The Definitive Episode 3 Plot Timeline Synopsis:
(Snagged from http://phatooine.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1685 since it was slashdotted)

***This is an effort to put all existing news and current rumor together in such a way that we (the fans) can visualize what Star Wars Episode 3 will be like over a year before hand, in a more entertaining manner than simple lists of unorganized facts; sources include: Star Wars Hyperspace, Set Notes, Insider, Homing Beacon, SW web chats, and current rumors that fit well with the facts from TFN, T'Bone, Eppy X, and JediNet***

Star Wars Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith (rumored title)

Rated PG – Rumored to push the PG envelope

Film time – Approximately 2hrs

Film Style – Sci-Fi adventure; reported to have more action & adventure than the 1st two prequels

Plot timeline and synopsis (keep in mind that the order and detail of scenes will be subject to change as new information becomes available; this is a living and breathing document):

- Opening Scroll: Episode III takes place 3 years after AOTC and is very important because the film opens up in the middle of things (like ANH). … Rumored paraphrase of the opening crawl: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has been captured by the Separatists. Two Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have found out where Palpatine is being held and lead a Squad of Clonetroopers to rescue the Chancellor...

- Giant space battle: Supposedly the clone wars end at the beginning of the film and a huge space battle is taking place above the planet of Coruscant. It looks that the battle will be focused around a ‘kidnapped’ Palpatine. Windu will be in some sort of space action… Anakin will be impressive in the opening battle as he shows us all why he’s known as the best star pilot in the galaxy. R2 will be part of a space battle between proto-type Ties and X-Wings. R2 will be flying in the back of a small fighter (new Jedi Starfighter) in Eppy 3 (likely with Anakin). The opening battle is strictly a SPACE battle, but land battles will occur later on in the film! We will see gigantic fleets of starships. Choreography of E3 space battle will supercede the ROTJ space battle.

- Giant space battle - Jedi Starfighters: Anakin, Obi-Wan, Plo-Koon and other Jedi will fly Starfighters. These scenes include a Jedi being destroyed by enemy fire from behind, high-energy scenes of Anakin and Obi-Wan piloting a rotating Starfighter cockpit. Anakin will be wearing a similar headband seen used by Obi-Wan in the Jedi Starfighter in AOTC…

- Giant space battle - Trade Federation Cruiser Bridge: The shooting is on the fully-constructed Trade Federation Cruiser Bridge set which is one of the largest built for Eppy 3. The Neimoidian characters in the scene will show them working the controls of the ship and looking up with alarm at a new development. Sounds like someone is about to go kablooey!

- Giant space battle - Anakin Rescues Obi-Wan, Kills Dooku, and saves Palpatine: Dooku is supposed to die within the first 10 minutes of the movie… Christopher Lee shot a pivotal confrontation scene as Count Dooku which will have action and powerful dialogue. It’s rumored he will be beheaded by Anakin due to a conversation between Nick Gillard's and Christopher Lee. While Lee was chatting with Gillard, he jokingly talked about decapitation. It’s also rumored that Dooku will lose some limbs and Anakin will hack him up with two sabers…

- Rumored action: Obi-Wan and Anakin are flying new Jedi Starfighters that have a strange similarity to TIE fighters in the original trilogy. It's a very exciting scene with lots of action. Obi-Wan and Anakin try to get a lock on Shaak Ti's tracking device (she was captured along with Palpatine) and find that she and Palpatine are in the most heavily guarded ship. Obi-Wan and Anakin call for backup from the Clone troopers just as 20 or so droid fighters leave the ship and attack.

- The droid fighters look like smaller Imperial shuttles. The battle continues and one of the droid shuttles deploys a bunch of sphere shaped droids, about the size of basketballs. They attach to Obi-Wan's Starfighter and arms, legs and lasers pop out. They begin to attack the various components of his ship, much like the Sentinels did in the Matrix. One of the droids cuts the head off of the R4 droid in the Starfighter.

- Anakin flies in to save his master and best friend. He tells Obi-Wan to keep steady and he starts to shoot the droids off the ship. He hits Obi-Wan's Starfighter a few times and decides to try a different method. He flies in close to Obi-Wan and brushes the droids off the ship with his wing. One of the droids hops onto Anakin's ship and tries to cut off R2-D2s head. R2 extends an arm and hits the droid with a blast of electricity knocking it off the ship.

- One last droid is still on Obi-Wan's ship and does some major damage. The ejector seat doesn't function and he loses control. His plan is to crash land his ship in to the hanger of the large separatist ship where Palpatine is being held. However, a shield is up. Anakin must fly in and knock out the shield to allow Obi-Wan to land.

- Just as the two Jedi's enter the ship, the steel hanger doors shut. Obi-Wan pulls out his lightsaber, cuts open the canopy of his Starfighter and jumps out just as the ship crashes and bursts into flames. He does a flip in the air as he is surrounded by battle droids. Anakin, still in his ship, flies through the hanger and crashes into the droids once again saving Obi-Wan.

- Anakin and Obi-Wan then run off following Shaak Ti's signal. Hayden Christensen has obviously bulked up since Episode II. He stands a few inches taller than Ewan McGregor, and has much broader shoulders. Christensen now has shoulder length hair and is wearing more black leather underneath his Jedi robe. McGregor's hair is cut close to his head and he has a full beard, reminiscent of Alec Guinness. In fact, his voice sounds strangely like Guinness' as well.

- The two are encountered by battle droids and they fight their way through. When they find Shaak Ti, she is in a room filled with battle droids, General Grievous and his body guards. Grievous is mostly machine with only the brain and eyes of a human. His metal body looks similar to that of the TX endoskeleton in the new Terminator movie but he wears a cloak that covers most of him. On his belt he carries the light sabers of the Jedi he has killed. His body guards carry electrified pikes that are impervious to light sabers.

- Grievous has Shaak Ti kneel in front of him and then executes her with her own lightsaber. Obi-Wan and Anakin rush in and fight with the battle droids as well as Grievous' guards. More and more battle droids show up and the Jedi's realize they are outmatched. To escape, they cut into the floor and fall into the engine room of the star ship.

- Underwater FIGHT: Not a battle, this is the Underwater tank scene where Obi fights droids! Anakin is in a scene called "ceiling of a flooded room"... Obi-Wan and Anakin will have four scenes underwater which won't amount to much screen time. These scenes were filmed about a week before the ‘duel’ was filmed. It’s very possible that these water scenes could be part of the ‘duel’ or even the Naboo Grevious VS Obi-Wan scenes; however, I don’t think they are. I feel that they are part of the fuel scenes in the engine room detailed below.

- All the while the battle continues to rage on out side and the starship has taken heavy damage. The engine room is starting to fill with liquid fuel. Covered with fuel and no longer able to use their light sabers, they try to make their way out of the engine room. Battle droids have followed them down and are now chasing them as the room is quickly filling with fuel. Anakin and Obi-Wan struggle to find a way out but it seems that all the openings are far too small for a human to fit through.

- Eventually they do find one and start climbing up the ladder inside the shaft. The battle droids are right on their heels and the fuel in the engine room is getting close to electrodes on the walls. The two Jedi climb out of the shaft and into a hallway as Anakin seals the hatch behind them with his lightsaber. The fuel reaches the electrodes in the engine room and explodes. The explosion rips the ship in half.

- Quickly, Anakin and Obi-Wan make it to the bridge where they find Chancellor Palpatine who is shackled to his chair with a huge panoramic window behind him and General Grievous. Anakin and Obi-Wan attack Grievous but he quickly knocks Obi-Wan out and fights alone with Anakin. Through the window of the bridge we can see that the ship is crashing into Coruscant.

- Grievous sees this too and makes a daring escape. He smashes the glass and climbs out the window. Because he is mostly metal he can walk on walls, ceilings and the outside of starships. He runs along the outside of the ship, makes his way to an escape pod and gets away.

- Back in the bridge Obi-Wan has woken up and he finds Anakin at the helm of the ship, trying to prevent it from crashing. As the ship enters Coruscant’s atmosphere, the ship starts to burn up and debris starts to fly off. The droid general has escaped, Palpatine has been rescued and Dooku is dead. Unfortunately, the Separatist cruiser that Obi-Wan, Anakin and Palpatine are on has now broken apart, and tumbles into the atmosphere of Coruscant. The "Coruscant Fire Department" sends up fire ships to help guide the ship in for as safe of a crash landing as they can manage. This could be the reason several "extreme wind" situations have been called for on set.

- Coruscant leadership scene (Coruscant):A new scene includes Obi-Wan, Anakin, Palpatine, Mace, and Bail Organa - as well as a swarm of Senators and planetary representatives, alien and human alike. I’m guessing this will be a welcome home Palpatine meeting. (Palpatine’s office?) The Jedi and clones will likely be directed to go after the remaining separatist forces.

- Jedi Temple Meeting (Anakin angry): Anakin, Obi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Agen Kolar, Stass Allie, Saesee Tiin. Though all the Jedi are on set, they're not all supposed to be on Coruscant. In this scene in the film, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon are actually on business elsewhere, but they've "phoned in" their holographic presences during this important meeting. Exploring the Jedi Council chambers reveals subtle hints as to the state of the galaxy. What was once polished and clean has given way to wear and tear. When the droid general is tracked down, Obi-Wan is sent off on the mission to take him down, not Anakin. Anakin expects to be treated with more respect by the Jedi order now after having killed Dooku and rescuing Palpatine. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

- Yoda's quarters (Jedi Temple): This scene includes Yoda's quarters, as seen in AOTC, and Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu. . Their conversation is likely regarding Anakin…

- Anakin becomes Palpatine’s bodyguard (Coruscant): Palpatine, in response to his being kidnapped, uses this as a foil to upgrade his security and make Anakin his personal bodyguard. Another step for Anakin to be closer to Palpatine and in the future the Dark Side. He is getting prideful with slaying Dooku, and we see him now separated from Obi-Wan yet again. A recipe for disaster.

- Padme pregnant Anakin scene (Coruscant): A shirtless Anakin, a pregnant Padme, and a curious C-3PO have a scene together. This scene should establish early on that Anakin does indeed know his wife is pregnant… She is still not full term yet in her pregnancy. Anakin only believes she is pregnant with one child. Hayden Christensen wears a long blue glove on his real arm, so they can add his mechanical arm later.

- Palpatine unleashes the clones: Palpatine had the clone troopers made with genetic data that allows him to take complete control of them when he needs to. Quick shots are shown on multiple worlds of clone troopers turning on their Jedi generals and eliminating them in several creative ways. (For example, you'll see a new world, followed by Republic tanks with a Jedi commander on board. The order is given and the tank next to it turns its turret and opens fire on the Jedi tank at point blank range.) Watch for prominent Jedi council members to go out this way.

- Ki-Adi-Mundi & Plo Koon attacked by clones on Utapau: It has been said that General Ki-Adi-Mundi will lead Clonetroopers into battle on a new world called Utapau to finish off the remaining separatists. Elements of the scene include conehead stepping off a Republic gunship, charging towards the enemy (droids), and signaling for the clones to attack. The planet Utapau contains mines which were originally reported by some sources to be droid factories. However, the so-called factories are actually reinforcement camps or base camps that allow for the dispersement of additional droid armies or droid army regrouping. Utapau, aka the 'sinkhole planet' is apparently a planet that natives build homes in the sides of rock walls Apparently the Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi and Plo Koon investigate this planet and report into the Jedi Council via hologram. They will likely be killed when their clones turn on them.

- Obi-Wan attacked by clones: He returns to his troops after the droid leader is killed to finish off the remaining separatists. Palpatine gives the order for all the clone troopers to kill their jedi masters. Obi-Wan narrowly escapes and all the Jedi in the film from this point forward would be considered enemies of the Republic and fugitives. This scene is a bit tragic for Obi-Wan as he is forced to kill a clone trooper he had befriended fighting together in the clone wars. As the Clone Wars progressed the Clone Troopers had begun to gain a subtle bit of personality through all the battles and missions. One trooper in particular becomes friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and has apparently fought with Kenobi on multiple occasions throughout the Clone Wars. During one battle scene in Episode III (on the planet which Bruce Spence's alien race inhabits) a clone trooper (who may be portrayed by Tem Morrison) hands Kenobi his lightsaber (may have been dropped or lost during hand to hand combat). Upon handing Kenobi the saber the Trooper's face loses all expression and he raises his weapon towards the Jedi in an attempt to kill him. As the trooper raises the weapon, Kenobi is forced to take the life of the Clone trooper, thereby ending the relationship that had developed over the course of the war.

- As previously mentioned the trooper might be Morrison, who may have shared an earlier scene with Kenobi in which the trooper had his helmet off. It appears that the troopers are continuing to age, thus the obvious use of Morrison to portray the aging clones.

- Yoda & Wookies attacked by clones: There is a point in the film when the clone troopers turn on their Jedi generals. Yoda is on Kashyyyk when this happens. The Wookies will be wearing some sort of battle armor. They will be fighting alongside YODA. They will be fighting Stormtroopers. All of them will be killed, except for Chewbacca. Yoda has little difficulty dealing with the clone troopers that turn on him on Kashyyyk, especially with the help of the wookies. You will see why Han warns about wookies being known to rip people's arms out of their sockets. And don't expect wookies to be portrayed as simply "tall Ewoks." Their technology is very advanced as is their vehicles, and they make good use of the lagoons on their world during combat. Watch for Yoda to do his whole "Away with your weapons I mean you no harm!" bit to fool the clone troopers as Chewie comes up behind them and knocks them unconscious. Wookie vehicles definitely have a propeller theme. They have a boat with 2 pontoons (it looks like a catamaran). And they have one-man helicopter vehicles they fly around in.

- Landing platform/The gunship scene (Coruscant): will include Obi-Wan and Mace. Mace is speaking to Yoda via hologram. I’m betting this is the scene that encourages Mace to go ‘have a chat’ with Palpatine.

- Mace Windu Battles a Sith Lord/ Palpatine is revealed as Sidious: When Palps begins to attack the Jedi with Clones), Mace decides to go have a little chat with Palpatine. Mace Windu will go out (die) in a blaze of glory. … In this duel he's the one being attacked (he wouldn't mention his attacker). The fight area covers about 400 yards and involves jumping off steps and more. Anakin does indeed have to make a "choice" in the film. That choice is given to him by Palpatine. In response, Mace Windu chooses to try and defend himself. Anakin is guarding Palpatine, per the spoiler above, and Mace comes for a visit. We see a flash of the ROTJ Palpatine, and then he unloads on Mace. Anakin and Mace duel, with Mace going down hard - sealing Anakin's embrace of the Dark Side.

- Rumored action: When Mace Windu confronts Palpatine, Palpatine's electricity bolts deflect off Windu's saber and into Anakin's eyes. Anakin flips out again and lops off Mace's arm.

- The tension here is pretty amazing and Anakin's indecision is clear until the end when he decides what to do - which is kill Mace Windu, after being egged on by Palpatine. Mace tries to get Anakin to help but those dastardly Sith are much more persuasive.

- One source recalls that Mace loses an arm and then gets run through the heart, similar to Qui-Gon in TPM. There's also rumor around that he falls through some glass or a window or something like that.

- Another source, however, relates that as Mace and Palpatine/Sidious are going at it, Palpatine is pushing all his, "The Jedi are corrupt," talk on Anakin at the same time, urging him to make a choice as to who to help out here. Clearly Anakin can't just sit there - he has to help someone and he helps Palpatine. In this recollection, however, Anakin appears behind Mace Windu - almost giving the false impression that he's going to help him - but then literally stabs him in the back and runs him through.

- Will Mace Windu go to see Palpatine alone or with a group of Jedi? One source says that he goes with a group, but Palpatine wipes them all out, leaving Mace almost helpless and he asks Anakin to finish the deed. Another source says he goes alone.

- Anakin receives his 1st mission: Apparently after Mace is dead, Palpatine and Anakin have a little talk and Palpatine finally reveals that he's a Sith Lord. Perhaps this is that scene in Palpatine's office that was filmed where they used the revolving sets and perhaps the antechamber is where Mace falls. A scene was also filmed which echoes the Palpatine/Anakin discussion in Episode II. It takes place in Palpatine's office, but the "assignment" being talked about in this situation is vastly different than that of AOTC’s Palpatine/Anakin discussion. After choosing to side with Palpatine (following the entire Mace Windu ordeal), Anakin is sent on missions with Clonetroopers to assassinate Jedi. One such mission leads them to the lobby of the Jedi Temple, where they ambush some Jedi - including Younglings

- Palpatine declares himself Emperor (Senate): He declares himself Emperor to the Senate, and puts the blame on the shoulders of the Jedi Order. He will blame the clone war on the Jedi and announce that they tried to assassinate him (Mace). The Senate pod is filled with the Naboo delegation, Senator Amidala, Captain Typho, Jar-Jar Binks, and Kristy Wright as a handmaiden. The seat next to Amidala is empty, awaiting a guest. Jar-Jar's robes are a dark red and violet scheme and cover much of his body, making things easier for ILM in post-production. Shots in the scene include Chancellor Palpatine, Sly Moore and Mas Amedda in their familiar positions on the Chancellor's podium.

- Yoda and Bail in a conference room (Senate): This scene is in a conference room that features blinking lights and buttons that hark back to the OT settings. Yoda & Bail are discussing crucial events of the galaxy...

- Landing platform/Bail gets shot at (Coruscant): This scene is on a landing platform on Coruscant and is round in shape. Bail will exchange laser fire with unseen opponents before making a quick escape in his shiny red speeder.

- Yoda, Obi, & Bail realize Anakin is a Killer (Jedi Temple): In this scene Yoda is walking and talking with Obi-Wan and Bail Organa. . Footage of the youngling attack is recorded and later reviewed by Yoda and Obi-Wan after they’ve returned to Coruscant. This seems to be the moment when they realize Anakin has turned, and Obi-Wan is very aware that he needs to put a stop to his wayward apprentice. The reviewed footage seems to be George’s means to imply the Younglings’ death without showing it onscreen.

- Landing platform/Palpatine (Coruscant): Scene features Palpatine, Mas Amedda, and four red-robed guards. They will depart in a vehicle yet to be built. It will ultimately be a large shuttle.

- Palpatine in a Coruscant theater (Coruscant): (A private meeting scene originally shot in Palpatine's Office was changed to occur in a very public place.) This shooting was on sparse set which will become a Coruscant theater in post-production. The theater will feature tiers of viewing boxes and an elaborate stage show for entertainment yet to be determined. Palpatine will be in this scene and a clue is that the show may be "refined and sophisticated". Palpatine will be seated, awaiting a guest. He will by joined by his aides Sly Moore and Mas Amedda and a pair of red robed guards. I’m still undecided if this ‘changed’ scene will be a revised meeting between Palpatine and Anakin, a 2nd meeting, or something entirely different. The ‘style’ of the scene seems eerily reminiscent of the finale of the Godfather 3 where Corleone watches an opera while his enemies are taken out. I can see Palpatine giving similar orders here to whatever guest he is meeting.

- Anakin’s 2nd/final mission: It’s likely that the last mission that Palpatine sends Anakin on is to the planet Mustafar (this name doesn’t sit well with me at all, it’s the lava planet as well) to terminate the remaining leaders of the Separatists who have gathered there for a meeting.

- Yoda Vs Palpatine: As plot elements continue to develop in Episode III Yoda attains part of what seems to be a Sith book (perhaps on Kashyyyk). Yoda states that he must "go and meditate on what is to come" at the Temple. He is then faced with confronting Palpatine/Sidious in the Jedi Temple. Apparently Yoda is meditating in the Jedi Temple regarding the Sith and Palpatine enters. The two masters’ fight and Palpatine eventually gets the best of Yoda, having opened up a huge can of whoop arse on the green master. The details are few and far between on this scene, and how exactly Yoda attains the book parts, but chances are the meditation is what leaves Yoda vulnerable to such a butt kicking by Palpatine.

- Anakin and Padme on Naboo: Anakin will stop to visit Padme before killing the separatists on Mustafar. Anakin and Padme have a loving and emotional goodbye, and then he leaves on a speeder. Anthony Daniels and others have confirmed that Padme and C3PO will be on Naboo; danger could be involved.

- Obi-Wan Vs Grievous - So what allegedly happens is Obi-Wan is sent to find Anakin who has now turned and "must be stopped." He thinks or finds out that Anakin is on Naboo so he heads that way but guess who intercepts him over Naboo? General Grievous. Details here are vague but somehow there's a crash landing on the planet's surface. It’s assumed that Obi-Wan's ship is shot down or something like that. In any case, somehow they end up on the planet's surface and the chase/fight continues.

- Obi-Wan gives chase of Grievous aboard an animal that would best be described as a large and fast lizard. Grievous rides in a vehicle that resembles a one-wheeled version of a Hail fire droid. During their saber duel, Grievous' forearms each split in two and he wields a total of 4 light sabers in combat.

- After Obi-Wan destroys Grievous’ (it’s a blaster up the guts). A real juicy death for Grievous. Expect his head to leak fluids too.

- It’s rumored that Grievous is sent to take out Obi-Wan, rather than the other way around. My take is that both are likely true; Obi-Wan is assigned to take Grievous out, but his mission is stalled when he is attacked by his own clone troopers. Obi is then sheltered by Bruce Spence's 'helpful' alien, and then finds his way back to Coruscant to meet with Yoda and learn the terrible truth about Anakin. He then goes after Anakin. It’s possible that Grievous then tracks Obi-Wan and attacks him above Naboo, allowing Anakin to say goodbye to Padme and leave Naboo to destroy the remaining separatists before Obi-Wan can stop him.

- Obi-Wan & Padme on Naboo: Obi-Wan has a scene with Padme later on after Anakin has left. Could this be where the Jedi find out about her pregnancy?

- Padme leaves Naboo: This scene involves C-3PO and Padmé sitting at the controls of a Naboo starship with a cockpit that will resemble the one from the yacht seen in AOTC when Anakin and Padmé flew to Geonosis.

- The Separatists meet their end: The Separatists are pawns who are manipulated by Palpatine to wage what is basically a meaningless war. This scene has gathered all the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) into one place. It’s likely this scene will be the final end of the Cone Wars. Anakin will show up and kill them all for Palpatine…

- Padme will have tracked Anakin there. When she finds him, he has already killed all the Separatist leaders.

- It’s been said that Obi-Wan will arrive on scene here too after being sent to ‘break up’ the separatist meeting.

- Grim scene: This scene involves Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé in scenes described as Grim. It’s likely this takes place right after Anakin had murdered all the separatists. Padme and Obi-Wan will be asking Anakin to reconsider the ‘choice’ he’s made; the choice to embrace power and the dark side.

- The ‘Duel’ begins after Padme is force choked: Anakin force-chokes Padme and throws her aside as Obi-Wan ignites his saber and the duel between Obi and Ani takes place; why does he choke Padmé? Only one source has chimed in with a reason and that person tells it like this. Padmé is very frightened of what she sees in Anakin at the moment. Anakin knows she's pregnant but doesn't know about the twins, of course. ("So, you have a twin SISTER...") In Padmé's heightened state of fear and despair, she tells Anakin that she basically has miscarried, in different words. In any case, the baby is dead and Anakin is very upset at the loss of an heir so he puts the choke move on her. This is probably not the only reason, however. Obi-Wan and Padmé arrive together on Mustafar and when Anakin sees her, he feels she has betrayed him by leading Obi-Wan to him. So take that and the kid thing (if true), throw them together and you get one thing: Angry Anakin.


- The ‘duel’ will be the longest light saber duel ever… Obi/Ani fight will not be about effects, but---betrayal! The Duel will be lengthy and it will span SEVERAL sets, and cover a very large distance. It's true that Anakin will lose more of his body as the movie progresses, and become ‘more machine than man’. One way in which this happens is that he'll lose his right leg after the fight. It's also confirmed that at least part of this fight occurs in the lava environment.


- Anakin is destroyed: Lava bath---nuff said! In addition, we have information about how badly damaged he will be from the ‘dip’. It’s rumored that Anakin will fall in lava when Obi-Wan cut his right leg off---OUCH! Three test versions of ‘destroyed’ Anakin have been made (see below). Anakin Skywalker’s demise most likely is the graphic one. Burns and injuries in Episode 3 will concur with the cybernetic prosthetics seen in the Force Rays Endoskeleton in ROTJ. An insider was able to see the cast for the injured Anakin, and it reveals the injury to the left side of the neck and jaw!


- Anakin Test #1: Anakin is burned black almost completely head to toe, except for his face. He is charcoal black and it honestly is sickening. The only burn marks on his face creep up along his right side of the face and the top and bottom of his eye. His ear is almost completely gone and around his lips there are several severe burns as well. This is really a sight to behold.

- Anakin Test #2: This test involved Hayden getting made to look very close to the unmasked Vader from Return of the Jedi. His skin is very dark tan in color and he has that huge gash in the right side of the top his head and other marks you may recognize. There are many small burns and scrapes on his face, with the most substantial burns appearing on both cheeks and then burned to a black crisp the rest of the way down.

- Anakin Test #3: In this final version, Hayden was made up to be burned, but not NEARLY as severe. He has massive bags under his eyes and his hair is almost completely singed off - but not quite, some stubble still remains. The left side of his face is in terrible condition, extending down his neck then to an entirely burned body as well. The others look more over the top, where this one looks more like just terrible 2nd degree burns.


- Padme dies while giving birth: Ian McCaig stated early on that, “Tragedy follows the beautiful Amidala as well (as Anakin).” Indeed, it seems that Padme is likely killed by Anakin. He uses the force 'choke' on her and goes a little too far. He doesn't mean to kill her. She dies while giving birth to Luke and Leia. Leia’s reference to her beautiful mother is probably Queen Organa of Alderaan. Following THE duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, the Jedi Master, Padmé, Bail Organa and Yoda are on board the blockade runner (aka Tantine IV) on their way to Alderaan. Padmé is seriously wounded from injuries Anakin inflicted upon her in the prelude to aforementioned duel. They try to save her but her condition isn’t looking good at all, so the Tantive IV is forced to land on a new planet. The inhabitants of this new world resemble the classic grey UFO aliens. They are also quite short. This is the location where the twins are born prematurely, after being rescued from the dying Padmé, who falls victim to her injuries shortly after Leia and Luke are removed from her. This is also where Bail, Yoda and Obi-Wan decide on how to proceed, i.e. what to do with the (surprisingly) two children.

- If she does die we should see a funeral…

- Padme's ultimate fate is still unknown. Lucas covered BOTH scenarios during filming and left some things open for change for the pickups next year if need be. And this was actually pretty easy. It doesn't really affect the rest of the story much at all, because either she dies... or everyone thinks she's dead (besides Bail & Co of course) and she lives out the rest of her life in tragic anonymity. It will all come down to Lucas' final decision on whether or not he wants her to die within the context of EP3 itself.

- Anakin is rescued: He’ll be rescued---but by whom? Could it simply be minions of Palpatine, or someone more familiar? Some fan boys will whisper Boba Fett here, and in the end---anything is possible…

- Vader rises and is named: On Sept 01, at 5:48 p.m., an unmistakable and iconic dark form was captured on camera. The first take was mesmerizing and everyone applauded. The former Jedi isn't officially named "Darth Vader" until after the lava bath; it has been said that we will see him ‘named’. Could this be the "neat lil thing" RM mentioned about a scene GL had written regarding the transformation of Anakin to Vader? Darth Vader is attended by medical droids after the duel. When Anakin wakes up as Darth Vader and is told what happened to him and that Padme is dead (by Palpatine) he becomes so angry he rips apart the room he's in with the Force. After he wakes up and realizes what the operation has turned him into (combined with Sidious telling him he was responsible for Padmé’s death), Vader can’t contain himself, starts force choking people and throwing droids around and ultimately devastates the entire room he’s in. As for his costume, there doesn’t seem to be any preliminary stage of the suit he wears in the OT, the moment he wakes up as Vader, it’s the complete dreaded black armor again, unmistakably.

- Padme’s funeral: It’s logical that if she does indeed die onscreen, we will see her funeral at the end of the movie…

- Vader’s deadly action: Pablo Hidalgo thinks Vader is the most deadly character in Episode 3 and RM says the last ten minutes of Episode 3 will be a fan’s dream come true---so will Vader have some action? I’d say it’s very likely that we will see something. Personally, I’m hoping we at least see the armored Vader go after some remaining Jedi. 5 mins of Vader Dialogue should occur, as well as some scenes in the Vader armor. Reportedly we will hear Vader say, “I don’t fear the dark side, I embrace it.”

- Obi-Wan will become a fugitive: The Jedi will likely be branded outlaws by the Empire, especially Obi-Wan because he ‘destroyed’ Anakin. He will change his name to Ben and seek refuge on Tattooine…


- Yoda flees to Dagobah: Why will Yoda flee? The surviving Jedi will likely be fugitives, so he will need to leave town because of that, but of course as the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy---Vader and Palps will be looking to rub him out.


- Droids Memories erased: GL has stated that both droids will have their memories erased at the end of the film.


- Twins split up: The movie ends on Tattooine with Obi/Ben dropping the Luke off to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru and Leia adopted by Bail and raised on Alderaan…


- Final shot: Then, then final shot of the film features Darth Vader, Darth Sidious/Palpatine, and Tarkin on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the construction of the first Death Star.


- Roll credits…