Question I have a strange question. After the Prequils came out, why did they need to change the end of return of the jedi when Luke is standing there and he sees OB-Wan, Yoda and Anakin. They switched the original Anakin Sebastian Shaw with the new anakin Hayden christiansen. I thought that was kind of dumb. What do you think?
Answer Hello. Thanks for the question.
George Lucas provided the answer to this question in the audio commentary for Return of the Jedi, as a matter of fact. Lucas reasoned that he felt that Anakin's true death occurred just as he turned to the Dark Side. Thus, he modified the scene to satisfy his own interpretation of the saga.
As for my opinion on the matter, this is the only change that Lucas made to any of the Star Wars movies that I disagree with (believe it or not, I didn't find the whole "Greedo shoots first" fiasco very obtrusive). While I do agree with Lucas that Anakin metaphorically "died" when he turned to the Dark Side, the fact that he turned back to the Light Side just before he dies implies his own "rebirth", if you will. Thus, based on how I understand it, Anakin's real death occurred just as he brought balance to the Force (in Return of the Jedi), not just as he turned to the Dark Side (in Revenge of the Sith).
Frankly, though, I don't find the scene obtrusive enough so as to criticize the film to a certain degree. It is, however, one of those nitpicky things that you notice after having watched the film for so many times.
I hope that answers your question. If there's anything unclear in my response, please feel free to ask again. Thanks.
