The master plan for organizing this huge canvas of six feature films seems to reflect a polarized view of the universe and of the hero myth itself, allowing full exploration of the dark and light possibilities of the heroic model. The films released in the 1970s and '80s represent the positively charged, optimistic view of heroism, in which the young hero Luke Skywalker is severely tempted by power and rage but ends up triumphant and morally balanced, an example of what Campbell calls "the Master of Two Worlds." The dramatic intention is quite different in the three prequel films (The Phantom Menace/1999, Attack of the Clones/2002, Revenge of the Sith/2005). Though sprinkled with moments of lightness and humor, the overall tone is dark and tragic, showing the destruction of a human spirit by fatal flaws of anger, pride, and ambition.
A mythic theme that seems to run through all the films is a fascination with the emotional territory between fathers and sons. The impact of positive male role models, surrogate fathers and mentors like Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn, Luke's Uncle Owen, and Mace Windu is emphasized, but the series is as much interested in the effect of absent or distant fathers and negative role models on a young man's developing personality.
The first three films released portray Luke Skywalker's quest to discover the identity of his father and his struggle with the dark tendencies in his own nature. Episode IV, the film released in 1977, more or less follows an Arthurian model, with the young nobleman raised in humble surroundings, unaware of his true nature, and watched over by a Merlin-like figure (Obi-Wan) who gives him a powerful weapon that belonged to his father, a light saber similar to Arthur's sword Excalibur.
In the next two films, Luke will discover more of his parentage and learn that Princess Leia is his twin sister. His relationships with surrogate fathers will continue to develop, losing Obi-Wan as a living influence (though his ghostly presence continues to guide Luke) and gaining a new father figure in Yoda. As he learns to master the Force he is tempted by the dark side, represented by the villainous Darth Vader, who eventually reveals himself as Luke's true father. Like many a hero before him, Luke must confront the fact that his father was not perfect, and that he has some of the same dangerous tendencies that made his father a tyrant and a monster. In this section the plot somewhat resembles the Wagnerian scenario of Siegfried, the young hero who must re-forge a broken sword that represents the failure of the previous generation.
Luke passes a major Resurrection test in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he has the opportunity and the motivation to kill his father, for Lord Vader is threatening to turn Luke's sister Princess Leia to the dark side of the Force. Luke spares his father's life, signifying his choice to uphold the positive side of the Force. The evil Emperor who has manipulated Darth Vader and is a kind of evil father figure for him now begins to destroy Luke with powerful lightning bolts. Moved by the sight of his son's impending death, Vader reverses polarity and goes over to the light side of the Force, throwing the Emperor to his death. Vader, dying himself from the struggle with the Emperor, asks Luke to remove his helmet, revealing the fragile human beneath the mask of technology. He seeks forgiveness and his son grants it. Luke, though wounded, dismembered, and sorely tempted by his own dark potential, ends up as a positively charged hero, able to use his powers responsibly for the good of all. He is even able to forgive the fact that his own father chopped off his arm and tried to kill him. One of the final images of Episode VI, theoretically the absolute end of the series, is that of the ghost of Darth Vader, redeemed and forgiven, standing benevolent watch over his son alongside the ghosts of Obi-Wan and Yoda, a trinity of father figures.
Sixteen years after the release of Episode VI, Lucas returned to his unfinished canvas to fill in the first three episodes, detailing the ascendancy of Luke's father, the young Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker, and his corruption into the totally evil Darth Vader. Continuing his exploration of father-son or mentor-student relationships, in Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Lucas begins with a young Obi-Wan training under his wise master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Qui-Gon and a galactic princess, Padme Amidala, find a brilliant, strong-willed nine-year-old boy, Anakin Skywalker, who is a slave on the desert planet of Tatooine where his son Luke Skywalker will later be raised. The boy, unnaturally skilled in mechanics and piloting, seems to be the fulfillment of a Jedi prophecy that a "Chosen One" will bring balance to the Force. But already the seeds of evil are present in the child, who has a quick temper and is difficult to control. Only Yoda seems to notice something is wrong with the boy, and warns that pride and anger may come to dominate in him.
Interestingly in a story about fathers and sons, the boy Anakin has no father in the conventional sense. Like many mythic heroes of the past, his birth was almost miraculous, an "immaculate conception," for his mother was impregnated not by a human father but by mysterious microscopic life forms called "midi-chloridians" that the Jedi believe are channels for the Force. An important element in the moral compass of the Star Wars series is how humans will make the transition from purely organic creatures into beings of the future enhanced or modified by technology and machines. There are warnings implied throughout the series that though the technological possibilities are marvelous, we must be careful not to get out of balance, and yield too much of our humanity to the chemical and mechanical possibilities that will come our way in the future. The fact that Anakin has no natural father leads him to be alternately seeking and rebelling against father figures, and helps explain how he is able to become the monstrous, more-than-half-machine that is Darth Vader.
The complex chronology of the films places the watcher of the prequels in a curious position. On the one hand, young Anakin seems to be doing the archetypal job of the hero, as the primary active character and someone whose fate we should care about. But it's very difficult to identify fully with a character who we know will turn out to be a science fiction equivalent of Hitler or Genghis Khan, even if we know he will be ultimately redeemed. Though the prequel films performed extremely well at the box office, the dramatic experience of watching them was necessarily muted by the knowledge that their principal hero is fated to be a despicable villain. Many people watched the prequel films with a certain detachment, unable to get behind the hero's struggles as they had with Luke Skywalkers in Episodes IV-VI.
Some of the audience's need to identify with positively charged characters was transferred from Anakin to other members of the cast in the three prequel films, such as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan, Princess Padme Amidala, and others. Nevertheless a certain chilliness hangs over the prequel films, part of the artistic risk that Lucas took in attempting such a large and complex composition. Anakin's story grows darker as the films progress. In Episode II: Attack of the Clones, his special status as a genius allows him to fall prey to pride and arrogance. His mixed feelings about father figures leads him to rebel against positive role models like Obi-Wan and Yoda and to seek the twisted counsel of negative father possibilities like Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious.