- Post
- #1587248
- Topic
- The New Republic EP1: A Vergence in the Force 4K (The Mandalorian Season 1 Edit) [V4 RELEASED]
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1587248/action/topic#1587248
- Time
DMs sent
DMs sent
I’m about halfway through Episode II, I’m watching it with my father who got to see the original theatrical release of Star Wars in '77. We’re currently only halfway because my Dad likes it so much that he didn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of it and miss anything. (That may not sound like a compliment, but believe me it is)
He has never really liked anything animated, but I convinced him to watch “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” last year for backstory on “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka.” While I did provide him with an Arc Based Episode guide, he ended up trudging through all of it because it was more trouble to have to look at the spreadsheet after each episode and jump around.
He commented that he really struggled to make it through the animated series and didn’t particularly like most of Clone Wars. He’s been a real champ about it though and took it upon himself to watch the first season of the Bad Batch without me prompting him.
I’ve been visiting him over the weekend and he told me that he had watched the first episode of Season 2 last weekend but hadn’t gotten any further yet. I told him about fan edits and logged into my Plex Server and we started up your edit for Episode II and so far he’s loving it and wishes he’d been able to watch all of the animated stuff like this before. (My bad for not introducing fN edits sooner)
I myself am also enjoying the film as its been great as a refresher. I had actually forgotten some events from season 2 while watching Season 3.
I love how you’ve been able to weave the stories of multiple episodes together basically seamlessly creating A and B plots by spreading things around. I actually fully expected to notice when one episode ends and another starts since there was sort of that feeling on the Clone Wars films when I watched them many years ago. That is not the case bere. For the most part your Season 2 edit just flows like it was always meant to be a single movie.
There have been two scenes that I wonder why they’ve been left in, though I could be premature in questioning them since I haven’t finished the full film yet. The scene when Cid tells the squad about Dooku’s palace being cleaned out by the Emprie and when the scene where Omega shows Wanda Sykes the compass. I have a feeling the scene about the compass was left in so that when the squad is waiting for Phee and they receive the message from Rex that there is some sort of establishment that they were planning to go on a treasure hunt with her so that those lines aren’t out of place, and maybe that the scene where Cid tells them about Dooku’s Palace is because it was the introduction of Phee? I was expecting too see at least a portion of those missions due to the scenes being left in.
My dad didn’t seem to notice since he hadn’t watched the season, but as I haven’t finished the film yet, it’s possible it’s just been moved somewhere else in the movie. But anyway, so far those two moments are the only oddities I’ve encountered while watching it so far.
I do want to say that your editing skills have come a long way since your original Clone Wars series of film edits. I have to congratulate you on some excellent editing and just downright great craftsmanship in your edit of The Bad Batch.
It’s really fantastic.Your edit of The Bad Batch, it just feels like a movie, and a really good movie at that.
I can’t wait to finish watching the edit and I’m sure I’ll be back to give more praise when we’re done watching it.
Hi there. Thanks for the feedback. The two scenes you mention are only there to introduce Phee. She is an important part of act 2. I hope you enjoy the rest of it.
Just an idea: Maybe 4 movies total might give some leeway?
That was my original plan, but I’m not sure there is enough quality material to justify that. The last 3 episodes will dictate the outcome. I may have to go to 4 movies if there are essential tie ins to the mid season content.
Season 3 edit!
As the final season draws to a close I thought I’d share a few ideas about my edit. When the season started off I was expecting to make 2 movies out of season 3 because it got off to a cracking start and seemed that every episode was crucial. However, the last few episodes have gone back to the paint-by-numbers mission of the week with very little plot progression. As I’ve started putting things together it’s yet another case of having enough material for about one and a half movies! The idea of a movie trilogy is very appealing so I’ve started putting together a potential single movie edit and I suspect this is the way I’m going to go. The structure so far is:
Act 1: (58mins)
Opening Crawl & Pan (2mins)
EP1: Confined (20mins)
Largely intact as the opening, but with the material slightly condensed from 3 daytime cycles to two.
EP2: Paths Unknown (completely cut)
Dead end plot that doesn’t help the Batch find Omega. The young clones don’t seem to be important.
EP3: Shadows of Tantiss (22mins)
Minor edits
EP4: A different Approach (10mins)
I have used the start and end of this episode. The opening scenes are intact upto the point where Crosshair and Omega reach the spaceport. When crosshair says about taking out half the guards before they realise, I cut to a Tantiss scene from another episode. We then cut back to Omega and Crosshair in the middle of the gunfight at the port and they escape. The cut is a touch comedic, but I think its much better than including the gambling scenes and the accent-switching Imperial Office. Plus it allows me to cut 10mins and gets us to the Batch reunion as quickly as possible. The other thing that I have cut is Dr Hemlock’s presence on the planet, searching for Omega. It’s inconsequential and contrary to Tantiss being presented as a fortress that nobody leaves unless essential. The hunt for Omega is conducted solely by the Stealth Clone.
EP10: Identity crisis (4mins)
A potentially controversial take on this episode. I thought as a stand-alone it was fantastic and dark. However, in terms of a larger movie edit I’ve decided to cut most of it. Bane the child snatcher is something we’ve seen before and is more fan service than essential plot. I’m also cutting the scenes with the kids. One theme running through this edit will be the mystery of the vault, so it will become a recurring theme that we see characters going into the vault but not the vault itself. We won’t see the inside of the vault until Omega does. We get a clue from the images on Emerie’s data pad, but nothing else.
The only scenes that will be retained are the Emerie taking on Nala Se’s role, Emerie talking to Nala Se about the vault and the Tarkin/Hemlock/Stealth Clone scene. These scenes are intercut with the Ep4 Scenes.
Act 2: (49mins)
EP5: The Return (23mins)
Only minor edits. A slightly frustrating episode in that it’s essential because it resolves the issues the Batch have with Crosshair, however, it doesn’t really move the plot along. That being said, this may be where I use a bit of AI dialogue to get the Batch to Tantiss - it all depends on how the last 3 episodes play out.
EP6 & EP7:
Completely cut. This is crucial to the single-movie edit. As things currently stand it’s not essential to the plot. The batch do find out that the Empire is still hunting Omega, but that is already implied, and some M-count exposition, but that has so far been a bit of a dead end.
EP8 & EP9:
Completely cut. EP9 may have to be re-instated if Ventress appears in the finale - it would be a strange decision to bring her back from the dead just for a stand alone episode.
EP10: Point of No Return (19mins)
Just minor edits here.
EP11: Juggernaught (7mins)
Just the Tantiss scenes. Hopefully the Rampart prison scenes can be cut but I guess we’ll see over the next few weeks.
Act3:
The finale - space for about an hour of material - I’m not worried about achieving a 1-hour finale cut, the issue will be whether the finale will require parts of the cut episodes to be included in act 2.
I watched your edit of season 2, and first I want to thank you for sharing your edit. When I watched the edit I thought it was excellent, despite there being some parts where the narrative is very slow. Something told me that Crosshair’s arc had been more significant when I watched the second season, but I couldn’t say exactly what. It was then that I remembered The Solitary Clone, and man, I think this episode makes a significant difference to the story of Season 2.
I would like to ask honestly, did you remove it because you considered it filler, because it wasn’t to your personal taste, or for another reason? Because, personally, I think there is a possibility of cutting some scenes from the political arc at the beginning, as well as some scenes from Pabu, without affecting the overall pace of the edit, and including at least the core scenes from The Solitary Clone. Of course this is your edit and you know what makes the most sense to you in the story, but in my personal experience, when I watched your edit, I felt that the dramatic weight surrounding the Crosshair uprising in Barton IV was much lighter than when I watched the entire season, and that’s due to the absence of this episode.
During this arc, we see Crosshair’s blind loyalty to the Empire in a clearer way than in the first season, as well as his level of dedication to completing a mission, even if it doesn’t make sense, due to his mantra of “good soldiers follow orders”. And then, when Crosshair finally realizes that the empire sees the clones as disposable, we remember all the loyalty, all the dedication he gave, and just like Crosshair, we realize that it was for nothing. And The Solitary Clone shows all this dedication of the character, helping the audience to understand the anguish that Crosshair feels at this turning point. Furthermore, the fact that Crosshair learned that Cody, a clone he respected and who was also loyal to the empire, rebelled, adds an additional layer to his decision to rebel later. And the fact that Rampart, an official of the empire, mentions that Cody is another one of the clones who defected, also helps us realize that this is not just a movement organized by the Bad Batch or Rex, but that this is probably happening with several clones throughout the galaxy, as they are seeing that the empire is no good and that even the inhibitor chips are not stopping the clones from rebelling, as Cody shows.
In short, I consider this episode important mostly because for me it is a build up to Crosshair’s change of side, and this is one of the most important moments in the Bad Batch show. Without it, his decision loses some impact. But again, I thought your edit was really great. You made me feel like Pabu’s scenes are important to the story lol, something I failed to realize while watching the original season. Also, I was going through a pretty stressful week when I watched your edit, and it helped me distract myself and disconnect from my problems, so thanks again 😄
Thanks for the input. When I was putting together this edit my initial cuts had some scenes from Solitary Clone to bolster Crosshair’s story. They ran alongside the clone conspiracy plot in act 1. It basically involved the Rampart and Cody interactions with a short, heavily edited infiltration of the Seperatist world.
However, when I started to watch the edit, the first act was far too slow and long and I ultimately decided that the Solitary Clone needed to be cut to speed up act 1. The political arc is the core story so I didn’t want to take any more of those scenes out, and the Pabu scenes were needed to provide a slower-paced second act and set up Pabu as their new “home”, which would become relevant in season 3.
I felt that it worked well to not see Crosshair until act 2 and Rampart’s opening lines tell the audience that he’d been left stranded on Kamino. Whilst it was nice having Cody included, ultimately he appears and defects and we don’t need to see that. In terms of Crosshair’s journey, we knew from season 1 that he is happy to blindly follow orders and his decision to remain with the Empire despite seeing the destruction of Kamino and being left abandoned there reinforced that. I felt The Outpost alone was enough to justify Crosshair’s decision to reject the Empire.
That being said, we still have 3 episodes of season 3 to go and that may warrant changes to episodes 1 and 2.
I just watched the first film of Smudger’s series here and I have to say, for what you set out to do (Season to movie adaptation), this edit was seriously done perfectly. I don’t think there is any way to break down this whole season into a better movie than how you did it. From the editing tricks to making the storyline make perfect sense from start to finish, to the added worldbuilding through Echo’s flashback, indistinguishable small uses of AI lines, and more, I was never left confused about the overall structure of the plot.
Technically, the edit is in a near-perfect state as well. No distractions from soundtrack changes, the quality was great, and I didn’t see any visual bugs. The only tiny thing was I thought some of the added wipe transitions were a little fast, the one that stood out the most was when they’re traveling back from the snow world in the opening scenes, I believe the original was a slow fade to black but here it was changed to a quick wipe. I think I noticed a couple of times where the transitions were altered and the wipes flew by too quickly, but this was quite minor overall.
If you are looking to consume a season of the Bad Batch in one sitting, this is absolutely 100% the best way possible to do it. You don’t need an episode guide flow chart, or timestamps to skip to the ends of certain episodes when the main plot moves, just watch Smudger’s edits! You will get the series’ core storyline in the best presentation possible.
While I do think that this is a 10/10 for accomplishing a quality Season-to-movie goal, I do have to point out that there are some inescapable narrative challenges with such a format. Particularly in the development of relationships between characters, there is just no possible way to show their bond grow over time when considering the need to tell this story in ~3 hours max. Omega’s relationship with the Batch did not initially feel like a natural growth, as obviously, Smudger has to cut a large number of side adventures in order to preserve this single movie format. I could definitely tell as a viewer that I was missing something because Omega bonded with certain members of the Batch way too quickly and it felt like I had missed the reason why. For example, since we primarily jump from Episode 1 almost immediately to Episode 8, we’ve missed about 2 hours of stories where Omega connects with certain members of the Batch through these side adventures (and yes, many of these filler episodes are indeed boring and do not impact the events of the main storyline whatsoever, but they do serve to pace out the bond formed between characters as each episode does usually contain a moment or two of growth). So when we jump through half a season, Omega suddenly out of nowhere shows extreme care and concern for Wrecker when he is getting his chip removed and calls him “My friend”, even though they have not shared any character moments together and appear like strangers to a new viewer. This is again noticeable when Omega says to Wrecker, “Can you show me how to arm this kind?” as she points to an explosive, referring to a previous episode where Wrecker and Omega go through a trial in disarming a bomb together, but since it’s a filler episode that was cut and we don’t see it in this movie, this character moment is lost but as a viewer I can still tell she was referencing something I never saw. Again, this isn’t Smudger’s fault, it’s an impossible challenge to solve in a Season-to-movie format, but for people watching TBB the first time through this edit, you should be aware that characters do have quite a bit of bonding that occurs outside the main storyline that you won’t be able to see. I noticed similar trends with the pacing of which Crosshair searches for TBB as well, but these missing character moments were the only storyline distraction as the actual events of the main plot work perfectly in the way you’ve structured it.
With that said, I do again want to stress this is seriously a 10/10 edit for the goal it tries to accomplish. You cannot edit a season into a better movie than how Smudger has done it, so for anyone looking for a single sit-down TBB experience, or wanting a refresher before watching Season 3, this is 100% the perfect edit for you. Thanks, Smudger, for all the hard work! It was perfect for what I needed as a recap as I tried to catch up on this show.
Thanks so much for the detailed review. It’s great getting quality feedback on these projects.
Thanks for the wipe feedback. I tend to vary the type of wipe rather than the duration, for some reason it never occurred to me to vary the timing. I’ll look at doing that going forwards.
I agree about the loss of character moments, and as you say, it’s a necessary evil with this format as a lot of those moments occurred in “filler” episodes. My main goal with these is streamlining plot, and as a result the character moments often have to go. The season 2 edit manages that side of things a little better.
The updated file has been uploaded to my Bad Batch folder which corrects the ghosting effect from the first Slip scene.
Thanks Honstable. Reviews are always very much appreciated.
This season was a challenge because it was very fragmented with far too many mission-of-the-week filler episodes.
I agree with your thoughts on the killer crabs. I really wanted to leave them out, but I felt that we needed to open with the Batch and give them some sort of story to intercut with events on Coruscant. I also needed to include the Echo-Hunter conversation about “doing more” to set up Echo leaving the group.
That meant the opening needed to have Echo and involve them retrieving something to lead into the scene where the batch first meet Phee.
Unfortunately there wasn’t really another option. The Serrano plot was a 2-parter and much too long. I tried entombed, which would have allowed me to open with the batch already knowing Phee, but entombed is long and weak. I then tried tribe, but that couldn’t be condensed down. All I had left were the crabs 😞. I did manage to cut out Omega jumping down from the Marauder, so it’s not as bad as the original scene 😊.
As for continuity issues due to the cut material, hopefully there won’t be any as there was so much filler. The only issue I’ve come across so far in season 3 actually relates to me cutting Ryloth from season 1, but that should be easy to work around. There may be an issue if the Zillo beast makes an appearance. Hopefully it won’t.
Hey Smudger, would love to watch these when you get a chance. Haven’t seen Season 3 yet but want to binge before the end, and could definitely use a refresher on previous content. This seems perfect for that!
Of course. PM sent.
Not completely through, but in the beginning when the clones leave tje bar there seems to be a “ghosting” effect on the footage.
Ahh yes. Good spot. The speed of that segment was slowed slightly with frame blending on. Must have been a remnant from a previous cut.
I’ve adjusted and will & upload a new version tonight.
PM sent
I’ve PM’d those that have requested a link. If you have the link for my Season 1 edit, the Season 2 material is in the same folder. Let me know what you think of it!
Episode 2 is Finished! PM for links.
Final Runtime 2h 37mins.
Have to say, this is probably one of the most satisfying edits I’ve done. Season 2 was a bit of a mess TBH. Far too many paint-by-numbers filler episodes, and even some of the potentially epic episodes such as the opening pair, didn’t really go anywhere.
However, there is a really strong story core story running through the season. Teasing that out and intercutting Crosshairs story has been really satisfying.
Link to the opening 10mins. https://vimeo.com/929382084
Full Changelog:
Act 1 (62 mins)
Act 2: (55 mins)
Act 3: (40mins)
Episode 2 now virtually complete. Just 3 music transitions to sort and it’s good to go. Aiming for a release next week. Run time locked in at 2h 37mins.
I watched this last night and had a blast! I never really gave this show a chance but this edit made me want to watch the rest of it. The pacing was great in this, it didn’t even feel like 3 hours. Editing was seamless. I’m in the middle of a Star Wars Marathon, so just watched a siege of Mandalore/Rots edit, and this was a perfect follow up to that. Super excited to watch the rest of the series through your edits. Thanks Smudger9!
Thanks for the feedback. I think Bad Batch is an underrated series. Once the side quests are removed, there is a terrific story which fleshes out the Republic/Empire transition.
Episode 2 is progressing well.
I’m 80% done with the second cut. Just the final 2 episodes to do, which play out pretty much in sequence so far less editing needed. All the tricky transitions between the three main stories have been done and it’s all coming together nicely. Looking at 2h30 length, which is great.
There is an instance in the first Cad Bane scene where Omegas Bow just disappears from her back.
I think adding the few missing seconds there is worth it to not have the Continuity issue. 😃What is it about that bow? 🤣
Just got round to looking at this. You’re correct. I’d cut Todo knocking the bow out of Omega’s hand. D’oh. Its back in and will be updated when I release episode 2.
Hi Smudger,
Please feel free to send me a link for this, and the Andor project please.I’d love a bad batch movie without Omega, failing that one without the crew telling her to stay put so that she doesn’t disobey them every frickin’ time !
Omega-free Bad batch! Now that would be an interesting project! I’ll send you the links.
A big update on this project. I now have a first cut of Episode 2. It has an even 3-act structure and is clocking in at 2h42, which I’m really happy with. As I refine the cut this will come down further and should end up around 2h35.
The working title is “Army of the Empire”. I’m not totally happy with the title and am open to suggestions.
If anyone fancies watching the first cut then I’m happy for input. It’ll be a low res video with centre channel (completely music free)… it’s actually a cool experience to watch it without any music.
Here is the current breakdown:
Act 1 (57 mins)
Act 2: (62 mins)
Act 3: (42mins)
Sounds like a great outline. Still haven’t brought myself to finish season 2 so I’m looking forward to what you put together for your edit. Any chance you’ll have something ready before s3 releases?
I’ve just cut together the first act and Entombed really isn’t a good episode and doesn’t have any relevance to the plot.
There really isn’t a perfect way to integrate Phee and Pabu into the story so I think I’m going to change tact.
Phee does need an establishing scene but I’m now going to switch it to her actual introduction from episode 1. I’m then going to have Hunter completely shut down the mission to Serrano and have the batch stay on Ord Mantell until Rex contacts them.
The downside to this tactic is that Phee gets a rather left field reintroduction at the start of the Pabu episode, but I’ll edit in a time gap for the Batch’s story buy using the outpost and some Tantiss scenes.
It also gives a better 3 act structure:
Act 1: Clone Conspiracy
First part of Spoils of War, Clone Conspiracy, Truth & Consequences.
Act 2: Mysteries of Tantiss
Small sections of Solitary Clone, couple of scenes from Metamorphosis, first part of Pabu, Outpost, first half of Tipping Point.
Act 3: The Finale
Second half of Tipping Point, The Summit, Plan 99.
I watched the season 1 edit, and I really liked it. Personally, I found Cad Bane’s plot a bit filler and out of touch with the main plot of the movie you constructed, but I think that’s just me. And personally I didn’t understand much What happened to Gregor, because it seems like he disappeared out of nowhere 😄. But I thought the edit was very solid, I really had a good time watching it
Yeah the Gregor cameo was very random. I wish I could have cut the whole episode out, but Hunter’s capture is pivotal to the story.
I finally had some time to sit down and get a plan together with this edit. There is a great edit hidden in this series with a very strong core story. The side quests also have nothing to do with the core story, which makes them easy to ignore - there are no Omega’s Bow problems in this season!
Cone Conspiracy/Truth & Consequences and The Outpost plots work beautifully side-by-side and feed perfectly into the 3-part finale as the final act.
However, the challenge here is the Batch themselves, thanks mainly to Echo separating off midway through the season. Had he not separated I could have started the edit with the Batch already on Pabu and covered their separation from Cid in the crawl, but Echo’s absence on Pabu means that is a non-starter.
The solution I’ve come up with is to have the Batch working for Phee and opening the edit with Entombed, which of all the side quests its probably the best with a great India Jones vibe. Entombed can be intercut with Clone Conspiracy to set up Rex’s request for help. Entombed also ends with a reference to searching for another ancient item which can then feed into the start of the Pabu episode later.
As the Batch leave the entombed planet I’ll add in the Hunter/Echo conversation from EP1 about doing more to fight the empire, this sets up their response for Rex’s call for help and Echo’s separation from the Batch.
The Batch then join Rex in Truth and Consequences and I will intercut this episode with The Outpost to introduce crosshair.
The final scene of Truth and Consequences will lead into the final scene of The Outpost and then Hemlock’s arrival on Tantis from Metamorphosis. This gives enough time for Echo and The Batch to go their separate ways - the Batch will continue their treasure hunt with Phee from the start of Pabu and Echo will intercept the clone transport.
Crosshair’s escape and Echo returning the rescued clones to Coruscant are intercut with the Batch settling down on Pabu and then once Echo arrives on Pabu, the finale plays out in order.
This is a very basic first cut and it’s clocking in at 3h2mins. It should be very easy to edit it down to 2h45, which is a very similar running time to my season 1 edit.
This fanedit is fantastic, i loved every moment
unfortunetly i have accidently deleted the file since and i cant find the PM or the download link
Thanks. Links for both edits sent.
How far into episode 2 have you gotten?
Not that far unfortunately. Editing time is pretty limited at the moment due to life getting in the way!
I have the clone conspiracy and crosshair plots sorted. I’m struggling most with the Batch’s story. They almost play second fiddle in the core storyline and the separation of Echo and move to Pabu are real spanners in the works!
May I have a link? Thanks.
PM sent
But from what I can tell Obi-Wan learns Vader still lives in the cantina instead of Reva telling him.
That comes from the epilogue to Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. It’s one change I don’t mind, actually.
I love that book.