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The Clone Wars: Refocused [COMPLETE] - Taking Requests! — Page 84

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Congratulations! You’ve put a ludicrous amount of time and effort into this project, and I look forward to watching it with my kids when they get just a little older.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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So what’s next?

Probably in this order:

  • I’m going to gather your feedback, check for older feedback in this thread, and run through the whole show again myself.
  • Teeny tiny edits to a handful of episodes based on your feedback, including my Massacre and Attachments episodes.
  • Addition of TOTJ’s Ahsoka Coda episode as a bonus coda.
  • Addition of TOTJ’s Life and Death episode as an Ahsoka intro (either standalone or incorporated into episode one).
  • Revision to my Tales from the Clone Wars bonus anthology episode to polish it up a bit and include a bit more from TOTJ’s Practice makes Perfect episode.
  • Extended versions of Children of Night, Assault on Geonosis, The Death of Obi-Wan, Slaves of Zygerria, and Dissent on Umbara.
  • Bonus episodes featuring characters from wider canon.
  • Remaining bonus episodes (anything not absolutely horrendous).
  • Season zero (featuring the remaining TOTJ content and the prequel movies).
  • Thinking about moviefying the whole (as per the top post on the previous page).

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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Congratulations on finishing this, it’s very impressive and your parents must be very proud! (Couldn’t resist a Raimi line)
This is now my go to whenever I want to watch this show or any episodes, absolutely brilliant job and I look forward to any future edits you have planned.

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Congratulations on finishing this and thank you for sharing, Eddie. This towers as one of the great achievements our little community has produced in my books, and it’s all thanks to your unstoppable efforts. Once again, congratulations and thank you.

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 (Edited)

Goddamn guys, that’s so delightful to hear. Thank you all so much - this means a huge amount to me. It’s absolutely been worth it. What a pleasure.

Since you’ve all been so lovely, how about-

Oh go on then, you can have a couple of codas and a prologue!

Nothing too special here, I’ve just taken two Ahsoka episodes from Tales of the Jedi and turned them into content here - one that precedes this show and one that follows it. And while I was at it, they established some new standards I also applied to my existing Maul and Obi-Wan coda, which used content from Rebels.

Now, TCW:R really contains the full Clone Wars Ahsoka story (other than Rebels content) and the full Maul/Obi-Wan relationship.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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RELEASED - S00E00b - Prologue: Life and Death (Ahsoka) (v2.0)

Note the ‘B’ in the episode number.

  • RELEASE VERSION, at v2.0 standard.
  • Our second semi-optional prologue episode.
  • Comprising the original episode Life and Death from the Tales of the Jedi series.
  • Running 20 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 one of two episodes from Tales of the Jedi which are particularly relevant to the story of the Clone Wars, in this case the introduction of Ahsoka and her discovery by the Jedi.

Notes:

  • Uniquely for my show, I think this is important for a Filoniverse watch but optional for a ‘Recommended Clone Wars only’ watch. It’s valuable Ahsoka, hence Filoniverse, but I don’t think it’s particularly valuable if you’re watching the Clone Wars. We did just fine for seven years without this episode, to be honest! Still, it’s good, so why not.
  • This episode is entirely untouched from its original release, except from a light re-branding from being a TOTJ episode into being a TCW:R prologue. Since I’ve touched nothing, I’ve kept its original title.
  • I’ve included it here though since TCW:R is really the story of Ahsoka in many ways, so it belongs to your understanding of the show and her character. Plus we’ve got Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka show coming up, so let’s start her story right here.
  • Chronologically, this is currently the first story told in Star Wars video media, BUT I believe it should be watched right before Ahsoka’s introduction in the show and relevance to the plot, rather than as the first thing you watch (hence numbering this as s01e00b), so it immediately precedes her joining Anakin. There’s no point watching this then going off to watch two movies (and three other TOTJ episodes) and the Tartakovsky series , since she doesn’t appear in any of that. Treat this as a flashback. Or don’t, I’m not your boss.
  • Speaking of which, I might eventually make it an actual official flashback as part of my Christophsis episode one day (which is when Ahsoka gets properly introduced to the Clone Wars plot).

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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RELEASED - S05E05 - Coda: Resolve (Ahsoka) (v2.0)

  • RELEASE VERSION, at v2.0 standard.
  • Our first coda episode. (S05e04 is the last real episode.)
  • Comprising the original episode Resolve, also erroneously (but not inaccurately) reported under the name Coda from the Tales of the Jedi series.
  • Running 14 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 one of two episodes from Tales of the Jedi which are particularly relevant to the story of the Clone Wars, in this case Ahsoka’s perspective on the aftermath of the war and the Republic’s transition into the Empire, and the rise of the Inquisition (their first canon appearance in video media!)

Notes:

  • This episode is entirely untouched from its original release, except from a light re-branding from being a TOTJ episode into being a TCW:R coda. Since I’ve touched nothing, I’ve kept its original title.
  • I’ve included it here though since TCW:R is really the story of Ahsoka in many ways, so it belongs to your understanding of the show and her character. It also bridges the gap between her TCW appearances and her Rebels appearances. Plus we’ve got Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka show coming up, so let’s get as much of her story in as possible.
  • Chronologically, the opening scene happens very shortly after her prior appearance (in TCW:R), but the body of the episode is an unknown time later. There’s been no official word on this, and it’s somewhere between 18 and 5 BBY. All you really need to know is that it’s after TCW and before Rebels. But you might as well watch it here.
  • I was tempted to put the Vader coda from the final TCW® episode here, in between the two timeframes, but I think ultimately that’s got more punch where it sits in that episode, even if not strictly chronological. You lose nothing this way, at least.
  • As a side note, Ahsoka’s appearance in Rebels was originally more of a suprise (it was the first time we saw her IRL since the Ahsoka’s Fall arc), but with season seven of TCW filling in the gaps about her leaving Anakin, and the release of the Ahsoka show, that cat’s pretty thoroughly out of the bag, so I don’t mind keeping that spoiler spoiled.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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(RE)RELEASED - S05E06 - CODA: OLD WOUNDS (MAUL AND OBI-WAN) (v2.0)

  • RELEASE VERSION, at v2.0 standard.
  • Note the new numbering.
  • Our second coda for the show, showing the conclusion of the Maul/Obi-Wan plotline.
  • This one should be watched AFTER everything else. And probably after the Kenobi series if you were watching chronologically (but skipping Rebels).
  • Comprising the Star Wars Rebels episode Twin Suns
  • Running 14 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 little extra, just to close out the Maul/Obi-Wan plotline that’s been such a key feature of this series and the prequel era. It’s intended for people who DON’T intend to watch the rest of the Star Wars Rebels animated show. To that end, I’ve removed all Rebels context, allowing the plot to focus on Maul and Obi-Wan, with Ezra just being a context-free tool of Maul - though he still has character. As to how he’s a force-sensitive with holocrons and knowledge of Maul and Obi-Wan, well, the viewer would have to watch more of Rebels for that.

Noteworthy changes:

  • (v2.1 change: Since I now have an Ahsoka coda which includes a new standard for codas and prologues, I’ve updated this slightly to match the same standard. No other significant changes.)
  • No Clone Wars Refocused trappings for this episode - it’s a bitesize standalone thing.
  • We use the original episode’s opening, until Maul plans to use the holocrons to somehow draw Obi-Wan out.
  • I replace the original Rebels logo with this coda’s episode title card.
  • We then skip to Ezra already in orbit of Tattooine, looking at the holocrons in his hand. That’s all the context you get (to begin with) to link him to Maul.
  • I trimmed some of Ezra in orbit to remove humour and Rebels-only context. Ezra then lands.
  • I changed Ezra saying “The sith holocron!” to “A sith holocron!” just to smooth out the lack of viewer context.
  • I trimmed some of the more goofy elements of Ezra being attacked by the Tuskens.
  • I trimmed some of the scene of Ezra wondering what to do, to remove Rebels-only context but show that he’s aware of Maul and here to hopefully help Obi-Wan. Chopper doesn’t argue when he wants to go into the desert.
  • We transition to Ezra in the sandstorm, with some more trims to keep the focus on this plot.
  • I trimmed some of the scene of Ezra in the baking sun, so he doesn’t overdo his relationship with Chopper (it’s not our focus), and instead passes out a bit more quickly. I also cut the more overt Maul vision from this, as adding additional unnecessary complications.
  • I smoothed the transition from baking sun to Obi-Wan finding him, and from that scene into Obi-Wan by the fireplace.
  • I trimmed some of the Rebels-oriented dialogue, mainly to not have Obi-Wan here less anchored to a specific point in the timeline, and to avoid possible conflicts with Rogue One and the Kenobi series. Now they’re mainly just discussing Maul being here for Obi-Wan, and Ezra having been manipulated.
  • The Maul-Obi-Wan scene plays out in full.
  • After that scene concludes, we skip over Ezra’s conclusion (he’s left the scene and our story) and wipe straight into Obi-Wan monitoring the Lars homestead.
  • We use the original episode’s end credits and music, including the Star Wars Rebels logo. I figured that keeping that was fine - this is a Clone Wars Coda but it’s still Rebels content, so there’s no harm in being honest about that.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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Eddie, we are going to have to pour water on you because you are on fire!

[That will be the last corny joke of the day.]

In all seriousness,thanks for giving us more of Ahsoka. A truly great character who I hope will get her justice in the show coming up.

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Eh, could I give a suggestion?

Why not intertwine the Ahsoka childhood episode with the RESOLVE coda? In the two arcs we see her dealing with family, dealing with a threat… We have good parallels here.

I’m suggesting this because her childhood episode is super boring. But making this related to their final “clone wars” moments would improve the memories of her past a ton. Besides that, nobody gives a f*ck about Ahsoka in the beginning of the series, so showing a slow and bland introduction of her as a season zero episode don’t give much sense to me, particularly.

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In fact, I think that intertwining her childhood episode with the arc where she leaves the jedi order would be the best place to “deposit” these scenes of her as a child, because there is her true farewell to the series. It’s like saying “Hey, this is the last time you’re going to see this character, so let’s show you what’s left to know about her, which is her origin”. That would increase the strength of that arc EVEN MORE, making it even more emotional, in my opinion.

But maybe it’s a little weird to do that due to the difference in CW and TOTJ styles.

Anyway, I just think that the Life and Death episode works so much better being cut as flashback segments distributed in an already established episode/arc of Clone Wars/TOTJ than an episode as itself.

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It’s a tricky one. You’re right that the episode isn’t super interesting, though it’s harmless enough. I think it’s in an odd place where you’d watch it if you cared about Ahsoka specifically, but it’s not vital to the Clone Wars.

Since it’s optional I worry that pairing it with other things might drag them down, especially since it’s so slow paced. Ahsoka’s Fall is such a perfect arc that I wouldn’t want to distract from it, whereas pairing it with Resolve (you’d call the episode ‘Birth and Rebirth’) is a genuinely decent idea. They’d benefit from having the same aesthetic, though the relevance (and jeopardy) might be lost at that placement in the chronology.

I think there’re two other options: Firstly, as a (long) opening flashback in the Christophsis episode, which wouldn’t be much different from just watching those episodes back to back; and secondly, dumped in to my ‘Tales from the Clone Wars’ anthology which takes content from a bunch of sources and just sticks them together, to bridge my seasons two and three. (A reminder: I plan to include the other Ahsoka episode from TOTJ, the one where she’s repeatedly trained against clones, in that episode too, kind of as a bridging story. She passes out a lot, which would help with the transitions, and it’d also help explain why the art style is all over the place.)

But yes, not sure. Open to further input here!

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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In other news, now that I’m all done, I started my rewatch from scratch. But since I was in a Tales of the Jedi mood, I watched all of Dooku’s TOTJ episodes first, and then my two prologues, then into TCW:R proper.

And I’ve gotta tell you, that ordering - chronological (minus Ahsoka’s intro), but skipping the two first prequel movies, really works. Benefits:

  • The Dooku episodes do such a great job of introducing the viewer to the whole Star Wars setting. They’re powerful, beautiful, character-driven, and explain the state of the galaxy really clearly. Even without seeing the movies, you understand why many planets would want to leave the Republic, and why Dooku would be a fitting figurehead.
  • The whole, this way, is way more focused on high quality character development, and the non-movie content does a really good job of filling in the gaps as you go. They feel like stories with worldbuilding, rather than the prequel movies’ worldbuilding with stories in them.
  • Anakin’s introduction is carried by the Tartakovsky series, and it totally works. We get this nice throughline of Dooku > Qui-Gon > Obi-Wan > Anakin. Dooku 's become our focal villain (after his great and understandable development) and then hiring his few right hand characters, then Anakin is introduced as a brash but great Jedi whom the Jedi Council regard as the ‘chosen one’ and the Sith have a particular interest in. He’s a great pilot with a secret wife, and his character is clear - and in his introductory episode we see via his clash with Ventress how he’s tempted by the dark.
  • We then see Ahsoka’s introduction, and she’s cemented as his apprentice as their character and relationship comes more into focus over the first couple of TCW:R episodes.
  • Seeing Mandalore early also does a great job of introducing third parties - and its neutrality also brings the corruption of the Republic into sharper focus.
  • Speaking of which, the Republic’s corruption is far clearer here - yes, it’s probably a force for good, and stability, but we understand much better why people might object to it, and why it’s exploitable by Sidious. We also see Mace Windu as much more representative of the Jedi as the [corrupt] Republic’s tool, rather than a wiser questioning presence like Dooku, Qui-Gon, or Yoda.

The only things really missing from watching it this way are seeing the Obi-Wan/Maul plot start (you could maybe watch TPM as a flashback before the nightsisters arc?) and more detail on the clones/Jango/Boba (you could maybe watch AOTC between seasons one and two, after we see Kamino but before we see Boba seeking revenge on Mace).

Anyway, it makes for interesting viewing!

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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Yeah, that does sound like a pretty neat way to watch the prequel material. Part of me wishes that the OT was labeled as “Episodes 1-3”, with no need for the prequels to be awkwardly forced into a trilogy format. Instead, we would get a full fledged live-action prequel TV series, structured pretty much exactly like how you suggest.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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Eddie, so happy and proud of you for completing this. I have been following from the beginning and it crazy to see you finally complete it!

I feel like for a lot of people who will want to watch prequel content, they will probably just watch episodes 1 and 2 before starting TCW:R. I could see the benefit of letting TCW being people’s introduction rather than the prequels, though.

It would be interesting to see your thoughts for the future AOTC thread since it is basically the bridge into your TCW:R. I think you’ll have a nice perspective for some potential changes that could bring it more in-line with that.

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Congratulations! I know that I haven’t given feedback for a few months, but I want to join in to affirm your excellent work and major accomplishment.

Regarding future efforts, I’d still really like to see an attempt at making 1x01 a better introduction to our new characters, even if it takes the focus off Anakin and ObiWan slightly. I think there’s a lot of potential with those young Ahsoka scenes from the new short, but also potential by blending in the Assassin episode with Ulani and Ventress as something that happens on the way to the planet, or even by using the Jedi investigating Grievous’ fortress in season 2 as an intro to his character in 1x01 or 1x02, leading into the Malevolence story.

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Thank you both! It’s kind of wild that this started as a little idea that I just ran with.

Rogue, I’m not suggesting people watch TOTJ then TCW:R, and it’s not something I’ll roll into the plan for this show - it’s more just something I discovered that offers a fun perspective.

But yes, it might spawn some good AOTC thoughts. Since I’ve got an episodic hat on lately, I can see the merits in splitting the Anakin and Obi-Wan plots out entirely, for example, and not having Anakin at Geonosis.

Vranir, I agree. I think it might suit a movie more than episodes, but maybe this ordering could work:

  • Establish in the crawl that Christophsis is somehow important to the Kamino situatoin, and that all of this is happening out in the same region of the Outer Rim, near Kamino, where Grievous is targeting clone facilities and Ventress is assassinating key Republic assets. Luminara is running priority supplies to and from the region, but has just been diverted to pick up the freshly captured Nute Gunray, who’s stolen secrets which could help Grievous assault Kamino. Since Anakin’s knighted, Obi-Wan’s requested a new padawan.
  • Anakin and Obi-Wan break down to the Christophsis surface. They have some sort of important business there. [From the Christophsis arc]
  • Nearby(ish), Grievous wipes out Plo Koon’s ship and starts pod killing survivors. We establish a threat to clones. [From Malevolence]
  • Anakin and Obi-Wan set up their base on Christophsis, but get ambushed, then go to hunt down Ventress who’s behind it. Separatist forces on Christophsis are revealed to have already landed on the planet.
  • Sidious tells Dooku that Nute Gunray has secrets and must be retrieved. Dooku assigns Ventress to recover him, drawing her away from Christophsis.
  • The Malevolence situation is recognised as an emergency by the Republic, and this gets relayed round the fleet (just after the Christophsis forces get their Comms jammed). Luminara becomes the relay to Christophsis.
  • Luminara, who is escorting Ashoka somewhere (maybe she’s just Luminara’s padawan, we think?), delivers Gunray to her larger ship. Ventress arrives, causes chaos, and rescues Gunray, but we see Ashoka in action. Luminara returns to her original mission. [Assassin]
  • We return to Christophsis. Anakin and Obi-Wan are preparing for a ground battle, and receive delivery of supplies from Luminara’s ship. Ashoka is delivered too (she’s to be Anakin’s padawan?!) and she relays that there’s an emergency. But with the unexpected force on Christophsis, they can’t respond yet.
  • The rest of Christophsis plays out, the Separatist forces are defeated, and the key trio head to space to deal with the Malevolence emergency.
  • We return to Plo’s team in space. They’re struggling and being hunted. Plo tells his troops “you’re individuals and important to me”.
  • Cut to Domino Squad training. [Domino squad arc] We see this group as individuals. They fail training.
  • The main trio rescue Plo, and race to take out the Malevolence. It’s destroyed, but Grievous flees. We imply this was a key distraction.
  • Cut to Domino Squad on the Rishi moon. They’re watching for a possible attack on Kamino. Droids take over the base.
  • Anakin takes Ashoka back to Coruscant. Stuff is heating up in the region, it’s not safe for a brand new padawan. She’s done now for this movie, but she’s had a lot of action.
  • Rex and Cody arrive on the Rishi moon, as Anakin and Obi-Wan hunt for Grievous. Both plots are revealed to be linked- Grievous is using the silencing of this base as a way to sneak attack on Kamino. Everyone rushes to Kamino (including Ventress) and they all fight there and save the planet. End.

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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EddieDean said:

RELEASED - S00E00b - Prologue: Life and Death (Ahsoka) (v2.0)

Just FYI: This prologue episode does not start until the 3:42 mark. You get a black silent screen until then.

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REQUEST FOR SUPPORT

Hi folks, now that this is complete and polished, I’m looking to launch it over on the fanedit.org forums. Threads from unapproved editors can get buried quite easily over there (and I’m still not approved) so I’d be extremely grateful if you could give the thread over there a bit of love - perhaps via a brief review, or a comment on the approach taken over here? Thanks in advance to anyone who helps give this edit a little buzz beyond our borders!

The Clone Wars: Refocused | Andor: Movie Omnibus

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I know you’ve probably gotten this question plenty of times before, but have you given any thought to a Rebels: Refocused? Rebels is probably going to become much more relevant with the Ahsoka series on the horizon. Unfortunately, I think Rebels is harder to reshape because the progression is significantly more linear, but I’ve had friends that have complained that the first season in particular is hard to get through.