Darth Vader To Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[Zyobot]

It began with a droid army, two Jedi, and a queen whose planet was in trouble. And yet, with this rag-tag mismatch of characters who found themselves stranded on a desert world and seeking the help of a certain slave boy in the process, galactic history was made.

For better or worse, however, this history won't come to be this time around. For the future version of that very slave boy has found himself in that same era, determined to change the future while he has the opportunity. So, what if Darth Vader as of Return of the Jedi were sent back to the beginning of when The Phantom Menace takes place?

Granted, there's already (at least) one interesting fan work that explores this premise on the Web already. But I'd like to see what others have to say about the same PoD, since the offered example is only one interpretation of the divergence that could result from this.

Thank you in advance,

Zyobot

[lordroel]

Sept 22, 2019 19:36:02 GMT Zyobot said:

It began with a droid army, two Jedi, and a queen whose planet was in trouble. And yet, with this rag-tag mismatch of characters who found themselves stranded on a desert world and seeking the help of a certain slave boy in the process, galactic history was made.

For better or worse, however, this history won't come to be this time around. For the future version of that very slave boy has found himself in that same era, determined to change the future while he has the opportunity. So, what if Darth Vader as of Return of the Jedi were sent back to the beginning of when The Phantom Menace takes place?

Granted, there's already (at least) one interesting fan work that explores this premise on the Web already. But I'd like to see what others have to say about the same PoD, since the offered example is only one interpretation of the divergence that could result from this.

Thank you in advance,

Zyobot

Well Darth Vader will first take care of Darh Maul i presume, after all the Rule of Two still applies i presume.

[Zyobot]

Sept 22, 2019 19:47:46 GMT lordroel said:

Sept 22, 2019 19:36:02 GMT Zyobot said:

It began with a droid army, two Jedi, and a queen whose planet was in trouble. And yet, with this rag-tag mismatch of characters who found themselves stranded on a desert world and seeking the help of a certain slave boy in the process, galactic history was made.

For better or worse, however, this history won't come to be this time around. For the future version of that very slave boy has found himself in that same era, determined to change the future while he has the opportunity. So, what if Darth Vader as of Return of the Jedi were sent back to the beginning of when The Phantom Menace takes place?

Granted, there's already (at least) one interesting fan work that explores this premise on the Web already. But I'd like to see what others have to say about the same PoD, since the offered example is only one interpretation of the divergence that could result from this.

Thank you in advance,

Zyobot

Well Darth Vader will first take care of Darh Maul i presume, after all the Rule of Two still applies i presume.

While he may feel inclined to "take care" of Maul, I think that Vader's pragmatic enough not to give a damn about the Rule of Two for the time being if that serves in his best interests. If he does kill the Zabraki apprentice, then Sidious will notice that something's up sooner or later.

And Vader sure as hell won't become Sidious's servant again.

[lordroel]

Sept 22, 2019 22:03:32 GMT Zyobot said:

And Vader sure as hell won't become Sidious's servant again.

True but we never know will we, he could pretend to be Sidious's servant until the right moment.

[Zyobot]

Sept 23, 2019 2:56:47 GMT lordroel said:

Sept 22, 2019 22:03:32 GMT Zyobot said:

And Vader sure as hell won't become Sidious's servant again.

True but we never know will we, he could pretend to be Sidious's servant until the right moment.

Well, there's the risk that Sidious will see through the ruse. If Vader somehow "takes Maul out of the equation", then the Dark Lord will no doubt be suspicious of this "Third Sith".

As far as what he's likely to do, though--without citing the aforementioned fan work since it's a cop-out answer--maybe he'll pull strings behind the scenes so that Senator Palpatine's plans get disrupted and the protagonists of OTL Episode I get a significant boost. Perhaps Qui-Gon Jinn won't wind up a casualty of the Naboo Crisis this time around, if you know what I mean.

[lordroel]

Sept 24, 2019 0:53:17 GMT Zyobot said:

Sept 23, 2019 2:56:47 GMT lordroel said:

True but we never know will we, he could pretend to be Sidious's servant until the right moment.

Well, there's the risk that Sidious will see through the ruse. If Vader somehow "takes Maul out of the equation", then the Dark Lord will no doubt be suspicious of this "Third Sith".

As far as what he's likely to do, though--without citing the aforementioned fan work since it's a cop-out answer--maybe he'll pull strings behind the scenes so that Senator Palpatine's plans get disrupted and the protagonists of OTL Episode I get a significant boost. Perhaps Qui-Gon Jinn won't wind up a casualty of the Naboo Crisis this time around, if you know what I mean.

Will Vader protests his younger self and take him under his wing.

[Zyobot]

Sept 24, 2019 2:52:01 GMT lordroel said:

Sept 24, 2019 0:53:17 GMT Zyobot said:

Well, there's the risk that Sidious will see through the ruse. If Vader somehow "takes Maul out of the equation", then the Dark Lord will no doubt be suspicious of this "Third Sith".

As far as what he's likely to do, though--without citing the aforementioned fan work since it's a cop-out answer--maybe he'll pull strings behind the scenes so that Senator Palpatine's plans get disrupted and the protagonists of OTL Episode I get a significant boost. Perhaps Qui-Gon Jinn won't wind up a casualty of the Naboo Crisis this time around, if you know what I mean.

Will Vader protests his younger self and take him under his wing.

He may opt to "protect" him, but may be hesitant to take Anakin the Younger as his apprentice since the Jedi will become suspicious. Although, considering the most obvious alternative--which is that Anakin gets taken in by a Jedi Order that neglects him, leading him into the arms of Sidious as was true in the previous timeline--perhaps Vader will actually consider it.

[lordroel]

Sept 25, 2019 1:29:51 GMT Zyobot said:

Sept 24, 2019 2:52:01 GMT lordroel said:

Will Vader protests his younger self and take him under his wing.

He may opt to "protect" him, but may be hesitant to take Anakin the Younger as his apprentice since the Jedi will become suspicious. Although, considering the most obvious alternative--which is that Anakin gets taken in by a Jedi Order that neglects him, leading him into the arms of Sidious as was true in the previous timeline--perhaps Vader will actually consider it.

I also think Vader will protect him, if not in the open then he will do it from the shadows.

[stevep]

   I'm wondering how he will react to that queen in peril? Given his physical state and greater age I'm not sure he will be able to get her to care about him as she did his younger self in the OTL but I suspect he will want to protect and aid her.

[Zyobot]

Sept 25, 2019 14:51:54 GMT stevep said:

   I'm wondering how he will react to that queen in peril? Given his physical state and greater age I'm not sure he will be able to get her to care about him as she did his younger self in the OTL but I suspect he will want to protect and aid her.

Agreed. For obvious reasons, I doubt he'd reveal his true identity to anyone. However, he'd probably take the measures you've suggested he will thanks to a desire to ensure that his downtimer self has it better than Vader himself did.

Furthermore, he'd also remember the Naboo Crisis (which is when the queen was in peril) not only since it's a part of galactic history by 4 ABY, but also because he was somewhat along for the ride as a child. So I think it'd be more planning to change how the Naboo Crisis unfolds as much as he can, rather than a reaction to something entirely new.