No, I'm not questioning your thoughts on this, your thoughts on this are great, it's all a little confusing that's all.
They reframed the sequence in the corridor for the '97 SE, suggesting that some other material was maybe used to repair that damaged part.
It's true that the PAL THX transfers also have the marks, but there's still a possibility that those marks could be present on several IP's.
Going by the level of grain on the "original" IP suggests it's dupe material, the sequels are equally grainy, at least Empire.