The Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant (Released) — Page 251

Icecream2448 said:

The Finn line is tricky. It might be unclear what is happening off Exegol. We see all the ships on Exegol shut down because of their loss of connection, right? And then the off-world Star Destroyers are destroyed because of the galactic uprising, and those are just people doing it on their own. It’s unrelated to the Exegol connection thing being destroyed. That line from Finn, while it doesn’t make much sense, is necessary to convey the message that an actual uprising is happening all over the place at this time, not that the ships are just shutting down together (unless… they were just shutting down together.)

The line could be slipped backward to be voiceover with the montage of that helps bring clarity to the scene.

I personally think the line is unnecessary, especially as everyone rising up across the Galaxy is ostensibly on Exegol before leaving to liberate their home planets/systems. That’s why I’m still more in favour of moving the montage to be between the Ajan Kloss celebration and Tatooine end scene.

• Finn: “People are rising up all over the galaxy.”

Personally I hate that line, it comes out of nowhere and it makes no sense. Wasn’t Lando supposed to rile up people from all over the galaxy who’d “fight if they lead them”? They even hammer the point that “They’re not a navy, sir. It’s just… people”. So where do all of these other people come from who could rise up and take down First Order Star Destroyers all over the galaxy?

I think the idea for the montage probably was that everyone who helped on Exegol went back to free their own world after, but they didn’t have anything to give it context, and so they (very obviously) tacked on the line on this scene, it’s like Finn’s narrating what’s gonna happen next even though everyone is still on Exegol, and the timing of the line is also really odd, they’re talking about Rey being alive and Finn suddenly brings it up.

I think a possible solution would be to alter or replace Finn’s line to imply he’s talking about the fleet on Exegol. Maybe to something like “The people are rising up, Poe. We did it”. It would be more like he’s reflecting on what they’ve done while subtly giving context to the upcoming montage.

I like the idea of the montage coming after Ajan Kloss (through a cut rather than a fade) to show it happens later, allowing Finn’s line to be cut with less confusion. Then fade end of montage into black, then into chess.

Burbin said:

Hal 9000 said:

On Kijimi, the KoR step into frame and the apparent leader says, “Palpatine wants the girl alive. Kill the rest.”

Since no one has mentioned it I need to point out that when we’re on Kijimi Palpatine still (supposedly) wants Rey dead. And during the force bond duel Kylo implies he sent Ochi to kill her. “Why would he want to kill a child?” etc.

The reveal that he wants her alive comes long after, when Finn talks to D-O on Ajan Kloss, and he discovers Ochi was actually supposed to take Rey to Palpatine alive, which for some reason we’re supposed to take as Palpatine still wanting her alive(?).

And this idea is only cemented once Rey reaches Exegol and Palpatine says “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here”.

Point is that line doesn’t make sense at that point in the story, Palpatine is supposed to want Rey dead, while Kylo wants to turn her, and the Knights of Ren are working for Kylo, not Palpatine, he is their Leader, they only turn to Palpatine when Ben “betrays” them by turning to the light.

“Kylo wants the girl alive, kill the rest” would make much more sense at that point in the story. It doesn’t spoil the “reveal”, it works with what Kylo says in Passana, “I don’t want to have to kill you”, and it would be an opportunity to show Kylo’s bond with his Knights, as he trusts them enough to tell them his real plan, while he tells the people at the board room they’re going “hunting for the scavenger”. This would add more tragedy to their eventual duel, giving it a real sense of betrayal.

“Palpatine wants the girl alive” works to the opposite effect, making it seem the KoR are privy to more information than Kylo, since he believes Palpatine wants her dead, so it makes it seem like they had a direct link to Palpatine and were working on their own, always ready or planning to turn on Kylo. I don’t like this personally, we’ve seen enough bad guys plotting to betray their Masters, it would be more interesting to have the Leader betray his Knights, a bittersweet tragedy that results from his turn to the light.

Okay, this was definitely an oversight. I have taken the “Kylo Ren” from a different line and inserted it where “Palpatine” was. I’ve created two variations, one of “Kylo” and one of “Kylo Ren” for each of the two voices. Those can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10VFVNbzmrhoEyi1arUgYzctnWnbFHFZw?usp=sharing

axlanian said:

Burbin said:

Hal 9000 said:

On Kijimi, the KoR step into frame and the apparent leader says, “Palpatine wants the girl alive. Kill the rest.”

Since no one has mentioned it I need to point out that when we’re on Kijimi Palpatine still (supposedly) wants Rey dead. And during the force bond duel Kylo implies he sent Ochi to kill her. “Why would he want to kill a child?” etc.

The reveal that he wants her alive comes long after, when Finn talks to D-O on Ajan Kloss, and he discovers Ochi was actually supposed to take Rey to Palpatine alive, which for some reason we’re supposed to take as Palpatine still wanting her alive(?).

And this idea is only cemented once Rey reaches Exegol and Palpatine says “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here”.

Point is that line doesn’t make sense at that point in the story, Palpatine is supposed to want Rey dead, while Kylo wants to turn her, and the Knights of Ren are working for Kylo, not Palpatine, he is their Leader, they only turn to Palpatine when Ben “betrays” them by turning to the light.

“Kylo wants the girl alive, kill the rest” would make much more sense at that point in the story. It doesn’t spoil the “reveal”, it works with what Kylo says in Passana, “I don’t want to have to kill you”, and it would be an opportunity to show Kylo’s bond with his Knights, as he trusts them enough to tell them his real plan, while he tells the people at the board room they’re going “hunting for the scavenger”. This would add more tragedy to their eventual duel, giving it a real sense of betrayal.

“Palpatine wants the girl alive” works to the opposite effect, making it seem the KoR are privy to more information than Kylo, since he believes Palpatine wants her dead, so it makes it seem like they had a direct link to Palpatine and were working on their own, always ready or planning to turn on Kylo. I don’t like this personally, we’ve seen enough bad guys plotting to betray their Masters, it would be more interesting to have the Leader betray his Knights, a bittersweet tragedy that results from his turn to the light.

Okay, this was definitely an oversight. I have taken the “Kylo Ren” from a different line and inserted it where “Palpatine” was. I’ve created two variations, one of “Kylo” and one of “Kylo Ren” for each of the two voices. Those can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10VFVNbzmrhoEyi1arUgYzctnWnbFHFZw?usp=sharing

😃

I know the final word is in and that Hal is good on the music at the very end of the film, and I respect that. I just realized the drive link I posted didn’t work, so here’s my rough, ROUGH pass at how I personally prefer the music to line up (using the footage posted in someone else’s concept) in the unlikely event anyone wanted to see it: https://vimeo.com/453090772

medioCORE said:

I know the final word is in and that Hal is good on the music at the very end of the film, and I respect that. I just realized the drive link I posted didn’t work, so here’s my rough, ROUGH pass at how I personally prefer the music to line up (using the footage posted in someone else’s concept) in the unlikely event anyone wanted to see it: https://vimeo.com/453090772

+1

That’s fantastic for being a rough pass! I love how Rey’s theme swells almost perfectly into the “Skywalker” name-drop - it actually makes the moment feel triumphant and dare I say it… satisfying? It really emphasises the fact that her entire journey throughout this trilogy has culminated in that one specific moment of finding true belonging. My only very mild criticism would be that as it is just now, the new music slightly overshadows the dialogue, which unfortunately makes the whole moment sound just a touch too “busy”. If the “Rey Skywalker” line was just a hair or two more forward and audible over the new music, then I think I would be completely sold on this!

The familiar motif as the Falcon flies away also feels completely natural and entirely appropriate for the mildly bittersweet, but mostly hopeful tone. For me this change also successfully refocuses the Falcon flight away from just being centered solely around Rey, to instead center around the entire gang equally. With a strong implication towards all of the future adventures they’ll likely have together (while still feeling like a final, happy goodbye). Imo, this transitions far more seamlessly into the end credits too.

All of this isn’t to say that I don’t like Hal’s current version though! Either one thematically works very well. For my personal preference however, this one really sells the moment and ticks all of my boxes.

Great work!

LesPaul32 said:

That’s fantastic for being a rough pass! I love how Rey’s theme swells almost perfectly into the “Skywalker” name-drop - it actually makes the moment feel triumphant and dare I say it… satisfying? It really emphasises the fact that her entire journey throughout this trilogy has culminated in that one specific moment of finding true belonging. My only very mild criticism would be that as it is just now, the new music slightly overshadows the dialogue, which unfortunately makes the whole moment sound just a touch too “busy”. If the “Rey Skywalker” line was just a hair or two more forward and audible over the new music, then I think I would be completely sold on this!

The familiar motif as the Falcon flies away also feels completely natural and entirely appropriate for the mildly bittersweet, but mostly hopeful tone. For me this change also successfully refocuses the Falcon flight away from just being centered solely around Rey, to instead center around the entire gang equally. With a strong implication towards all of the future adventures they’ll likely have together (while still feeling like a final, happy goodbye). Imo, this transitions far more seamlessly into the end credits too.

All of this isn’t to say that I don’t like Hal’s current version though! Either one thematically works very well. For my personal preference however, this one really sells the moment and ticks all of my boxes.

Great work!

Thanks! I’d love to take all the credit, but I was inspired by the previous person who posted it. Just wanted to tweak it a bit and let the Force theme lead in to Rey’s theme so it could breathe. If I had been able to devote more time, it’d be a lot more unique and polished. But I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s actually probably the ONLY thing I’ll change once Hal finishes. That said, I enjoy Hal’s choice, too!

Can we maybe move discussion of the ending music out of this thread since Hal has said eighty billion times at this point that it’s staying as it currently is in the edit?