An Improved Star Wars Watching Order: A Modest Proposal

There is a lot of chatter about how to watch Star Wars on the internets. A lot of people talking to folks who have never seen the movies (or who want to rewatch them) wonder about the best way to watch both the new trilogy and the old. Lucas' suggestion (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) is obviously deficient. Some people, for whatever reason, don't like the order of release (IV, V, VI, I, II, III). Some have suggested watching them in a way that goes through the "saga of Vader" between Empire... and Return...: IV, V, I, II, III, VI. The current "winner" of a lot of "geek" suggestions is the "Machete Order": IV, V, II, III, VI. The basic argument is that you get introduced to the idea of Vader-as-father, then go back to the past to see the Vader story unfold, then you see the conclusion of the saga of Vader, but you skip the obviously deficient Episode I.

I suggest an even better order than the Machete Order: IV, V, IV, V, VI. The basic argument is that you get introduced to the idea of Vader-as-father, then go back to the past to see the Vader story unfold, then you see the conclusion of the saga of Vader, but you skip the obviously deficient prequel trilogy. Plus, IV and V are both better than II and III, so this sequence is better at every point.

However, the Machete guy has one criticism of "the release order" that is also going to be true of the Panheresy Order and therefore must be addressed:

Unfortunately, Release Order is also an instant failure, and the reason is a single shot. If you’re watching the original trilogy first, then after the Empire is destroyed and everyone is celebrating, Luke looks over at his mentors, Ben Kenobi and Yoda, and suddenly they are joined by… some random creepy looking teenager who needs a haircut. Placing Hayden Christensen in the ending of Jedi, since he’s not in ANY of the other films, turns an ending that should be celebratory into one that is confusing for the viewer. The fact that Christensen looks like he’s undressing someone with his eyes doesn’t help.

The problem, of course, is that they're using a deficient edition of Return of the Jedi. In the original edition, which I have, there are no digital touchups of anything. Han shoots first and there is no Hayden.

Eis polla eti, Despota. On the environment.

Patriarch Bartholomew on the Environment.

Is there a compendium of his writings available in English?