Mando EP4: Return to Mandalore 4K [RELEASED] — Page 3

There is some important stuff in Episode 1, but there is also a lot that doesn’t need to be included. Din’s first trip to Bo Katan is the opening scene. The first Nevarro trip is not in currently because there isn’t anything essential and we subsequently revisit Nevarro multiple times. The opening scene of the Armourer’s covert is also included, but the monster is removed - there are just too many monsters in this season! I’m trying to be minimalist at the moment because I really don’t want to end up with so much material that I need to do 2 movies. The aim is very much 1 movie, 2h 45 runtime.

The New Republic Plot is also in there, but focused on Kane and edited down to a minimum. It is spaced out and intercut with the primary storyline.

Current rough cut is 2h 25 with one episode left!

szopman said:

2h25min? In the end you saved more than I thought you would 😄

That’s a rough cut. None of the scenes have been “tightened” yet.

With just the finale to go, I’ve been spending a bit of time on the edit this weekend given that we pretty much know how its going to play out. I’ve made a few significant changes to my plan.

Firstly I’ve decided to remove the Dr Pershing thread completely. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and the scenes don’t work well as the parallel story to the main plot. Gideon explains to the shadow council what happened to Pershing and I think that’s all that is needed.

Instead I’ve reinstated the first Nevarro scene (minus the brief space battle with Mando) to have the Pirate and New Republic/Gideon threads as the parallel story using Carson Teva as the link between the Pirate and New Republic threads.
I have moved the scene of Teva discovering Gideon’s shuttle into the first act, along with the Shadow Council scene (which I’ve split from Kane’s report). Gideon is our villain in this season, so I want his presence to be felt throughout, not a reveal in the final act.

I’ve also removed the armourer/Grogu scene along with Grogu’s flashback. I love part of that flashback scene, but its not essential. The rest of the scene doesn’t add anything and now that Grogu has IG-12 it seems that the armour he was presented with is insignificant.

Including the opening crawl the current runtime is 2h15, which will comfortably allow the finale to be added without having to do any further trimming. Fingers crossed that the things I’ve cut don’t end up being crucial! Although knowing Filoni they will be!

Can’t wait for the finale!

arabian said:

Isn’t Grogu getting the armor made of Beskar significant because it shows that he’s a foundling, accepted as a Mandalorian?

It is, but again that plot thread hasn’t been expanded upon. I’m also removing the training sequence. This leaves the audience to assume, rightly IMO, that he’s too young to be considered a foundling.

WitchDR said:

Love the changes made Smudger! I agree the Pershing stuff is better left on the cutting room floor.

I think we can do without Grogu getting the armor. If we see it in the finale, like he gets hit or something and it protects him, we can just imply that they armored him up before they went to Mandalore.

But I do think you should keep the flashback though. What if you just implemented parts of it into this scene? Just trim it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO_l-dI5CFY&ab_channel=DailyDisclosure

That’s exactly what I’m going to do!

szopman said:

In the end, you’re going to move the Luke Skywalker stuff to this film ? Or you re gonna leave it as a part of Ep III?

Leaving it in episode 3. I’m currently mulling over a radial change to EPs 2 and 3 to take out more Boba stuff and shuffle things around.

STF78 said:

smudger9 said:

szopman said:

In the end, you’re going to move the Luke Skywalker stuff to this film ? Or you re gonna leave it as a part of Ep III?

Leaving it in episode 3. I’m currently mulling over a radial change to EPs 2 and 3 to take out more Boba stuff and shuffle things around.

Are you able to give us any more info on the potential changes to episodes two and three?

Episode 2 is a bit of an issue because it now has some important story elements missing.

1. Carson Teva’s interactions with Mando/Nevarro.
2. The cloning facility on Nevarro.
3. Elspeth Morgan and the Beskar spear.

These elements were cut to stick to a reasonable runtime and allow Luke’s appearance to be the finale. However, these elements have become very important.

My current thinking is to put these elements back into episode 2 and have the movie end on a cliffhanger with Gideon’s capture of Grogu. (Like ESB).

The rescue can then be the opening of Episode 3 and the sudden decision to capture Pershing can be explained in the opening crawl. I will then cut Boba’s story down to a bare minimum and have episode three to focus on Mando and Grogu.
Grogu’s training scenes will be intercut with Mando’s journey. Mando will not travel to meet Grogu, Grogu will make his decision and then head off to find Mando.

The main negative is that Luke’s first appearance begs to be the finale of a movie, not the end of the opening act, but this would allow all the important story beats to be included.

szopman said:

smudger9 said:

STF78 said:

smudger9 said:

szopman said:

In the end, you’re going to move the Luke Skywalker stuff to this film ? Or you re gonna leave it as a part of Ep III?

Leaving it in episode 3. I’m currently mulling over a radial change to EPs 2 and 3 to take out more Boba stuff and shuffle things around.

Are you able to give us any more info on the potential changes to episodes two and three?

Episode 2 is a bit of an issue because it now has some important story elements missing.

1. Carson Teva’s interactions with Mando/Nevarro.
2. The cloning facility on Nevarro.
3. Elspeth Morgan and the Beskar spear.

These elements were cut to stick to a reasonable runtime and allow Luke’s appearance to be the finale. However, these elements have become very important.

My current thinking is to put these elements back into episode 2 and have the movie end on a cliffhanger with Gideon’s capture of Grogu. (Like ESB).

The rescue can then be the opening of Episode 3 and the sudden decision to capture Pershing can be explained in the opening crawl. I will then cut Boba’s story down to a bare minimum and have episode three to focus on Mando and Grogu.
Grogu’s training scenes will be intercut with Mando’s journey. Mando will not travel to meet Grogu, Grogu will make his decision and then head off to find Mando.

The main negative is that Luke’s first appearance begs to be the finale of a movie, not the end of the opening act, but this would allow all the important story beats to be included.

I know it may be a big change, but why not split season 2 into two movies?
2x07 is one of the best fillers ever in Star Wars franchise. So you could maybe make one movie that ends with Grogu’s capture and then another (a bit shorter) one that would end with Luke big finale?
Or, alternatively, you could make 1 film from 2x01-5 (cutting filler of course), intercutting the storylines of Mando, Ahsoka and Boba (using some flashbacks from TBOBF, like him starting to work with Fennec). Then the 2nd film would start with some good intense action (2x06) and its main theme could be rescuing Grogu.

I think s02 is totally worth 2 films (this way you can extend Ahsoka’s stuff as well).

There’s not really enough material for 2 movies in season 2. It’s in that horrible zone of too much for one but not enough for 2.

On a plus note, season 3 wrapped up nicely with no annoying Filoni call backs to elements that I had decided to cut! Looks like episode 4 will clock in around the 2h 35 mark.

ArtixRules said:

I honestly think Elia Kane could be removed from the fanedit quite smoothly since she doesn’t factor into the finale and her and Pershing’s story only slowed things down to a grinding halt

The Pershing story was already in the bin! Thankfully the finale passed without reference to him. Kane will appear twice, in her role as Gideon’s spy.

szopman said:

Are you going to delete the short scene where Gideon is tracking Mando and Grogu ? I think it just didn’t make any sense.

Very mediocre season but I’m sure your edit will make it much more enjoyable;)

I haven’t yet done a second watch-through with my editing head on. I’m sure if it doesn’t make sense I’ll cut it!

I enjoyed your previous Mando episodes, and am looking forward to your next instalment! This season was really disappointing…The horrendous over-acting by the “guest stars” on the planet Plazir-15, along with the “droid bar” was awful, plus an entire episode just for Pershing, which ended up going nowhere was just silly haha! I’m so glad that you will remove all of that footage!

Will you be removing the awful generic “pirates-starting-a-fight” scene from episode 1? The first introduction to the pirates can come from episode 5, which would cut down on the poorly-written characters being on-screen for very long. Oh and can I suggest removing some of the pathetic over-acting from the pirates when they’re chasing Din in their starfighters? There is too much “tough guy” talk, straight out of a thousand generic action films.