Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith has become more important to the franchise than the first-ever Star Wars movie. Since the original Star Wars movie, later retitled A New Hope, premiered in 1977, the franchise has grown at an exponential rate. That one movie launched hundreds of books, comics, movies, TV shows, and toys, paving the way for decades of storytelling. It’s impossible to deny A New Hope’s impact not only on Star Wars but on popular culture at large, as well. It changed how movies were made and the general audiences’ perception of science-fiction and fantasy narratives.
And yet, since Luke Skywalker first looked out over those iconic twin suns on Tatooine, Star Wars’ legacy has become dependent on more than just that first film. In fact, most of Star Wars’ modern storytelling is no longer based around A New Hope – though, of course, all of Star Wars draws from the ideas it introduced – but rather around the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and more specifically, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The final installment of Anakin Skywalker’s story has arguably become the most important film in Star Wars history, certainly where newer Star Wars stories are concerned.
Revenge of the Sith was the catalyst for some of Star Wars’ best stories and characters. It provided the needed jumping-off point for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a show that made the entirety of the prequel trilogy a much stronger part of the Skywalker saga and gave audiences a deeper look into the mechanics of the Clone Wars conflict. Without The Clone Wars, viewers never would have learned about Obi-Wan’s complex relationship dynamics, why the Jedi’s hubris and fear of the dark side was so dangerous, the true power of the Force, the depth and breadth of Palpatine’s plans, and who the clones were beyond being soldiers.
All of those things and more made Star Wars better. The Clone Wars also eventually led to Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and it included the beginnings of stories that would later spill over into The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Star Wars Rebels, and more. Without Revenge of the Sith, none of those shows would have been made. Star Wars animation may have taken an entirely different route, perhaps never even existed, instead. The franchise owes a lot to the ideas and concepts introduced by George Lucas in Revenge of the Sith.
A New Hope is vital to the franchise. There’s no denying its impact. It was the birth of a new era in Hollywood and beyond. Revenge of the Sith, on the other hand, should have been an ending. It was supposed to provide closure for the story of Anakin Skywalker, provide context for the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy, and bring the Skywalker saga to an end. Instead, Revenge of the Sith became the starting point of modern Star Wars. It is the foundation of every story released since Disney took over. Order 66, especially, has proven to be a major turning point.
Without the events of Order 66, most of Star Wars’ newer stories wouldn’t have occurred. Of course, Order 66 was originally used as a way of explaining the absence of the Jedi in the original Star Wars trilogy, but it has since become so much more than that. Without Order 66, modern Star Wars projects like Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi wouldn’t exist. Order 66 changed the galaxy forever, not just within the actual narrative but outside of it as well.
Revenge of the Sith’s impact goes further than that though. It changed the way audiences saw and understood the Jedi. Before the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the idea of the Jedi was always simple – peaceful knights affiliated with the light side of the Force, hoping to stand up and fight for what was right. Everything anyone knew about the Jedi was because of how Luke Skywalker saw them. Revenge of the Sith changed all that though. Throughout the Star Wars prequel trilogy, it became clear that the Jedi, like any other major organization, were flawed.
It wasn’t until Revenge of the Sith and the additional stories told in The Clone Wars that those flaws were properly examined, however. Those major flaws have influenced so much of Star Wars’ storytelling, including other newer projects like Ahsoka, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire, and Star Wars: The High Republic. Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars allowed audiences to understand how Palpatine was able to gain the upper hand, and through those stories, the franchise’s understanding of the Force has changed as well.
Now, of course, A New Hope still commands much of Star Wars’ attention. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one of modern Star Wars’ best and most successful films, leads directly into it. That movie spawned Andor, arguably Star Wars’ best live-action TV show yet. Star Wars Rebels is also directly linked to A New Hope and the rest of the original Star Wars trilogy through the Ghost Crew’s efforts with the earliest version of the Rebellion. In essence, any Star Wars story set during the Dark Times and the Galactic Empire is inextricably intertwined with the very first Star Wars movie.
A New Hope has directly influenced stories that deal with the Empire, the Death Star, and the Rebellion. However, beyond the general concepts of the Jedi, the Sith, the Empire, and the Skywalker family dynamic, its influence is mostly limited to one relatively small – though very thoroughly explored – part of the Star Wars timeline. Revenge of the Sith’s influence, on the other hand, is spread out throughout Star Wars history. The decimation of the Jedi changed the galaxy forever, and the political and philosophical questions the film raised are still being answered by the franchise.
A New Hope was the ultimate beginning, and Revenge of the Sith was supposed to be the ultimate end. Instead, Revenge of the Sith has also proven to be a beginning in its own right. In a sense, these movies will always be twinned with one another. Each represents the birth of a new era for the franchise. A New Hope introduced audiences to the potential of the Star Wars universe, while Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith changed what that universe could be forevermore.