Star Wars Infinities: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Infinities: The Phantom Menace is a 4-part comic subseries of Star Wars Infinities written by Chris Warner. As in the early 2000s the line featured alternate retellings of the films of the original trilogy, this revival of the brand features alternate retelling of the prequel trilogy. In this case, it features an alternate retelling of The Phantom Menace. It was published from May 2, 2017 to November 21, 2017.

Plot
32 BBY. At Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker has won the Bonta Eve Classic's podrace. While heading to the Naboo Royal Starship, the Sith Lord Darth Maul appears and attempts to kill the young Skywalker, but the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn faces Maul while Anakin goes to the starship. Just when Maul is about to finish off Jinn, Captain Quarsh Panaka shoots down Maul, saving Jinn. With the Zabrak Sith Lord gone, Jinn goes to the starship and they depart to Coruscant. However, Karp Yar, a Rodian Trade Federation spy, communicates with Darth Sidious to inform him that Maul has failed in his assignment. Furious, Sidious Force chokes Yar to death and goes to Serenno, where he encounters Count Dooku, offering him the chance to become his Sith apprentice, an offer that Dooku accepts. Meanwhile, during the journey to Coruscant, the young Skywalker befriends Queen Padmé Amidala.

Back at Coruscant, the Jedi High Council listens to Qui-Gon’s claims that Anakin could be the Chosen One and reluctantly accept to have Jinn train Anakin into the Force, while Obi-Wan Kenobi is given the rank of Master and assigned to train the younglings. On the other hand, Darth Sidious, in his public persona of Senator Sheev Palpatine, returns to Coruscant just to find that during his absence, Queen Amidala has talked to Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and negotiated to send more military to Naboo, ending with Palpatine's chances to being elected Supreme Chancellor. Frustrated, Palpatine politely announces that he will retire from the Galactic Senate, but asking Vice Chair Mas Amedda to frequently inform him about the Senate's actions. Said and done, Palpatine retires to Serenno, where he starts Dooku’s training.

Four years later, in 27 BBY, Anakin Skywalker, the thirteen years old Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn is promoted to Jedi Knight by the Jedi High Council due his efficacy. The Trade Federation has been wiped out from Naboo thanks to the Galactic Republic military, though the Confederacy of Independent Systems exists now. During this time, Anakin and Padmé have fallen in love each other. Back at Serenno, Darth Sidious says to Dooku, now Darth Tyranus, which his training has ended, that it's time to return to Coruscant to get their revenge against the Jedi Order, leading Dooku to remember that he is anxious to kill Master Yoda and his former Padawan Qui-Gon. While the two Sith Lords go to Coruscant, the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Zam Wesell are hired to kidnap Shmi Skywalker at Tatooine. Immediately, Fett and Wesell go to Coruscant and kidnap Shmi, killing her employer Watto in the process. Unfortunately, though Jango manages to capture Shmi, she uses his blaster to make him shoot down Wesell.

At the same time, at Coruscant, Padmé and Anakin reunite at the Jedi Temple’s gardens to kiss each other and share their love. Padmé asks Anakin that it’s a shame that they couldn't marry each other when they grow up mainly due Anakin being a Jedi because the Jedi Order forbids marriage. At that moment, however, Qui-Gon appears and asks Anakin to accompany him to a mission to Utapau, where Viceroy Nute Gunray is reuniting with the other Separatist leaders, planning to arrest him in company of some Republic soldiers. During the journey to Utapau, Qui-Gon reminds Anakin that he can't be with Padmé because a Jedi must be celibate, leading Anakin to ask why once the Jedi were allowed to marry. Qui-Gon responds to his Padawan that Jedi were allowed to marry before the Great Sith War, which led the Jedi to change their philosophies. Back at Coruscant, Padmé goes to her apartment accompanied by Jar Jar Binks, who asks why she now lives at Coruscant, leading Amidala to respond that since the Separatist invasion on Naboo ended, several Separatist assassins have attempted to kill her, like one attempt which claimed Sabé's life. However, in that moment, Dooku enters into the room disguised as a waiter to attend Amidala. Amidala asks what happened to Hiro, her waiter, but Dooku ignites his lightsaber and knocks out Amidala. Jar Jar attempts to defend her, but Dooku knocks out the Gungan with the Force by smashing him against the crystal door of the apartment's balcony.

On Utapau, Qui-Gon and Anakin slain several B1 battle droids and Droidekas before they find the Separatist Council. Firmly, Qui-Gon puts the entire Separatist Council under arrest, but Nute Gunray escapes via a door. While Qui-Gon faces more B1 battle droids, Anakin pursues Gunray, who boards his ship the Lapiz Cutter and attempts to shot down Skywalker. Anakin stops several shots with the Force, but starts to feel fatigued and tired, but he knows that if he lets go the shots, they will kill him. Fortunately, Qui-Gon appears and with his lightsaber returns the shots to the Lapiz Cutter, thus destroying it and sending it to fall into the chasm below. However, as Qui-Gon, Anakin and the Republic soldiers return to their ship with the rest of the Separatists imprisoned, they receive a call of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells them that both the Jedi Temple and the Galactic Senate are being attacked by B1 battle droids leaded by Count Dooku, who is commanded by the mysterious Darth Sidious, who have kidnapped Queen Amidala and Shmi Skywalker. Furious that the Sith have kidnapped the two persons he loves most in the galaxy, Anakin prompts Qui-Gon to return immediately to Coruscant.

At Coruscant, Padmé is brought to the Maul, an aquatic yacht property of Darth Sidious, where she is tied along Shmi, who recognizes her as the Queen of Naboo, while Padmé recognizes her as the mother of her Ani. Just then, Darth Sidious enters to the room and Padmé concludes that he is Senator Sheev Palpatine, accusing him to be a traitor to the Galactic Republic. Sidious then reveals his plans to create a Galactic Empire, thus becoming the Emperor of the galaxy. As both Amidala and Skywalker scream for help, Sidious orders Jango to gag them, later ordering the bounty hunter to keep an eye on their two prisoners. Meanwhile, Anakin and Qui-Gon arrive and go to the Jedi Temple, where Master Yoda and the other Jedi are fighting for their lives. Qui-Gon and Anakin make it into the Jedi Temple, slaying several B1 battle droids still activated only to have one of them revealing what Sidious was intending to do with Padmé and Shmi, in addition to reveal that Dooku has created the Separatists' Ultimate Weapon, which is now going to Coruscant to destroy it with its superweapon, though this droid gets up shot down by Jango Fett. Decided to duel his former master, Qui-Gon orders Anakin and Obi-Wan to pursue Fett while he goes to the Ultimate Weapon to end with Dooku while Yoda and the other masters go to the streets to end with more battle droids.

While Qui-Gon goes to the Ultimate Weapon, Anakin and Obi-Wan chase Fett to the Galactic Senate, where Finis Valorum is held as hostage, screaming for help as Fett has rigged the entire Senate with a bomb. Anakin then damages Fett's jetpack with his lightsaber, causing Fett to crash against the Senate's ceiling and fall to his death. Knowing that they didn’t have much time, Obi-Wan deactivates the bomb and orders Anakin to find the Maul and rescue Padmé and Shmi. Anakin does so while Obi-Wan manages to deactivate the bomb completely. Now at the Bridge of Unity, Anakin jumps into the Maul, where he slains several battle droids before confronting Mas Amedda at the yacht's living room. Amedda tries to take out the young Jedi with his blaster, and though he injures Anakin, he ultimately kills him with his lightsaber. On the other hand, the Ultimate Weapon is heading to Coruscant when Qui-Gon enters into it by using Lott Dod as his patsy. Once inside the Ultimate Weapon, Qui-Gon slains several battle droids until he finds Dooku. Dooku says that he is disappointed with his old Padawan, while Qui-Gon offers Dooku and chance to redeem and surrender in custody to the Republic, but Dooku says to him that now he will die. At the same moment, now at the room where Shmi and Padmé are held as hostages, Darth Sidious attempts to seduce Anakin into the dark side of the Force, but the desperate screams of his mother and Padmé ultimately convinces him that he is on the light side, challenging the Sith Lord to a duel. Concurrently, Qui-Gon duels Dooku while Anakin duels Sidious. While the Ultimate Weapon makes it into Coruscant's orbit, Dooku orders Captain TA-77 of the Security Battle Droids to activate the Ultimate Weapon's super laser. Meanwhile, Sidious kicks Anakin's lightsaber off a window from the Maul, rendering him weaponless. Sidious then sentences Anakin to death, but just when he was about to strike down the young Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears and blasts him on the back, injuring him. After untying Padmé and Shmi, the two Jedi bring the two women to Obi-Wan's speeder and depart but not before Obi-Wan places a bomb in the control room of the yacht, blowing the Maul and killing Sidious.

On the other hand, Dooku renders Qui-Gon weaponless and offers him a chance to be his apprentice again, but now as his Sith apprentice, as he has felt that Darth Sidious has died. However, unknown to Dooku, some cables of the Ultimate Weapon, pulled out with the Force by Qui-Gon, rapidly ties him before he can destroy them with his lightsaber and gets strapped at the wall, while Qui-Gon uses the Force to open the control room of the Ultimate Weapon and closes the door behind before slain several battle droids, including Captain TA-77, thus turning off the super laser, causing the Ultimate Weapon's systems to burnt-out, sending the Ultimate Weapon to enter into Coruscant’s orbit to fall into Coruscant’s oceans. Anakin asks his master via a communicator to get out from the Ultimate Weapon, but Qui-Gon, knowing that he needs to remain there to block the door and avoid Dooku escaping, remains at the Ultimate Weapon, which crashes and sinks into the depths of the ocean but not before reminding Anakin that the Force will be always with them.

Upon returning to the Jedi Temple, Yoda says to Anakin and Obi-Wan that they don't need to explain what happened to Qui-Gon because he already had sensed it with the Force. Surprised, then Anakin comes to a conclusion before Yoda and Obi-Wan: Qui-Gon was wrong about him being the Chosen One... Qui-Gon WAS the Chosen One. Much to the surprise of Yoda and Obi-Wan, they conclude that in fact, by killing Dooku, Qui-Gon ended with the thousand-year Sith lineage started by Darth Bane eons ago. As such, Yoda organizes a ceremony for Obi-Wan and Anakin due their work, and when Yoda asks Anakin if there is something he would like to change in the Jedi Order due his efficacy by dueling Sidious, Anakin responds that the Order must allow the Jedi to have families and marry, because that was what Qui-Gon believed in the old Jedi Order. Immediately, Kit Fisto says that Anakin is right and that he and Aayla Secura are in love. In fact of seconds, many Jedi announce that they are in love with fellow Jedi, so Yoda and Mace Windu, as Grand Masters, decide to put an end to the celibate vote and announce that from now, Jedi can marry onwards.

Some years later, Anakin and Padmé marry at Naboo. Anakin declares his love for Padmé and they kiss each other, leading Padmé to whisper Anakin that she is pregnant with his child, to which Anakin says to her that they must call him Jinn after his master. Many guests, including Obi-Wan, Cordé, Padmé's family and Shmi, applaud for the couple, while the Force ghost of Qui-Gon sees them smiling from afar.

Trivia

 * Running gag: As in the other retelling of the prequels, Jar Jar Binks gets knocked against a wall.
 * In this alternate retelling, the Grand Army of the Republic never came to exist as the Sith threat and the Separatist threat was ended prematurely.

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