen knows Anakin became Vader. If Vader wanted revenge, he could have taken it a LONG time before ANH. I think that's just an unhappy coincidence - no witnesses. I don't think Vader purposely had Owen killed because of WHO he was, just what he saw.

Owen isn't bitter at Anakin, he's bitter at OBI-WAN - clearly blaming him for what happened to Anakin, and trying to prevent same from happening to Luke. If Owen is in fact Obi-Wan's brother, and various Lucasfilm sources suggest, then Owen might have some Force tendencies himself (the Force runs strong in HIS family, too) and that might be why he knew Anakin shouldn't go off on the "crusade," that he had Dark Side tendencies. The thing to remember is that it's Obi-Wan who's the target of Owen's bitterness, and that Owen tried to PROTECT Anakin, and later Anakin's son. "

Very good points! This reminds me of a very old rumor that said that Obi-Wan will have his own downfall-redemption itinerary (just like Anakin and many other Star Wars characters). According to that rumor, somewhere during Episode II and III, Obi-wan makes a mess out of things by making the wrong decisions. This could explain why we find him hidden in the desert, living like an outcast on Tatooine at the beginning of A New Hope. He redeems himself by his sacrifice to save Luke and the others...

But what about the ROTJ novelization?

But what about the novelisation of Return of the Jedi, in which Obi-Wan tells Luke "...So I took you to live with my brother Owen, on Tatooine..."?? One possibility is that George Lucas justed dropped that idea. After all, that part of the dialogue wasn't included in the final movie... Another explanation could be that Obi-Wan wasn't telling the complete truth to Luke in ROTJ (namely that Owen was not his brother but Anakin's stepbrother) because Luke still had to face Anakin. Knowing that Anakin had murdered his own (step)family would have made that confrontation much more painful for Luke, and perhaps even impossible.... or perhaps Obi-Wan had some other motives for not telling the truth. But I don't think it's likely that Obi-Wan will indeed be Owen's real brother. It would be really hard to explain why Obi-Wan doesn't seem to have been on Tatooine before in TPM. More importantly, it would be just too much of a coincidence if Shmi marries -without knowing- the father of the Jedi who trains her son! But then again, it all may have been "the will of the Force"...

At this point, all we can do is to speculate. Episode II will hopefully clear things up once and for all!

Share your thoughts in the Discussion Forums!

Roderick

Shmi married to Cliegg Lars?
The new domain names registered by Lucasfilm

[September 3, 2000 - posted by Roderick]

On the Force.net, I've just posted my comments on the new domain names registered by Lucasfilm. I would like to highlight one particular name to develop a little theory...

One of the registered names is "Cliegg Lars". We already know we're going to meet Owen Lars as a young man in Episode II. Could Cliegg be Owen's father? I wouldn't be suprised if we'd meet moisture farmer Cliegg Lars and his son Owen at the familiar Lars Homestead. We also know something else: Owen is said to be Anakin's step- or foster brother. This could mean, that Shmi has married Owen's father, Cliegg, between Episode I and II. Perhaps Cliegg met Shmi at some point, bought her freedom and married her. Since the actor who portrays Owen is older than Hayden Christensen, Cliegg probably already had a son. Perhaps Cliegg was a widower who needed someone to look after him and his son? Perhaps Shmi married him to take care of young Owen now that she couldn't take care of Anakin anymore?

IF this is true, and it is something to be considered, I wonder how Anakin will react to the fact that his mother is married and that he now has to share the love of his mother with a foster brother. It's possible that he won't react to this very well.. Perhaps Anakin will dislike Owen, seeing him as a 'rival'. It could explain Owen's anger and bitterness in A New Hope when he is confronted with painful memories about Anakin Skywalker. When you consider the fact that Anakin was the one behind the murder on Owen and Beru in "A New Hope", it's possible that his ultimate motive was to take revenge in some form. Revenge for having lost the love of his mother because of Owen?...

It would make the murder of Owen and Beru an even more dramatic and tragic event!

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Discussion Forums!

Roderick

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