boarwolf

Image: Liam Neeson in Clash of The Titans looks great as a down and out Qui-Gon.

Having escaped the assassination attempt on Alderaan, the Queen, her handmaiden, pilot, droid and Obi-Wan made a last ditch effort to land safely on Tatooine after discovering their ship was too damaged to continue.

Meanwhile… a young adolescent named Anakin Skywalker struggled with desires of grandeur and finding his biological father. His step-father Cliegg Lars did his best but Anakin was often tough to get through to. Cliegg left Anakin to his thoughts and the sunset.

That was when the Queen’s shuttle caught Anakin’s eye. Anakin left the Lars homestead and ventured into the dangerous Tatooine night.

He reached the canyon where the ship landed and spied from a distance. That’s when he heard a voice…

“Hello there.”

This startled Anakin causing him to slip a little off the canyon edge. But somehow he floated in mid air and back to the ledge safely. Anakin had heard of Jedi but had never seen one. Now he had.

Anakin was a scrappy little mechanic so he offered to help them with repairs and said they could use his families homestead to hideout for a time being (he imagined this would annoy his step father greatly). Which it did the next morning when Cliegg woke up to see a mysterious ship outside his home and a stranger in his kitchen. Obi-Wan however had a way of talking that seemed to make Cliegg totally fine with the sudden guests. Anakin was intrigued by Obi-Wan more and more.

Anakin, Padme’, and the Bothan pilot (we’ll call him Whikk) ventured into Mos Eisley to get parts for their ship. Anakin had collected a part from the space ship that he was unfamiliar with and wanted to ask his “mentor” Jinn about. When they arrived at Jinn’s junk shop, they discovered he was out (Anakin often knew that Jinn would be hung over early in the morning and he was always curious why he got drunk as often as he did). Jinn may have been out, but Jaar Binks was usually behind the counter taking care of customers. Jaar was far from his home world and it required him to keep a moisture humidifier from drying out.

— Now this is where we take a break from the narrative to accelerate some story driven ideas.

Anakin can’t get all the parts he needs from Jinn’s so he ventures to Watto’s shop. Watto is a jerk and a gambler. He gambles a lot on Pod Racing (yes, we’re keeping Pod Racing because it’s great!). Sebulba is his usual bet. Sebulba is the slave in this version of TPM and Sebulba is fed up with it. He is able to buy his freedom in secret and tells Watto he’s quitting. Having tricked Watto into his freedom Sebulba leaves the shop. Anakin having over heard much of this interaction begins to formulate a plan. He knows that only Watto has the final part they need to fix the Queen’s space ship, but he also knows they can’t afford it. Anakin does have good reflexes though and figures he can make a deal with Watto. Watto needs a pilot for the pod, Anakin needs the part. But Watto is greedy and tough to deal with, especially with an untested Pod Racer. As they hash out the deal, Watto’s shifty eyes get a glimpse of something in Anakin’s bag (the mysterious part), just as he is about to steal it from Anakin, Anakin actually asks him what it is. Watto says he isn’t sure but he’d be willing to ask around. This turns out to be a bad decision for Watto, because that part is a tracking device that Maul shot into the Queen’s ship and Maul has been using it; in fact, he’s using it as they speak. Anakin, Padme’, and Whikk are leaving the shop when…

Part 3…