Alternate 'A New Hope' Story Shows Yoda Using A Jedi Mind Trick To Destroy The Death Star

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By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 4 min read

Last year when Disney announced their line-ups for Star Wars and Marvel streaming series, one that stood out for everyone was Marvel's What If…? which was based upon alternate realities of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example a zombie apocalypse, or what if someone assassinated the Avengers and another episode that will play a BIG role in the upcoming Doctor Strange 2. So naturally, this led many genre fans to think about their own What If...? scenarios.

Based on the success, Star Wars fans, in particular, wished for their own animated series. I wondered what would have happened if Anakin Skywalker stayed on the light side and never became Darth Vader or if Rey joined Kylo Ren and ruled the galaxy together. But did you know that in the early 2000s, Dark Horse Comics released a series with the same premise as Marvel's What If…? Star Wars Infinities gave us alternate versions of the original trilogy.

The 4-issue series of A New Hope posits what would have happened if Luke was unsuccessful in destroying the Death Star at the end of the movie. In the comic, Luke fails to complete his mission in the comic and only slightly damages the first Death Star. Because of this, Admiral Tarkin used the Death Star's primary weapon to destroy the rebel fleet at Yavin 4, displacing the remains for at least 5 years. During this time, Luke meets up with Yoda to begin his Jedi training while Leia trains with Palpatine and Darth Vader to become a Sith Lady.

On the 5th anniversary of the fall of the rebels, Yoda, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca head to Coruscant to confront Sith Leia, a dying Palpatine, and Darth Vader. During the battle amongst the various characters, Yoda meets up with Admiral Tarkin and, using a Jedi mind trick, convinces him to turn the Death Star (now called the Justice Star) on the Imperial fleet destroying it and then using R2 to drive the Justice Star into the planet, destroying it. The comic ends with Darth Vader killed by Palpatine, Palpatine is also killed when Coruscant is destroyed, and Leia announces herself as the Supreme Chancellor of the galaxy.

One of the most exciting aspects of the comic is Yoda having a significant role in A New Hope's events, solidifying himself as one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. Given the talk throughout the prequels, it shouldn't surprise fans that he had it in him. Indeed, many Jedi in the prequels stated he was one of the most powerful in the universe, and given his age and ability to control the Force, it makes sense. The Jedi mind trick is seen in Episode IV when Obi-Wan uses it on the troopers in Mos Eisley, then in the prequels with Qui-Gon and even Rey in The Force Awakens. The Jedi mind trick seems like a pretty ordinary skill to learn, but it was used against the weak-minded in those incidents.

But given that Tarkin has a brilliant military mind and was the architect and showrunner of the Death Star in Episode IV and in Rogue One, it is a little surprising that he could be so easily swayed by a Jedi Mind trick. I think the bigger draw into this series would be seeing a Sith Lady Leia and something that should be explored further. Seeing the success of Marvel's What If…? and how fans have been asking for a Star Wars version, it would be great to see how some of these comic stories would translate into live-action or comic versions.

The other two stories for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi offer a fun tweak to the original stories. In The Empire Strikes Back story, Luke dies while on Hoth following his attack by the Wampa, and it is Leia who trains with Yoda. And in Return of the Jedi, both Leia and Luke confront Vader and the Emperor, with Vader surviving and joining his children in fighting the Emperor. However, you can see a common theme with all three stories, including Leia holding a more prominent role of just being a rebel commander or a princess, which we should really be looking for more of in What If...? stories should Disney decide to bring it to life.

What kind of What If...? stories would you like to see come from the Star Wars universe?

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