I have to admit I feel a little guilty igniting a whole new voice AI fervor right after Hal announced retiring after these projects are done, but this all started because I have my own plans to eventually work on my own edits, or help with other projects, so I hope there is no pressure on Hal to consider any of these changes beyond what he wants, but we can still have these discussions here even if they are used for other projects or to create a resource of assets.
Speaking of the Luke stuff, I think there is a way to get these ideas across without straying very far from what he already says and making feel new dialogue feel out of place.
Luke: Because you’re a Palpatine [cut for Rey Nobody, but honestly you could cut it for both versions and focus on the dark vision if you wanted]
Luke: Leia knew it, too. [or] Leia saw it, too. (for the Rey Nobody version but could work for both)
Luke: Because she saw your spirit, your heart. She knew, because some things are stronger than blood.
(This is just my opinion but I feel like Luke’s following guidance would work better to me more about Rey’s personal journey rather than focusing on her physical one. It can work both ways, but this feels more like personal guidance from a father figure and less like orders from a general)
Luke: Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny. If you don’t face it, it will mean the end of the Jedi. And you will be lost.
(I also feel like you could replace “your destiny” with “always” or “a constant struggle” to tie better into the theme of “bringing back the balance” and balance not being permanent, but something that must be maintained)
Regarding the Leia exposition, I have always felt it is kinda silly that Leia ended her training on the literal last night of her training. The exposition also feels weird in general that Leia sensed so much specific things, and then have Luke explain all of that to Rey. Basically we’re told she sensed/had a vision that 1) if she became a Jedi, her son would die, and 2) that someone would one day use her saber and “finish her journey”.
“You’ll take both sabers to Exegol” also feels like a very forced statement from a script standpoint. Even though we are often adding dialogue to clarify plot details for other scenes, I feel like in this case Luke’s dialogue would feel more natural if most of what he was saying was more general, which in effect feels more personal. But I have to admit I do like DZ’s version that mentions their mother! A nice callback that would help make this final film feel full circle. The wording of that version is very nice as well.
Dom, I may need to be PM you, but my ideas regarding tying up Finn’s arc are very similar to yours. I also have some ideas to expand on that theme of cycles repeating, which I may share on the Sequel Trilogy thread.