The Empire Strikes Back is considered by many Star Wars fans to be the best film in the
franchise.
However, it wasn't the first Star Wars sequel planned.
That honor goes to Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was published as a novel in 1978
but never filmed.
Here's a look back at the Star Wars movie sequel we never got to see.
Fans can debate George Lucas' merits as a director and a writer for all eternity, but
one thing nobody can deny is that the guy is a master businessman.
Before Star Wars was even filmed, Lucas had a master plan for the franchise.
So when he hired Alan Dean Foster to write up the novelization of Star Wars, Lucas decided
to sign him up for a second book as well.
The plan: if Star Wars was a hit, the novel would hold over fans until a film sequel was
ready.
If it wasn't a hit, they could use the book as a blueprint for a cheap follow-up film.
Thus, Splinter of the Mind's Eye was born.
One of the biggest challenges facing Foster was the fact that he had to write it without
ever actually seeing Star Wars.
In fact, when he sat down to start the novel, Lucas wasn't even completely finished writing
Star Wars.
With only some concept drawings and a quick visit to ILM to see the models, Foster began
planning Splinter of the Mind's Eye.
There was one more problem, though: he wasn't even allowed to use half the characters.
It's hard to imagine Star Wars without Han Solo.
But Splinter of the Mind's Eye didn't have a single appearance from everyone's favorite
smuggler.
Why?
When Foster was getting ready to write the novel, Harrison Ford hadn't yet signed on
to film any Star Wars sequels.
Since the whole plan was to eventually film Splinter of the Mind's Eye, that meant Foster
couldn't use Solo at all in the book, just in case.
That also meant no Chewbacca.
"He made a fair move!"
Given the fact that Foster wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye before the final draft of
the Star Wars screenplay was completed, it's no surprise that there are some discrepancies.
Most of them are minor details, like terminology, or the color of Darth Vader's lightsaber.
But one bigger thing sticks out: the relationship between Luke and Leia.
Two years before the infamous scene in Empire where the two kiss, Foster wrote out a storyline
where the pair are teamed up on a mission and end up with some pretty clear sexual tension.
Beyond losing two of the main characters before he even started, Foster also had to write
according to a very specific set of guidelines.
Since Lucas' plans to film Splinter presumed they would have a tiny budget for the sequel,
Foster was instructed to only write scenes that would be super cheap to film.
Hypothetical budget concerns also led to Splinter being set almost entirely in caves, inside
buildings, or on the surface of a fog-shrouded swamp planet.
As for the big space battles that made Star Wars famous?
Forget it.
Lucas forced Foster to cut an exciting battle between Tie Fighters and X-Wings just in case.
If the fact that Splinter takes place on a swamp planet perpetually cloaked in fog sounds
a lot like Dagobah from Empire Strikes Back, that's not the only bit from Splinter that
ended up making its way into the films.
Case in point: the climactic battle between Luke and Vader ends up with one of them having
an arm cut off; unlike in Empire, though, it's Vader instead of Luke who loses a limb.
More interestingly, though, that fight begins with Leia picking up Luke's lightsaber and
going toe-to-toe in a saber duel with Vader.
If that sounds like a mirror image of the fight between Rey and Kylo Ren in The Force
Awakens, it might not be a coincidence: Foster was also hired to write the novelization of
The Force Awakens.
The plot of Splinter of the Mind's Eye revolves around Luke and Leia searching for an artifact
called the Kaiburr Crystal, which amplifies the powers of those who are Force sensitive.
And that leads to the book's coolest moment: the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
If you were wondering how an untrained Luke could defeat Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel,
the book implies it's because the Kaiburr crystal allows Obi-Wan's spirit to inhabit
Luke's body.
With Luke's body, Obi-Wan gets a chance to exact some revenge on his former pupil from
beyond the grave.
In fact, Obi-Wan actually obliquely references this sequence in Empire Strikes Back when
he warns Luke that he "can no longer interfere" in Luke's campaign against Vader.
"I'm just so tired of all these Star Wars."
"That scene wasn't in the movie."
"Yeah!
It was.
It got cut."
Splinter of the Mind's Eye holds a unique and weird place in Star Wars history.
It was never made into a film, but some of its ideas did trickle down into the official
trilogy.
It's no longer considered to be canon, yet has remained in print for nearly 40 years,
along with a 1995 comic book adaptation.
For many fans who read it, it's just as much a part of the Star Wars story as Empire Strikes
Back or Return of the Jedi.
It provides a fascinating look at what might have been, an alternate reality where Star
Wars was a flop, Luke and Leia were lovers, and Han Solo abandoned the Rebellion.
Most of all?
It's still a darn good read.
Foster agrees, telling Cinelinx:
"I'm very proud of it, as I am of everything I write.
I especially feel that it caught the spirit of the first film and continued it."
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