The London radio station, Xfm, had a chance to interview Anthony Daniels (C-3P0) this morning:

We spoke to Anthony Daniels on our Xfm radio show this morning, and asked him a bit about Episode III, which he's just finished shooting in Sydney. He revealed that Jar Jar is in the movie - "a bit," and that he and Threepio have a scene together.

Anthony also talked up the new movie, saying it's a much more grownup film, with more attention on the characters and less on what he called "big monsters." Anthony also said the movie deals with "people being nasty to each other" and is much darker.

As previously reported, the rumors of the Clone Wars cartoon heading to DVD were confirmed at the LucasFilm marketing summit on Wednesday, and The Digital Bits reports that it could be by the end of this year.

A fan of TF.N submitted his review of Jedi Outcast to them. Here's an excerpt:

Gameplay 9/10
The gameplay is superb. What they have done is take a lot of the best bits from every first person game and thrown them into the star wars universe and best of all you’re a Jedi! The controls suite the pad well and soon you’ll be running around killing stormtroopers left right and centre. This game also includes very memorable moments that most games scratch the surface off (Fighting alongside Luke is so COOL)

Graphics 8/10
This again are brilliant in game and the ‘ship’ cut scenes are some of the best ever (the rouge squadron scene is one of my all time favourites). The only point the graphics let down is during the ‘talking’ scenes, they appear to be blurry and the characters heads move very stiff. Also the mouth sinc is totally out of time with the voice but other than this points the graphics are some of the best I’ve seen in a Star Wars game (On a side note the graphice on P.C and Xbox are much sharper and clearer than on the gamecube version)

Click here for the full article.

Backstage features an interview with Hayden Christensen. While mostly about his current film, Shattered glass, he does talk about the audition process for Attack of the Clones:

That same casual attitude came into play when he was being considered for the Skywalker role in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, a competition that found him up against such high-profile stars as Leonardo DiCaprio. Christensen was so sure he wouldn't land the part that he skipped his second audition for the film. "I had every intention of going, but was doing a television show [Higher Ground] in Vancouver at the time. I thought I had the day off but I didn't, so I sort of cancelled at the last minute," he admitted. "It just seemed too far-fetched for me to take seriously. Even when they first asked me to audition, I was like, Well... OK...sure..." Okay, sure? He understands how crazy this must sound to the outside world, and he is quick to add that his behavior was a way of protecting himself. "I didn't want to get my hopes up or get too attached," he said. "So when I couldn't make the second audition, I wasn't too devastated, because it just seemed so far out of my reach."

Hit the link above to read more. Thanks to TF.N for this information.

The Clone Wars cartoon begins on US television tonight, but here's a summary of the worldwide schedule for the cartoon, which is being shown on Cartoon Network unless otherwise stated.

Argentina - November 10th (5pm)
Australia - November 10th (4.30pm)
Belgium - November 10th (time ??)
Brazil - November 10th (5pm)
Canada - Teletoon - 2004
Chile - November 10th (5pm)
Denmark - November 10th (time ??)
Finland - November 10th (time ??)
France - November 10th (6pm)
Hong Kong - November 10th (5.30pm)
Hungary - November 10th (7.30pm)
India - November 10th (5pm)
Italy - November 10th (5pm)
Japan - November 10th (6.55pm)
Latin America - November 10th (5pm)
Mexico - November 10th (5pm)
Netherlands - November 10th (time ??)
Norway - November 10th (time ??)
New Zealand - November 10th (6pm)
Poland - November 10th (7.30pm)
Portugal - November 10th (7am)
South Africa - November 10th (5am)
Spain - November 10th (6.45pm)
Sweden - November 10th (5pm)
Taiwan - November 10th (7.30pm)
UK - Toonami - November 10th (4pm)
UK - Cartoon Network - November 24th (7am)

Thanks to TF.N for this information.

TF.N has provided the following:

If you don't already know, in order to become a Jedi in Galaxies, you have to unlock a Force Sensitive Slot, with which you can then create a character who has the ability to become a Jedi. The trick is, no one knows how to unlock the FSC. But, someone managed for the first time just now.

It's Happened: The First Jedi! Here come the Jedi - the First Force Sensitive Slot has been unlocked! News of this monumental event has been received today by our game masters. More information will be released in the future, but know this: more Jedi are very likely to follow. May the Force be with you first few...you are going to need it.

Here are some of the questions that Mark Hamill answered yesterday, in his online chat with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Do you plan on going to Celebration 3 in 2005?

Mark Hamill - No, I actually have another commitment which will preclude me from being there. It's good, I love when I have work lined up.

Who is your favorite bad guy, the Joker or Darth Vader?

Mark Hamill - Joker, of course. I thought Darth Vader was a brilliant villain, but I saw him from a different point of view - as a young adult in something I was in. Joker struck me right when I was like 6.

What has your experience been like of viewing the prequels? Of seeing actors you've never met play your parents and Obi-Wan? Does it change your perception at all of your work with characters who appear in the prequels, such as Anakin, Palpatine, and Obi-Wan?

Mark Hamill - With a great distance and time between ours and the current films, there is a detachment to them.

Hit the link above to read the rest.

TF.N updates with news that Fox has decided to discontinue the Episode I & II DVDs, in preparation for the release of the classic trilogy on DVD towards the end of 2004. The Episode II DVD has only been out a year and the odd decision that there will be limited stock in stores as the holidays approach. Could it have something to do with the Clone Wars cartoon DVD? Stay tuned.

The discontinue date for the DVDs has been pushed back to December 31st by Fox.

Kim Morgan of MSN Entertainment recently wrote an article which lists MSN's Top 10 movie trilogies. The original Star Wars Trilogy came in eighth, and was topped out by other series such as the Evil Dead trilogy and the Godfather series.

To read the full article, click here.

AICN got the first spy report from the Star Wars Summit held for licenses in San Francisco today:

Some interesting things came to light. The marketing timeline for Star Wars is as follows - This week, The Clone Wars, then the original Star Wars trilogy is being released September 2004, then Episode 3 teaser advertising begins in January of 2005, Episode 3 May 2005, Episode 3 DVD/VHS November 2005. One little fun fact - seems that they have TWO Star Wars television ideas floating around the ranch...one would be animation and the other - LIVE ACTION. These television projects would be in 2006. Let's hope they're better than the Star Wars Christmas Special, or those Ewok films.

But the REAL meat and potatoes was the Episode 3 footage! Spoilers - Highlight to read: Some cool as hell stuff. Anakin is looking darker than ever. Dark clothes, with what appears to be some scars on his face. They showed one seen with Obi-Won, The Emperor and Anakin crashing their ship into a planet as the ship burns.

Visit the link above for more!

The Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series is almost here. This week, Hyperspace members will have first online access of the action-packed animated shorts from Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Cartoon Network. Before that, though, subscribers will have a chance to chat online with the creators of the series, Producer/Director Genndy Tartakovsky and Art Director Paul Rudish.

Genndy Tartakovsky is the creative mind behind the critically acclaimed "Dexter's Laboratory" and "Samurai Jack " series on The Cartoon Network. He has also worked as a director on "The Powerpuff Girls." Paul Rudish is serving as Art Director on Star Wars: Clone Wars, establishing the distinctive look of the new series. He too worked on "Samurai Jack," "Dexter's Laboratory" and "The Powerpuff Girls."

Tartakovsky and Rudish are scheduled to be online this Thursday, November 6 at 10:30 am Pacific time, (1:30 pm Eastern time).

Zap2it features an article on the Clone Wars cartoon. Here's an excerpt:

Copies of the shorts are guarded fiercely, although they will soon be released on DVD and on a paid Web site. George Lucas, known for his secrecy regarding this franchise, gave strict directives on what Cartoon Network could do with the story.

The cartoons are well done and richly detailed. Computer animation is only used when the spaceships move because hand-drawn art would have been too tedious to do, particularly under a tight deadline, Genndy Tartakovsky, director and producer, says. Animated characters closely resemble their film counterparts, but they were not intended to be mirror images.

Will we see the first 10 episodes on DVD in time for the Holidays? Who knows. Hit the link above or click here for the full article.

FilmForce features an interview with Hayden Christensen about his current move, Shattered Glass. At the end of the article, Hayden has the following to say about Episode III:

After Attack of the Clones was met with a somewhat lukewarm reception, we asked Christensen whether he expected this one would be more popular. "I hope so. There's no question that there was an excitement on this film that wasn't as prominent on the last, particularly George's approach, [which] was much more hands on this time around as far as how much he wanted to relate motivation and sort of the things that actors like to talk about. And just the inherent art of what Anakin's journey is was more enthralling than the last and there was more for me to sink my teeth into and that final transition is one for the books. It'll be a neat film, definitely."

Hit the link above for the full interview. Thanks to TF.N for this information.

The Official Star Wars Site is offering a new service where you can purchase customized Star Wars merchandise such as mousepads and coffee mugs, in the new Custom Star Wars Stuff Section.

You can pick the images and products to make items that specifically showcase your Star Wars favorites.

Simply pick a mug, coaster set, mousepad, liscense plate, ect., and then pick an image from various galleries including bounty hunters, creatures, droids, Jedi, Sith, rebels, vehicles and more.

The new Custom Star Wars Stuff Section is also the first place you can buy Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series merchandise.

As a bonus, if you're a Hyperspace member, you'll receive 20% off all orders!

Scotland's Sunday Mail features a funny article about Ian McDiarmid trying to evade some autograph hunters. Here's an excerpt:

He said: ""I was chased through a Tube station. They were saying, "You've got to stop, you're the Emperor, you've got to stop.' ""They only wanted my autograph it wasn't anything sinister. I thought, "This is ridiculous why didn't I just stop and give my autograph and move on?'. But it had gone too far by then.''
McDiarmid says he still enjoyed relative anonymity until he opens his mouth.

He said: ""Most people who come up to me say, "It can't be'. To which I say, "I guess you're right it can't, it isn't'. And they say, "Oh, ok, sorry.''' ""Now, of course, the minute I open my mouth, they recognise the voice.''

Hit the link above to read the rest of the article. Thanks to TF.N for this report.

Hayden Christensen's sand speech in Attack of the Clones has been named the 10th Cheesiest Movie Moment of All Time, in a list compiled by Empire magazine. The romantic dialogue spouted by Hayden to Natalie Portman wasn't deemed as bad as dialogue in other blockbusters such as Independence Day, Top Gun and Pearl Harbor.

Galactic Voyage has selected the next "Site of the Month" winner! The winner for November, 2003 is JediKnight2Files.com! Congratulations! I want to say thank you to all who applied. Don't worry if you were not chosen this month. Once you have applied, you will always be in the running!

After another successful contest this year, Lucasfilm and AtomFilms will be bringing back the Star Wars Fan Film Awards for a third run.

The early announcement will give fan filmmakers the most time they've ever had to prepare entries for the contest. The deadline is June 15, 2004, but we all know how deadlines sneak up!

Once again, the finalists will be seen on the Official Star Wars Fan Film site hosted by AtomFilms. There will be an assortment of great prizes to be announced—including the now-familiar golden droid trophy. And the winners will be named at a special ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California on the evening of Thursday July 22, 2004. Last year, at the premiere of the Fan Film Awards ceremony at Comic-Con, some 2,000 fans filled the auditorium and cheered the winners.

The top prize, the George Lucas Selects Award, will be selected by the writer and director of Star Wars: Episode III. Other awards and prizes will be announced in coming months. Be sure to sure to read the official contest rules and submission information so that you can get your mini-epic underway. Whether it's Valley Girls in space or Star Wars gangstas rapping, fans are waiting to see the latest you have to offer.

This report come from the Offical Star Wars site!
Answered by: Steve Sansweet

When will fans around the world be able to see a glimpse of your incredible collection?

Well, I was waiting to sell the rights for an exclusive HBO pay-per-view, simultaneous worldwide special, but they couldn't guarantee me Botswana and Reunion Island, so I passed. Actually, if you saw the Star Wars Fan Film Awards Special hosted by Kevin Smith on Sci Fi Channel last year, you saw an uncredited (at my request) peek at the collection.

Frankly, I've been holding off until it was in pretty good shape so I could show my fellow fans in the pages of Star Wars Insider and any of the other international licensed fan magazines that are interested. That story just ran in Insider #71, in an issue focusing on Star Wars collecting and collectibles. Building my personal Star Wars collection has been a labor of love for 26 years, and I finally have a place to display it all. But as I always say -- and truly mean -- it has been the experience of collecting and the worldwide friendships that I have developed that are the most important things that have come out of my passion for all things Star Wars.

The official site has updated its Episode 3 cast page with the following listings:

- Ellé Chantal Freer
- Giddean Danu Christopher Kirby
- Bana Breemu Bai Ling
- Fang Zar Warren Owens
- Motée Kristy Wright
- Senator Fema Baab Olive Levi

Ellé, Motée (Handmaidens of Padé Amidala), Giddean Danu and Bana Breemu (Senators) were revealed and depicted in the most recent issues of the official star wars magazines around the world (including the US SW Insider, the french Lucasfilm Magazine, the german SW Das offizielle Magazin and more), Fang Zar was confirmed in one of Pablo’s visual set diaries at Hyperspace, leaving Fema Baab as the single really new name on the list.

Hot off the presses, here's a quick look at some of the awesome new toys showing up at retail this month!

R-3PO: Though only seen briefly in the Rebel Hanger on Hoth, this protocol droid from The Empire Strikes Back is a refreshing addition to the line. Not that R-3PO brings a lot to the table, the figure offers standard articulation and no accessories, but it is nice to see Hasbro paying a little more attention to side characters and droids in general. R-3PO is a basic figure, on blister card, and comes with a basic action figure stand (not shown).



Hoth Evacuation General Rieekan: Commander of the Alliance forces on Hoth, General Carlist Rieekan coordinated both the defense and evacuation of the Rebel's hidden base. Another figure long desired by collectors, Rieekan does not disappoint. Though only featuring basic articulation, the detail in the figure's face and uniform is immediately impressive. Rieekan is one of Hasbro's new Ultra figures, and comes with a nicely detailed Hoth Tactical Screen.



Hoth Attack Wampa: A menacing predator on the planet Hoth, this snow beast is sure to be one of the hottest figures of the year. With a multi-articulated torso, removable arm, and the most accurately detailed sculpt of the creature to date, fans young and old will be on the look out for this toy. Another of Hasbro's Ultra figures, the Wampa comes packaged on a large blister card with Tauntaun leg tartar and ice cave base that interacts with the base packaged with the new Luke Skywalker: Hoth Attack.



Tatooine Escape C-3PO: Not having one of the best days of his life, C-3PO narrowly escapes capture by the Empire in one of Tantive IV's escape pods. The line's first version of the outer space lifeboat since the vintage Land of the Jawas playset, this is another toy aimed to please. Threepio himself features a painted gold finish with a brick-red wash for that added 'distressed' look. The pod itself is nicely detailed, features an opening hatch (top), removable panel, and posable thrusters. Rounding out the first wave of new Ultra figures, fans can expect to find these at U.S. retail this month!



Source: TF.N.

The latest Homing Beacon has arrived, and today we get to talk about the Clone Wars cartoon series. The Clone Wars begin on November 7, as the epic micro-series debuts both on the Cartoon Network and online at starwars.com. The animated shorts are heavy on action, and the familiar characters and hardware of the Star Wars galaxy had to undergo streamlining and design modifications for the demands of hand-drawn animation. This meant simplifying the designs to their very essence, yet still retaining their recognizable qualities.

This challenging task fell to Art Director Paul Rudish who, under the direction of Genndy Tartakovsky, came up with the truly distinct look of Star Wars: Clone Wars.

"Early on, in preproduction, I kind of got bogged down with a little too much reference and trying too hard to get things looking like the films," says Rudish. "Genndy came in and slapped my wrist and said, 'Okay, put your books away. You're getting bogged down. Now draw your impressions of the characters. Let's try to draw how you think the characters feel, as opposed to trying to draw them exactly like the actors."

The three main characters of the prequel trilogy -- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala -- each provided their own challenges, but Rudish says Kenobi proved to be the easiest.

"Obi-Wan is the chivalrous knight," he explains. "The King Arthur-thing kind of comes across real easy on that guy." Though Kenobi starts the micro-series sporting the same robes and hair as seen in Episode II, as he journeys to Muunilinst to take on the bounty hunter Durge, he dons a suit of plastoid armor to do battle atop a speeder bike. "We gave him some extra brown robes on top to keep his Jedi-ness, but he's got to have his safety gear when he gets on his speeder bike," says Rudish. He adds with a smile, "We have to promote proper bike safety."

Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, proved to be one of the most difficult. "He's got a weird mix in that he needs to be somehow brooding and dark, and still be a cute Tiger Beat boy. How do you try to keep him youthful and yet make sure he has a good scowl all the time?"

In exploring the character, Rudish says the more he based his art on Hayden Christensen's features, the more difficult he found bringing out the dark side. "They always came out looking kind of pretty, so we eventually steered away from specific caricatures and just tried to tweak him a little more. In retrospect, I think some of the elements in the line work in his face is more like Vader's mask. It's in the shape of his nose, and the square jaw and triangular mouth kind of shapes. I didn't really think I did this on purpose, necessarily, but looking back at there, I think maybe I subconsciously tried to Vader-ify a little bit."

The Clone Wars micro-series is divided into two sets of ten episodes each. In the first ten, Padmé has what amounts to a small cameo -- she's more heavily featured in the second set. "As far as Padmé, [Model Designer] Lynne Naylor-Reccardi helped out a lot. The two of us went back and forth with drawings of her, and kind of distilled it down to various elements. Basically, she's pretty much... cute. She doesn't have a funny nose or anything you can really latch onto to caricaturize. So, we went with cute girl. 'Let's make her eyes bigger!'"

Of the redesigned heroes, Rudish can easily recall who his favorites are. "Once I got to doing layouts of Artoo and Threepio, that really turned into lots of flashbacks of being seven, and drawing my favorite droids as a kid," he says. Though the droid designs are new, Rudish recalled watching the earliest incarnations of Star Wars animation when he was young.

"I was certainly into it when those shows were on TV -- I used to watch 'Droids' and 'Ewoks.' I didn't specifically refer to these things, but they're definitely engrained in my mind," he says. "I was blown away by 'The Holiday Special.' It was when I was seven, and had been jonesing for any kind of Star Wars you could get at that point. When that came out, I thought, 'oh, that is so cool!' Then I tried to run upstairs after the show was over, and tried to draw the comic book of the entire [animated] cartoon that I had just seen. I tried to remember it, and I got about eight panels into it, and crapped out. Luke crashlanding his Y-wing into the ocean... that's about as far as I got."

TK 545 Leon Clarance of the UK Garrison, 501st Legion, has become the first Stormtrooper to run a complete marathon in armor. You read it right, a marathon. He finished the New York marathon in 5 hours, 20 minutes, and 24 seconds.

The Emperor will be most pleased. Congrats Leon.

Source: TF.N

The Second Version of UT2003 Troopers: Dawn of Destiny has been released. Here's LucasFiles' summary:

Troopers: Dawn of Destiny is a Total Conversion for Unreal Tournament 2003 that crosses the boundary line between Game and Experience to bring you an atmospheric, involving, multiplayer-based tactical first-person shooter set in the fictional universe that has been at the heart of science fiction for over thirty years. Sporting an exciting combination of all-new playable characters; breathtaking, groundbreaking battlefields; completely authentic and technically realistic weaponry; and both old and new modes of team-oriented gameplay; Troopers completely revamps UT2003, turning the game into a supportive platform for a completely new breed of Star Wars experience.

Click here to visit Lucas Files for screenshots, more info, and most importantly, the mod itself!

IGN arrives bearing gifts: a free online strategy guide to Knights of the Old Republic:

To help bring some holiday cheer a little early, your pals at IGN are giving away free guides! Each week we'll select one of our very best guides and make it free for seven days. Bookmark it, reference it, print it out -- enjoy every minute the guide is free. Not only will this allow you to check out the quality of our online strategy guides, but it's also a great tax write-off.

From now until November 7, you've got yourself free access to one of the most detailed strategy guides you will find anywhere, for any game. If you haven't beaten Knights of the Old Republic yet, now's your chance for free help! This is certainly one of the best games of the year, so don't let yourself miss a single sidequest, item, or opportunity to go Darth Vader on some fool. Check out the free guide now!

Sounds like something everyone definitely should take advantage of. Read the complete article, and follow the links to the guide by clicking here.

HomeLAN Fed interviewed Casey Husdon, BioWares director. Here's a brief snippit:

HomeLAN - First, Knights of the Old Republic has been a major seller for the Xbox. Were you surprised with the amount of sales and critical acclaim that the game received?

Casey Hudson - It’s always difficult to tell how well a project will be received. By the end of development on a game like this, we’ve spent 3 years working on it, and we know every last detail about it. All we can tell at that point is whether it meets our objectives, and we strive to get it as close as possible to the original vision. Fortunately, we had a very ambitious vision for the project, and were able to achieve almost all of our design goals. Having said that, we’re really pleased to see that people are having a lot of fun playing the game. That, above all, is what we hope to accomplish with the games we make.

HomeLAN - When the time came to concentrate on the PC version of the game, what were the main goals for the development team?

Casey Hudson - We have developed both the PC and the Xbox versions at the same time, so once the Xbox version shipped, we were very close to being finished with the PC version. Our focus at that point was perfecting the interface and optimizing the game for smooth, detailed graphics on PC systems. A lot of care has gone into implementing features that players expect from a PC game, such as hotkeys, efficient mouse control, scalable graphics options, etc.

HomeLAN - What sort of new content (missions, characters, etc) will be put into the PC version of Knights?

Casey Hudson - We’ve added a new area: a space station orbiting the gas giant of Yavin. It’s an opportunity for players to obtain some new items and weapons that we’ve added to the PC version. My favorite is a new lightsaber for dark-side players, which has a more evil-looking color and some interesting history behind it. There are also some great looking types of armor that players will be able to get which haven’t been available before.

Click here for the full interview.

Star Wars video games are nominated in several categories in the SpikeTV Video Games Awards. The Star Wars nominations are:

Game of the Year - 'Star Wars Galaxies'

Best Action Game - 'Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike'

Best Game Based on a Movie - 'Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike', 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'

Best PC Game - 'Star Wars Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy'

Best Online Game - 'Star Wars Galaxies'

Best Fantasy Game - 'Star Wars Galaxies', 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'

You can vote by clicking here.

Mark Hamill is all about leaving Luke Skywalker behind him these days, here's a bit from a recent Sky News article:

The actor who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars has removed all direct references to the films from his CV.

Mark Hamill said he wanted to be known as more than "just the guy with a light sabre."

Hamill, 52, wants to highlight his other movies, his hundreds of cartoon voice-overs, his comic book work, CD-ROMs and Broadway plays.

Click here for the full article.

TF.N has provided (yet another) spree of Episode III spoilers! Spoilers - Highlight to read:

- The Battle of Coruscant will be the biggest space battle the Star Wars franchise has ever seen. Expect to see some cool capital ship vs. capital ship warfare. Each side has lots of varied looking warships. The Republic has ships that are more than just Star Destroyers. Might even see an old Ralph McQuarrie design or two get put into place here.

- Expect one of the final shots of the film to be Vader, Tarkin and Palpatine on a Star Destroyer bridge looking out onto space at the beginnings of a Death Star in progress...(but not necessarily THE last shot of the film...) my understanding of the last shot before iris out will be on Tatooine.

- When Padme faces Anakin on Mustafar, Anakin is incredibly upset with her when he realizes she brought Obi-Wan with her. She led Obi-Wan right to him. From Anakin's point of view, he trusted her and she betrayed him. Anakin force-chokes Padme and throws her aside (where she also hits her head.) Then, the duel begins amidst the corpses of the slaughtered Seperatist leaders.

- The twins are born on a brand new never-before seen world (whose name has not been revealed yet.) They land there when they realize that Padme isn't going to make it if they keep pushing on to Alderaan. The natives of this planet resemble little grey close encounters/roswell aliens. Padme finally succumbs to her wounds suffered from Anakin during the birthing scene. She is able to share a few choice words with Obi-Wan before passing. Bail, Obi-Wan and Yoda hatch the plans for what to do with the children. Bail sees to it that C-3PO's memory is wiped. Yoda is dropped off via escape pod at Dagobah where he will await the proper time to do his part. The jedi have been utterly duped and defeated by films end.

- Medical droids turn the remains of Anakin Skywalker (now named Darth Vader) into the classic trilogy cyborg Darth Vader we know and love. His reveal is very "Frankenstein." (He lays on a slab that slowly rises up when he is completed.) When Vader rises, his first desire is knowledge of Padme's fate. Palpatine calmly and cooly tells him that she is dead and that he(Anakin/Vader) killed her. His sorrow and regret result in an awe-inspiring physical manifestation of the dark side of the force. The entire room buckles and twists away from his anguished screams. Every droid in the room is obliterated. Palpatine has to muster all of his powers just to shield himself from Vader's wrath. Vader's echoed scream segues directly into the next scene: Padme's funeral procession.

Happy Halloween! :)