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The Last Jedi Expanded Edition by Jason Fry: The "Tragedy of Vader" Edit (v1 AVAILABLE)

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This is a project meant to be paired with my novelization of TROS. A greater rundown of the overall goals in my version of the sequel trilogy can be found there. In a nutshell, though, Kylo’s fascination with Vader plays a prominent role in that novelization. Kylo is meant to be the “stand-in” character for Anakin, since I feel that the saga should be entirely about him.

As a result, I knew while writing that novelization that I would likely have to go back and write a version of TLJ for these ideas to remain consistent throughout the whole trilogy. TFA’s novelization works fine on its own, since the idea I had was that he was more brainwashed by Snoke then (thus why he might believe following Vader meant being an apprentice). It’s only in this story where he develops his own plans, and I want him to realize that following Vader actually means establishing his bloodline as the sole rulers of the galaxy.

Another change I made with my project of TROS was having Rey be more insecure about herself, and relying on the validation of others to an unhealthy extent. I am planning on emphasizing this idea more in this novelization, especially when her parents are revealed to be nobodies that sold her off for drinking money.

This edit will be based on Poppasketti’s The Last Jedi: Rekindled. His changelog will carry over to this project for the most part. Deleted scenes and bonus content from the expanded edition will also be included where I feel it is necessary. Furthermore, I am planning on making some slight adjustments to Luke’s character/actions. Nothing too drastic, but rather more to make him more intriguing and believable. For example, he gives the Skywalker lightsaber back to Rey and tells her to “leave this island” instead of tossing it off a cliff. It achieves the same effect, but indicates that Luke respects his father while still being devoted to letting the Jedi end.

I am planning on releasing multiple chapters at once for feedback (the original novel is divided up into parts like that). I greatly appreciate any suggestions and feedback so long as they align with the goals of this project.

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Part 1 Changelog:

  • Lots of trimming and making descriptions less complex. Seems like Jason Fry repeats information too many times.
  • Slightly adjusted the crawl (namely making only Luke Skywalker in caps)
  • Instead of a wooden figurine, Leia displays Han’s medal at his funeral for precise continuity with TROS
  • Included some vague references to dark secrets being out in the Unknown Regions, as well as some Imperials never returning from there (TROS reference)
  • Trimmed Poe’s prank call an appropriate amount
  • Restored dialogue from the film that was changed/removed for some reason
  • Removed the pointless scene between Rose and Paige Tico before the battle. I prefer to introduce the characters when they become relevant to the story itself.
  • Made countless trims to BB-8’s antics with Black One. Apparently ships have a consciousness now according to the original novelization? Not a fan.
  • Removed Snoke assaulting General Hux. I want to emphasize the difference between the way Kylo treats him and Snoke treats him to make his betrayal in TROS make more sense.

Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mj3tcaJQOsxfYcxPhOENUPMe7YOPditXAF-rbrn8aKA/edit?usp=sharing

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Removed Snoke assaulting General Hux. I want to emphasize the difference between the way Kylo treats him and Snoke treats him to make his betrayal in TROS make more sense.

I feel it’s supposed to be like in Empire when Vader chokes the officer - it reinforces him being intimidating. Similarly for Snoke.

Small spelling error, but it’s Kaydel, not Kadel.

For example, he gives the Skywalker lightsaber back to Rey and tells her to “leave this island” instead of tossing it off a cliff. It achieves the same effect, but indicates that Luke respects his father while still being devoted to letting the Jedi end.

Just to address two things. His father was part of the cycle of destruction that the Jedi unintentionally brought every single time, the latter of which is one of the reasons why Luke wanted the Jedi to end.

Secondly, that symbolized Luke throwing away the past behind him.

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  1. Snoke can be intimidating without compromising Hux’s motivations. Especially since there is an entirely new scene between the two of them that takes place on the Supremacy, I feel like the theatrical scene is kinda pointless here.

  2. Thank you. Will correct that.

  3. Except Luke put literally everything on the line to save his father in the OT. I think he would have the maturity at this stage in his life to be able to understand the difference between the Jedi and his father as an individual. He would see it as the Jedi organization that failed Anakin (which isn’t too far from the truth). He says as much by later claiming that the Jedi were responsible for the creation of Darth Vader.

  4. I can see the symbolism there of course, but even the novelization plays the scene up as a joke. “Then Luke tossed the lightsaber off the cliff.” That could easily show up under the definition of deadpan humor. Sure, I could rewrite it to sound less comedic, but there is also symbolism in what I rewrote it as. Luke shoves the lightsaber right back into her hand, basically saying “that legend you see me as is only real in your head.”

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He says as much by later claiming that the Jedi were responsible for the creation of Darth Vader.

Speaking of which, I suggest reinforcing the destruction idea/inference by changing the line to: “It was the Jedi who were responsible for the training and creation of Dooku and Vader.” Of course, Rey can still remind Luke: “And a Jedi who saved him,” which leans more into Vader than Dooku as he did that in RotJ.

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Ooh yeah I do like the idea of more prequel tie ins. Idk if I’d put that right there but definitely somewhere. Come to think of it, Luke and Dooku share a lot of similarities, ideologically speaking.

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Bit of a CinemaSins-style nitpick, but have Luke refer to Palps as simply Palpatine and not by his Sith title. I feel like the galaxy (& by extension Rey) wouldn’t have known him as a Sith at this point, especially until TRoS.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

I can see the symbolism there of course, but even the novelization plays the scene up as a joke. “Then Luke tossed the lightsaber off the cliff.” That could easily show up under the definition of deadpan humor. Sure, I could rewrite it to sound less comedic, but there is also symbolism in what I rewrote it as. Luke shoves the lightsaber right back into her hand, basically saying “that legend you see me as is only real in your head.”

The original symbolism set up not only Luke wanting the past to die but also this scene alone: “It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

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I suppose I can see why someone might interpret him thrusting it back at her as a sort of invitation to lead the next generation of Jedi (which is definitely not what he wants, nor did I write it that way). All I’ll say is this: just because it’s time for something to end or die off doesn’t mean you need to take a piss on its grave. Things can come to an end with respect/decency. That’s where I draw the line. I’m glad you aren’t as bothered by it all, but I kinda am.

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Thanks Faraday!

To be honest, I’ve been pleasantly surprised thus far by how few contradictions I’ve encountered with how I have things in TROS. The only glaring thing I can think of was Han’s medal not appearing at his funeral.

Oh, that and the novelization flat out saying it would be impossible to fix Luke’s X-wing lol. Changed that as well.

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Surprisingly the “Luke Has A Moment” deleted scene doesn’t make an appearance in the novelization. I wrote a rough draft of what it might look like below:

Luke nearly recoiled from the gap in his doorway. The girl’s determined gaze reminded him too much of a younger version of himself. Confident. Bold. Reckless. And most importantly, foolish.

He sat down next to a floor table, easing his descent with his mechanical hand, which whirred in protest. She would never truly understand why he had chosen to leave the fight. Neither would Leia.

Leia. While he had lost the man he had come to see as his best friend, she had lost her husband. He couldn’t imagine the pain she felt right now. The worst of it all was that he alone was to blame for Han’s death. Everything was. And even if the Resistance wasn’t able to see it, his return would only make their circumstances worse. He knew that for certain.

Tears pooled on the surface of the table as Luke Skywalker wept silently.

It does reveal that Luke blames himself for things a little early, but it doesn’t reveal the specifics of that so I’m willing to overlook it.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

Surprisingly the “Luke Has A Moment” deleted scene doesn’t make an appearance in the novelization. I wrote a rough draft of what it might look like below:

Luke nearly recoiled from the gap in his doorway. The girl’s determined gaze reminded him too much of a younger version of himself. Confident. Bold. Reckless. And most importantly, foolish.

He sat down next to a floor table, easing his descent with his mechanical hand, which whirred in protest. She would never truly understand why he had chosen to leave the fight. Neither would Leia.

Leia. While he had lost the man he had come to see as his best friend, she had lost her husband. He couldn’t imagine the pain she felt right now. The worst of it all was that he alone was to blame for Han’s death. Everything was. And even if the Resistance wasn’t able to see it, his return would only make their circumstances worse. He knew that for certain.

Tears pooled on the surface of the table as Luke Skywalker wept silently.

It does reveal that Luke blames himself for things a little early, but it doesn’t reveal the specifics of that so I’m willing to overlook it.

That’s really good.

“It’s like rhymetry. They poem.” - Leorge Gucas

TROS Novelisation: The Faraday Edit, TLJ: Stoic Edition, ROTS: The Faraday Nudge, ROTS Ultracut: Order 66, Kenobi: Faraday Cut, Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars, The Light Rises, Faraday Jr.'s Star Wars

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Thanks! Currently in the part where Leia is thinking about her training with Luke. Things line up pretty neatly I’d say!

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

Surprisingly the “Luke Has A Moment” deleted scene doesn’t make an appearance in the novelization. I wrote a rough draft of what it might look like below:

Luke nearly recoiled from the gap in his doorway. The girl’s determined gaze reminded him too much of a younger version of himself. Confident. Bold. Reckless. And most importantly, foolish.

He sat down next to a floor table, easing his descent with his mechanical hand, which whirred in protest. She would never truly understand why he had chosen to leave the fight. Neither would Leia.

Leia. While he had lost the man he had come to see as his best friend, she had lost her husband. He couldn’t imagine the pain she felt right now. The worst of it all was that he alone was to blame for Han’s death. Everything was. And even if the Resistance wasn’t able to see it, his return would only make their circumstances worse. He knew that for certain.

Tears pooled on the surface of the table as Luke Skywalker wept silently.

It does reveal that Luke blames himself for things a little early, but it doesn’t reveal the specifics of that so I’m willing to overlook it.

It can already be inferred in the Falcon scene that he’s sad about losing Han.

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TestingOutTheTest said:

Jar Jar Bricks said:

Surprisingly the “Luke Has A Moment” deleted scene doesn’t make an appearance in the novelization. I wrote a rough draft of what it might look like below:

Luke nearly recoiled from the gap in his doorway. The girl’s determined gaze reminded him too much of a younger version of himself. Confident. Bold. Reckless. And most importantly, foolish.

He sat down next to a floor table, easing his descent with his mechanical hand, which whirred in protest. She would never truly understand why he had chosen to leave the fight. Neither would Leia.

Leia. While he had lost the man he had come to see as his best friend, she had lost her husband. He couldn’t imagine the pain she felt right now. The worst of it all was that he alone was to blame for Han’s death. Everything was. And even if the Resistance wasn’t able to see it, his return would only make their circumstances worse. He knew that for certain.

Tears pooled on the surface of the table as Luke Skywalker wept silently.

It does reveal that Luke blames himself for things a little early, but it doesn’t reveal the specifics of that so I’m willing to overlook it.

It can already be inferred in the Falcon scene that he’s sad about losing Han.

Absolutely. But this scene serves more of a purpose than that. Because it comes right after he denies Rey’s request to return to the fight, it means he is brought to tears over what he has done and what he thinks he has to do. It isn’t just about Han.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

Included some vague references to dark secrets being out in the Unknown Regions, as well as some Imperials never returning from there (TROS reference)

I feel that’d still undermine TLJ’s message of hope as it hints at a greater threat.

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They were already there to begin with. I merely made them even more vague. Rey mentions how there’s a bunch of First Order stuff out in the Unknown Regions, and Connix wonders what other secrets Snoke has up his sleeve. Again, both of those are there originally, I just modified them a bit.

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Also, I’d suggest re-removing that Poe scene. I feel it’d ruin the surprise after Hux’s “A single light fighter?”.

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Which scene are you referring to exactly? The “happy beeps” one?

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Eh, I don’t really see the point. I can only think of one X-wing pilot that would be crazy enough to pull up alone to a First Order fleet like that. So there’s really no reason to make it a surprise.

That scene between Poe and Connix is actually a deleted scene you can view, by the way. It’s not one of the ones that the novelization invented.

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I can only think of one X-wing pilot that would be crazy enough to pull up alone to a First Order fleet like that.

That was build-up to us being re-introduced to him as a character.

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Here’s a (possibly?) controversial decision I’ve made. I’m keeping the Leia flying into the Raddus stuff. Poppa’s edit removes it, but I really think it works quite well in novel form for the following reasons:

  1. There are multiple pages beforehand devoted to what Leia learned from Luke about the Force in her training.
  2. No wonky CGI effects that make her look like Mary Poppins.
  3. Descriptions of what’s going on with her body while she’s out in space which imo makes things more believable.

Honestly, the only reason I don’t like Leia flying in the movie is because of the CGI. I don’t dislike the idea in general (especially since it’s built up in the novel), so I think this works fine.