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Post #1535397

Author
EddieDean
Parent topic
The Clone Wars: Refocused [COMPLETE] + Subtitles for season one!
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1535397/action/topic#1535397
Date created
23-Apr-2023, 4:29 PM

What, you thought I’d stopped making new episodes?

RELEASED - S03E00 - Dreams of Destiny (Interlude) (v2.1)

  • RELEASE VERSION.
  • An all-new interlude episode bridging seasons two and three.
  • Comprising the original Tales of the Jedi episode Practice Makes Perfect, and the Forces of Destiny episodes Unexpected Company, The Starfighter Stunt, The Imposter Inside, Teach You, I Will, and The Padawan Path.
  • Running 22 minutes.
  • DOWNLOAD LINK is in the tracker spreadsheet, PM me for access.
  • Note: It’s recommended that you download this before watching, rather than streaming it directly from Google Drive.

This is an experimental little interlude I’ve had cooking for a while, that I’m very proud of. It satisfies a few important goals:

  • It contains the final content from Tales of the Jedi that I hadn’t yet included in TCW:R
  • It contains the Forces of Destiny episodes featuring Ahsoka during this timescale
  • So, now, we have 100% of Ahsoka’s story (that’s available in video format, and set in this timeframe) within this edit, in near-chronological order.
  • It bridges Ahsoka’s costume change (seasons two and three in TCW:R) nicely
  • It highlights her journey so far, through her early appearances and maturation, and hints a little at her destiny without spoilers

What I’ve done here is compile a story out of both sources of content, elegantly using the fact that Ahsoka is frequently stunned to unconsciousness in TOTJ’s Practice Makes Perfect episode as a framing device for the FoD shorts. This ‘unconsciousness’ device also works nicely as an excuse for why the animation style and tone of the FoD shorts are a little different from what we’re used to from TCW.

It’s a little odd, a little experimental, a little fun, but it’s also got a suprising amount of valuable content in it for what it is - most notably Anakin training Ahsoka to resist Clones, and Ahsoka becoming aware of Anakin and Padmé’s relationship. This content doesn’t really work on its own, but combined I think it heightens both and makes a worthy episode.

The ‘Ahsoka’s dream’ format also givs us some flexibility over the timeframe and reality - are these events a little earlier, recent, or during this timeframe? Are they exactly real, fantasy, canon, or not canon? This allows the viewer to take only what they want from this.

In terms of the FoD shorts, I begin with the episode where Ahsoka learns of Anakin and Padmé’s relationship, which leads nicely into Ahsoka deciding to spend quality time with Padmé after. We then see Ahsoka using and training with her second lightsaber (also a feature of her season three CG model update), around the time in the framing episode where she switches to using it too.

The final FoD short is Ahsoka’s formal rise in rank, and Yoda and Anakin’s pride, showing her maturity. But this is in FoD style (is this now reality?) I like this, because I then decided to include a CG-style glimpse into her future (is this now the dream?) as we see her and Rex preparing to walk through a door together, with his gun to her back, reflecting back on her training. I cut away before the door opens (unlike the original version of this), so it doesn’t spoil what’s within - hopefully that’s the right balance between flash-forward and force vision/dream, and a tease without actually spoiling what’s going on there.

Noteworthy changes:

  • This episode is titled ‘Dreams of Destiny’, as a nod to its Forces of Destiny origins, and to play up the dreaminess.
  • Regarding placement, as stated, it naturally fits here.
  • No opening text as it’s a special episode - more on that in the following post.
  • Structurally it’s a simple intercutting using fade-to-white, with the transitions smoothly polished.
  • The final fade - to the flash-forward, is a traditional fade to black, to add more mystery.
  • As stated, the final scene remains, with the spoiler of what’s behind the door minimised. I felt I needed to keep this scene because it pays off the present day training plot - albeit with a tease.

(This also brings the total number of episodes required to tell Ahsoka’s story, and the story of the Clone Wars, to 50, which I find very pleasing.)

And for those keeping track, that does make my ‘Tales From the Clone Wars’ mini anthology of Tartakovsky leftovers a bit more moot now (since it used to host the Forces of Destiny shorts) - but I will eventually include that episode in the ‘very least important’ category.