I loved Revenge of the Sith. Like many fans, it was my favorite movie of the prequel trilogy. However, if I had my way, there is one thing that would have been different about it: Anakin would not have been given his Sith name in the movie.

Remember Darth Vader's introduction and presence in A New Hope? Remember how evil he seemed? Remember the amazing twist and how shocked everyone was in The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader and Luke had the following exchange (forgive me if I don't get it 100% accurate):

VADER: Obi-wan never told you the truth about your father.

LUKE: He told me enough. He told me you killed him.

VADER: No, *I* am your father.

LUKE: No, thats not true! Thats impossible!

I was just a kid then, but I remember my shock and amazement as I learned right along with Luke that Vader was in fact a Skywalker and his father. I remember talking about this with my friends and family and debating whether it was really true before Return of the Jedi was released.

Now, imagine you are a new fan to the Star Wars saga. You start with Episode One: The Phantom Menace. You follow Anakin and Obi-wan's story through Attack of the Clones, and you finally arrive at Revenge of the Sith. In the last half of Sith, you witness Anakin betray Mace Windu and receive his Sith name of Darth Vader. You then witness Obi-wan defeat Anakin on Mustafar. Finally, you see Padme give birth to Luke and Leia, and Anakin completely transform into the new Dark Lord.

By the time you get to Empire, the revelation of Vader's true identity as Luke's father is only surprising to Luke. If it were up to me, Episode III would have been altered slightly in an attempt to preserve this surprise.

First, Palpatine/Darth Sidious, would not give Darth Vader his name in the scene where Anakin betrays Mace. Sidious would accept him as a new apprentice, but the naming would be edited out or dispatched with a line something along the lines of "You will need to adopt a new name, my young apprentice. In time, the Force will reveal your new identity. For now, I believe you are the only Jedi that was not involved in the plot to overthrow the Republic..."

Second, we wouldn't see Palpatine's rescue of Anakin on Mustafar. Instead, and this is the biggest change, we would see Palpatine in the now Imperial Senate making an announcement that Anakin Skywalker, the last Jedi that was loyal to the Republic, had defeated what was left of the Seperatists leaders on Mustafar. However, Skywalker perished from his injuries. The Emporer then leads the Senate in recognition of this fallen hero.

Finally, Vader would be introduced. Instead of seeing Anakin lying on the operating table as his cybernetic limbs are attached, we would see Palpatine leave the Senate. He would then arrive at a holo transmitter. Then the scene cuts to an image of seated Vader. From behind, we see his helmet lowered onto his head. Palpatine then instructs Vader, his apprentice, to oversee the construction of their new battle station.

The problem with this approach is that Episode IV makes things confusing. Vader refers to Obi-wan as his old master. Obi-wan has knowledge of Darth Vader and refers to him as a former pupil. Under the synopsis I plotted out, Obi-wan wouldn't have known of Vader's true identity. Vader's lines would still give away the surprise in Empire. Someone more clever than I would need to figure out how to overcome that. That said, I can appreciate the difficulty Lucas must have faced if he even contemplated an approach that would preserve the surprise in Empire.

To avoid the spoiler issue raised by Episode III, I usually start with Episode IV when introducing Star Wars to someone for the first time. You just have to be careful in your explanation of why you start there. However, I know that the various cable networks have done marathons with all six Star Wars movies starting with Episode I. That is kind of a disservice, as far as I'm concerned. Its a great saga, and I just wish there were a way to better preserve the big surprise.