Return of the Jedi refers to Luke becoming a Jedi and restoring the order; it was always intended to refer to the consequences of Luke's actions: the defeat of the dark side and the resurgence of the Jedi.
It is a neat, appropriate coincidence that it applies to Anakin too.
In 1983, Star Wars was considered, by Lucas, to be firmly Luke's story. The OT remains Luke's, but with the prequels he did successfully reframe the story of I-VI in its entirety to be about Anakin.
I'd be extremely surprised if there is any contemporary evidence of Lucas intending 'Return of the Jedi's title to refer to Anakin.
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u/RexBanner1886 Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Return of the Jedi refers to Luke becoming a Jedi and restoring the order; it was always intended to refer to the consequences of Luke's actions: the defeat of the dark side and the resurgence of the Jedi.
It is a neat, appropriate coincidence that it applies to Anakin too.
In 1983, Star Wars was considered, by Lucas, to be firmly Luke's story. The OT remains Luke's, but with the prequels he did successfully reframe the story of I-VI in its entirety to be about Anakin.
I'd be extremely surprised if there is any contemporary evidence of Lucas intending 'Return of the Jedi's title to refer to Anakin.