Return of the Jedi was originally going to be called "Revenge of the Jedi", and while not appropriate for Luke Skywalker, this proposed title highlights one of the key character flaws of his father, Anakin Skywalker. Luke completes his journey to Jedi Knighthood in Return of the Jedi, defeating Darth Vader and The Emperor, but doing so in a way truer to the Force and the Jedi Order’s ideals than the generation that preceded him. Anakin Skywalker, meanwhile, is shown in the Star Wars prequel trilogy to have constantly sought revenge, contributing to his eventual fall from grace and Sith Lordship as Darth Vader.
George Lucas and Richard Marquand went through several title changes for the original Star Wars trilogy’s final outing. While Lucas originally intended to call the film Return of the Jedi, the title was changed to “Revenge of the Jedi” for different reasons, one confirmed and another rumored. Empire of Dreams explains that co-writer Lawrence Kasdan didn’t feel confident in the strength of the word “return,” while some believe that the “revenge” title change was meant to combat bootleg tie-in products. In any case, Lucas ultimately reverted the film’s title to Return of the Jedi, stating that Jedi don’t seek revenge.
Lucas’s decision to title the film Return of the Jedi was fitting, as Luke Skywalker never seeks vengeance in the film. Instead, Luke’s character arc beautifully redeems his father, with Luke mostly remaining in control of his emotions instead of being controlled by them like the Sith or suppressing them like the old Jedi. The Star Wars prequels and Star Wars: Clone Wars, however, depicted Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi who sought revenge on those who wronged him, priming him for his ascension to Sith Lordship in the aptly-titled Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker enacts brutal revenge on a tribe of Tusken Raiders who’d kidnapped and tortured his mother to death. Later in the film, Anakin attempts to enact revenge on Count Dooku for all the Jedi who died in the Geonosis gladiatorial arena, leading him to brashly attack the more experienced Dooku on his own and be swiftly defeated. While Anakin wouldn’t formally become a Sith Lord until Revenge of the Sith, his acts of revenge in Attack of the Clones were among the first steps towards his fall to the dark side.
In 2003’s Star Wars: Clone Wars, Anakin often had violent outbursts, further showing his gradual fall to the dark side. Clone Troopers under Skywalker’s command being killed by the Rattataki Sith assassin Asajj Ventress or a monstrous horax on Nelvaan led Anakin to seek immediate revenge, and he avenged the loss of his cybernetic hand towards the end of the series by brutally killing a group of Techno Union scientists. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin cuts off both of Dooku’s hands and decapitates the helpless Sith Lord in disproportionate revenge for their duel on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones.
As shown in Return of the Jedi, Anakin’s final act was killing Emperor Palpatine, but this was motivated not by revenge, but a desire to save his son. Luke, meanwhile, brought about the return of the Jedi through his redemption of his father and critical contribution to the fall of the Galactic Empire. While Return of the Jedi was the more fitting title for the film, “Revenge of the Jedi” aptly described Anakin’s flaws before the prequel trilogy showed them.