I watched your rough cut, Smudger9. I was so blown away by your Mando/BoBF cuts that I’m confident that this will be a success, too.
Having said that, you’re dealing with a different showrunner and writer here—Filoni as opposed to Favreau—and I wonder if a different approach to editing is needed.
First off, there is a lot of talk on this thread about editing the series into two full-length movies. I understand the rationale. The Mando series were very episodic with a lot of extraneous plot elements, i.e., filler episodes. Ahsoka, on the other hand, doesn’t have filler episodes per se, but nevertheless has a lot of “filler” in terms of slow pacing. Filoni thinks the way to emphasize a point is simply to linger on it for far too long. The acting is also monotonous, the dialogue is shallow, and the characters overly stoic. There are a lot of good ideas being presented here, but they are being stretched out to an excessively threadbare duration (I would contend that the only episode that didn’t have significant pacing issues was episode 4). If the problem with Mando was its filler, then the problem here is its pacing. It may require a different approach, but I don’t believe there is any justifiable reason to try to divide this series into two movies. There’s not enough here to necessitate it. Infact, I think your usual goal of keeping your edits to under 3 hours would greatly benefit this series.
I think the first two episodes are very good at establishing our protagonists and villains, and what they’ve been up to, and what they’re looking for. I think these are important elements to keep, but the stuff with the map, while necessary at a rudimentary level, is a little cumbersome. I’d keep the worthwhile character development but jettison everyone else I possibly could. I honestly believe you could shave another 15 minutes off of your rough cut.
I haven’t really mapped this out in my head yet, but I wonder if Sabine really needs to battle Shin on Lothal at all. Perhaps it is enough for Sabine only to draw her lightsaber, and to have Shin run away immediately as Ahsoka approaches. I say this because their battle later on could be much more dramatic and impactful if it was indeed their first confrontation, especially with the, “You have no power,” line. I say this because, as it stands, neither Shin nor the viewer has any reason to think Sabine won’t get her ass handed to her a second time, i.e., it diminishes the tension in episode 4. Rather, I’d keep the earlier encounter with the droids after Ahsoka retrieves the map (but trim the ridiculous self-destruct sequence which would have destroyed the map, too, had Ahsoka not escaped with it—the bad guys also want the map, so they should not be so reckless). I say this because it’s a decently cool action sequence that breaks up the monotony.
Removing the confrontation between Shin and Sabine on Lothal introduces a chain reaction of plot problems, admittedly, but most of this is just contrived map stuff anyway, so I’m wondering (without having really worked it out yet) if some of it can’t be skipped over. For example, Ahsoka happening upon the droid at Sabine’s residence (why was it there?) was completely contrived so that Ahsoka could take its head and Sabine could crack it open and they could figure out the whereabouts of the enemies. Again, all very convenient, contrived, prolonged, and certainly not very interesting.
Also, am I wrong in thinking you removed the sequence at the manufacturing plant and the initial confrontation with Marrok? Perhaps I am wrong about this and your edit just cuts off before you get to it. Nevertheless, I thought the manufacturing plant was interesting because it gave broader context to the political backdrop of the post-Empire world, and Marrok provided a lively action sequence to break up the monotony (I also think Marrok might still be a more interesting character than we realize, seemingly held together by Nightsister magic).
A lot of faneditors are preoccupied with preserving canon and the integrity of the characters and lore. I’m less about that and more concerned with preserving the elements of a good film. If editing Mando is about retaining only the most important plot points, then I think editing Ahsoka is simply about keeping what happens to be the most interesting. If you look at the IMDB fan ratings for Ahsoka, the first three episodes (especially episode 3) rank quite low in comparison to the episodes 4-6. It would make sense to me to heavily truncate the early stuff in order to get to the really good, fan-favorite stuff that follows it.
I’d also be careful of fans both here and elsewhere on the Internet who treat Star Wars like a religion and will therefore attempt to defend Lucasfilm’s most egregiously stupid creative choices. Ahsoka using her lightsaber to slice through enemy aircraft is just dumb, period. Doing cartwheels through space is also glaringly moronic.
I think one thing that I have heard many times that bears repeating is that, for whatever reason, the villains are much more engaging, compelling, and interesting than our protagonists, particularly Ahsoka and Sabine. When the bad guys are on the screen, the show is pretty damn good. When the good guys are on the screen, it’s pretty damn boring. I would make an exception for Jacen though, which I believe will become a very important character in the future. And obviously Hayden Christensen put in an amazing performance.
Overall, my thoughts are that this is a good series that just needs little nips and tucks here and there in order to speed up its meandering pace (There’s also some stupid and overly contrived stuff that obviously should get cut as well). I find this is the case with all of Filoni’s live action work, and the style is markedly different than Favreau’s. As such, it may merit a different editing approach.