CassusFett

I am removing force healing from my edit. So, Kylo dies on the death star after being stabbed by Rey. In other words, Ben is never redeemed. As a result, Rey cannot be healed by Ben, so she tragically dies after defeating the emperor.

Also, I am removing the entire McGuffin chase. Meaning Rey goes straight from Leia to the death star to find the wayfinder. Its an imperfect solution, but its workable, and it removes the worst parts of the movie IMO. It does a great deal to fast track Rey Nobody because it removes Ochi and the flashbacks about her parents.

This is probably much different from the direction other people are taking, but maybe it will spark some ideas.

I like it, i’ll jot down these ideas.

Thanks! You are definitely making me think. I like your thoughts on Rey coming to represent the balance and I think that’s what they were going for, but I think they wanted to have it both ways. Rey clearly denied Kylo many times, and she only accepted him once he came to the light. She turns her saber yellow, but I didnt buy it at that point. I think her character is too dead set on the light side of the force, and so to me she clearly represents the Jedi.

I will attempt to portray her death as victorious and satisfying. She will bring balance to the force by destroying palpatine and herself.

I want to (somehow) add a few lines suggesting that she knows she will die and she chooses to sacrifice herself to defeat the Sith. Thereby completing her arc. She has to sacrifice the future of the Jedi in order to save the Galaxy.

I have a plan for a very radical edit that combines TLJ and ROS to make one good movie, hopefully solving many of the flaws I see with both. It changes the story overall to be about Lukes redemption.

I have worked out most of the required scenes and I think it will be doable (even though it will surely feel quite fan-edity at times).

PART 1
(Basically TLJ with all resistance scenes cut)
Rey trains on the island with Luke
Rey goes to face Kylo and Snoke
Kylo kills Snoke
Kylo and Rey reach out their hands
Cut to black

PART 2
(Basically ROS with no wayfinder chase and Luke saves the day in the end)
Kylo meets the emperor
Poe and Finn get message from the space iceberg (aka SpaceBerg)
Rey trains with Leia
Poe returns and reveals that Palpatine is on Exigol
Rey goes to DSII to find wayfinder to Exigol
Rey finds wayfinder and Kylo crushes it
Rey and Kylo duel
Leia dies
Kylo gets KILLED by Rey
Rey steals Kylos ship and goes to face the emperor alone
Poe follows Rey to Exegol
Luke talks to Leias ghost and gets encouraged to join the fight
Luke burns the Jedi tree
The space battle is going well
Emperor zaps the fleet
Rey kills emperor (with luke helping through the force)
REY DIES
The space battle is being lost
Luke does the holdo maneuver (or uses the force to help explode ships)
Rebels win
LUKE DIES
Rebels celebrate
Broom boy (Showing that even though the jedi are dead, the force lives on)

I would love to hear any feedback! There is a lot here and I have basically zero experience with video editing so I have a long road ahead. I feel passionate that this edit solves many of the problems with both movies: (Meaningful deaths, Minimal McGuffins, Rey is not invincible, Not everyone can be redeemed, Rey is nobody, Redeeming luke, etc.)

Hal, did you decide on this change that you mentioned earlier:

“Maybe add Palpatine telling Rey “kill him” when she beats Kylo, which is an internal voice she hears in the novelization (though likely not intended to be Palpatine per se).”

I really like it, because it suggests the idea that Rey has some internal struggle with the dark side, which I think makes her character less perfect (more conflicted). It also would give us the first hints of the “force talking” mechanic that is so prominent in The Last Jedi.