A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Star Wars was cool. It was unassailable. It wasn’t just the height of fanboy pleasures, but it was the biggest mainstream success in the history of movies.

It was 1980.

But for many, the magic of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise hit its high point with the release of the amazing The Empire Strikes Back that year. That first sequel had taken the wonder, the fantasy, and the technical wizardry of the original 1977 film and elevated it to new heights, providing a grander, darker, more complex adventure that even bordered on delving into adult themes. (You’re whose father, Darth?) It was a magnificent time to be alive.

But something went wrong after the release of Empire, that much is certain.

For many an older Star Wars fan, the series was mortally wounded with the release of Return of the Jedi, though we didn’t know it at the time. While the film was still a rip-roaring adventure, replete with more space battles, lightsaber action, and alien what-do-you-call-its than ever before, certain creeping terrors are evident in the picture in retrospect, and were more than enough to give a few 12-year-olds pause in 1983.

“We’ve got TV movies in our future.”

The most obvious of these was the presence of the cute and furry and hateful Ewoks, creatures as equally unrealistic in their disposition and design as they were in their ability to defeat the same Galaxy-spanning Empire that had years earlier wiped out the Jedi Knights. But still, a lot of kids (and even some adults) loved the Ewoks, enough to spawn a couple of TV movies in fact, which is another early sign of galactic rigor mortis. So this wasn’t quite enough to sound the death knell for the series yet.

But there were other matters going on behind the scenes. The full, true story behind the making of Jedi is presumably lost to history and the Thought Police at Lucasfilm. But the basic belief is that Lucas’ approach to making the film was influenced by his experience on Empire, a fantastic picture that nonetheless had gone seriously over budget and over schedule. Lucas, a money man at heart who had used the Star Wars success to become the biggest indie filmmaker in the world, would not allow that to happen again. Apparently, Lucas elected to become much more involved in the day-to-day production of Jedi than he had been on the previous movie.

Yes, Harrison, your instincts served you well about Jedi.

As a result, Han Solo’s uncertain carbonite-frozen fate in Empire was reduced to a lackluster and by-the-numbers resolution in Jedi (actor Harrison Ford was reportedly interested in killing the character off instead).

Likewise, Solo and Princess Leia’s screwball comedy-esque romantic relationship became as dull as the coked-out glaze in Carrie Fisher’s eyes, while the dénouement between Luke Skywalker and his recently revealed dad, Darth Vader, was overshadowed by the arrival of the cackling, cartoonish, possibly transgendered Emperor.

The film, undoubtedly the weakest installment of the original trilogy, had certainly killed many of the aspects of Star Wars that we all loved, though the funeral would not arrive until 16 years later when The Phantom Menace revived the series on the big screen. And by “revived” we’re talking about the way a dead body is revived to become a zombie in a George Romero film.

“Shall I shoot first this time?”

But first, Lucas tried out many of his newfangled CGI methodologies that he intended to use in the prequels, by releasing the so-called Special Edition versions of the original trilogy in 1997. Altering the movies by inserting new visual effects shots and tinkering with other elements, the Special Editions were perhaps most infamous for the “Greedo shoots first” controversy which effectively altered the character of Han Solo. It was a grave indication of what was to come in the prequel films.

Many an IGN staffer has recalled how they wanted - nay, needed! - to love The Phantom Menace when it was released. And we did, at first. But sitting in that theater on May 19th, 1999, as we watched early in the film as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and Jar Jar travelled underwater on that interminable submarine trip or whatever it was, a sense of unease began to spread not just within our stomachs, but also across the theater we were all in. And in most theaters across the country. Yeah, there was a tremor in the Force that night, but it wasn’t the kind we’d waited 16 years to feel.

You’re not going to see her again until the day (minute) she dies. Deal with it.

For a brave, self-assured few, Star Wars was dead that very night. But for most fans, it took weeks if not months (or years) to realize what George Lucas had done. With that f*&king kid yelling yippee. With that dirty hippie of a Jedi Knight Qui-Gon. With Sam Jackson sitting blankly in front of a green screen. With Natalie Portman! George Lucas ruined Natalie Portman for us that night. For this, we will not forgive, or forget.

The subsequent prequel films did not carry the excitement with them that their predecessors had. By the time the sort of tolerable Revenge of the Sith was released the Star Wars corpse was long buried for most adult fans. And for any who had held out in defiant hope, the recent release of the Clone Wars cartoon on the big screen - and its Truman Capote Hutt - has certainly put a blaster bolt right through the head of those hopes and dreams.

The future of Star Wars

But like the aforementioned Romero zombie, the Star Wars saga will continue to rot and decay while it shambles and lurches towards ever-increasing profits, with new TV shows, comics, toys, and much more always being released. Who knows, perhaps it will someday be reborn, Obi-Wan Kenobi style, into a shimmering, magical iteration of itself that will thrill us all once again. Though in all likelihood, that will not happen until after the Day George Lucas Dies.

Original article courtesy of IGN