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The Starlight Project Addendum: The Rise of Skywalker (Freeform Brainstorming Session)

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 (Edited)

UPDATE: I have no plans to edit TROS for the foreseeable future. Take the ideas below as thought experiments only. In light of this, my TLJ edit would serve as the completion of the Starlight Project.

Opening Crawl Just For Fun:

https://vimeo.com/564435856

Password: fanedit

I have debated for months about even bothering to complete this trilogy since most of TROS is irredeemably bad. Unfortunately, The Last Jedi for all its merit still doesn’t feel like a satisfying end for these characters, so Starlight would either be an incomplete story or have an embarrassingly perfunctory final chapter.

In light of this, I’m considering a more unconventional edit of TLJ and TROS:

EPISODE IIIV - THE LAST JEDI

Since the Force Awakens will end with the Falcon leaving for Luke’s island, the extra scene of Rey and the Jedi Steps will be one of the first scenes in The Last Jedi, and the story of TLJ from here mostly follows the film with some added deleted scenes. A Sith Wayfinder could be added to Snoke’s throne as a visual connection between Snoke and the upcoming Sith fleet. The death of Snoke shows his eyes glow red and his spirit leave Snoke’s body.

The climactic scene of the film is Holdo’s Sacrifice. Rose and Finn go where they belong, and when Kylo awakens on the Supremacy his eyes smoulder red. The scene is followed by Yoda and Luke and then the Broom Boy scene. As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

EPISODE IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

The Rise of Skywalker begins with a pan down to Crait and the arrival of Finn and Rose and BB-8. The Broom Boy scene at the end of the previous film acts as a misdirection, as there is no response to the Resistance’s call for help. Luke’s arrival and confrontation with Kylo will be edited so that Kylo seems more conflicted about his identity. To do this I would remove his final raging run against Luke; in this version Luke will hand Kylo an ultimatum and Kylo will accept this without undue screaming. The voice of Palpatine again comes to Kylo when he finds the illusory dice.

After the Falcon leaps into hyperspace, Kylo consults the mask of Vader and Palpatine’s voice again speaks, telling him that he’s been every voice inside his head. Palpatine tells Kylo to bring him the girl and he can have the Sith fleet. He sees a vision of Rey on the throne, a vision shared with Rey as she meditates on the new Resistance base. Mustafar minute, Kylo on Exegol, and the Iceberg/Lightspeed skipping are gone. The Falcon lands and they hear that somehow Palpatine has returned and there’s a Sith fleet on Exegol. Rey learns of the wayfinder and they go to the desert planet to find it and the dagger. Cut Rey Palpatine and Rey’s parentage. She merely finds the dagger without healing the snake and she Force lightnings Chewie. Kylo is now so consumed by the Sith spirit that he rebuilds his mask.

They get to the Death Star and they fight. Rey kills Kylo. This shock kills Leia as well. Rey flees in Kylo’s TIE fighter to Luke’s island, fearful of the sudden voices of the Sith in her head. Her eyes begin to shine red. Kylo, now a ghost, meets the spirit of Han and is redeemed in death. On the island, Luke says that Rey needs to face her fear and go to Exegol. She does so, leading the Resistance to the Sith Fleet.

Rey goes to the Sith throne. Around her are the Sith cultists and Palpatine’s disembodied voice fills her head. He tells her all sorts of lies, such as that she is a Palpatine, that she belongs on the throne, basic Sith stuff. The roof opens up and she sees her friends being struck down over the planet, Palpatine’s voice telling her to take the throne and save them. She assents. A sudden shock strikes her to the ground and Palpatine’s laughter fills the throne room. As she lies on the ground a ghostly form appears and coalesces into the body of the Emperor. ‘Look what you have made’ he says to her prostrate form. The cultists chant as he sits on the throne and unleashes lightning on the fleet. Rey beseeches the ghosts and they appear to her, Ben included. Between them all she rises and defeats the ghost of Palpatine. Above her the Resistance is victorious, and she flies away in the X-wing.

After the celebration, she buries the sabers on Tatooine as her friends play games on the Falcon, and then the Falcon flies into the sunrise.

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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Interesting ideas, but is some of this stuff even possible? Not sure how you’d do things like have Ben be a Force ghost when he talks to Han, or change Palpatine to be a disembodied spirit. It just doesn’t seem feasible.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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I see you’re putting your writing skills into use, Nev!
TLJ was already too long a film so moving the battle of crait into the opening might be just the right idea. It also allows the film to breathe and enjoy a fleshed out opening with dramatic action and character building. I wonder if some of the Cultists from Exogol could be added to the background in Snoke’s thrown room, Snoke’s allegiance to the Sith Eternal cult would need to be emphasised. Subtle things like playing around with the colour of his robes (purple, black, red) would really give him that “sith” aesthetic. Could even overlay subtle hints of Palpatine’s voice as he utters certain words like “a new Vader…”.
I’m really intrigued by how you’re approaching Kylo Ren in this. Is it meant to be implyed that he has become possessed by the spirit of Palpatine after striking down Snoke? It’s very reminiscent of the very early TROS leaks by MSW. I really like it.

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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StarkillerAG said:

Interesting ideas, but is some of this stuff even possible? Not sure how you’d do things like have Ben be a Force ghost when he talks to Han, or change Palpatine to be a disembodied spirit. It just doesn’t seem feasible.

The Kylo Force Ghost would be the trickiest one to achieve, but since Han is opaque in this scene, it probably wouldn’t feel weird to have Kylo be semi-solid as well. Besides, for transparency all you need is a background tracked to match the movement of the scene and then fade the original footage over top of it. Most of Kylo’s shots are against a misty or cloudy sky, and the rest can just use Death Star junk. Tricky, but doable.

The Palpatine ghost I’m thinking could just fade into a solid form in one shot, so there wouldn’t need to be much work to do in that case. Much more difficult would be in seamlessly cutting out so much of the rest of the finale and Kylo’s involvement.

idir_hh said:

I see you’re putting your writing skills into use, Nev!
TLJ was already too long a film so moving the battle of crait into the opening might be just the right idea. It also allows the film to breathe and enjoy a fleshed out opening with dramatic action and character building. I wonder if some of the Cultists from Exogol could be added to the background in Snoke’s thrown room, Snoke’s allegiance to the Sith Eternal cult would need to be emphasised. Subtle things like playing around with the colour of his robes (purple, black, red) would really give him that “sith” aesthetic. Could even overlay subtle hints of Palpatine’s voice as he utters certain words like “a new Vader…”.
I’m really intrigued by how you’re approaching Kylo Ren in this. Is it meant to be implyed that he has became possessed by the spirit of Palpatine after striking down Snoke? It’s very reminiscent of the very early TROS leaks by MSW. I really like it.

Yep, Kylo being possessed by the Spirit of the Sith just seems like such an obvious way to do his redemption that I don’t know why they didn’t go that direction. Killing Kylo also gives Rey a much more believable potential for evil in my opinion since she is now literally possessed, something that not even Luke had to face.

JEDIT: Edited the first post to elaborate on the end of TLJ.

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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 (Edited)

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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 (Edited)

idir_hh said:

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

I integrated the Broadcast into the Crait sequence here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

It still may not be useful, but its definitely possible to integrate.

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JakeRyan17 said:

idir_hh said:

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

I integrated the Broadcast into the Crait sequence here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

It still may not be useful, but its definitely possible to integrate.

This is pretty cool, but I think another possible area to integrate it is when the resistance has already fled the base and Kylo is staring at the disappearing dice. The camera lingers on the radio equipment inside the makeshift base. You could have the broadcast play here at the end of TLJ and have TROS pick up with Kylo obsessed with finding Palpatine or the origin of the broadcast at the least.

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Hal 9000 said:

Sup

Darth Sadifous said:

JakeRyan17 said:

idir_hh said:

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

I integrated the Broadcast into the Crait sequence here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

It still may not be useful, but its definitely possible to integrate.

This is pretty cool, but I think another possible area to integrate it is when the resistance has already fled the base and Kylo is staring at the disappearing dice. The camera lingers on the radio equipment inside the makeshift base. You could have the broadcast play here at the end of TLJ and have TROS pick up with Kylo obsessed with finding Palpatine or the origin of the broadcast at the least.

Thinking about it some more, Palpatine really shouldn’t speak at all except in Kylo’s and Rey’s head so cool as it is it wouldn’t work.

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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 (Edited)

Darth Sadifous said:

JakeRyan17 said:

idir_hh said:

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

I integrated the Broadcast into the Crait sequence here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

It still may not be useful, but its definitely possible to integrate.

This is pretty cool, but I think another possible area to integrate it is when the resistance has already fled the base and Kylo is staring at the disappearing dice. The camera lingers on the radio equipment inside the makeshift base. You could have the broadcast play here at the end of TLJ and have TROS pick up with Kylo obsessed with finding Palpatine or the origin of the broadcast at the least.

I had added Kylo travelling to Exegol to Force Awakens (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rARUzDyLV0hM6eQX4m5U7MkG7AEWxRmU/view?usp=sharing), and established Kylo and Palpatine’s telepathic communication as the dice disappeared (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s-thAiSISTEYqjn0oiyRuoWgdiBScyZ-/view?usp=sharing).

I wanted the broadcast to happen before Luke appeared, because then you have both of Kylo’s masters coming back at once. Kylo seems to be seeking autonomy throughout the franchise, from his father in TFA, from his mother and masters Snoke and Luke in TLJ, and from Palpatine in TROS. By making Snoke and Palpatine one in the same sooner, Kylo offering his hand to Rey takes an extra meaning, and after that fails both of his masters confront him again. That’s all a bunch of stuff for my edit, but that’s why I placed it where I did.

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Just wanted to stroll by and say. I’m So Hyped For This.

Peace is a lie
There is only passion…

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i’m really hyped for this, i think it could end REALLY cool
Could you send a PM for the Starlight Project parts that already exist?

the dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural

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This is a fascinating take on it and I am curious if its doable!

“Because you are a PalpaWalker?”

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Has a tentative cutlist been drawn up for this project yet?

“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
-Sheev Palpatine, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

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Excited once you’ve finished your episode 7 edit. But i have a question, probably i don’t understand a certain story point:
In my head it seems a bit abrupt from kylo consumed by the sith spirit, losing to to rey on the ds and becoming redeemed at the han scene. Or is there a fair amount of time till this scene even happen?

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CamSMurph said:

Has a tentative cutlist been drawn up for this project yet?

I wouldn’t count on anything regarding TROS being worked on anytime soon, if ever. I began the thread when I was still working through potential ideas to salvage the film, but I’ve pretty much landed on the realization that it’s simply unsalvageable, even combined with TLJ into a sort of two-in-one summary cut.

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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NeverarGreat said:

CamSMurph said:

Has a tentative cutlist been drawn up for this project yet?

I wouldn’t count on anything regarding TROS being worked on anytime soon, if ever. I began the thread when I was still working through potential ideas to salvage the film, but I’ve pretty much landed on the realization that it’s simply unsalvageable, even combined with TLJ into a sort of two-in-one summary cut.

Dang, I hate to hear that. Honestly, I really loved the idea you had for both this and TLJ. 😦

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My childhood trauma is bubbling up to the surface.

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A shame this never came to fruition, because the breakdown in the OP sounds really promising. 😃

“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
-Sheev Palpatine, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)