Just found this edit - sounds like an awesome project!
I don’t know if you’re done with Episode 8 yet / still working on it, but if there’s still a chance, I’d like to throw one thing into consideration that I felt was weak about the finale: Sabine’s force push.
Hear me out: Sabine had been struggling with the force all series, and Huyang even commented that she had the weakest force potential of any jedi student he’s ever seen (and, in 4 seasons of Rebels, we didn’t get any inkling that Sabine could use the force). So it feels like it comes way out of left-field, and really kills the suspension of disbelief. In my opinion, a better pay-off for Sabine’s force is the lightsaber force pull. It’s comparatively more minor, but it has a few really nice thematic tie-ins: (1) her struggle was trying to pull the cup to her, so it’s neat to see that by the end of the show, she finally manages to pull something to her; (2) Luke’s first big force feat (beginning of Episode 5) was pulling a lightsaber, so it’s good symmetry, and the force push just kind of overshadows it; (3) eliminating Sabine’s push gives Ezra the chance to shine, really conveying how good he got in ~8 years on Peridea, with him making a fantastic, near-impossible jump.
I haven’t seen any other fan edit that has removed the force push yet, so I’d be excited to see it.
I agree that pulling the lightsaber was “just right” and that the jump should have been Ezra’s moment completely. I don’t know how feasible it is in terms of a fanedit, but I do agree with you. I suspect there’s an earlier draft of the script somewhere where it’s Ezra giving Sabine the boost and not vice versa, but the powers that be had Filoni change it last minute. For me the key word is discipline. Fans who are more knowledgeable than I will argue "anyone can use the Force,’ but it doesn’t change the fact that Sabine never cultivated the necessary discipline, be it as a Jedi or not, to use the Force that adeptly.
100% agree with you. I don’t know how technically feasible it would be because, honestly, I’ve never movie-edited anything in my life. But story-wise, it feels like it should mess up very little because, even assuming Sabine does more with the force in Season 2 (which I feel like is a same assumption), that growth can happen off-screen without it being jarring, as long as the lightsaber pull is kept in.