Phantom Menace questions

[Mr. Laser Beam]

When Jar-Jar is explaining to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan why he was banished, what is he talking about? I can't make out a damn bit of what he's saying. Even for Jar-Jar, it's gibberish! Can somebody translate?

And it really sucks that Ahmed Best got death threats for voicing Jar-Jar. As goofy as the character was...nobody deserves that.

 

[fireproof78]

The one I recall distinctly is that he crashed the bosses' favorite submarine.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

One other thing: During the pod race, the announcer's red head (Greg Proops) speaks English, and the other one (green) speaks Huttese. They're not just translating for each other, are they?

 

[fireproof78]

One other thing: During the pod race, the announcer's red head (Greg Proops) speaks English, and the other one (green) speaks Huttese. They're not just translating for each other, are they?

It sound liked a translation.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't think so.

I went over it again, and at one point the green head says something in Huttese and the red one says "That's right!" So it would seem that they're not saying the same things.

And, God love 'em, Qui-Gon and Shmi are seriously into each other, aren't they?

 

[fireproof78]

I don't think so.

I went over it again, and at one point the green head says something in Huttese and the red one says "That's right!" So it would seem that they're not saying the same things.

And, God love 'em, Qui-Gon and Shmi are seriously into each other, aren't they?

It's been a while since I watched it so I was going off memory. I think there are some points that feel more like translation ("They're neck and neck") but others are, as you note, more responsive.

 

[Ithekro]

Considering Basic and Huttese are fairly common languages, especially out in the Rim and near Hutt space, I don't know if they are translating for each other, or if they are just the color commentators that are just doing their thing. Qui-Gon did say the planet was controlled by the Hutts.

I mean, when Luke's at Jabba's place, he didn't need 3PO to translate what Jabba was saying. Luke grew up on Tatooine, Huttese might be a second language for him, just like it was for Anakin. I image he can converse with Jawas easily as well.

Qui-Gon is a different sort of Jedi that most. I don't know if he was into Shmi, or if he's a natural flirt (I mean Obi-wan had to pick it up from someplace, since he encountered Dutchess Satine while still a padawan under Qui-Gon Jinn. Shmi might have been into Qui-Gon as seeing him as a good father figure for Anakin. Qui-Gon did attempt to have Shmi freed as well, but that didn't work. I wonder if Qui-Gon would have gone back for her, or kept to the Jedi traditions of no attachment's when it came to Anakin. On the other hand, Shmi was freed and married later. She just going a bad deal when it came to the Tuskin Raiders. Qui-Gon wouldn't have been able to stop that if they decided to like Shmi marry Lars. The only thing that could have prevented it would be if they investigated Anakin's visions as soon as they happened, and I don't know if even Qui-Gon would have done that....he seemed more a "in the moment" kind of Jedi, not one to go after visions.

 

[JD]

I would love to see them do more what if? type Star Wars stories. One of the big ones for me would be what if Qui-Gon survived, there's a pretty good chance the whole saga would have played out very differently if that happened. The other big one would be what if Anakin didn't turn to The Dark Side.

 

[USS Firefly]

The other big one would be what if Anakin didn't turn to The Dark Side.

I think that if Jinn survived TPM and trained Anakin, Anakin stayed on the light side

 

[fireproof78]

I would love to see them do more what if? type Star Wars stories. One of the big ones for me would be what if Qui-Gon survived, there's a pretty good chance the whole saga would have played out very differently if that happened. The other big one would be what if Anakin didn't turn to The Dark Side.

I think they need to reboot the Star Wars Infinities series of comics.

 

[Reverend]

I think they need to reboot the Star Wars Infinities series of comics.

I don't necessarily disagree, but Infinities was a bit of a wasted concept. It was a fun idea but the execution left a lot to be desired.

 

[fireproof78]

I don't necessarily disagree, but Infinities was a bit of a wasted concept. It was a fun idea but the execution left a lot to be desired.

I think they need to reboot Infinities and do it better.

 

[Tuskin38]

I would love to see them do more what if? type Star Wars stories. One of the big ones for me would be what if Qui-Gon survived, there's a pretty good chance the whole saga would have played out very differently if that happened. The other big one would be what if Anakin didn't turn to The Dark Side.

There's some great what if fan fics on places like www.alternatehistory.com and spacebattles.net

I know not licensed but they tie me over.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think that if Jinn survived TPM and trained Anakin, Anakin stayed on the light side

Anakin turned to the dark side because of his fear of losing Padmé and of course Palpatine's manipulation. So it would seem that his downfall was inevitable, no matter who trained him.

 

[fireproof78]

I think Qui-gon would have been better suited to address those fears.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Without minimizing Palpatine's careful manipulating that we probably saw only a small subset of, at the end of the day the downfall of Anakin was of his own making, with a painful amount of foolishness on his part involved in it, which due to his arrogance he was unable to see through.

However, the Jedi did their part to contribute, both enabling Palpatine to use them in his manipulation and directly enabled Anakin to proceed down that path. He did need help, probably not in the way he was willing to admit, but he would not get it.

Out of the Jedi's actions, I was most troubled by Yoda's last one – when approached by Anakin to seek help resolving the imminent death of a loved one he saw in a vision, Yoda thinks that is the best time to teach him about letting go. Not even reminding him that visions can be misleading and difficult to interpret, which yes, Anakin should have learned by that point. Even if we set aside the awful timing and miscalculation of that, it implied letting someone die just so you can teach Anakin. No wonder he felt left more estranged by the Jedi just for this alone.

And that's hardly not the only thing they did to make him feel on his own, the rest being spoilers for Clone Wars, but it all escalated until we got to his seemingly petulant meltdown about not getting the rank of master, which from his perspective felt like more piling on.

Would have Qui-Gon helped here, though? I don't like the seeming implication that Obi-Wan was not a good enough teacher for Anakin or at least no there for him. On the contrary, he was much indulgent of Anakin's frivolousness and would have been there. It was Palpatine who made sure Obi-Wan and Anakin got separated by sending Kenobi alone to chase after Grievous. Although not explicitly said in canon material, I'm sure he had finger in tearing down the rest of his support. He would have made sure Qui-Gon was a mission somewhere as well as he did for Obi-Wan.

 

[Ithekro]

The possibility is that Qui-Gon would be able to fulfill the father-mentor role for Anakin, which with Qui-Gon's death, was filled in by Palpatine. Obi-wan, while possibly being the best teacher for Anakin and a mentor...was not able to fill in as a father like role model. Only as a brother. This was where the loss of Qui-Gon hurts Anakin's chances (since it gives Palpatine an easy route into Anakin's life and trust).

However, we (the audience) should not underestimate Darth Sidious (nor the writers). Plans within plans, and new plans out of old plans. Qui-Gon would not be an insurmountable threat for Palpatine. It would just mean taking a different route to achieve the Sith's goals. Count Dooku might not even leave the order with Qui-Gon living, meaning Palpatine would need another to help him set in motion the clone army....or even come up either a different plan entirely. Darth Maul, depending on if he lives or not (completely I mean) seems to think that a criminal empire would be what is needed to draw out the Jedi, and they might have been the plan before Obi-wan happened....and Anakin was discovered. So Palpatine would need a different plan....or at the very least, a different stooge apprentice to poke Sifo-Dyas into making a clone army. Without Dooku, they might even get a different template...so no Jango Clones....no Boba Fett.

But Palpatine would come up with something regardless of the outcome on Naboo.

 

[fireproof78]

The possibility is that Qui-Gon would be able to fulfill the father-mentor role for Anakin, which with Qui-Gon's death, was filled in by Palpatine. Obi-wan, while possibly being the best teacher for Anakin and a mentor...was not able to fill in as a father like role model. Only as a brother. This was where the loss of Qui-Gon hurts Anakin's chances (since it gives Palpatine an easy route into Anakin's life and trust).

However, we (the audience) should not underestimate Darth Sidious (nor the writers). Plans within plans, and new plans out of old plans. Qui-Gon would not be an insurmountable threat for Palpatine. It would just mean taking a different route to achieve the Sith's goals. Count Dooku might not even leave the order with Qui-Gon living, meaning Palpatine would need another to help him set in motion the clone army....or even come up either a different plan entirely. Darth Maul, depending on if he lives or not (completely I mean) seems to think that a criminal empire would be what is needed to draw out the Jedi, and they might have been the plan before Obi-wan happened....and Anakin was discovered. So Palpatine would need a different plan....or at the very least, a different stooge apprentice to poke Sifo-Dyas into making a clone army. Without Dooku, they might even get a different template...so no Jango Clones....no Boba Fett.

But Palpatine would come up with something regardless of the outcome on Naboo.

And this is why I hate Palpatine. It's stuff like this that is fairly accurate but makes him feel unbeatable.

As for Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, I think that Obi-Wan was a terrible teacher. He was freshly minted as a knight and didn't have the experience for an unconventional apprentice like Anakin. He couldn't step in to that mentor role because he still had similar struggles. Obi-Wan became a great mentor and teacher but I think him having Anakin was a mistake, and a costly one.

 

[JD]

Qui-Gon was also known for being a bit of a renegade, so I could possibly see him being open minded enough that Anakin would tell him about Padme, which would give him someone to go to more openly after he saw her death. With Qui-Gon's help he might have not been desperate enough to fall in with Palpatine the way he did in Revenge of the Sith. I have feeling Palpatine would have still gotten him in the end, but it definitely wouldn't have played out the same way it did in Revenge of the Sith.

 

[fireproof78]

Qui-Gon was also known for being a bit of a renegade, so I could possibly see him being open minded enough that Anakin would tell him about Padme, which would give him someone to go to more openly after he saw her death. With Qui-Gon's help he might have not been desperate enough to fall in with Palpatine the way he did in Revenge of the Sith. I have feeling Palpatine would have still gotten him in the end, but it definitely wouldn't have played out the same way it did in Revenge of the Sith.

I think Palpatine might not have been as lucky with Qui-Gon since he would have been more proactive in following visions regarding Shmi, if not rescuing her before. I think Qui-Gon would be less passive, like Obi-Wan, and far more proactive in response to the exposure of the Sith still being present.