Spence, I couldn’t find in your notes. How are you taking care of the “two kidnappings” issue?
It’s still there, but the focus of the first kidnapping is now more on it being Kenobi’s call to action. Because less emphasis is placed on the first one, the second one can feel like a bigger moment.
I know a lot of edits are cutting the fortress, but in my opinion that takes away too many important things. The fortress has Reva backstory, some great character moments for Leia and Tala, cool world building, and the pivotal moment where Kenobi reconnects with the Force in full. Plus it creates some logic gaps about the ship being tracked. It all doesn’t quite hold together without it, for me anyway.
The ship Being tracked never bothered me … in a new hope we never see a tracking device being put on.
That is the most minor of my issues with removing the fortress. It’s too damaging to the story and character arcs to lose it. Lots of edits are removing it, I would encourage you to seek those out.