Phantom Menace originally Had an Alternate Ending according to Star Wars Concept Artist

We all know the iconic ending of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Qui Gon falls to his death fighting Darth Maul and despite defeating the Sith, Obi-Wan cannot save his master. However, this wasn’t always the case.
     Ian McCaig, a concept and storyboard artist who worked on The Phantom Menace, recently did an interview with StarWars.com about his work as an illustrator for Star Wars. In this interview, he revealed an alternate ending for episode one that George Lucas had planned:

“For a time, the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon. It was very poignant that at the end, as Obi-Wan dies and Qui-Gon defeats Darth Maul and stays with his Master as he passes away, he not only takes on his Master’s quest, but he takes on his name. Qui-Gon becomes Obi-Wan. That’s why when you see Alec Guinness in A New Hope, he puts his hood down and goes, ‘Obi-Wan? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard….’ Because he’s not Obi-Wan, he’s Qui-Gon. And right at the end, George changed it.”

      With the name switch up this is a bit confusing, but here’s the gist of what he’s saying. Originally, Obi-Wan was Qui Gon’s master, therefore, at the end of The Phantom Menace, when the master dies it would’ve been Obi-Wan who died, not Qui Gon. Then, Qui Gon would’ve taken on his name and trained Anakin and Luke in place of his master.
      It’s not entirely clear why Lucas scrapped this idea, but it’s interesting to ponder what the franchise would’ve been like, with Obi-Wan hiding this large secret throughout his life. How would this have changed the character we know and love? I guess we’ll never know.