#bend-ems

One of the more significant aspects of the attempt to tell One Continuous Story is that it is not being told in order. Indeed, the Darth Vader comic (to pick one example) explicitly explores a period of it’s protagonist’s life with the assumption that the audience knows the Skywalker lineage. It is hardly alone in doing this, as the prequel trilogy itself assumes the audience is aware of the events of the original trilogy. And yet the questions may be asked (so I can use this material I wrote for something else), should it? Should any installments of the story that come after those they chronologically precede assume the audience is familiar with them?

On the one hand, that reveal in The Empire Strikes Back is the defining moment of the original trilogy, completely subverting what the story has been about so far and thrusting it in a new direction. There is thus an argument to be made that it’s impact should be preserved for those who wish to watch the films in chronological order. On the other hand, it is also the most famous reveal in cinematic history, and it is reasonable to assume that the audience for any additional canon at the time of release will be familiar with the Skywalker lineage, and will be expecting to learn about it’s origins in the full knowledge of where it ends.

The story that can told depends greatly on this; if it is assumed that the films should be watched chronologically, then the prequels (and everything else) can’t give anything away, and must proceed with no regard for the known future. If it is assumed that the audience is familiar with the original trilogy, then there is no need to pretend otherwise and the potential for foreboding and foreshadowing that follows from such an assumption can be harnessed.

To assume the films will be watched chronologically assumes they will be watched as such well after they have have been released, which means they will be available on rewatchable media- that they would be watched on video (and yes it was VHS in 1999, I still have my Phantom Menace tape somewhere). But if that is the case then it must be acknowledged that the films will be watched repeatedly, and this assumes that the story is still effective even if the reveal is known. So if the prequels and other works are made to preserve the reveal, they could only be watched as such in a manner that assumes the effect of the reveal is not in the revealing.

It’s worth noting that there is some evidence that Star Wars keeps working even if you know that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. The franchise has endured long after other works that hinge on a twist have faded into obscurity (looking at you, collected works of M Night Shyamalan). Personally, I found out Luke’s paternity from the back of a bend-ems gift set:

And yet here I am still talking about Star Wars. Vader’s reveal of his true nature to Luke may not keep the audience returning but Luke’s screams of anguish does, as does his subsequent resolve to turn his father back to the light.