Some time back, I read a review of _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith_. I don’t remember where I read it, but I do remember the reviewer being disappointed in how easily the Jedi were dispatched by the clone army. The comment made was something to the effect that the Jedi were destroyed far too quickly and easily for ones who, individually, were more than a match for an army. This is a mental image that has stayed with me ever since.

I can just visualize a camera shot, focusing in on the grim but determined expression of a lone Jedi warrior. The camera pans out to reveal several Stormtroopers, so it’s clear that battle is afoot. But as the camera continues to pull out, it also begins to ascend, giving a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield, and you realize that the Jedi is facing a legion of the Emperor’s best. Thus begins a battle sequence – the Jedi lights his saber and rushes headlong into battle, his robes blowing in the wind. He has a blinding speed powered by a mastery of the Force, the ability to brush his enemies aside with barely a wave of his hand, and the capacity to anticipate every move of the soldiers he is destroying. Blaster bolts illuminate the field with an almost blinding intensity, and at the center of it all, a lightsaber moves with such speed that it looks almost like a solid orb of light. When the battle is done, a thousand Stormtroopers lie dead on the killing fields with the sole survivor being the Jedi Master, robes singed, wounded certainly, despite his power and advantage. And the expression on his face as he clips his lightsaber to his belt again is one of bitter sadness. It would make for a powerful and moving action sequence, the way it plays out in my mind.

It’s a battle sequence I would love to see realized but which I suspect never will – George Lucas simply hasn’t the imagination, the vision, or the ability as a screenwriter to see it happen. I don’t even know if this was ever what he envisioned his Jedi warriors to be, these almost godlike people who roamed the galaxy as peacemakers and diplomats, where possible, and fighters and warbreakers where not. But it’s an inspiring vision, nonetheless. Perhaps a fan film will someday add to the voluminous universe Lucas created (or a remake of Episodes I-III) and do a Jedi battle the way it _should_ be done.

We can only hope.

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