So Eddie, you got any updates for us lately?

I sure do!

I’ve spent a good amount of time away lately, but TCW:R is never far from my thoughts. Soon(ish), I’ll be returning to work, to polish up those final eleven(ish) episodes to 2.0 standard, to properly finish the main release. To fit TCW:R into my life, I’ll be alternating between periods of attention and other hobbies, but rest assured I intend to work through my many future plans for the show too.

Anyway, this is way further out, and not yet a promise, but I’ve recently been thinking about how I’d convert the show into a series of movies, if I ever did come to do that.

I’m very happy with the choices I’ve made regarding what content to include, and the way the narrative flows. I’d want to preserve that. So I wouldn’t be looking just to highlight the more punchy major arcs - I’d want to amalgamate existing episodes into around two-hour narratives, intercutting storylines rather than just merging arcs/episodes end-to-end, since I find that paces them better and makes the experience more smooth. However, they’d all try to further our main plotlines (Ahsoka, Ventress/Nightsister/Maul, Mandalore, and Anakin/Obi-Wan to a lesser degree), and I’d try to end them on punchy scenes drawing main characters together. Some might have that good punch, but others might feel more like two hour episodes.

I’d switch to using the classic Star Wars opening crawls (more room for text!) and maybe add more cinematic music.

Anyway, I think I’d break the story as follows:

Movie 1 - Christophsis, Malevolence, Satine on Mandalore & Coronet, Cloak of Darkness

• Possible cold open on Life and Death from TOTJ, showing Ahsoka’s discovery by the Jedi.
• Start with Anakin and Obi-Wan tracking Ventress on Christophsis, whilst the Malevolence attacks Plo Koon (this is our ‘crisis’)
• Christophsis is saved, and our trio head to deal with the Malevolence. Dooku talks to Death Watch during this time, setting up-
• Obi-Wan heads to Mandalore (during the Malevolence crisis if possible - I might be able to have Luminara the one who brings the fleet to fight the Malevolence rather than Obi-Wan, which’d smooth this out PLUS set up Ahsoka with Luminara later.)
• As Obi-Wan (and later Anakin) deal with Mandalore, Ahsoka travels with Luminara and fights Ventress (explaining Ventress’ absence after Christophsis)
• Anakin comes to collect Ahsoka, our movie ends on him respecting her success.

Movie 2 - Ryloth, Domino Squad, Satine on Coruscant

• All three plots begin in parallel - Anakin’s been training Ahsoka and they deal with the battle in Ryloth’s skies whilst Obi-Wan works with Satine on Coruscant, and the Domino Squad fail and are sent to the Rishi Moon.
• Anakin and Ahsoka join the Ryloth ground battle (perhaps adding a little of Obi-Wan’s Ryloth journey around this time), as Domino Squad struggle on the Rishi Moon
• After Ryloth, Ahsoka is disciplined and taken off duty, leaving Anakin and Obi-Wan to join the Rishi plot, following Grievous’ attack to Kamino and the nice conclusion there.

Movie 3 - Nightsisters, Holocron Crisis

• Ahsoka’s being disciplined by assignment to the Jedi Archives, whilst we open on Anakin and Obi-Wan versus Ventress, and Ventress getting kicked out by Dooku
• Anakin and Obi-Wan return to Coruscant (and the plot joins Ahsoka), both movies play in parallel
• End on the Holocron conclusion and Ahsoka’s decision to be involved in teaching younglings
• Final tag is the reveal that Savage must find Maul

Movie 4 - Lair of Grievous/Massacre, Corruption on Mandalore, Boba Fett vs Mace Windu

• All three plots begin in parallel - Ahsoka and Padmé do good on Mandalore, Anakin and Mace come into conflict with Boba Fett and crash land, Republic forces (tipped off by Ventress) attack Grievous’ lair
• More parallel - Ahsoka returns from Mandalore, recovers Anakin and joins the Boba Fett hunt, whilst Grievous strikes back and destroys the Nightsisters
• End on Savage getting close to finding Maul.

Movie 5 - Geonosis and the Return of Maul

• Simple parallel play - The setup and battle of Geonosis, whilst Savage recovers Maul.
• Ideally as much as possible intercutting between Ahsoka/Barris’ worms encounter with Anakin and Obi-Wan hunting Maul - or we just stick the Maul pursuit on at the end.

Movie 6 - Heroes on Both Sides, Rako Hardeen, Ahsoka vs Trandoshans

• More parallel stories - Obi-Wan and Anakin begin the Rako Hardeen arc whilst Ahsoka and Padmé work in the Senate.
• After Rako (Obi-Wan) evades Anakin, Anakin and Ahsoka go to Felucia, where Ahsoka gets kidnapped. Now Anakin has lost both partners in a short period of time. We continue both plots.
• Once Ahsoka is recovered, the remaining main characters all travel to Naboo for the conclusion of the Rako Hardeen arc (the attempted assassination of Palpatine).

Movie 7 - A Friend in Need, Zygerria Slavery, Umbara

• Ahsoka and Satine follow the Mandalore plot, whilst Anakin fights on the front lines on Umbara.
• Then, Anakin and Ahsoka rejoin for the Zygerria arc, whilst the Umbara story continues with Obi-Wan
• The Zygerria arc concludes, and Anakin returns to Umbara to wrap that story up.
• End on the opening of Revival, where the Mandalorians (seen in A Friend in Need’s content at the start of this movie) discover Maul.

Movie 8 - Revival, Maul Shadow Collective, Onderon

• More intercutting - Onderon plays out in full, covering a lot of time which is nicely padded by the many victories of the Maul Shadow Collective.

Movie 9 - Shades of Reason, Mortis, Order 66

• All three episodes in parallel. The trio go on a vision quest, whilst Maul moves on Mandalore, and the Order 66 mystery develops.
• Close the main plot on the Order 66 conclusion, and end on Maul’s/Almec’s ascent.

Movie 10 - Ahsoka’s Fall, The Lawless, Sifo-Dyas

• Open on the first quarter of Ahsoka’s fall, with the bombing investigation.
• Anakin and Obi-Wan then get drawn into the plot around Sifo-Dyas and the Pykes, whilst Ahsoka investigates more solo.
• When Anakin returns to hunt for fugitive Ahsoka, Obi-Wan travels to Mandalore to liberate it, but fails and leaves.
• End on the conclusion of Ahsoka’s fall.

Movie 11 - Scipio/Yoda’s Quest

• Open on Palpatine cleaning house on Mandalore, from the Lawless.
• Another parallel story, as the final pieces are put into place, as the banks fall under Republic control (Anakin/Padmé) and Yoda learns that this is all wrong. I’ll be careful to balance Dooku’s appearances between both plots.
• Obi-Wan is minimal in this episode, presumably recovering in the Jedi temple after the loss of Satine.

Movie 12(/13?) - Finales

• This one’s a bit more tricky, since RotS interrupts the Siege of Mandalore. So it’d probably be best to just watch the Martez episode then the rest of season five intercut with RotS as I currently have it.
• I might make a Martez/Siege of Mandalore episode, to be watched in full probably after RotS (since it picks up with Ahsoka after we’ve apparently had her leave the main storyline).
• Or, I might make two movies here, mixing animation with live action, with the first being Martez, Maul’s capture, and the opening half of RotS; and the second being the Order 66 focus from both RotS and the Siege of Mandalore.

OTHER NOTES

• We’d skip the Bounty Hunters on Felucia arc - it’s cute and reintroduces our characters for season two, but it’s not vital.
• We’d skip the Crash on Maridun - it gives us a little Anakin/Ahsoka time but it’s very light.
• We’d skip the three mini stories from Tales from the Lost Clones - they’re good but they don’t really have a home.
• We’d skip the Son of Dathomir audio comic - it’d be recommended to watch this, but it’s too graphically dissimilar to merge with other content.
• I could maybe make a bonus less important movie, probably #6.5, featuring the Younglings and Citadel arcs, plus Ventress as a Bounty Hunter.

Again, totally not a promise, just some thoughts on how I’d restructure this into movies for those who want TCW:R consumable in that format.

Very interested in thoughts.

Also just realised that, from the Martez arc, I could remove the scene of Ahsoka and the Martez sisters meeting with the king’s representative on Kessel. This’ll streamline that slow portion, instead having the pickup of the spice apparently arranged by Pintu (who’s already the guy in my edit who gives them this job). It’ll also work quite nicely, since it means that the pickup of spice, and the plan to deliver them to crime lords, is much more of a suprise to Ahsoka and Trace, better justifying Trace’s rash decision. I can still include a line from the cut scene to explain that spice can be used for both medicine and narcotics, to explain why they’d originally think the trip was legit.

I don’t think it would save the viewer much time - it’d mainly be all the existing content smushed together - but it might feel more ‘bitesize’ this way, and I think there’s a nice flow to it. What do you think about the content of each of the suggested episodes?

We must be watching different versions of Ambush then! The one I saw had terrible animation, too many battle droid jokes, a playful game between opponents in a war, trivialised villains, and a really bland setting. I’d love to see the version you’re watching! 😋

I’m joking, and don’t mean to be mean if course. But this one doesn’t meet the quality standard I have for this project.

Having said that, I do like the scene where Yoda addresses the Clones as individuals in the force, and only yesterday realised that I should include that as the cold open to my ‘Tales of the Lost Clones’ episode, an anthology of good clone content I couldn’t otherwise find a good home for. So that’ll end up in the main cut for this, sooner or later.

More news!

I unexpectedly got a huge amount of free time dropped on my lap, and have been able to work through all of the remaining v1.0 episodes, bringing up the entirety of the show now to my more polished v2.0 standard. Which means the whole thing is release quality baby! The main change to season three that I’ve been wanting to make for ages is to have the first line of the opening text reference the season’s theme of ‘Shades of Grey’, so I’m glad to have that finally in place.

The episodes are all rendering now, which is a bit of a bottleneck, but it shouldn’t take me more than a day or so to upload them all.

Anyway, I’m going to type up all the remaining episodes’ summaries here now. Each post will say that they’re available, which isn’t quite true yet, but it will be very soon. Keep your eyes on the spreadsheet, and I’ll post here again once they’re all actually uploaded.

That means that we’re only days away from the ‘full’/‘true’ release!

(RE)RELEASED - S02E09 - Assault on Geonosis (v2.1)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our ninth episode of season two, and the middle episode of the Geonosis trilogy.
• Comprising the original episodes Landing at Point Rain, and Weapons Factory.
• Running 38 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.

Geonosis is a great arc, with a lot of good action but a real focus on our core trio, and especially Anakin/Ahsoka. A worthy finale. This part, part two, is the most action heavy, before we get into a bit more character meat (and terror!) for the true finale episode.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Terror on Geonosis’ mainly because I wanted to keep the ‘Geonosis’ name in this trilogy, and an assault is what happens. Not much I can say there.
• Regarding placement, as I stated above, the episode is part of an arc that’s a fitting finale. I also placed it here as the final part of the ‘opening’ of the show, the first two seasons, to mark the transition point into darker terrain (and new character models). It concludes season two’s theme regarding the instability of the war, and the lighter theme that we haven’t really heard much from Dooku lately (turns out he was churning out weapons factories). After this, the war’s back to the forefront.
• I use the opening text to emphasise the relative manpower of the two factions (relevant here and through season three), and to set up the Geonosian plot. I also bring Poggle into frame, and give Luminara a reason to show up halfway through the plot.
• I retained all of the strategising and the sense of geography in the battle, since I think this episode probably handled that better than any other, but I trimmed a good amount of Anakin’s and Ki-Adi-Mundi’s combat when it was just action with little story.
• I’ve also made Yularen appear a little more strategic, having him anticipate Anakin’s need for air support.
• I made a few small changes to allow the audience to think Ahsoka may be dead just a little longer, and to make Barris appear a bit more fatalistic (lightly setting up that maybe she’s kinda fucked up, which’ll come into play later in the show).
• I also trimmed a good amount of droid banter.

Anyway, this one’s been hanging over me for ages - it’s where I last stalled - so I’m glad to have it finally knocked down.

(RE)RELEASED - S02E10 - Terror of Geonosis (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our tenth and final episode of season two, and the third and final episode of the Geonosis trilogy.
• Comprising the original episodes Legacy of Terror, and Brain Invaders.
• Running 40 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.

Geonosis is a great arc, with a lot of good action but a real focus on our core trio, and especially Anakin/Ahsoka. A worthy finale. This part, part three, follows the action-heavy previous episode probably the most true horror episode of the show. And it’s genuinely tense, and with that good character-building trauma for our main character Ahsoka.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Terror of Geonosis’ to continue the callout to the recognisable planet but to tell the prospective viewer that we’re going in a whole new direction after the prior two.
• Regarding placement, as I stated above, the episode is part of an arc that’s a fitting finale. I also placed it here as the final part of the ‘opening’ of the show, the first two seasons, to mark the transition point into darker terrain (and new character models). It concludes season two’s theme regarding the instability of the war, and the lighter theme that we haven’t really heard much from Dooku lately (turns out he was churning out weapons factories). After this, the war’s back to the forefront.
• I use the opening text to clarify a couple of things that’re the focus of this episode - the state of the battle (but absence and search for Poggle), Ahsoka’s emotional state, and the new non-military threat.
• Structurally I borrowed Smudger’s idea to intercut the two episodes so that the plot develops in parallel and the most tension is preserved at any given moment.
• I cut Poggle fleeing - It was a bit goofy, and Luminara’s dialogue brings us up to speed.
• I also removed the ‘coming in too fast’ subplot because it’s not interesting - we don’t care about the medical station so there’s no additional jeopardy there, and it takes away from the main drama of the worms. (I’ve further refined a transition here compared to the earlier version of this episode.)

Good fun. Onwards to season three!

(RE)RELEASED - S03E01 - The Politics of War (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our first episode of season three.
• Comprising the original episodes Heroes on Both Sides, Pursuit of Peace, and Senate Murders.
• Running 32 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 a radical edit of the Heroes on Both Sides / clone loan arc, and one of my personal favourites that I’m particularly proud of.

You can read more about the process behing this one here (scroll down a bit) and then here if you’re interested in the process behind a really complex radical restructure like this.

The original set of episodes in this arc were really messy. First there was a one-off politics episode (which was bad), then two prequels to it which I think attempted to cover similar ground but do it better. The problem is that that new chronological order undid Padmé’s successes in the prequel episodes. And the fact that they were all adhering to a 22-minute open-and-close runtime meant that there was a lot of additional politics, weird tangents, and a lot of different antagonists (many of whom are irrelevant).

However, the core of this arc is really good, and I like to think I’ve let it shine. Padmé’s character is fantastic here and she earns a great win, one that’s bittersweet since while it’s good for the people, it makes the war harder. (I’ve continued to emphasise this over this season.)

It also introduces Lux and his relationship with Ahsoka, a story which in my edit plays out (and concludes) throughout season three. Ahsoka gets some good lessons and growth in this episode.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘The Politics of War’ mainly because I like to manage expectations. You’re getting a politics episode, we might as well be confident about that.
• Regarding placement, while it isn’t particularly action heavy, and may be too complex for younger kids, it really sets the stage and tone for what’s to come in later seasons, so served well as the opener for season three.
• I use the opening text to position the episode as partially a response to the end of the previous one, with fear of more droid foundries turning into pressure to buy more clones. Also that Padmé recognises this might be cripplingly expensive, and a little reminder of Padmé’s friendship with Ahsoka.
• Structurally the whole plot is now in service to the moment where Padmé, after persevering through much adversity, gives her impassioned speech to successfully call off the loan for more clones. Now, Padmé first buys extra time to putt off the vote, then works on plan A (making peace with the Separatists via Mina), then after Mina’s murder shifts to plan B (making good political moves, and connecting with the people), then she makes her impassioned speech to win the day.
• I kept all the Mina/Lux stuff, except for Lux ogling Ahsoka and her tutting about ‘boys’. I took out a little of Padmé’s response to Mina, but borrowed some audio from Senate Murders where Padmé’s talking about her “dead friend” Onaconda to keep her dead friend Mina in mind instead.
• I trimmed some political conversations which didn’t serve that key plot - in particular those which went too deep into the mechanics of interest rates.
• I did get some good value out of Senate Murders, notably a couple of repurposed scenes. Since Dracula and Halle Burtoni both appear in all episodes, we can show a little of the Republic’s internal corruption to give our characters some adversity, and then the bad guys’ negative reactions as Padmé succeeds at the end seek to still give a satisfactory conclusion to their now short arcs. (Halle Burtoni’s arc also hints at the future developments regarding Kaminoan allegiances.)
• Senate Murders also gives us our closing scene, showing Halle Burtoni being petty whilst the pre-Rebels celebrate together (which was previously merely a false sense of happiness before Onaconda’s death). I also modified the dialogue here to have Padmé reference her recently murdered friend, since in the original chronological ordering that plot kind of fizzles away.
• I cut Grievous out entirely, plus most of the scenes of the bomb droids, and all references to Dooku coordinating the attack. He’s aware of it but we assume that the attack has been set up by the corrupt Republic guys instead, which makes them more threatening and individual.
• Ahsoka now disappears halfway through. She had to, because she’s handed back to Anakin in a scene where the Senate has its emergency lighting on. I moved a few things around to emphasise this, so that it feels like Padmé knows she needs to get Ahsoka back to Anakin while there’s an unexpected situation happening.
• To get Padmé out onto the street, I manufactured a new scene where she’s thinking through recent events, lost in thought (using a few of the most relevant lines from people she’s talked to in the episode and a bit of reverb). Now it makes more sense why she’s out alone, and so easily jumped. I know Star Wars rarely does this, but I think it’s a very effective device here.
• I skipped over a lot of Padmé’s action scene with the bounty hunters. Now, when it appears that the bounty hunters have been arrested (but before they escape to chase Padmé), I cut straight to her meeting Tecla, implying that they were indeed arrested. (I would have skipped the action scene entirely but she’s got the injury on her face later.) I also didn’t show Bail’s assault, instead just showing the effects of it.
• The one bit of adversity I cut entirely was Bail being the one who was expected to make the speech, with Padmé only standing in once Bail was injured. This wasn’t really necessary - she’s a successful Senator and former Queen, and definitely a competent orator. We didn’t need the self doubt here, and this way she’s kept in focus through the story. Yes she’s a bit of a softie but I think that works well here - she wins because being soft is her strength. The political middle ground wasn’t required.
• Pursuit of Peace originally had Onaconda beat up during a “mandatory blackout”. But seeing as we’d literally just had a power station bombing cause a regular unintentional blackout, I felt I had to shift Onaconda’s assault to immediately after the explosion, while everything was chaotic, which also made the whole attack look more coordinated. I had to cut Onaconda out of some shots in the Senate chamber to achieve this, but there were so many Senate scenes in this trilogy that I had plenty of alternate reaction shots to use instead.
• Onaconda survives this story! He’s boring though and I didn’t care either way. I think in TCW:R he’s not even a senator, potentially just a political friend or part of Padmé’s retinue. I haven’t actively cut references to him being a senator though so who knows? But more importantly, who cares?
• We don’t see that horrendous investigator character in this episode (or indeed anywhere else in TCW:R).

(RE)RELEASED - S03E02 - The Death of Obi-Wan Kenobi (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our second episode of season three.
• Comprising the original episodes Deception, Friends and Enemies, The Box, and Crisis on Naboo.
• Running 56 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.

One of my favourite arcs, a pure fun romp. Villainy, the underworld, secrets, assassination - it’s got it all.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘The Death of Obi-Wan Kenobi’ because, well, we all know it can’t be, so it’s a bit of intrigue.
• Regarding placement, this would make a natural season opener since it’s got everyone, but this season my prior episode deserved that spot. This episode comes second, as a palette cleanser after all that politics, and to kick off the season’s action.
• I use the opening text to set up the story - Cad Bane’s now imprisoned, which needs explaining, and Moralo Eval is the focus of the plot. I had Quinlan Vos capture Bane (offscreen) as a nod to his characterisation in other media, and since I’ve cut the episode where he does actually chase (but fail to capture) Bane.
• Structurally the big change here is removing the vast majority of content from The Box episode in this arc. I know some people will miss it, so I will eventually release an extended cut of this episode which reinstates it, but I have good reasons for doing so here: Firstly, the pacing - the arc is already full of good action, and The Box’s action is less meaningful to the plot. Secondly, it only shows off the crew’s skills, though they’re mostly throwaway characters and their abilities are explained later anyway. Thirdly, it puts the focus back on the trio rather than purely Obi-Wan. And fourthly, removing it removes a lot of ambiguity about whose plan this is (Eval’s or Dooku’s?), and some odd motivations (does Dooku want to kill Eval even though he’s vital? Would Eval really betray Obi-Wan here?). So, fun as it is, it’s out for the main cut.
• Otherwise, the arc plays out pretty much in full. I removed a bit of dead air when Obi-Wan gets kicked out, captured, rescued, and rejoins the group, as it was a little redundant and didn’t really give us anything new in terms of characterisation.
• From the finale, I cut the raid on the warehouse (we now imply this is a secret base Dooku set up for them, using an establishing shot I stole from an otherwise un-used episode), and I also cut the large epilogue fight, which really didn’t add value after the episode’s true conclusion with the end of the assassination attempt.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E03 - Pirates of the Outer Rim (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our third episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episode Revival.
• Running 24 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.

A great episode - love a bit of Obi-Wan vs Maul - but one I’ve barely touched.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Pirates of the Outer Rim’ because it’s cool as fuck.
• Regarding placement, as with all Maul content, I’m spreading it throughout the show rather than just dumping it in one chunk. It’s here because we’ve not had any in a while, and the growing threat of Maul’s got to hang over the whole show from here.
• I use the opening text to bring us up to speed on Maul. I also give the Darksaber a little love.
• Minor trim to remove the reference to Hondo’s base being damaged by Grievous in the Younglings arc, as that episode isn’t part of my main edit. The opening text gives you an ambiguous explanation so that it’s either from Slave One crashing into it offscreen (back in the Boba Fett arc) or from Grievous (if you chose to watch Younglings anyway).
• Minor trim to remove sneering Palpatine, since my edit removes his connection to Sidious.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E04 - Temptations (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our fourth episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episode A Friend in Need.
• Running 25 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.

Another fun episode with a focus on Ahsoka-Lux and Mandalorians.

Noteworthy changes:

• The episode is titled ‘Temptations’ to emphasise the Ahsoka-Lux angle, and the Mandalorians’ hunger.
• Regarding placement, it’s time to get the Mandalore plot into gear now too. It’s all downhill from here baby!
• I use the opening text to emphasise the plot elements in focus - Mandalore, the peace negotiations, and Lux.
• Other than that, the episode plays as-is.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E05 - Slaves of Zygerria (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our fifth episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episodes Slaves of the Republic and Escape from Kadavo.
• Running 45 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 the second two episodes of the Kadavo slavery arc, which fits into a gap I had in season three. It’s basically a good two-parter that’s not top tier but is a perfectly good all-rounder, with our core four characters all getting good development, bonus Plo Koon, a good enough slavery plot, good use of Dooku, and decent action.

I ignore the first episode of the original arc entirely- too much time wasted fighting droids, defusing bombs, and fighting creatures, and Obi-Wan’s near-subjugation isn’t as good as the real emotional battering he takes in the third episode, so isn’t necessary. As much as that episode’s fine, it’s not a popular one, so I don’t think it’ll even be worth the inclusion as a bonus episode. (Correct me if you disagree!)

Noteworthy changes:

• The episode is titled ‘Slaves of Zygerria’ because that’s cool enough. (I was going to call it ‘Slaves of Kadavo’ until I realised that Kadavo is actually a different planet in the story only seen in the final third.)
• In terms of placement, season three has little interconnectedness so there was a lot of flexibility. In the end it came down to balance of characters between episodes, and not wanting to place it too close to the similar-looking Onderon arc.
• The opening crawl bypasses the excluded first episode, giving the context for Zygerria, the implied interest of the Separatists, the missing colonists, and the spies that’ll be mentioned right at the start of this episode. I didn’t emphasise the Togruta because their relevance as Ahsoka’s species isn’t a major feature of the episode.
• One minor dialogue trim to cut a reference to the excluded first episode.
• A clean transition between the two episodes I used here, skipping us over some dialogue that’s redundant when the content is now back-to-back.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E06 - The Shadow Collective (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our sixth episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episode Eminence.
• Running 25 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.

Oh boy, it’s heating up now! Finally the Mandalore and Maul plots collide. Great episode.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘The Shadow Collective’ since this is when it really forms.
• Regarding placement, this is bang on the midpoint and we want Mauldalore to hang over the show from here in.
• I use the opening text to refresh on the two factions, and imply that it’s going to have a huge impact.
• Other than that, the episode plays as-is.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E07 - Hunted (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our seventh episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episodes Padawan Lost and Wookiee Hunt.
• Running 45 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 a great episode and in many ways the turning point for Ahsoka. All of her teaching has brought her to this point, and what she discovers about herself in this episode will shape her character moving forwards.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Hunted’, cos it’s cool.
• Regarding placement, originally this episode came a little earlier, but I think it’s more punchy here, as the pinaccle of a lot of her growth.
• I use the opening text to emphasise the Felucia and Ahsoka backstory, and the necessary plot to get us kicked off.
• I removed Sugi, a very minor character here, just because I’ve placed this episode next to the Shadow Collective one, and it seems like two very different situations for her to be in in such a short timeframe.
• Other than that, the episode plays as-is.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E08 - Dissent on Umbara (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our eighth episode of season three.
• (Note the new ordering if you’ve been away from my edit for a while.)
• Comprising the original episodes Darkness on Umbara, The General, Plan of Dissent, and Carnage of Krell.
• Running 52 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.

A very popular episode, with gorgeous graphics and a good meaty shades-of-grey plot.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Dissent on Umbara’, mainly because I wanted to preserve the name Umbara (as I’ve done with many of the most popular arcs) and, y’know, dissent.
• Regarding placement, this originally aired around the middle of the show, and I’ve pushed it just a little more towards the ending. Mostly to balance the season, but also because it’s time to start refocusing on complicated clones, and it shows both Dooku and the Republic getting more desperate.
• I use the opening text to emphasise the Republic’s limited supply of clones (thanks Padmé), and keep the Umbara plot clear.
• Structurally, I’ve made quite a lot of trims - though I’d hope that the episode feels the way you remember it. The original arc had a lot of action, which looked gorgeous but really didn’t serve the plot, and watching it as four episodes I think it really drags and the pacing suffers. I’ve chopped a bunch to let the emotional core shine through, but with far tighter pacing, whilst still keeping this as a very action-heavy episode that showcases the gorgeous graphics. In particular I trimmed the combat-heavy opening where Anakin’s leading the clones, up till Krell takes over, and I only had Krell send the clones on one suicide mission (versus the walker tanks) rather than also in a straight line against the capital. All the meat, a quarter of the time.
• But yes, for those of you who miss it, I will eventually release an extended version with all the combat back in.
• I trimmed a little of the infiltration of the airbase as well as some of the surrounding combat and discussion.
• After the clones take the airbase, I trimmed some of the discussion there, most notably removing the scene where they test and crash the aircraft, because it doesn’t change the status quo.
• Throughout, I trimmed most of Krell’s more overtly villainous hatred of Clones, making it seem (at least early on) more like he’s just a hardliner with extreme tactics.
• In the final episode, I preserved the majority of it, mainly just cutting down the hunt for Krell in the forest to remove his cartoonishly evil villain speech and to speed up his capture, while preserving a lot of his physical threat. I also slightly trimmed his jail dialogue to imply he’s already a Separatist rather than just doing this all on the hope he’ll get recognised. I think this all tightens up his character nicely, whilst keeping him ultimately the same.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E09 - Rebels of Onderon (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our ninth episode of season three, and part one of the Onderon duology.
• Comprising the original episodes A War on Two Fronts and Front Runners.
• Running 33 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.

Not the strongest episodes, but they set up some seeds of rebellion, introduce Saw Gererra, and Ahsoka learns an important lesson about letting go (via Lux).

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Rebels of Onderon’, for the Onderon angle (and to highlight it’s a two parter with the following), and to highlight the rebellion side of things.
• Regarding placement, the rebellion plot, Saw, and Ahsoka focus make this a worthy enough finale. I wanted to get all the Lux plot covered in a single season, and putting this last and his prior appearance fourth gives him enough time to have returned to Onderon and joined their uprising.
• I use the opening text to outline Lux’s journey here and the situation on Onderon, and allude once more to the Republic being stretched.
• I cut some redundant combat (since we see more of it immediately after), and removed Saw’s jealousy of his sister.
• I removed all of the scenes of kings from this episode to the next, mainly just to keep both episodes focused on a primary theme each, since the kings don’t really enter play here.

(RE)RELEASED - S03E10 - Kings of Onderon (v2.0)

• RELEASE VERSION, now brought up to my more polished v2.0 standard.
• Our tenth and final episode of season three, and the final part of the Onderon duology.
• Comprising the original episodes The Soft War and Tipping Points.
• Running 37 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.

A decent enough conclusion to the Onderon arc, with development for Lux, Saw, Ahsoka, and the Onderon rebellion.

Noteworthy changes:

• This episode is titled ‘Kings of Onderon’, for the Onderon connection but the shifted focus to its rulers.
• Regarding placement, as above, it’s just a sensible finale, really. Just marginally more ‘relevant’ than the rest of the big season three episodes.
• I use the opening text to recap the previous one, but go a bit stronger on the rebellion angle.
• I sped up the transition between the rescue in the royal square and the arrival back in the wilderness, so that now having saved the King the rebels immediately flee the city, rather than conducting a few more operations within it first over a number of days. The action now happens over a single day, with King Rash immediately pursuing them into the wilderness with his full force, so it feels a lot more tense.
• As much as I love Hondo, I removed him altogether. Previously the attack on the rebel base was conducted in phases, with enough downtime during them for Ahsoka to call Anakin, Anakin to fly to Felucia, Hondo to fly to Onderon, and Ahsoka to distribute the rockets. This added implied hours to the battle. Now, the rebels already have the anti-air rockets, and once their own assumed air superiority gets challenged by the new droid airships, they quickly move to fetch and distribute the guns. It’s no less tense, and this worked out suprisingly smoothly. There’s still a good amount of battle though since it’s a visually interesting one in an otherwise quite political episode.

Welp, there we go. At time of writing, the above episodes aren’t quite all available yet - some are still rendering so it’ll take me a day or so to get them uploaded. But the cuts are done and I wanted to braindump it all before turning in. Once they’re all available that’s the whole show as originally envisioned, brought up to the polished release standard, that I’d be proud to share with anyone, and we can commence the back-pattery. I wasn’t expecting this free burst of available time today, so I’m as suprised as you are.

onewingedangel3 said:

Let’s go! Also, you’ve convinced me on Ambush. The Yoda/clone conversation scene kinda made me forget about the rest of the episode’s poor quality lol.

It’s always been my intention to include every last nugget of good stuff in the show somehow - to be honest I’m suprised it took me this long to realise I had a place for that scene.