Good luck with your edit, Hal. This one will likely require all the skills you’ve developed over the years. It might be the kobayashi maru of fanediting. I’ll stick with ROTJ ending for my headcanon, but I respect your dedication to making the I-IX storytelling less choppy.

Side note: it seems you’re gonna reedit Episodes 7 and 8 to accommodate Episode 9… “boldness” (I’m trying to say it kindly). What about adding in Episode 6 a line to Palpy when Anakin throws him into the vent, such as “I’ll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackk you fools…”.