Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (project) discarded from the current "Star Wars" canon and reassigned as part of the "Legends" non-canonical stories, preventing the video game series representing it from continuing further past "Unleashed II". "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" tells the story of Darth Vader's secret apprentice, code-named "Starkiller" but born Galen Marek, as he hunts down the remaining Jedi after Emperor Palpatine orders them killed. Set between "" and "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope", the story explores the aftermath of the Great Jedi Purge as well as the rise of Darth Vader. The events of "The Force Unleashed" are "pivotal" in
Star Wars prequel trilogy Star Wars prequel trilogy The "Star Wars" prequel trilogy is a set of three prequel films in the "Star Wars" franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. Like the original trilogy, it was produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The trilogy consists of "" (1999), "" (2002), and "" (2005). The first two films received mixed reviews, while the third was somewhat more well received. According to producer Gary Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy were developed during the outlining of the original two films. In 1980, Lucas confirmed that he had the