Welp, going have to retype this due to Destiny's shenanigans. I'm back from long-time lurking to briefly revisit that previous Sidious Scars/Mask conversation. What I'm about to share with you should be taken with grain of salt due to its source. Also, I'm getting old and my memory is getting crappier. I'm trying to recall something from many years ago. The only reason I even vaguely recall this is due to my unnatural ability to recall stupid, useless shit.
Back during the heyday of the Prequels and the fan sites dedicated to revealing spoilers (Aldera.net, Episode-X, TheForce.net, etc.), there was a site called millenniumfalcon.com/MF.com. Even though by the time the site had ended it was a degenerate cesspool, back in the day it has a number of spoilers and leaks that came out from there. It also leaked out the unabridged audiobook prior to its official release. I still have that download, nearly 20 years later.
That was one leaker, from what I recall, actually talked about this topic back in the day. If you believe him, the whole 'mask' thing was in the works originally before Lucas changed his mind. In fact, Lucas had already been setting up the foundations of it all the way back in AOTC with the establishment of the shapeshifting/changling/whateveryoucallit Zam Wessel. That's why they had that whole gimmick in the story. So, the normie audience was aware of the idea of shapeshifting existing in the SWU. That's also why they had Palpatine look far older in AOTC in comparison to TPM and AOTC. The idea was supposed to be Palpatine was ancient, and the dark side had an effect on his health. Then he flip-flopped and decided, nope. No idea why. I have vague memories of maybe that leaker saying that Lucas saw the make-up tests of Ian with the deformed look and decided he liked it so much he wanted it to be like that for the rest of the film. Supposedly Ian was supposed to be able to flip-flop between the two.
Once again, take everything with a grain of salt etc etc, As for my opinion on the topic of either scars or a mask? I don't give a fuck. Either works.
As an aside, the whole Star Wars fan site community thing could be a fucking thread of its own with all of the crazy shit that's happened over the last 30 years. For example, MF.com? I've heard things regarding the founder, DarthPsychotic, doxing and black-mailing a leaker back in the day to spoil shit. I have no concrete evidence that's true, but I wouldn't be surprised. The vast majority of them are pieces of shit.
