Phantom Menace=sifo dyas?

[hectorberlioz]

I always wondered who was supposed to be the phantom menace in the film....

d.maul-because he's a bad guy who nobody's ever seen before.
anakin-because he grows up to be darth vader
d.sidious-because he's mysterious

and last.....
I came up with this wonderful possibility last night....

qui-gon jinn-because he might be sifo dyas, who authorizes a clone army, which becomes the army of the empire....

any comments or thoughts on this?

[gdl96]

Interesting. I never really thought about who the Phantom Menace was I guess. But I don't think it would be Syfo Dias

[hectorberlioz]

i know, but still....

[b.banner]

i think it is syfo dias.

[Bombadillo]

Wow, Hector, I'd never put much thought into it. I just assumed it was Darth Maul and never bothered to think of the other possibilities.

But perhaps the title was not intended to be specific at all. (sort of like The Two Towers. which towers? who knows?) The vast majority of movie fans don't even know that it's called Phantom Menace in the first place; for all they care or know its Episode I.

But if I was forced to think about it, the beginning of Ani's torment sounds like what's being refered to. The story line of IV, V, and VI focused on this element most deeply.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
I always wondered who was supposed to be the phantom menace in the film....

After the second movie (when I understood a little more of the set-up) I assumed it referred to the "staged" threat of the Trade Federation which was used to weaken the Republic and trick it into giving Palpatine more power.

[hectorberlioz]

darn it Earniel! you've messed up my cool theory.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
darn it Earniel! you've messed up my cool theory.

Neh neh neh... I live for that.

Of course no one is saying that I'm right, it was just what I saw as the phantom menace.

[hectorberlioz]

I know, I agree with your idea though.
darnit!
you have to admit though, it is an interesting theory

[Bilbo]

If Phantom means hidden or ghotsly, and Menace is evil, then shouldn't Darth Sideous be the Phantom Menace? Afterall, none of the Jedi ever meet him, he wears this great big black cloak thing that hides him, and he's meant to be the Big Boss!

[Earniel]

That's anoter possibility, I guess. I interpreted "Phantom" as 'not really there', fake if you will. Like in phantom pains, pain you feel in a limb that has been amputated.

[Wayfarer]

I think it's "the sith" in general, since it's just becoming appearant that the dark side of the force is still active.

[hectorberlioz]

wow, you guys are a lot more practical....all your possibilities seem more probable...

[Wayfarer]

Well, in the end, the reasons why 'The Phantom Menace' was so called are no more scrutable than the reasons why 'The Two Towers' was given the name it was- nobody really knows.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I always thought it referred to Darth Maul, the way he suddenly appears out of nowhere to fight Qui-Gon on Tattooine; nobody knows who he is, or anything about him, and the he suddenly shows up again on Naboo. Definitely a Menace, and pretty Phantom if you ask me.

Well, in the end, the reasons why 'The Phantom Menace' was so called are no more scrutable than the reasons why 'The Two Towers' was given the name it was

Not so - you could ask Lucas.

[hectorberlioz]

i dont think lucas would say.
he probably wants to keep it a secret.
we can only assume....

[plaidjedillama]

I believe George Lucas has said that Star Wars is really the story of Anakin.

It ends with Return of the Jedi, meaning not the re-establishment of the Jedi Order, but the return of the jedi- The Chosen One- to the Light.

So I've always guessed that The Phantom Menace referred not to the mysterious threat of the Sith Order, but to the threat of Anakin.

I like the nice little parallel-dealie going with that theory. Of course, I have no idea where he said that it was the story of Anakin, so I can't prove the basis of my theory.

[HOBBIT]

no i dont think so.

Return of the jedi was originally called revenge of the jedi.

It is clearly about the jedi returning and not anakin.

[elendili]

I've always thought it was the sith in general as they were thought to no longer exist by the jedi but up they pop up like a phantom of the past.

[plaidjedillama]

Originally posted by HOBBIT
Return of the jedi was originally called revenge of the jedi.

oops. I forgot about that.

Originally posted by HOBBIT
It is clearly about the jedi returning and not anakin.

Well, Anakin did get his revenge, so maybe it could still refer to him, although people may be more likely to consider that a stretch. (It's a matter of opinion, really- even considering the original title.)

Originally posted by elendili
I've always thought it was the sith in general as they were thought to no longer exist by the jedi but up they pop up like a phantom of the past.

I think George Lucas intentionally picks names with dual (or triple or more) meanings. It's way cooler that way. As for what it "really" stands for, I think that's more of a matter of opinion. GL's stand is probably more like Pink Floyd's stand on Dark Side of the Moon working with Wizard of Oz; they'll never say that they didn't think of that... but they'll never say they did, either.

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
I came up with this wonderful possibility last night....
qui-gon jinn-because he might be sifo dyas, who authorizes a clone army, which becomes the army of the empire....

Over on the starwars.com message boards, as soon as AotC came out, there were a lot of theories about who Sifo Dyas was. This seemed to be among the most popular. I personally hate it, but that might have something to do with the fact that Qui-Gon is my favorite character. I think it was just Dooku, but alas!, we must wait to find out (If GL ever tells us. He'd better!). Until then, I guess we get to sit here and say our maybe's.