The payoff for sitting through my only slightly changed versions of 'Phantom Menace' and 'Attack of the Clones' is the heavy restructuring I get to do for my version of 'Revenge of the Sith.'
See, while I don't think it was wrong to have the third film be about Anakin's fall to the dark side, I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see any real Vader action. We're not talking full-on Darth Vader here, but Anakin enters Act III with the foundation of his future borgness, such as a familiar respirator and some armor plates. It's still recognizably Anakin, so we get the best of both worlds.
Setting the Stage: The Clone Wars
The deployment of a clone army has done exactly what Queen Amidala had predicted: turned Dooku's Separatist movement into a battlefront. The war has galvanized many systems, solidifying some as loyal Republican worlds while pushing just as many to secede and join the Separatists.
In the past few years, the Army of the Republic has grown thin. Not only are the clones dying or aging quicker than replacements can be grown, but their placement across the galaxy isn't the most strategic. It's almost as if they're being fortified in places based on some future design rather than the movement of the war.
Which leads us to...
The Plan
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, in fact, HAS been deploying his troops in occupying actions more and more over the past few years of war. He can prolong the war as long as he needs to consolidate his power, but once he has his forces occupying strategic systems, he can end the war and finally bring order to the galaxy.
As an added bonus, he's become aware of Anakin's growing frustration and sees him as a viable candidate for swaying to the Dark Side. He's been without an apprentice since Darth Maul died about seven years back and figures he can pick up a new one before he wipes out the Jedi Order.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Act I
The Clone War isn't going great. The easily-replaced droid armies have been whittling away at the not-so-quickly grown clones. The war has reached Coruscant itself and a desperate battle takes place in the skies above. This is, however, an opportunity for the Republic to end the war as Count Dooku himself is commanding the fleet. If they can board his command ship and take him captive, they can still claim victory.
Kenobi leads a squad of clone commandos on a boarding ship while Anakin leads a fighter squadron to clear the way. They manage to board the ship (with Anakin joining them) and then confront Dooku. The battle is hectic as the two Jedi confront Dooku and Jango Fett. They appear to get the better of the two Separatist leaders despite Anakin's growing frustration at his lack of control over the force. But just as they take Dooku into custody, Fett recovers and kills the count. He covers his escape by sabotaging the ship.
Anakin manages to safely land what remains of the Separatist command ship, but feels guilty that his poor control over his potent abilities kept them from ending the war.
Act II part 1
Anakin meets with Palpatine to brief him on the war, but the conversation soon turns to discussion of alternate ways of learning the force. They're interrupted by Queen Amidala who arrives at the Chancellor's office with a complaint OF SOMETHING OR OTHER. Palpatine quickly defuses her complaint as she discovers Anakin is also there. The chancellor very pointedly announces he needs to take care of some business for about an hour, and leaves the two secret lovers alone. Unfortunately, the romance is broken by the revelation that Padme is pregnant, and Anakin's direct question about who the father is. She says her husband Bail Organa is the father, but the implication is that no matter who the father really is, it will be Organa...
Kenobi, meanwhile, meets with Organa himself and the rest of the war secretaries to discuss how the Battle of Coruscant changes the war. Dooku's death has elevated him to martyr status and the firebrand Jango Fett is using that to his advantage to continue the war. The path is clear: end Fett and they end the war. Organa expresses his distaste of the Supreme Chancellor's growing power and fears what will happen if the war ends and he doesn't immediately relinquish his emergency powers.
Finally, Yoda is shown on the war front at the planet Kashyyyk where the native Wookiees are mounting a defense with clone troopers against an impending Separatist attack. Yoda's wise eyes, though, see the clone trooper build-up and the assignment of a governing moff as something a bit more devious.
Act II part 2
Poring over the remains of the Separatist command ship, Anakin confides in Kenobi his desire to have a family. He doesn't tell him his thoughts are inspired by Padme's pregnancy, but he does long for a son of his own that he can one day pass his lightsabre down to. The discussion ends with the discovery of a feisty R2 unit (or the Separatist equivalent) which reveals navigational information suggesting the Separatists are based out of the volcanic planet Mustafar. He notifies Kenobi, and the two set off to stop Fett and the other heads of the rebellion.
As they lead their troops to Mustafar, Yoda watches the battle of Kashyyyk. The Wookiees fight bravely but take heavy casualties, but eventually they and the clones are able to drive off the droid army.
At the same time, Kenobi's forces create an opening for him and Anakin to get to Fett, and they engage him in a final battle. Fett is still a dangerous combatant, at one point disarming Anakin and knocking him into a blazing smelter (or whatever goes on on Mustafar). Kenobi is initially enraged, but quickly finds the inner-peace he needs to overcome Fett. Kenobi mournfully gathers up Anakin's fallen lightsabre and leaves, not aware that the horribly burned Anakin still clings to life.
On Kashyyyk, the moff assigned to the planet reports that the planet's infrastructure was heavily damaged during the battles. He places himself in charge of reconstruction efforts and orders his battalions to settle in. Yoda recognizes this as an occupation, and slinks off back to Coruscant.
After all this, Palpatine himself arrives on Mustafar and recovers Anakin. He "repairs" him with additional cybernetics while playing on his sense of betrayal that his former allies would so easily leave him to die, and the way his family was stolen from him by Organa and the Jedi Order.
Act III
With the war over, the Jedi confront Palpatine in the Senate and demand he relinquish power. He turns it around on them, saying this is the next step of their plan to dismantle the Republic that began when one of their own began the Separatist movement.
As proof, a half-repaired Anakin shows up to denounce his former order. Too late the assembled Jedi discover Palpatine is the Sith lord and they do battle in the Senate. Palpatine's forces, including clone troopers and the new Lord Vader, kill a couple Jedi while Yoda attempts to spirit Padme to safety. Vader tries to go after her, but Kenobi intercepts and the two duel in the Senate.
Eventually Kenobi flees rather than try to kill his friend, and Palpatine claims a great victory. He declares this day the first day of the new, powerful, and unopposed Galactic Empire, and any worlds in disagreement learn that they've been quietly occupied by clone troopers of the Imperial Army.
And that concludes my Star War Prequel trilogy. It didn't quite reshape all of the elements I would've wanted to, but I think it stayed true to Lucas' vision and intent, and that was a main goal. Along the way, though, I was able to tone down Yoda and Palpatine from being these great warriors I didn't think they should be, while playing up Jango Fett into the badass everyone's been looking for in a Mandolorian since Empire Strikes Back.
