Chapter Text
Not written as story, written as a long authors note of a bunny, an outline if you will.
For the overall stuff, let's get this out of the way. I'm not changing the basics of the plot for the PT/OT. (this being PT section, highlights for Episode One: Taxation dispute, blockade turned invasion, fleeing queen, freed slave boy, chancellor no-confidenced, gungan army, Boss Nass holds up a glowy sphere.)
Next: Time in the Galaxy Far Far Away. There's a MATH reason for this: A "Galactic Standard Year" is a Coruscant Year, which is '360'. The math?
the calendar is divisible by: 9=40, 10=36 and 12=30. this allows for weeks of 10, 9, 8, 6 or 5 days duration that also fully fill said calendar months. Specifically: 9 months of 40 days, 10-8-5, 10 months of 36 days: 9-6-5, 12 months of 30 days: 10-6-5. Lets also say Coruscant became the capital and standard because of its duration which was easier to program for, than most other planets with awkward year lengths. (also, celestial engineering?). Coruscant uses 12 months of 30 days, and a "standard week" is six days (for five weeks per month) - a typical working week is five days on, one day off. the words for specific days are to be left ambiguous.
Naboo, on the other hand, has both a longer day and a shorter year. the stats from wookiepedia is 26 hours to their day and 312 'standard days' to their year. That equates to 288 local days per year, (it says STANDARD days, not Local days) (The Math: known figures: 24hr galstan, naboo 312 standard days. 24*312=7488. 7488/26=288. Galstandard: 24*360=8640 Difference: 8640-7488=1152 additional hrs on the galstandard, or 1152 less hrs shorter on the naboo side. this is 48 standard days or 44.3_ naboo days per year difference).
This causes something interesting. Lets take 365-days as wookiepedia says: Padme, 14, Galactic standard would actually, by Naboo calendar, be 16. Or, 14 by Naboo Calendar, Eleven. Anakin... Now we need to know Tatooine. 34 hour days, 304 standard day year, or 214.something days a year, for what value a year is in a trinary system. So, Anakin being nine in canon... by which calendar? Galactic? he's therefore ten, local. Tatooine? he's five. And since there's no perfect matchup, More than nine, less than ten, produces potentially: Gal>Tat: 10, 11, 12 (He can turn twelve, tatooine local, before he turns 10, GalStn.) Altered for 360 days (not 365 as I used here):
Format: G: Galactic Standard Year, N Naboo Year T Tatooine Year. wher _> means "character is 14 under _ system" so converted to the following. Assumes calculations purely from hours, days not coming into it (so the max time for that age is one hour short of the following year's total hours)
Padme: G>N/T: 16-17/16-17; N>G/T: 12/14-15; T>G/N: 11-12/13-14
Anakin: G>N/T: 10-11/10-11; N>G/T: 7-8/9-10; T>G/N: 7-8/8-9
Due to age change for anakin in episode I (11, rather than 9), produces this:
Anakin G>N/T: 12-13/13-14; N>G/T: 9-10/11-12; T>G/N: 9-10/10-11
The ages respectively then that I'll be using is that Padme is 14 on Naboo's calendar, so by the Galactic, she's 12, and on Tatooine her equivalent age is 14-15. Anakin is 11 on Tatooine, so he's 9-10 Galactic Standard, or 10-11 by Naboo Calendar.
(Because Tatooine has the shorter calendar, so going to the longer two reduces the new age. Gal-standard being longer, going down increases the age number. Naboo, goes higher to Tatooine's, or lower to Galstandard.)
The age range in hours then, for Padme is 104832 to 112294 for her 14 years, Naboo. She's twelve, galactic standard, and between 14 and fifteen in comparison to Tatooine. She turns 15 under the naboo calendar at the same time she turns 12 under the galactic calendar.
For Anakin, is 80256-87518 for his eleven years, Tatooine. He's 9 or 10, Galactic Standard, or 10 or 11, by Naboo's Calendar.
This places at max, 32,038 hr or min, 17,314 hrs of age difference.
Under Galactic Standard, that's between 2 years, 1 day, 10 hrs to 3 years, 254 days, 22 hrs
Under Naboo Calendar, that's between 2 years, 89 days, 24 hrs, to 4 years, 26 days, 6 hrs.
Under Tatooine Calendar, that's between 2 years, 80 days, 2 hrs, to 4 years, 83 days, 32 hrs.
for a Min/Max difference, depending on the calendar, 2 years 1 day 10 hrs to 4 years, 83 days, 32 hrs.
The structure for this (and why 9, not 3 chapters) is that Episode I to II is a ten year gap, and II to III is a five year gap - note that one is the canon gap, one isn't - in which there's space for essentially a "long Prologue" and "Long Epilogue" to each that are close enough to be distinctly 'this is in Episode _'s time frame' but not too close. (Galactic standard.)
For time span of each pre/episode/post, I'm imagining that respectively one to two years, no more than half a year, and again one to two years. The Pre / Prologue is essentially a "can be missed" that sets up plenty of world building for the "main event" and the post/epilogue a 'what happened to' of sorts, also missable, and skipping them, just watching the episodes themselves wouldn't be too confusing (like who's this bail character, or hang on anakin is friends with the chancellor, how does that work, and things like wouldn't anakin and padme not have gotten much time together with a long war and all that, or whos this coughing robot with organic eyes dude)
Lets also say that the Pre and Post bits are basically lower-budget TV shows that take advantage of, say, faster production schedules to get more screen time. (typical scifi genre tv episode: 40-45 minutes, with ad breaks pushes to the hour. Source: Star Trek, Stargate, etc). There's say, thirteen to twenty-two episodes (latter because I was a stargate fan?) So, at 45 minutes each, we've got sixteen hours and thirty minutes of screen time to play with (versus a 'directors cut' expected runtime of two hours for the high-budget 'main events').
As lower budget tv shows, we can be more forgiving then of when a forest is clearly just a bunch of trees near a road in Vancouver, or a hastily-prepared street in L.A. or New York or Chicago etc. That scenes like wandering through a large, ornate cathedral are rare, so we get more cosy stuff, and 'standing sets' constructed for the show mean we don't see the ceilings much if at all, like the star trek TOS Enterprise corridor set pieces / the gateroom from stargate sg-1.
That said, all designing for starships so CG and physical models have a standing order that the physical sets must be able to fit within them. Ergo the Millenium Falcon exteriors would be... larger...
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A Phantom Prologue, or Setting up for the Episode is Menacing.
This is going to cover a year. We've got three goals here:
1) Set up the actual dynamics of A) The Jedi Order, 2) The Master/Apprenticeship between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, III) A 'typical' Mission for a Jedi / how they usually go for our adventuring pair.
B) Set up what the galaxy at large looks like such as 1) how the Old Republic operates, II) how that relates to the heroes aka the Jedi, C) and how that relates to the bad guys of Episode I, aka the Trade Federation.
III) Show the details that are, within-episode I, irrelevant beyond being the problem to solve/behidn the problem to solve so I) what exactly this taxation is on about B) how a blockade of an entire planet could be legal 3) and how it could be 'made legal'.
Beyond that, we can establish things like characters and other world-building that's less plot-driven.
The Plots
So what'll the plots be?
The Jedi Plotline.
This involves Our Jedi Pair, and a little of the Republic's Senate / Chancellor Valorum establishing there being something of a friendship between Qui-Gon and Valorum. (It also gets to highlight the dynamics of the Jedi Order, their typical higher-profile missions, and the diplomatic tint to Obi-Wans own training hence why those two for Episode I.) This is also to establish the 'Credibility' of sending a pair of Jedi for a DIPLOMATIC solution, rather than simply to 'use violence/the force to end this issue', ergo we see a mission that, despite Obi-wan's brand of luck, sees a peaceful resolution, if not the expected resolution. (Yes, Obi-Wan's the unlucky one. Anakin was no where near Geonosis/etc in canon EII.). Also, we meet Dooku as a Jedi in his prime, but for this Prologue series he's as present as Mace Windu was in canon Episode I. Ergo, no lightsaber combat for him. We neither peek in on the Trade or the Sith plotlines here, except the existential connections through the Political stuff.
Maybe we can make references to some of the stuff from the EU and later developments... Say: Siri Tachi and Satine Kryze. Qui-Gon warning against Obi-wan "falling in love again" or something and referencing both the Mandalorian civil war/Satine backstory and Melida/Daan backstory. Definitely have that Obi-Wan had spent time as a Slave and understands various Slave Cultures more easily. (this will be important for later!). Yes, Obi-wan frees some slaves during the course (connecting to the 'unexpected means of peaceful resolution'?)
The Sith plotline.
Darth Plagiarism has been dead for a while, we get explicit information there, and that Maul has been an apprentice since basically his late teens/early adulthood, so for a decade about. But he didn't have much training in the force prior to that. For this, it's more following Maul's path, than Sidious, but over time connects more and more to the Trade Federation because Maul's missions as well as Sidious' political machinations have been pushing things along for that side of things, though not everything IS about that. We don't get to peek in on the Jedi for this plotline stuff.
This is mostly a 'context for Episode I' thing and we spend the least time here.
The Trade Federation Plotline.
This involves a better/less racial stereotyping depiction of the neimoidians, so we get to see what the Trade Federation is normally. This connects to the Sith Plotline because as the audience, we get to see why they're having difficulties. aka viewers of the prologue get the bonus of feeling bad for the overtly-bad bad guys of Episode 1 because we saw how they went from basically, business men to warlords and that it was a downfall they could have avoided with great difficulty, so not avoided easily. Sympathy vote, but also still root against them in the end. Still, Gunray is to be depicted such that the sympathy vote is basically for rune harko and co, not for Gunray, whose more of a conniving little shit who had no problem agreeing to work with Sith. ergo the 'could have avoided' involves if say, Harko backed someone else to become Viceroy, rather than Gunray. A, Gunray was promising 'easy fix' vs his political opponent who wasn't... an opponent who, if they succeeded as viceroy, would have been not-so-easily-assassinated, so Palpies backup plan if Gunray didn't become Viceroy wasn't to kill the other guy to install Gunray as, but go elsewhere (since Gunray would be first suspect in said assassination and therefore under a lot of scrutiny). This also connects loosely with the Naboo storyline, in that at the end we see the development of the 'issue with taxation' turning into a blockade. in that it's not protests in the senate then suddenly a fleet in orbit of naboo, but a Boycott that grows into a Blockade.
The Naboo Plotline.
Here we get the first really major break from the canon for this 'rewrite'. Just how the Naboo Monarchy works: it's a force-bedamned Monarchy. Full bloody stop. Padme starts out as the Princess of Theed. her Mother is the current Queen. We get the basics - like how Naboo's succession ignores gender completely, but also skips underage successors in the event that they're otherwise the first in line at the time of the existing ruling monarch dying. As for what naboo considers 'under-age'... single digit. That's, basically it. They join the line of succession once they're ten years of age, though in the corresponding spot of how they relate to the ruling monarch. So Padme's mom is queen when Padme comes of age. That means that Padme goes from not-in-the-line (her mom's siblings come first, intermixed with any of-age cousins through the respective queens-siblings' etc... so if the queen has two sibs, a bro and sis, and the sis is the youngest of the two, Queen>'sBrother>'sfirstborn>Queen'sSister>'sfirstborn>etc, but then padme turns ten: Queen>Padme>'sUncle>'sfirstborn>Padme'sAunt>'sfirstborn>etc). also, the Royal Family have a private life - the Monarchy is basically mostly ceremonial with most duties delegated away, and naboo has privacy laws so only the of-age individuals are known (and they also dont have much of a 'celebrity culture', so she's still queen Amidala, Naberrie being her actual name and kept private.)
Anyway, the Plotline is basically Padme's rise to the throne despite her age (twelve turning thirteen awhile after her Coronation), and toward the end, how the Blockade actually began, and the Trade Federation's Boycott causing a lot of issues on Naboo. Then we get to see some very underhanded actions cause Padme to start using the decoy strategy a lot even prior to the movie, and throughout we see the culture of Naboo a lot more.
The Tatooine Plotline.
Now we get to Anakin, Shmi and Watto. Here's another big break from canon: Shmi works as part of an anti-slavery underground railroad thing (common enough in 'tatooine slave culture'-referencing fanfics here on AO3)... and actually is helped in this by Watto, who purposefully turns a blind eye to it because he's actually really against Slavery, but his 'Depur' behavior (yes I'm bringing in Fiallerils fanon in on this) is basically forced a lot to cover for it, or when there's some disgruntled aHole, etc.
Oh, and Anakin's actually ten, not eight, at the start. Falling in line with another fanfic idea of Shmi lying about his age to have kept him with her - the whole, 'Gardulla to Watto' being when he was older than when kids get separated from their parent(s), rather than younger, and so being with Watto by the time that, any other Master, definitely separated.
We get to see two Pod Races (at least) - and basically why a certain race is the first race he actually finishes. Also, the work he puts in on three projects: a scanner for the slave chips (Watto knows of and he and Shmi use as part of freeing a few slaves during the course of the show), a droid (Watto knows about, and knows that it's future purpose is to assist on the freedom trail), and a third that Watto doesn't know about. because even with Watto as 'Depur', Anakin hates being a slave.
basically a big long 'freeing slaves' as the Tatooine side A-plot. Successes... and failures. the B-Plot, what being a slave means for Anakin, when Watto has to 'keep up appearances'. it's not pretty.
Character List
Major Characters:
Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Palpatine (Sidious), Maul, Nute Gunray, Rune Harko (sp?), Padme (Amidala) Naberrie.
Planets
Coruscant, Naboo, Tatooine - those are obvious. a few new ones, like for Qui and Obi to go to, Cato Neimoidia, obviously, etc.
Episodes then, since this is imagined to be a TV show.
Twenty-two episodes, split into five sets of two-parters, and twelve singular episodes.
1. + 2.
Our Pilot double bill. We meet Qui and Obi, Padme and her Mom, and Anakin and Shmi. Coruscant, Naboo, Tatooine. The Jedi pair do well with a diplomatic mission, Padme's Mom is nearly done with some political bullshit caused by their current senator to the Senate of the Republic, and Padme solves it will making it look accidental (it's not, but also she's only accidentally making it look accidental). As for our Skywalkers... Anakin is in a pod race, which Shmi and Watto are using as a cover for sneaking around and freeing some slaves... but whilst neither are caught, the slaves they're trying to free are. because slave chip.
3. + 4. + 5.
Trio of singular episodes. Also, Trade Federation somewhere in here. Also, character moments where these contain the first few references to Siri Tachi and Satine Kryze (Obi-Wans two previous Love Interests from the EU and current canon respectively).
Also-also, Sidious and Maul up to Shenanigans. One fails. Maul hates.
6. + 7.
Second Two-Parter. More emphasis on Tatooine, Anakin builds his prototype scanner. Qui and Obi have a mission where the former gets to watch some pod racing and the latter laments that his master seems to gamble a fair bit, when it doesn't quit go so masters' way despite a win. On Naboo, Padme's Mom announces in private she's going to abdicate, and that the wheels are already in motion. Padme is floored. Also, still thirteen. Young, though not the youngest. The timing for her coronation, and relation to her birthday isn't yet in place.
8. + 9. + 10.
Sidious and Maul lay the ground work for the future sith+trade federation efforts starting around here, but its subtle, and the show would treat it with less drama, like a really subtle chekovs gun rather than "big neon sign, here's a big thing" like the way the movies made "palpy" / "sidious" obviously the same person for people who hadn't already seen the O.T. / also those who had but didn't know from other sources that the Emporer was called palpatine.
11. + 12
Third, Mid-Season Two Parter.
Anakin tries to save a group of slaves, and his scanner works, but a Slave Singer is only able to remove a few before they're found by the irate "Depur". Watto is forced to act as a terrible "Depur" in order to save Anakin, and extend the punishment to Shmi also. (what the punishment is is left unexplained, but implied to be physical abuse... Though it is... a different sort. because issues.) If Watto didn't do anything, all three would be up shit-creek, essentially.
On Naboo, things that would have slowly been hinted at / referred to previously in singular-episodes about Naboo's local political landscape come to a head when Padme's (first attempted) Coronation is attacked by anti-monarchy terrorists. By the end, a Jedi Master is brought to oversee the investigation (which will occur entirely off screen), by the name of... Sar Dooku. (Because it lays some groundwork for why Padme, in eleven years, will think he might be responsible for THAT attempt on her life.)
13. + 14. + 15.
During one of these episodes, Padme is finally crowned in a more subdued ceremony.
Anakin succeeds in saving smaller groups of slaves.
Also gets punished for undisclosed 'crimes'.
16. + 17.
Fourth Two-Parter.
It's Padme's Birthday. And despite Sar Dooku's report that those who tried to kill her were 'dealt with', turns out, not so much... On the other hand, Other Jedi (Yoda?) succeed in giving a good impression of what a Jedi is (supposed to be) that Dooku failed at, by dealing with said terrorists.
The Trade Federation Plotline connects here to Naboo also, with a "new ally" to Gunray leading him to begin a Boycott on trade to the world. So during the existing terrorism crisis, Padme's also got to deal with trade issues that, in light of said Terrorism issues, goes more under the Radar.
18. + 19. + 20.
During these, the boycott on the Naboo grows, causing increased issues with imports and a growing number of transport companies starting to outright refuse work to the planet.
Anakin and Shmi's work continues, with ups and downs, and an ever growing undercurrent of anger and bitterness within one of them.
Something something Qui-gon and Obi-wan.
21. + 22.
Season Finale.
Over at Naboo, the boycott is becoming a blockade. The world, too reliant on food imports, faces a food shortage crisis turning into more than that.
Over on Tatooine, Anakin is in a race for his life. A Pod Race. And then Sebulba cheats, flashing his vents... and Anakin wakes up the morning of the race realizing he just dreamt Sebulba killing him in the race.
On Coruscant, Valorum is highly suspicious of recent actions by the Trade Federation, and after a secure comm from the ruler of a planet, has a surreptitious meeting with a pair of Jedi.
In a conference Room aboard a Trade Federation ship, Gunray finishes a meeting with a mysterious figure, and orders "The rest of the fleet" to "bring our assets here. And the control ship."