Masses of thoughts on Season 3-

Your format

• Your decision to make multiple movies out of each season has absolutely borne fruit here. Many of those threads seeded in earlier seasons (but considered more minor) have been picked up again this season, meaning that you don’t have any additional work to do on your earlier movies to re-include content that is now relevant in retrospect. Congratulations for the validation for your approach! I think this is absolutely the right way to approach the Filoniverse.
• What’s interesting is that, while your edit isn’t a TV series any more it isn’t quite exactly movies either. Typical movies, even those in a series, are a bit more standalone, a bit more self-contained. But what you have here is definitely still more serialised, almost a series of ~2h episodes. And that’s a good thing! I think that makes them absolutely digestible, whilst still being smaller parts of a whole, intended to be digested together. It’s a whole new media format and I think it’s accessible and excellent fun. You still get all the story beats, there’s still flow, there’s still self-contained arcs and themes, BUT you permit more connective tissue and flow. It’s good.

How was season three?

• The core narrative of season three I thought was excellent. The fundamental plot was weighty, impactful, interesting, and fun. Whatever we think of some of the individual elements making up those stories, I thought the core was very strong.
• I see the criticisms of some of the episodes - some were a little tonally different from what we’re used to, some were less connected to the main plot - but honestly that has happened in previous seasons too, and we were still able to carve out great narratives from those. I think our memory is very short term sometimes, often leading us to forget that other seasons were also criticised for ‘disconnected filler’, and I also think that watching shows in ‘edit mode’ before a season is finished sometimes stops us from enjoying those diversions. Tonally, as well, perhaps it would be useful - when watching as fans rather than editors - to consider the genre of Star Wars to be ‘Space Pulp’ rather than even ‘Space Western/Fantasy’. It’s a little schlocky, a little goofy sometimes, and personally I have no problem with that. I know that won’t work for everyone, but for me I just switch on ‘let’s have fun’ mode.
• Anyway, that’s not me saying we should include all the content when we seek to make tighter movies - it doesn’t all suit this format or these goals - but I do think that, like the content from early season two, some of that lighter content is going to contribute to perfectly satisfying narratives, once all of the usual nips,tucks, restructuring, and fanediting polish is applied.

Let’s look at the core components of the season and their dependencies.

• The primary plotline of the season, as delivered on in the finale and built to throughout, is the Mandalorians returning to Mandalore and the conflict there and along the way, and all of the content earlier in the season that sets that up. Easy enough. New developments serving that plot:
  • Gideon doesn’t appear much this season, but that’s fine, because he’s already been established. The scene showing he’s been extracted from his prison shuttle is all we need to justify his later appearance.
  • The merging of the two Mandalorian clans is necessary, but achievable by having Bo-Katan entirely ignore the rest of Plazir-15, even cutting tightly from “We’ll have to approach on foot” (as they approach the planet) to her then approaching Axe Woves’ gang on foot (from nearer the end of the episode).
  • Din, Grogu’s, and Bo-Katan’s plotline, especially their acceptance by the Mandalorians, is the secondary plot, and necessary to getting all the characters working together. It has further dependencies I’ll expand on later.
  • Grogu’s IG-12 is NOT going to be a fan favourite, certainly I found it a bit too goofy, but it appears throughout the finale so is unfortunately necessary. I think we need to just strap in and accept that, and look for where it can be polished. It also has a few awkward dependencies to think about below.
  • R5 appears, but may be cuttable. This is worth investigating. Certainly some of his goofiness can be trimmed, but I’m not sure yet how much of him can be trimmed.
  • The notion that Mandalore is believed to be inhospitable, but is instead at least breathable, and the secret Imperial base. The base is intended as a suprise, so that doesn’t need seeding, but the perceived inhospitable nature of the planet (1) serves that suprise, (2) justifies why the Mandos haven’t attempted to retake the planet yet, and (3) adds a cute little thread about the planet beginning to heal. I’ll talk more about this below too.
  • Some content serving this movie occurs on the Covert’s rocky planet, and later Nevarro. The rocky planet will need to stay, in part, but I think Nevarro may also be necessary. I don’t think this is a problem though - stick with me.
• The secondary plotline is Din and Bo-Katan’s redemption, and Grogu’s acceptance as foundling/apprentice. (Their integration more deeply with the Mandalorians, and Bo-Katan’s rise to leader, is a part of this, but is also served by the primary plotline, so we’ll ignore it here as it’s already included by that content.) This content is dependent on:
  • The inhospitable Mandalore (kind of). Technically, this could be cut around, but I don’t think that’s wise (see above). This also requires R5 (at least a little, plus he appears later), a plotline which also requires at least some of the IG-11/12 plot (which isn’t great, but again, comes up again later). An edit with tighter goals and robust VFX work might attempt to remove this thread entirely, but let me return you to the ‘Format’ section above, and suggest that part of what makes these movies so popular is that they preserve a lot of elements which pay off later. I’d advocate strongly for preservation - but with tight cuts to minimise pain. Again though, I have further ideas for this.
  • R5 also necessitates a visit to Pelli, which is an unfortunate diversion of the type that can be quite annoying in moviefied edits - too many fetch quests can get boring. It is HERE that I’d be looking for a VFX/SFX alternative, like Anzellan voices saying “JUST USE R5 DROID INSTEAD” or something.
  • The darksaber’s legitimate ownership by Bo-Katan is justified by the (very long) sequence with the robot creature under Mandalore. You might be able to handwave some of this away, and just have Bo-Katan accept the gifted darksaber, but that would feel a bit cheap. Either way though, you kind of need that drama in order to get the right characters on the planet for the Waters sequence. So judicious trims for timing are probably the best answer here.
  • Bo-Katan’s replacement pauldron may be valuable later, but perhaps requires explanation either way. It might be that dialogue around her seeing the mythosaur can carry the decision to replace it, but otherwise, it is dependent on her losing it in the bird fight - a very long sequence for little meat.
• The third main plot - perhaps not in importance, but in terms of being a big action sequence, or at least the big midseason peak - is Gorian Shard. He’s a little schlocky, which I appreciate some people might have a problem with, but the idea of a big ol’ pirate raid on the good guys’ town, where they get saved by a finally-united party, is very Star Wars. This content does a lot for the Mandalorian plot and Bo-Katan’s leadership, and a little for Nevarro, and importantly its ending is tonally quite a ‘big’ ending.
  • This one’s dependent on the earlier scene on Nevarro with the pirates, which also includes IG-11 and the setup of Mando being offered land.
  • This whole plot is, potentially, cuttable, but watch this space.

And let’s look at some more minor plot threads seen this season

• Paz Viszla, his tensions with Mando and Bo-Katan, and the induction and saving of his son Ragnar, are something of a focus. The Bo-Katan angle is the most important of these, but is perhaps not vital given her clear leadership abilities and legitimacy demonstrated elsewhere.
• Dr. Pershing’s solo story was great - and it did show off a lot of great context for the New Republic - but it was long, paced and shot much more like Andor content, and importantly, really didn’t relate directly to the main plot. We already have the cloning angle and enough context for Kane as a mole in other, more straightforward scenes. It would be nice to see included in some form, but it’s probably a major candidate for complete removal. Unfortunately, it probably won’t fit elsewhere in future either, since it appears to mainly serve to set up cloning/mole-Kane at this specific point in time. But let’s keep an eye on it.
• Plazir-15’s main plot was, apparently deliberately, just a goofy side adventure. A cameo-laden buddy-cop droid film noir (with some schlocky fishy love), and the loosening of Din and Bo-Katan’s characters to serve a bit more comedy, really feels out of place. Personally I enjoyed it for what it was, but I can definitely see the objection. Either way, it’s absolutely unnecessary, and easily skipped.
• The bird fight is a minor step in Bo-Katan’s journey, probably skippable, but also probably heavily trimmable, cutting from the initial chase of the bird with Ragnar to the later aerial combat with it, skipping the rock spire and nest sequence. (The birds may come into play later, but probably won’t need this as their introduction.)
• Grogu’s formal induction with the roundel may be relevant in future (though it may be fine to just assume it was granted offscreen after his other formal induction via the waters that we see later), but we should also consider his Kelleran Beq flashback. I love when Star Wars honours its past, but it is a diversion. However, it’s a nice sequence that might add some colour somewhere we have space. Let’s keep this one on the table - though perhaps it belongs somewhere else, such as during Luke’s training, or even back during Ahsoka’s introduction when she reads his mind to find his name.
• The absolute first scene of the series, with Mando meeting the Covert (and saving Ragnar/Mandos from the water beast) repeats content told to Din during his BoBF scenes. It may not be necessary to include this, since Din’s already shown to generally know where the Covert are without being told onscreen, though the water beast does conclude the bird fight.
• Carson Teva at Coruscant with Kane, Kane talking to Gideon, and the Shadow Council scenes, are not super duper vital, but they’re strong scenes adding good context.
• Bo-Katan’s initial depression, the bombing of her home, the Mandalorian combat training, and Carson Teva at Delphi base, are also not necessarily vital, but they’re decent enough.

So let’s make something of all of that

• Taken as a whole, all of the above thoughts (inclusions, exclusions, and maybes) still yield a lot of content, but I want to particularly emphasise here, they yield a lot of GOOD content. There is a structure, and a flow, to the narrative. But there is a LOT of content, and quite a significant number of dependencies in order to tell the story.
• I know you, Acbagel, are currently thinking of making this just the one movie. But this isn’t what you’ve done in the past (even with the earlier seasons which also included a good amount of ‘filler’-y content), and I don’t think it’s what you need to do this time. Using as much as you can, but just making it as good as can be whilst restructured around solid narrative cores, has been what’s made your edits so excellent (and archival for me, and many others). Working it into a single movie is, I think, going to be an unnecessarily challenging task, both in terms of structuring and especially with the additional effects work you might need in order to make it work.
• So, not a suprise for you at this point, but: I think this absolutely works as two movies. The breakpoint would be the Gorian Shard attack on Nevarro, which would conclude the first movie, providing a satisfying high-action conclusion to Din/Grogu/Bo-Katan’s inclusion in the clan. The final two episodes of the season alone grant 90 minutes of usable content, and the first five episodes (excluding the Pershing content) run to something that should condense nicely into around the ~2h mark.

Let’s get a feel for how that’d play out, with some rough ideas for ordering:

• Book 6
  • Din goes to Bo-Katan on Kalevala: Mandalore’s poisoned, and Bo-Katan is depressed.
  • Din goes to Nevarro to get a droid who can help scout Mandalore (and either succeeds or fails depending on how well we can get him an R5 unit here), pisses off some pirates while he’s there, then fights those pirates on his way out.
  • (Din goes to Pelli for the R5 unit if necessary)
  • Din goes to Mandalore, and as soon as he’s out of comms range, the pirates attack Nevarro. Now there’s a big threat for us to care about, and the plot is kicked into gear.
  • More quickly, we get through Din’s capture, and Grogu bringing back Bo-Katan, then they’re into the waters for redemption and the Mythosaur.
  • Greef, in desperation, contacts Carson for help with the pirates.
  • Din and Bo leave Mandalore (maybe witnessing the destruction of Bo’s palace), then visit the covert and join the enclave.
  • On behalf of Greef, Carson attempts to get Republic support, but is denied.
  • Din and Bo join Mandalorian combat training and other induction activities. (Maybe they fight the bird, maybe they don’t.) Bo-Katan gets a Mythosaur pauldron.
  • Carson travels to the covert and recruits Din and the Mandalorians. They all travel to Nevarro and liberate it. Big payoff of the threat that’s been overhanging the movie. The Mandalorians are granted their old enclave, and Bo-Katan is given the mission to unite all Mandalorians as a stinger. Lovely.
• Book 7
  • Carson, travelling in space, comes across Gideon’s prison shuttle, and evidence that beskar armour may be involved. Threat set up.
  • Meanwhile, Din, Bo-Katan and Grogu travel to Plazir-15. They don’t engage with the residents - they go straight to Axe Woves’ clan. Bo wins the fight, and Din gives her the darksaber. They all leave.
  • Kane reports to Gideon that the Mandalorians plan to retake the planet. We see the weird new stormtroopers (but don’t continue the scene into the council chambers, as you’re using it elsewhere).
  • Back on Nevarro, the Mandalorians prepare to retake Mandalore. Grogu gets IG-12 (but trimmed heavily to make it less of a joke).
  • They all travel to Mandalore, and everything else plays out: They meet the local Mandalorians, recon the great forge, fight Gideon’s beskar troops and praetorians, fight in space, kill some clones, and pew pew pew pew pew. Big finale, Grogu’s adoption, then probably all of the other epilogues too.
  • If this one does run a little short, then it might be our best (and only) opportunity to get some Pershing content in there - probably during the first quarter, possibly even before we return to Din’s story. It’s most relevant to this movie’s content, AND its Republic situation ties nicely in with the epilogue with Carson, bringing both factions very much back onto the active stage. It might be that the first bit of Pershing content plays out until he mentions that Gideon never made it to trial, then Carson discovers the wreckage confirming that and implicating Mandalorians, then we find some sensible balance for Pershing’s other adventures and the return to our main characters.
  • Kane reporting to Gideon could come during the other Pershing content - revealing her as a mole earlier, if we need. Or it could be the stinger for Book 6, paying off her scene with Carson, and leading into her clearly misleading Pershing.

I honestly think that all works really nicely

• Right?
• …Right?

•         ...Right!?
  

• Anyway, to me, it feels like it aligns with your current approach, which I’ve always been completely in support of.
• Oh, and, as much as it worked in your Book 3 very nicely, you might actually want to preserve the Shadow Council scene for Book 7, as I’ve presented it. (Or split it into two, if possible, keeping each half more relevant to their own movie’s content.) But that’s up for grabs, I think both could work.

But what about wanting to give Grogu a bit of a longer absence?

• Sure, so that’s another thing, I suppose. Let’s just look at the content on Luke’s planet:
  • Mando travels to the planet and waits, meeting R2 and seeing the building of huts (4m, but more drawn out than it needs to be)
  • Luke trains Grogu (including a flashback) (5m30s)
  • Din meets Ahsoka and gives her his gift for Grogu, then leaves. (4m30s)
  • Luke trains Grogu, and Ahsoka gives Luke the gift (7m30s)
  • Grogu is given the choice (2m30s)
• 24m total. So we can play with where these go. One additional complication though, is how to get Grogu back to Din, if we’re not using the original plot where R2 drops him off with Pelli and he ends up in the Boba battle. You originally used the scene of them back together having a play in Din’s new ship, which worked nicely as a stinger. But that might need some further thought.
• Either way, let’s think placement of those main scenes. Yes, it’d be great to keep them apart for as long as possible, but realistically what are our options? Grogu’s present in a lot of this season, requiring serious trimming or even VFX work, let alone some narrative changes (including the key early scene which gets Bo-Katan onto Mandalore to join Din in the waters.)
• I think then, functionally, Grogu’s return (the choice) should simply open movie 6. This could be done using a mix of those original scenes, to imply that the choice happens while Din is there (so we don’t need to show them re-meet, and can use the original ‘let’s go fast’ stinger as if they’re leaving that planet.) At the start of your movie 6, you could have Mando arrive, meet Ahsoka, then rest, while we see a brief cut of Grogu’s training with Luke, and have her hand over the gift. Straight into the choice scene, then off they fly together to Kalevala.
  • Using this, you’d have the first scene of Luke training Grogu left over, which I’d probably keep as a short stinger at the end of book 5, to remind the viewers (after a movie away, which I think is sufficient at least) that Grogu’s not forgotten by the story now. You could alternatively use both of the Luke training scenes throughout this movie (one first, one last?), taking out just Ahsoka giving Luke the gift and turning it into a direct sequence of people moving that gift between each other quickly to get to the choice scene quickly at the start of book 6.
  • As a final thought here, the Kelleran Beq flashback is four minutes long, which is a bit indulgent, though it might work with Luke triggering it during his training (he already triggers a different flashback in other content). Or, as I mentioned above, it might add value when Ahsoka reads his mind in their first meeting (though it’d be lovely to have someone during the flashback say “Grogu”, to give Ahsoka his name - perhaps a decent enough Kelleran impersonator could give us “let’s get out of here, Grogu” for their final shot).

As an aside

• We might be able to have Pelli give Din R5 back in the BoBF content, when she gives him the ship. I don’t know how many times we see it with the bubble-hatch, but if anything was a valuable spend of VFX effort, it’d be getting that droid onto the ship then, so that pretty much the next thing Din does with the ship after his Boba adventure on Tattooine is go to Mandalore.
• This would, however, clash with my previous idea to have Grogu cleanly reunite with Mando. But you could possibly flip this - having Mando reacquire Grogu when get goes to Pelli to get R5 (Luke would know Mando was going to be there using the force), though this would also take VFX work to combine those in the right order and give Din the right reactions. You wouldn’t then be able to use the scene of them speeding away together though, as Din would have an R5 unit in the Grogu slot.

Anyway, that’s quite enough thoughts for now. Hope it’s helpful!