Return of the Jedi changed a lot from first draft to finished product. Mark Hamill shot the entire movie with a blue lightsaber, only to have it colored green during post-production. Leia wasn’t Luke’s sister, and then she was. Han Solo was supposed to die, and well, you get the idea. The biggest change by far was the movie’s climax. In Return of the Jedi‘s original ending, Luke puts on his father’s helmet and becomes Darth Vader.

The Original Ending

According to transcripts, George Lucas and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan had a pre-production meeting where George first pitched his dark ending. Lucas described it as Luke removing his father’s mask as he does in the final film, but rather than putting it aside, he puts it on and declares, “Now I am Vader!” Return of the Jedi‘s original ending also saw Luke vowing to “kill the Rebel fleet,” and take his rightful place as ruler of the known galaxy.

Would Have Been So Much Worse Than The Last Jedi

The concept of Luke turning to the Dark Side is nothing new. Legends has a few instances of the Jedi breaking bad, the most famous being the 1991 comic Dark Empire. Still, secondary stories are one thing.

Had Return of the Jedi kept its original ending with Luke taking up his father’s mantle, it would have changed the Star Wars franchise as we know it.

If you hate what Disney did to Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, imagine what it would be like to have him as the new Palpatine for the Star Wars sequels. The original Return of the Jedi ending proves that George Lucas is plenty capable of ruining his own characters. I’ll even argue that turning Luke evil could have derailed the sequels altogether.

The Butterfly Effect That Would Undo The Franchise

Return of the Jedi’s original ending would have been the franchise’s butterfly effect. Luke’s transition to the dark side would have unquestionably derailed Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy and Dark Empire. Without those two works to set up the foundation of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, there would be no renewed interest in the franchise.

Without the sudden bump in popularity, Kenner never releases the second wave of Star Wars figures in 1995. No figures means no Special Editions in ’97, leading to no prequel trilogy. Cut to 2012, and Disney decides spending $4 billion on three movies and the Ewok cartoon is insane.

As a result the company never purchases Lucasfilm.

Would Have Been A Wasted Hero’s Journey

Simply put, Star Wars fans didn’t follow Luke Skywalker on his epic hero’s journey just to watch him become the villain at the last second. Return of the Jedi‘s original ending would have killed all the goodwill fans had built up for Luke’s character over three movies. On top of that it’s just a downer of an ending.

Thankfully, Lucas changed his mind before the Return of the Jedi began production. Instead, we got one of the best happy endings ever committed to celluloid—until Lucas changed it. Return of the Jedi‘s original theatrical ending is a giant Ewok celebration where our heroes cut loose after saving the galaxy.

Rogue Squadron lights up the night sky with fireworks as Han, Luke, Lando, Leia, and the droids dance and sing with their new fuzzy companions. It was the perfect ending to the perfect trilogy.

Fortunately, George Lucas Didn’t Take This Route

Well, it was the perfect ending, until George Lucas decided we needed to check in with the Gungans to see how they celebrated Palpatine’s demise. In George Lucas’s definitive version of Return of the Jedi, the whole galaxy celebrates the Emperor’s death approximately ten minutes after it happens. The residents of Tatooine and Coruscant are amazing at spontaneous party planning apparently.

Still, I prefer the current CGI-fest ending to Return of the Jedi‘s original ending. I don’t care if you’re George Lucas or not. You can’t take a generation’s greatest hero and suddenly make him a bad guy.