Okay, I can see what can be done with the sunset battle idea in full.

While watching V1, my friends and I were discussing a possible edit that hasn’t been mentioned here, so I’ll just mention it: Poe’s survival and arrival at the battle could be more surprising/emotional if his introductory whoop was moved to just after Finn yells “That’s one hell of a pilot!” Then it could quickly cut to “Don’t let these dogs scare you”, so we keep all of his dialogue. Just an idea to chew on.