Going from the original movies we can see that Star Wars is an 'analogue tech' science fiction genre, as steam punk is a 19th century tech based genre. The original film also reflects the dirty realist cinema of 1970s film making, but with an idealistic/noble core.
From a continuity perspective, in terms of style and storytelling, the only films that mesh together are:
A NEW HOPE
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
RETURN OF THE JEDI
THE BOBA FETT CARTOON (from the substandard Star Wars Holiday Special)
EVERYTHING else does not make the grade.
Lucasfilm needs to disavow all films that follow Return of the Jedi which was the grand finale where the Galactic Republic is restored. They will need to reimagine all the prequel movies so they follow the material developed in the original films.
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The prequel films should be named:
THE CLONE WARS
REVENGE OF THE SITH
RISE OF THE EMPIRE
Which would then be followed by the classics:
A NEW HOPE
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
RETURN OF THE JEDI
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While the existing Clone Wars cartoon show is a good series it suffers in terms of continuity, just like the live action prequel films, and cannot be considered canon any longer.
While there are only three prequel films envisioned here, there could easily be a Star Wars prologue film called THE PHANTOM MENACE that does not involve Anakin Skywalker - who only meets Obi Wan as a young adult (as implied by the dialog in the earlier films) during the Clone Wars.
REFLECTING BACK
Reflecting upon the original scripts and genuinely displayed character emotions we can draw a number of conclusions when it comes to creating new prequel films:
1. Obi Wan and Anakin meet during the Clone Wars, where Anakin is a pilot.
2. Obi Wan encouraged Anakin to join him over the misgivings of Owen Lars, who was a conservative kind of person within his group of friends. While they lived on Tatooine as new arrivals, Lars didn't at that time own a farm. Owen only moved after the Clone Wars with Beru Whitesun (Lars). They later took on Luke after Obi Wan informed them of Anakin's death. They know nothing of Leia.
3. The Jedi order is a secretive cloak and dagger organisation that uses their psychic abilities to stop trouble before it gets out of hand (until Palpatine clouds his scheming using force powers). Typically Jedi adherents are not recognised for what they really are, due to this secrecy, and are seen as religious followers, where few people know of, or have seen, any of their exploits (which is what makes them so effective in protecting the Republic).
4. Yoda does not use a Lightsabre. He does not fight but uses the Force to protect himself.
5. Yoda (especially) and Obi Wan are afraid of Palpatine who has the ability to cloak his presence, and teaches Darth Vader to do the same. The Sith reveal themselves to be powerful and thoroughly wicked foes.
6. When facing impossible odds the Jedi sense steers them out of danger. Against non-Force users or droids Jedi Masters can immobilise their opponents without resorting to combat. Usually the Jedi work incognito and strike at the root of problems like unseating corrupt dictators or pirates that seek to accumulate power.
7. R2D2 and C3PO do not feature in these films (but those while looking droids and older looking tech ones do).
8. Palpatine is a sadistic master, putting his student through pain and encouraging cruelty over others in order that they do not show sympathy, which is seen as weakness in maintaining order. Further more Palpatine encourages cruelty as a means to revel in their own power over others who are their enemies, and as a stark warning to anyone that would show resistance.
9. Anakin turns to the Dark Side after witnessing the Jedi continually fail to stop the Separatist Clone Armies, through failed peace attempts and seeing the destruction of worlds because of this. When things go bad the Republic leaders lack the resolve to put down the Separatists, which is what allows Senator Palpatine to take control of the Senate.
10. There are no Imperial Storm Troopers until Rise of the Empire. They are introduced to take out the Clone Armies once Palpatine declares there will be a Galactic Empire. Before this time there are Republic Troopers and Guards, that wear (light coloured) uniforms and helmets similar to what was seen on board the Corvette in A New Hope. The Clone Army look is yet to be determined.
11. Anakin loses his limbs in various cloak and dagger fights and ambushes against other Jedi, eventually losing big time against Obi Wan who cuts him through the chest. Obi Wan tracks down the few Sith Lords helping the Emperor to eliminate the Jedi Order, but almost dies in a trap laid out by the Emperor, that kills the last remaining Jedi, upon which time Yoda declares, that they will cannot win, and thus go into hiding.
We can also include a few other points that help to explain the universe.
1. There are no Droid Armies because, either in the prologue movie (The Phantom Menace) or at the beginning of the Clone Wars, we see a Jedi (in disguise as an 'enemy' commander) order such forces to stand down, and they all obey, not being able to think for themselves, or second guess orders very well.
2. The Emperor's policy is that there is nothing to fear for any Star Systems that bend to the Imperial will. The Galactic Imperial system, like the Republic, is set up so that everyone takes responsibility for their own actions.
READERS NOTE: This post and Webpage is UNDERCONSTRUCTION with revisions and further content to be added over the next few months.
The Republic would then be protected by a new Jedi order, thanks to Luke Skywalker, who will face no fundamentally ruinous disruptions by Palpatine who was eliminated. It was Palpatine, through his use of The Force, that foiled the Jedi's psychic abilities, being the one behind the Republic's downfall. For thousands of years the Jedi acted as the guardians of the Old Republc because they could discover and stop plots
