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REY NOBODY - A Collaborative Thread

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palpy

This is something that I’ve put off making for quite a bit…

I have to admit that when I first heard of Hal and Dominic’s plans to eradicate Rey Palpatine, I was skeptical…

I believed that the concept of Rey being the direct granddaughter of Palpatine was too embedded in the film to be successfully removed. That was, until, DominicCobb showcased a handful of test clips that completely changed my mind.

Now I believe the time has come to push this concept a step further, that is why I have created this thread to be the ultimate collaboration of all things related to making Rey NOT Palpatine’s granddaughter.

In this thread, you can post your progress / ideas for restoring Rey’s initial identity!

Here are some useful resources posted by Octorox in DominicCobb’s thread:

Octorox said:

I recently extracted all the audio from The LEGO Star Wars Force Awakens video game, looking for Kylo stuff that could be useful in a “Rey nobody” edit. Unfortunately it seems like either the extraction went wrong or all the files are just mislabeled, because stuff labeled Kylo Ren is clearly not. However, if I can find them, there are some cool lines here that could be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1g_udRtF1Y
“I can feel it in you, I can feel the darkness”
“Embrace the darkness”
“Surrender to it”
“Feel it course through your veins”
“You could command armies”
“You could bring planets to their knees with your merest whim”
Unfortunately it’s all “unmasked Kylo” so it would need to be processed with a filter.

And here’s all the audio from the game:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IwXaXgiJsnwf31h34hp5VQDTPU2UnJ59?usp=sharing

There’s a lot to sift through, but the Kylo lines I mentioned in particular are in AUDIO > VO > DX > INGAME > LEVEL16. There are clips in a bunch of different languages but they’re all labeled in the filename.

And here are many potentially useful lines from Battlefront II discovered by dgraham414 and posted in Hal 9000’s thread:

dgraham414 said:

I’m in class right now but there is a ton of Kylo helmeted lines here. Not sure if any will be useful though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db9NsZJjcNs

Here are DominicCobb’s scenes involving his cut of Rey Nobody:

DominicCobb said:

They were nobody:
https://vimeo.com/41494822

DominicCobb said:

Why Palpatine wanted Rey dead:
https://vimeo.com/415427718
PW: fanedit

Here’s something that Octorox did:

Octorox said:

Here’s a rough attempt at something for the hangar scene: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kYcr_q8vZfmUBAkINFcC-tnqR7PMDRIl/view?usp=sharing

And here’s RogueLeader’s take on it:

RogueLeader said:

Here’s a rough test for their hangar interaction: https://vimeo.com/447063673

And here’s an alternate line read for Kylo near the end of the scene, keeping closer to the original line: https://vimeo.com/447069546

This is all that I’ve found so far, so I now turn to you guys to keep experimenting! Together, we can create a cut that brings this vision to life!


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The fundamental issue with a (vanilla) Rey-nobody edit is the absence of an engaging inner conflict, stripping Rey of any compelling character arc (not that Rey Palpatine was compelling, but at least there was conflict.)

Rey accepting her self was already done in TLJ. “I’m Rey, just Rey” just won’t cut it in this context. If TLJ was about acceptance of identity, TROS should be about coming to terms with the darkness within. Integrating the shadow.

Rey: “I saw myself on the dark thrown, I won’t let it happen. I’m not leaving this place, I’m doing what you did”

Luke: “I was wrong, it was fear that kept me here. What are you afraid of?”

Rey: “Myself”.

In a Rey No-one edit that fear has to be justified to Rey as well as the audience. Yes she’s superpowerful and yes she used force lightning, but that should be the tip of the iceberg, the superficial aspect of that fear.

The audience must feel a sense of dreaded inevitability, that Rey, if left unhinged, will turn to the darkside. Who she is, what she has done, and what she is capable of should all point to the same direction.

Rey’s connection to Palpatine must also be tackled. He’s the big bad, she’s the protagonist. He wants her alive , she wants to kill him. There needs to be a connection there.

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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Amazing, every word of what you just said, I agree with.

It will require great problem solving to fulfil your points about Rey’s arc, obviously the Fan-Editing category isn’t the place to discuss any poor story decisions made by the filmmakers and things like that, but I hope that through culminating ideas and experimentation with edits, we might be able to come up with something… it may be weak, it may be meaningless and pathetic, but it might even be fun just to give it a try… 😉


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Yeah, I’ve come to agree more strongly, too. If I hadn’t already committed to putting out a Rey Nobody version of Ascendant I would cite those points.

I would much rather they have stuck with Rey Nobody, and they could certainly have written something compelling from that point. But, I don’t think fan editing that point back in results in a better TROS in and of itself. But it’s ambiguous, so I’ll be glad to just swap out scenes and chunks for an alternate version!

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I also agree. Personally I loved The Last Jedi, but it’s a fact that this movie resolved the internal struggle in Rey when one movie still had to be made. She accepted her lack of famous ancestors and she refused to join Kylo.
Palpatine has been a tool to add another (weak) struggle. The only other would be to have Rey kill her parents (that’s why she fears herself), but some of us already tried that and the result was never really great.

Italian faneditor.

EDITS LIST:
Episode IV - THE HEIR OF SKYWALKER. Episode VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI RENEWED. DYAD IN THE FORCE (3-into-1 sequels).
PM me for links if interested.

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An alternative to Rey needing to be a Palpatine to have conflict, could be her struggles with the Dark. Force lightning, her relatively high power, it could all be because she leans towards it.

I saw a great interview with Dave Filoni (I think it was part of the BTS for Mandalorian) where he talks about why the fight between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul is the ‘Duel of the Fates’ - it’s the duel for the fate of Anakin’s soul. He expands, that Qui-Gon is the first Jedi to realise the failing of the light side, and the issue with the Jedi serving a corruptible republic. He explains that, had Qui-Gon survived, that HE would have been the one to train Anakin, and would have raised Anakin to learn to manage and accept his darker side, rather than treat it as a binary thing to reject (at first) then allow to consume him (like Vader).

And remember, we have that through-line of Qui-Gon being the first one to be able to exist as a force ghost, passing it on to Yoda and Obi-Wan - the two other most enlightened jedi. So right from the beginning (well, the PT), it was intended that balance beat light or dark.

And I believe that the balance concept of Lucas’ scripts remained part of the intention in the ST. In the first Jedi temple, there’s the black/white buddha statue. Luke himself says “at the height of their power the Jedi failed to stop Palpatine” and that “it’s time for the Jedi to end”.

I think that leaves us with a solid through-line of Rey being the inheritor of that line of thought, from Qui-gon to Yoda to Obi-wan to Luke to deathbed-Vader to Rey, as the idea that balance is the way into force-heaven. Green lightsabers seem to be a signifier that they’re on this path.

And that conflict with the dark which becomes acceptance and balance doesn’t need to include a relationship with Palpatine, if it can be played up - while still being a satisfying conclusion to the entire saga.

(And in that context, Rey declaring herself “Nobody” works as she’s accepted who she is, just as declaring herself “Skywalker” implies “the inheritor to that line of enlightened thought”. Her creation of a gold lightsaber would signify her being the one to ‘conclude’/‘refine’ it, leading the next generation in balance.)

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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Minor thought, but I feel like it might make sense to add Luke’s line from TLJ “You went straight to the dark” somewhere in Rey’s vision. I think anything that plays up Rey’s struggle with the dark side/her power will help sell the removal of Rey Palpatine.

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In an edit which removes Rey Palpatine, I agree that her story would feel even weaker than before. However, you could keep Rey Palpatine as a misdirection to get her to go to Exogol. Take out the flashback to her parents getting killed and Luke’s insistence that Leia knew all about this, and add some Emperor dialogue revealing the deception. His statements later actually support that conclusion anyway, where he refers to her as merely a scavenger girl.

Now Rey has to come to terms with a possible unavoidable darkness and it doesn’t trash the rest of the ST in the process.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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IMHO, the problem with this would be that Kylo first tell her she’s a nobody, then she’s a Palpatine, and then we find out she’s really nobody.

Italian faneditor.

EDITS LIST:
Episode IV - THE HEIR OF SKYWALKER. Episode VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI RENEWED. DYAD IN THE FORCE (3-into-1 sequels).
PM me for links if interested.

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Nobody to Palpatine is already a problem though, and at least the reversion back to Nobody solves it. Kylo would be going off of Palpatine’s information above his own intuition from TLJ, so he would be duped as well, or in on it. Some tweaking of his dialogue here would probably be needed.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Fair enough. 😉 It surely would be interesting to see it.

Italian faneditor.

EDITS LIST:
Episode IV - THE HEIR OF SKYWALKER. Episode VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI RENEWED. DYAD IN THE FORCE (3-into-1 sequels).
PM me for links if interested.

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I still like the idea of Rey representing a “vergence in the Force” like Anakin was. It gives Kylo something impactful to say in the hangar scene (although you’d need to create new dialogue wholecloth) and keeps her from being actually related to anybody.

Something like this:

Rey: Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.
Ren: Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You’re a vergence in the Force Rey. The most powerful nexus of Force energy since my grandfather. I didn’t want to accept it, but it’s the truth.

For years, I’ve been chasing his power, and all this time it’s been right in front of me. In you. Palpatine fears your power, Rey. We’ll kill him, together, and take the throne.

EDIT: I spent a few hours re-sorting the LEGO Star Wars voiceover lines by character instead of level. This should make relevant lines easier to find: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1x9jVm0p8GydqtH1Vvl0SHtfbuIfkUzJV?usp=sharing

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Octorox said:

I still like the idea of Rey representing a “vergence in the Force” like Anakin was. It gives Kylo something impactful to say in the hangar scene (although you’d need to create new dialogue wholecloth) and keeps her from being actually related to anybody.

Something like this:

Rey: Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.
Ren: Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You’re a vergence in the Force Rey. The most powerful nexus of Force energy since my grandfather. I didn’t want to accept it, but it’s the truth.

For years, I’ve been chasing his power, and all this time it’s been right in front of me. In you. Palpatine fears your power, Rey. We’ll kill him, together, and take the throne.

EDIT: I spent a few hours re-sorting the LEGO Star Wars voiceover lines by character instead of level. This should make relevant lines easier to find: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1x9jVm0p8GydqtH1Vvl0SHtfbuIfkUzJV?usp=sharing

i could maybe do the line, people like my kylo impression

booyah baybeee

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That’s basically seamless! Well done!

The only issue is that the acting and music makes it seem like this is some kind of big reveal, yet the added lines seem like pretty generic information…

Maybe an impression really is the best way to go? I don’t know.


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Chase Adams said:

That’s basically seamless! Well done!

The only issue is that the acting and music makes it seem like this is some kind of big reveal, yet the added lines seem like pretty generic information…

Maybe an impression really is the best way to go? I don’t know.

Yeah I think that’s the main issue but there’s really no way to remedy it without recording new dialogue.

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I recorded those lines but i have no idea how to do the helmet effect lol

booyah baybeee

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In the prequels, it was fear, anger, jealousy, and lust for power
that put Anakin Skywalker at risk of turning to the darkside. His character traits are what defined his arc not the superficial elements like heritage or innate power.

While Rey being a vergence in the force is an interesting idea, I don’t think her having a god-like midichlorian count justifies her inner conflict with the darkness or substantiates an arc that consists of accepting one’s darkness.

I think the idea with the most potential in this case is Rey discovering that she killed her parents, highlighting her anger as her forefront character flaw. This places the two sides of the coin (Rey and Kylo) on an even footing, reflecting the dyad and giving the audiance a legitimate fear that she is indeed at risk of turning.

-“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it, I needed you to see it, What you did to your parents,so long ago”.
-"They sold you because they feared you. Search your memories. See them. It was you that destroyed the ship. You killed your parents Rey. We are more alike than you think.

There’s also an opportunity to tie in to the force awakens Kylo presumably knowing of a girl in the desert, “what girl?”, which could play into the dyad.

In the hangar, Kylo could tell Rey that Palpatine had been grooming them all this time, that he sensed their darkness since they were children, declaring that Kylo and Rey are a Dyad, and that they will inherit the dark throne.

“It was Palpatine all this time. He sensed my power, as he sensed yours. As a boy I had visions of a desert, a girl lost in the sand, alone. It was you, Rey. We are a dyad in the force, Two that are one. We will kill him, and take the throne.”

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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idir_hh said:

In the prequels, it was fear, anger, jealousy, and lust for power
that put Anakin Skywalker at risk of turning to the darkside. His character traits are what defined his arc not the superficial elements like heritage or innate power.

While Rey being a vergence in the force is an interesting idea, I don’t think her having a god-like midichlorian count justifies her inner conflict with the darkness or substantiates an arc that consists of accepting one’s darkside.

I think the idea with the most potential in this case is Rey discovering that she killed her parents, highlighting her anger as her forefront character flaw. This places the two sides of the coin (Rey and Kylo) on an even footing, reflecting the dyad and giving the audiance a legitimate fear that she is indeed at risk of turning.

-“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it, I needed you to see it, What you did to your parents,so long ago”.
-"They sold you because they feared you. Search your memories. See them. It was you that destroyed the ship. You killed your parents Rey. You are no better than me.

There’s also an opportunity to tie in to the force awakens Kylo presumably knowing of a girl in the desert, “what girl?”, which could play into the dyad.

In the hangar, Kylo could tell Rey that Palpatine had been grooming them all this time, that he sensed their darkness since they were children, declaring that Kylo and Rey are a Dyad, and that they will inherit the dark throne.

“It was Palpatine all this time. He sensed my power, as he sensed yours. As a boy I had visions of a desert, a girl lost in the sand, alone. It was you, Rey. We are a dyad in the force, Two that are one. We will kill him, and take the throne.”

I like this idea In theory, but my question is then, what does Ochi have to do with anything? And how does Palpatine’s plan make any sense if he knows they’re a dyad from the beginning? Why is he suprised to find out later on? I feel like this change would require a total rewrite, and can’t be accomplished professionally just by re-recording some of Kylo’s lines.

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In this context Palpatine’s plan as well as his dynamic with Kylo would have to be changed. Palpatine will give the impression that his days are numbered and that he has been waiting for the dyad to take his thrown. Instead of ordering Ren to “kill the girl” his dialogue would change to “find the girl” “turn her, and together you will rule the Galaxy as Emperor and Empress, a dyad of the darkside of the force". Of course its a trap that will be sprung when the dyad is brought before him. “long have I waited, and now, your coming together will be your undoing”. This dialogue from the trailer could replace his surprise at the dyad, proceeding to force drain the pair.

Here Ochi and his ship have nothing to do with Rey’s parents. He is just a sith hunter that can lead the way to the wayfinder, the ship that Rey sees in the vision can be recoloured or changed to look different.

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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This doesn’t solve the deeper problems mentioned above, but it’s a foundation point that could branch out into further edits that would shape the “Just Rey” concept. To clarify I know I’m not the first to re-edit the ending, but I think it’s one of the more successful attempts.

Here’s a link to the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaAXOCa15uE&t=2s

I also have a version with the more traditional Williams fanfare:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2e7xjNgmFM&t=

And if you’re interested in how we achieved the effect, we have a tutorial here. It’s so subtle that most people I’ve shown don’t even notice the effect, but it did take a lot of finessing to get perfect, and we were lucky with the shot timing and focal length:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPZBBTf-uTM&t=

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Octorox said:

Something like this:

Rey: Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.
Ren: Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You’re a vergence in the Force Rey. The most powerful nexus of Force energy since my grandfather. I didn’t want to accept it, but it’s the truth.

For years, I’ve been chasing his power, and all this time it’s been right in front of me. In you. Palpatine fears your power, Rey. We’ll kill him, together, and take the throne.

Octorox, mrbenjamino has volunteered to attempt an impression of Kylo Ren saying these lines. He says he can make it sound fairly convincing so I trust him in that sense.

Before he records them however, I would like to know if you think any improvements can be made to the above dialogue before he records them.


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Yeah’ I’ve been thinking about this a bit.

Rey: Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.
Ren: Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You threaten his power, like my grandfather. You’re surrounded by a vergence in the Force Rey, the most powerful nexus of Force energy seen in the galaxy since the death of Darth Vader, all those years ago.

For years, I’ve been chasing his power, and all this time it’s been right in front of me, in you. I may be his grandson, but you’re Vader’s true heir. Palpatine fears your power, Rey. We’ll kill him, together, and take the throne.