It's long been known that George Lucas planned a sequel trilogy himself long before the one under Disney took shape in recent years, but now, thanks to Taschen's upcoming book The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, we finally have insight into what could have been if we got to see Lucas' own sequel trilogy as planned. It is now revealed that it would have been focused around Leia Organa-Solo and poised her as the Chosen One, leading the New Republic during Luke's efforts to rebuild the Jedi. Alongside that, we know that it would have starred a resurrected Darth Maul with "mechanical legs" as he became "the godfather of crime in the universe" with another antagonist under him, Darth Talon, who was poised as "the new Darth Vader."
To longtime fans of the Expanded Universe, now referred to as Legends in Disney's canon, this will not be news, as Leia had Force abilities and was trained by Luke in many ways as a Jedi. Seeing her as a central protagonist as both a Jedi and the leader of the New Republic fits in almost perfectly with the stories told in the novels she was a part of. It is not known whether it would have centered more on her skills as a Jedi or as a diplomat, but she would have been the central character of the trilogy as a whole, taking over Luke's mantle in the original trilogy as the main hero.
To most fans, the choice to bring back Darth Maul may be surprising. Before his resurgence in The Clone Wars cartoon, Maul had not made an appearance following his demise in 1999's The Phantom Menace. To deeper, more devoted fans, however, this won't be the first time Darth Maul and Darth Talon's names have been pushed together by Lucas. Darth Talon has appeared in the Expanded Universe via the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. Many people associated her with Maul due to their visual similarities, but the connection was never made. Despite Lucas' hands off approach to the Expanded Universe, upon seeing both her design and Maul's, Lucas tried to draw a connection between them. Despite living over 170 years apart, Lucas always wanted the characters to get along. While visiting Red Fly Studios during production on a Maul-centered game that was cancelled by LucasArts, Lucas noticed the figures of Maul and Talon and abruptly made the connection. One Red Fly Studios employee remembered, "Lucas cut them off, stood up, walked over to the statues and rotated them to be facing the same direction, pushed them together, and said 'they're friends!' He wanted these characters to be friends and to play off each other." (via: Didyouknowgaming) Lucas seemed to be taking it in a different direction. Clearly loving the look of them together, the supposed trilogy would have posed Maul as Talon's master, training her and poising her as his agent, similar to the Emperor and Darth Vader in the original trilogy.
Most questions circulating about the rest of the involved trilogy remain a mystery. It is unknown what role Luke would have played and whether other Expanded Universe characters would have appeared as fixtures of the story. Leia did have a large family with her husband Han Solo. Together, they had three children: Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin Solo. Whether or not the same grandchildren would have appeared in the films is unclear at the moment. In Disney's sequel trilogy, the Jacen Solo role was filled by Kylo Ren, the primary antagonist. All that is known is that Leia and her New Republic would have been pitted against Darth Maul, Darth Talon, and whatever forces they commanded at the time.
Source: Indiewire
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