SPECULATION The Dreaded F Word

The title "The Ancient Fear" definitely threw me for a loop. I looked at it at just face-value, which meant to me that it was some type of ancient Sith lord or something. But your post put a different spin on it for me, since fear was mentioned as a concept that initially drove force-sensitive users to the dark side. So now I'm looking at the title with a slightly different perspective that sort of just generalizes the concept of the dark side.

 

I've argued elsewhere on these boards that the Ancient Fear won't be an entity for entirely the same reasons. The New Hope that led to the Return of the Jedi was a person (Luke); the Phantom Menace to the stability of the galaxy that led to the Revenge of the Sith was also a person (Palpatine). To set up a new trilogy also focused on a person (or entity, to use your terminology) would send things off balance, in my opinion. We've had the story of the person who brought chaos and we've had the story of the person who restored order: what we need now is a story about what chaos and order actually mean in differing contexts; a more philosophical approach, which is what we've been promised.

This is, of course, only my opinion though.

 

I would disagree... my understanding is that the "phantom menace" was the threat to the senate, which existed only because it was being orchestrated from within the senate, which would cause Palpatine to be elected chancellor

For my part, taking into assumption that the title is Ancient Fear, is that one person is not enough to instill fear into an entire galaxy... it would be the destabilizing force that led to the fall of the Old Republic...

Someone (and I wish I could find it and give credit) made the point that the fear may be of instability in general, that the galaxy is spiraling out of control with nobody to save them. For a thousand years there has been peace, more or less. The Republic ruled until an altercation brought forth the Empire, but the transition was swift. People's lives, more or less, were unaffected. They were protected by the Republic, then they were protected by the Empire. Now both are gone, and while the new Republic has not yet solidified its control, and the Empire has not totally faded away, there is, for the first time in thousands of years, instability...

 

Remember this?
IMO the title will be either Shadows of the sith or The Ancient Fear

 

The Ancient Fear doesn't feel like a catchy title or even one that impresses you initially... but at least it feels like there's some distinct story that comes along with it. I like that it springs up some curiosity and has some roots to the previous stories.

I'm rooting for this title to survive over the other choices, especially Shadows of the Sith, which I feel is a little bland and obvious for my taste.

 

I think Ancient Fear is as good as Phantom Menace. Better even, as it doesn't have the lip-smacking alteration in the middle (phant-om-enace...?!) It works for the saga, too, I think. I see the saga panning out something like this:

The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
The Ancient Fear
Galaxy in Turmoil
Balance to the Force

(Obviously the last two are my best guesses and will be way off, but we haven't had 'Force' in a title yet and after one trilogy ending with mention of the Sith and another the Jedi I suspect the last will resolve the two with Force. Just a hunch.)

 

Balance to the Force is a great suggestion. Smart thinking!

 

I've never seen this before. Where is it from?

 

"Shadows of the Sith".....Sounds actually good and fits...imho...

 

It sounds to much like Shadows of the Empire and Revenge of the Sith.

 

Well there has to be some title... "Star Wars VII: The blast's about to get real" just wont work....

Seriously, I think we are about to see a major threat on a level well beyond Palpatine and his Empire. Our heroes have already handled that. Yes, I think this will be about family, and the moralistic choice of right and wrong... But I think it will play out against a deep threat.

What I think we will see at the climax of the first movie of the trilogy is something that will rock people back on their heels, and make the audience wonder again if the Alliance will be able to survive

 

I believe its from "canceled projects" from Lucasfilm/Lucasarts.. it went viral like last year

 

I think it's logical to suspect that "Force" would make it into one of the titles in the ST. The OT referenced Luke's destiny quite frequently so I would also suspect that "Destiny" would fit in a title. IMO I think it fits best in EP7 as we have yet to identify what Luke's ultimate destiny is. The title Bound by Destiny could point us in the direction of Luke needing to make a difficult choice/sacrifice to succeed where others before him have failed. The destiny of the Sith and Jedi will be determined by Luke's choices right, wrong, or otherwise.

 

The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi

On another thread (which I would link to or at least give the author some acknowledgement if I could remember which thread it was) someone quoted George Lucas as saying the prequels were supposed to "rhyme" with the originals. When I saw Wayne's list I realized the titles of the two trilogies actually do correspond with each other:

The Phantom Menace - A New Hope: Both are three word titles. Both focus on opposite emotions, hope and menace. Both "hope" and "menace" can be used as nouns and as verbs or nouns, and both are feelings. Each title uses one adjective to describe the opposite emotion. Each hints at a Force sensitive individual.

Attack of the Clones - The Empire Strikes Back: Both are four word titles. The noun in each, "Empire" and "clones", are nearly synonymous, as are the verbs "attack" and "strikes". Neither hints at the Force, but both identify participants in the attack/strike.

Revenge of the Sith - Return of the Jedi: Certainly I'm not the first to notice the similarities here. The two titles are nearly identical in meter and order. Each title emphasizes a side of the Force.

Now let's assume that George Lucas' influence over the upcoming feature films is still significant enough that the pattern he's established in the PT and OT continues into the ST. What can we expect the titles to be if the pattern continues?

I majored in mathematics and minored in English, and I'm a Star Wars fan, so this is exactly the kind of puzzle I'd dedicate my life to solving. As young Anakin would say, "Yipee!" Here we go!

Episode VII: A three word title with an adjective describing a word that defines both a character in the story and an emotion, while hinting at the Force.

Episode VIII: A four word title with a combat related verb, no reference to the Force, and a noun that identifies a major participating team or party in the combat.

Episode IX: A four word title, very possibly containing the word "Force" and perhaps even "______ of the Force"

So how do Wayne's predicted titles fit into my hypothesis?

The Ancient Fear: A three word title with an adjective describing a word that defines both a character in the story and an emotion, while hinting at the Force.

That's a good fit! Definite possibility if the naming pattern continues.

Galaxy in Turmoil: A four word title with a combat related verb, no reference to the Force, and a noun that identifies a major participating team or party in the combat.

Again, another good fit! Perhaps adding the word "The" or "A" before "Galaxy" to increase the word count to four. Another definite possibility..

Balance to the Force: A four word title, very possibly containing the word "Force" and perhaps even "______ of the Force"

Wayne, can I take you to Vegas and let you pick the horses?

p.s. Please feel free to slap me with a Jar Jar for quoting Jake Lloyd's most infamous line.

 

I think you make some valid points...

I am not sure that the titles were deliberately spaced by the number of words, but anything is possible... my take on it would be that The Phantom Menace and A New Hope were both call to action titles which describe the overall arc, the former being the plot which will cause the Emperor to be elected, and the later being the story of an opposition to the Empire.

Attack of the Clones and Empire Strikes Back both cover the escalation of the conflict

Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi are the climaxes... the fulfillment of the arc set out in the first movie

I don't really read any more into it than we would have a conflict, it will escalate, and then conclude...

Lucas, however, has some strange habits, and it is potential that you are absolutely correct...