The Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant Special Edition (WIP) — Page 5

That could somewhat work, but it would need to be re-worded because it’s creating too much complexity for the audience.

“Because you’re a Palpatine? That doesn’t have to be your destiny. You can overcome it, Rey. Some things are stronger than blood…”

But, ultimately, this is still unsatisfactory because Rey knowing that she never has to give in to Palpatine removes any stakes that would otherwise be in the finale. And as I pointed out, Rey states that her greatest fear is of herself, not necessarily of her own fate. So the line here needs to be a fact about who she is, at least at the beginning.

I think it’s pretty wild that Hal and other people here seem to disagree with stating that Anakin / the chosen one was made to end the Sith (who only exists as Palpatine in the ST). Like, that’s literally the whole point of the prophecy. Yes, you are free to say that the Force is biased and partisan in this regard. But it’s only doing this because the Sith are literally bending the will of the Force to their own. Of course it wants to annihilate Palpatine, he’s cheating its own prophecy by refusing to die! It had to cheat in return by creating a “chosen second”, if you will. There might be another way to word this so it’s a little less upfront, but I genuinely think this is the only way this edit can proceed. It’s in the title of the project, folks. “Chosen One Edit”. I can understand if you think this line is too on the nose, but there’s a lot of dialogue in this movie like that already.

“Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force made my father and then you… to end his rule.”

OR

“Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force made my father, and then you… to end the Sith.”

For context, Kylo states that Palpatine (allegedly) manipulated the Force itself into creating them, so there’s still a double meaning in both of these options. The first one is arguably more clear because if Rey kills him with hatred, she’d only be replacing his reign with her own while possessed. The second one is a touch less clear, but it actually aligns exactly with what Rey says later: “I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them.” To which Palpatine notes that ending the Sith would involve killing him, and so that’s when he goes on his spiel about him always wanting that for her.

I don’t mean to flip-flop back and forth, but yeah, that is the only alternative I currently see that kinda works. The only reason I’d be fine with it is because it serves the conclusion of the story so well rather than introducing another twist.

True, as was pointed out by krlozdac, this makes it so we know she cannot be a Palpatine unless she chose that for some reason. But that’s where the Palpatine confrontation twist comes into play, where he’s basically forcing her to choose exactly that. “You will be Empress. We will be one.” So even if he cannot claim her at the moment, he believes he will be able to anyway.

I do disagree with the notion that Palpatine claiming Vader as his apprentice goes against the idea of this alternative line. Vader was definitely allowing him to do this: “I will do whatever you ask.” He was submitting to him in RotS from the very beginning. So, ultimately, it is a decision that belongs to both Anakin and Rey. And seeing his son dying was what finally snapped Vader out of his subservience. For Rey, it was Ben reaching out to her on Exegol.

To amend the potential misinterpretation I just pointed out, I think the line could be further modified:

“Because you’re a Palpatine? Nobody has a right to those the Force made. That choice belongs to you. Some things are stronger than blood…”

This way the emphasis is less on denying that such a claim is possible, and more so that such a claim would be fraudulent without the consent of both parties. That’s the only requirement, no matter how reluctant it is like in the case of Rey about to strike down Palpatine. Plus, it lines up with what Kylo states earlier: “You… are a rightful Palpatine.”

I’m gonna go back to the Vader and Kylo fight today to wrap that up. Just felt like offering up some food for thought concerning this other idea.

I feel like this phrasing just feels strange. You have that first sentence, “Nobody has claim to those the Force made” followed by, “That choice belongs to you”. What “choice” are you referring to? I feel like the preceding sentence needs to reference some kind of choice. Your origin isn’t something you can choose. Something like “our past doesn’t determine our future, that choice belongs to you” could work better and not be as wordy.

A lot of the dialogue you have written is good, but I do feel some lines feel more verbose/wordy while a lot of Star Wars dialogue feels simple/poetic. Don’t know if that makes sense.

It was just the second sentence’s structure that was wonky. My bad.

"Because you’re a Palpatine? Nobody has a right to those the Force made. Only you can choose your belonging. Some things are stronger than blood…”

And sorry, but the fun of this edit is that her and Anakin’s origin is literally something you get to choose. The audience, and Rey, get to decide just how much of a hand Palpatine had in it, because there’s no reason Luke should be able to know for sure one way or the other. Is Palps completely making it all up that he influenced how the Force made them, and they were always only made by the Force to end the Sith? Or did he perhaps empower them with more of the dark side to stop them from accomplishing their purpose and align with his own? Remember, their blood is just the raw power of the Force, nothing actually related to Palpatine himself in either case. I explained this in the description of this thread. So I don’t think I’ll be taking this particular feedback into account.

I wasn’t disagreeing with what you’re trying talk about in this scene, just trying to talk about the phrasing. But honestly it’s not a big deal.

Oh. Well, like you said, I think most of the blame for the weirdness was with the second sentence. So thanks for pointing that out. I’ve been thinking of alternatives for the first sentence and nothing else conveys my intended meaning properly. For example, with your suggestion, it sounds like Luke is admitting that Palpatine made them, which I want to steer clear of.

Anyways, here is the (hopefully) final rough draft of the Vader vs. Kylo scene. There are a couple experimental things in there that I can change, if needed:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PNq604n2sbbK8_y4y0ws2MNVg6AOXffP/view?usp=sharing

Yes, music is the next step. That would fill the remaining 3.1 channels, because the fight itself is only stereo. Ideally it would be composed by John Williams, but I suppose any other Star Wars source could potentially work.

I’d also need to figure out how to sound mix the parts of Kylo outside of the vision. Stuff like this is something I’m completely inexperienced in, so with Hal’s commitment to assist with this project I’m probably gonna have to rely on that. But I’m not going to officially request such a thing until the dyad duel and hangar scene are taken care of, which is ongoing thanks to him.

In other words, we have a long road ahead of us, but that’s fine by me. It gives us more time to brainstorm our options. Especially in the case I overlooked something.

EDIT: The two that stand out to me in terms of the saga itself are the following -

1. A Jedi’s Fury - starts out very subtle and creepy, and suddenly is very intense. You also have the Emperor’s theme here, who Kylo is technically fighting in this scene, anways. Granted, this may be way too grandiose for a scene this early in the movie.
2. The Duel (ESB) - pretty self-explanatory

I want to bring up one last potential idea for this edit that is supplementary in nature to the main course, which is the dyad duel and hangar scene changes.

This edit is intended to be paired with TLJ: Rekindled, which includes Kylo’s line that her parents are dead and buried on Jakku. In original TROS, there are several problems with this idea:

1. Rey’s parents’ ship is seen leaving Jakku.
2. That ship just so happens to be (almost) identical to Ochi’s ship, so how did that end up with her parents to begin with?
3. If Rey’s parents were buried on Jakku by Ochi, then he likely would have encountered the only little girl in Niima Outpost.

I think the only way all of these pieces fit together is if Ochi was the one purposely taking her parents away from her. Now, obviously, this would also mean that Ochi intended to leave Rey behind as well, and not deliver her to Palpatine as he was originally instructed to.

I think a second reveal about Rey’s origin could easily slot itself into Poe and Finn’s discussion about D-O. We’d simply repurpose the footage of the ship taking off from TFA and her parent’s subsequent deaths after Finn’s line: “To bring a little girl he was supposed to take from Jakku, to the Emperor.” Over the flashback, we’d have a Finn voiceover, just like Luke does in the next scene.

“But Palpatine wanted her parents to sell her, instead. He ensured she was left alone and afraid on a harsh world, to push her to the dark side. And eventually to himself.”

Obviously both references to Rey recognizing Ochi’s ship would be reinstated. Now, the biggest problem with this idea is that we’re entering the territory of more hard retcons, which I’d say we’ve thus far avoided with only soft retcons. Specifically, the fact that she was sold for “drinking money”. Maybe the drinks were for Ochi? lol And there is also an argument to be made that Palpatine himself could do a more effective job of turning Rey to the dark side than trauma and Jakku ever could.

I’d still like to hear some other thoughts on this, though. I’m like 90% sure I’m including the Vader duel and Luke and Kylo conversation at this point, and this idea I’m a little under 50% in support of.

EddieDean said:

Here’s an even more extreme angle that follows from the previous - what if Rey’s dad was captured by Ochi and taken to Palpatine, who tortured him into obedience and deep into the dark side, and raised him as a subservient Sith - giving him the name Snoke. Then, Rey REALLY has a reason to want to kill Palpatine - for vengeance for her father. I’m not suggesting you use this idea, or even that it’s good - more that it’s an angle I’ve not yet seen considered.

Rey’s father does indeed have blue eyes and a similar head shape. But he’s definitely not 8 feet tall, or whatever lol.

But your other post is a marvelous idea, Eddie. Although it obviously would be for Ascendant, and not this edit. Perhaps Palpatine’s “son” escaped when he was a youngster, and has been on the run all that time. Then we have Kylo state that once he was captured Ochi discovered he was incapable of using the Force, so Palps ordered him killed. And he never knew about Rey before she’d already chosen the path of a Jedi, so he wanted her killed, too.

I think, for the purposes of this edit, I can only hope and pray that the Starlight project updates the VFX of the ship that leaves Rey behind. So, yeah, this specific discussion might be more suited for Hal’s thread.

Here’s how that Kylo dialogue would work for Ascendant:

“It was Palpatine who had your parents taken. He was looking for your father. But he found out he was useless with the Force. So he gave the order.”

This would then tie in with “Weak, like your parents”

I’ve come to the same conclusion, Starkiller. It’s just an idea that’s been in my head for a bit, and definitely more suited for Ascendant.

My friend like Palpatine would say: “A surprise to be sure but a welcome one”.

Exactly, lol. Except in the case of Ascendant it would be an unwelcome one since that edit is doing the approach that Palpatine always saw her as a threat until the last minute.

Whereas this edit is taking the almost exact opposite approach. He’s (kinda) telling the truth on Exegol that he never wanted her specifically dead. And then you have the original TROS where it’s completely bananas and the inner machinations of Palpatine’s mind are an enigma.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

Oh. Well, like you said, I think most of the blame for the weirdness was with the second sentence. So thanks for pointing that out. I’ve been thinking of alternatives for the first sentence and nothing else conveys my intended meaning properly. For example, with your suggestion, it sounds like Luke is admitting that Palpatine made them, which I want to steer clear of.

Anyways, here is the (hopefully) final rough draft of the Vader vs. Kylo scene. There are a couple experimental things in there that I can change, if needed:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PNq604n2sbbK8_y4y0ws2MNVg6AOXffP/view?usp=sharing

I think this looks much better. I recommend getting rid of one of the forest scenes where you see the two clashing. It happens twice. Either get rid of one of them entirely or swap it with a different angle of Vader and kylo parrying/striking and I think image wise it’s perfect imo

Those aren’t actually the same shot, they do have subtle differences, but I know what you’re saying. I can’t get rid of the second distant shot because of lightsaber continuity reasons, they’re going in to clash and then suddenly they’d be far apart from each other.

I can, however, get rid of the first distant shot. It would just mean that the camera would change angles on Vader slightly in the same shot. I dunno if this breaks a film-making rule or whatever, but it looks good to me:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Y36nv7KvjDdv74InyqntxTBy2H4y5DF/view?usp=sharing

Please be aware this is actually the source video, so it doesn’t have things like the AI lines. It’s also a more chunky file. I just wanted to show you what I’m talking about.

This choreographically looks good to me. Nicely done. Yes, I assume this is the rough version. There aren’t polished sound effects, music and the AI lines.

What sound effects are missing? I’d like to secure the sound of Vader groaning in pain from ESB when Kylo slashes him, but that’s the only one I can think of at the moment.

Yea the Vader groaning in pain. I’ll have to watch again when I am in quieter location. I recall first time watching a rougher draft like wind howling was missing. Footsteps etc. but perhaps the soundtrack will mask all that anyway