The Star Wars: Rough Draft

The Star Wars: Rough Draft was written as a full rough draft by George Lucas in May 1974. The script was begun in the winter of 1973 as an expansion of the original The Star Wars: Treatment. It was considerably rewritten into the Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars (the second draft) over the summer and winter of 1974.

Synopsis
The Jedi Kane Starkiller and his two sons, Deak and Annikin Starkiller were living on the Fourth Moon of Utapau. Their seclusion from the forces of the Galactic Empire was interrupted by the arrival of a Sith flying a Banta Four starfighter.

The Jedi and his sons went to investigate, but the Sith got a jump on them, killing Deak with a single blow. Their foe was no match, however, for a Jedi Master, and Kane avenged his apprentice. It was clear that the exiles must flee the Kissel system and they leave for their homeworld of Aquilae.

Aquilae was a planet not yet controlled by the Empire, ruled by the wise King Kayos and Queen Breha. Unfortunately, even as the Jedi arrived in system, the Galactic Emperor, Cos Dashit, was plotting with his advisors to annex it, one of the last of the Independent Systems. Spies on Alderaan, the gas giant capital of the Empire, left to bring news of this to Aquilae's leadership.

Meanwhile, Kane and his sons arrived at Aquilae and contacted the royal government at their Underground Fortress. Kane reunited with a fellow Jedi, Luke Skywalker, now a General in the Aquilaean military. Kane revealed to his friend the extent of his cybernetic replacements-- only his head and arm remained flesh. Because of this, he believed that he could not adequately train his remaining son, and asks Skywalker to train him as a padawaan learner.

Not long after princess Leia, Kayos's daughter, left for Yuell to study at the Chatos Academy, a huge space fortress enters the Aquilaean system. The king left for Amsel to meet with his Senate and determine whether to go to war with the Empire. Kane went to Gordon, a seedy starport, to meet with his friend Han Solo, a Ureallian.

When the wounded Clieg Whitsun, one of the spies from Alderaan, arrived to warn the Aquilaeans of the Empire's plans of conquest, a decision is quickly made to resist. Annikin is sent to the Academy to secure the princess. The fortress is assaulted and damaged, and two droids aboard, C-3PO and R2-D2 prematurely evacuate, landing their lifepod in the Jundland wastes. King Kayos is killed by an Imperial ambush and the Senate of Aquilae sues for peace.

The two droids encountered Annikin and Leia returning from the Academy in the desert. They regrouped at a hidden entrance to the royal fortress and the Queen decided to send for help from the Ophuchi system. Luke, Annikin, and the royal children, including Leia's younger brothers Biggs and Windy, disguised themselves and left for Gordon.

At Gordon, the heroes were embroiled in a fracas in a cantina. Outside the cantina, they encountered Han Solo, and in the slums, Kane. It is decided to that to leave Aquilae they will have to escape on a Baltarian freighter, but a power source was needed for the microcases that would hold the young princes in hibernation to avoid detection. Kane sacrificed one from his own mechanical chest, giving up his life.

The freighter, however, was a trap. The captain was none other than Valorum, one of the Sith Knights. The heroes were subdued and taken prisoner, and they were thrown into a cell. This proves a minor setback, as they succeed in overpowering their guards, leaving the ship and taking an Imperial starship. They took off, but were pursued by Imperial craft.

The ship eluded the enemy by entering an asteroid field, and passing through into one of the Forbidden Systems. Unfortunately, their ship was critically damaged. Everyone climbed into life pods and they ejected the wreck. The pods fell into the jungle planet of Yavin, home of the Wookees.

Artwo and Annikin set out from their pod, looking for the others. They find a group of Yourellian trappers trying to capture Wookees. The trappers were routed, and one of the Wookees, Chewbacca, carried Annikin, who had been wounded in the fight, to his tribe's settlement. Artwo followed.

Everyone else but Leia had gathered at the home of two anthropologists named Owen and Beru Lars. Meanwhile, after fighting Jommillia, Annikin was accepted by the tribe. Han and Skywalker took jetsticks and located Annikin, Artwo and the Wookees.

Because Han was able to speak the Wookee language, the heroes learned that Leia was imprisoned at the Mavassi outpost, an Imperial camp. Han, Skywalker, Annikin and the Wookees attacked the Imperial base, but found that Leia had already been sent to Aquilae. A group of Imperial troops found Biggs and Windy, but are defeated.

Annikin and Artwo flew an Imperial ship to the fortress, and Artwo accesses the computer. They found the location of the princess's cell. Annikin disabled a stormtrooper and takes his armor. He was trapped by Imperial troops, and gassed into unconsciousness, and Vader ordered Valorum to execute him.

Simultaneously, Skywalker commanded a group of fighters, piloted by Wookees, and the nine vessels head toward the fortress. Valorum had a last minute change of heart. He could not kill his prisoner, and released him. Together they found the princess and let her out of her cell. The power failed as a barrage of hits from the Wookees damages the space station. The heroes, including Valorum, boarded life pods and escaped as it exploded.

The new Queen of Aquilae, Leia, rewarded the heroes in the Palace of Lite. The droids were upgraded to class A-4, and Annikin was appointed Lord Protector of Aquilae.

Characters

 * Alana
 * Amber
 * Amber (thumper)
 * Bail Antilles
 * Artwo
 * Auzituck
 * Biggs
 * Bloodory
 * Breha
 * Chick One
 * Chewbacca
 * Chewie
 * Vantos Coll
 * Seig Darklighter
 * Cos Dashit
 * Datos
 * Dewanna
 * Crispin Hoedaack
 * Jommillia
 * Kayos
 * Kuro
 * Beru Lars
 * Owen Lars
 * Leia
 * Mina
 * Montross
 * Mir Nash
 * Occo
 * Prue
 * Quist
 * Sandage
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Han Solo
 * Annikin Starkiller
 * Kane Starkiller
 * Deak Starkiller
 * Tarkin
 * Threepio
 * Tok One
 * unknown black-robed Sith
 * Darth Vader
 * Valorum
 * Clieg Whitsun
 * Windom
 * Aay Zavos

Creatures

 * dunebird
 * thumper

Locations

 * Alderaan
 * Plaza of the Daders
 * Alderaanian nightclub
 * Anchorhead
 * Aquilaean system
 * Aquilae
 * Amsel
 * Dune Sea
 * Gordon
 * Jundland
 * Palace of Lite
 * Third Moon of Aquilae
 * Underground Fortress
 * Med Vac Emergency room
 * Medical Station Blue
 * Yuell
 * Chathos
 * Norton Asteroid Belt
 * Norton Three
 * Yavin
 * Forest of the Gargantuans
 * Lars treehouse
 * Mavassi outpost
 * Vine jungle
 * Bastine
 * Cone systems
 * Karollia
 * Kessil system
 * Utapau
 * Fourth Moon of Utapau
 * Kane's hut
 * Ophuchi system
 * Ophuchi
 * Space Fortress
 * Control Room
 * Detention Cell
 * Docking Area
 * Garbage Receptacle B-29

Organizations

 * Chrome Companies
 * Galactic traders
 * Great Families
 * Imperial Skyraider
 * Imperial Space Force
 * Imperial Third Fleet
 * Independent systems
 * Jedi Bendu
 * Knights of the Sith
 * Kaapauku
 * Marthusians
 * Ministry of Transport
 * PDRs
 * Sawas
 * Stormtroopers
 * Supreme Tribunal

Species

 * Wookee
 * Yourellian

Technology

 * Bloodory's distillation
 * breath mask
 * electrobinoculars
 * Intra-fazer system
 * Jai gas
 * microcase
 * shock belt

Weapons

 * atomics
 * lazerpistol
 * lazersword
 * multiplelaser rife

Vehicles and vessels

 * air tank
 * Baltarian freighter
 * Banta Four
 * Imperial starship
 * hunter destroyer
 * jetstick
 * jungle crawler
 * Kane's ship
 * landspeeder
 * life pod
 * Stardestroyer
 * Trade frigate

Miscellanea

 * class A-4
 * Consul to the Supreme Tribunal
 * Corbet dictum
 * First Bodyguard
 * Great Rebellion
 * Hubble expedition
 * Jedi apparel
 * Jedi Master
 * Jedi Rebellion
 * Kessilian civil wars
 * Lord Protector of Aquilae
 * Waita Tar dance

Behind the Scenes

 * The Star Wars is based off Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress and Lucas's political musings that also underlay his drafts of the screenplay to Apocalypse Now.


 * Major elements of this script which were deleted in the later drafts found their way into the scripts of Episode I. Early versions of that script, for instance, named what would become Naboo, Utapau, which was merged with Aquilae in the second draft. The rescue and Jedi protection of a young princess, the blockade of a isolated system, the presence of a benevolent monarchy, and the arrival and combat with a Sith Lord on the moon of Utapau, as well as difficulties encountered getting off-world, all are related to scenes from the rough draft.


 * Though the jungle planet of Yavin is placed in the Forbidden Systems, the space fortress orbiting Aquilae is visible from it, making it seem that Yavin is in the same star system. The evidence is ambigious, but it hard to explain otherwise. Later drafts place Yavin in a distinct system.