Well if anyone wishes to continue the project or any other which incorporates these ideas, you will have my blessing.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
It seems I can’t help but think about this mess of a movie, so instead of cluttering other threads I’ll just put the ideas here for now. 😃
The Final Order:
The Ascendant edit has Poe explain that Emperor has a stockpile of old Star Destroyers leftover from the war, and further says that they have been updated with dreadnought cannons.
I would alter this dialogue to convey that directly after the Emperor’s death, his most loyal captains from across the galaxy charted a course into the unknown regions and eventually regrouped over Exegol, and this is where they have remained all these years. This contingency plan was known to his loyalists as ‘The Final Order’, to be executed in the event of his death. This explains why the Rebels were victorious even when the Imperial Starfleet was undefeated in ROTJ; much of it disappeared into Hyperspace after the Death Star was destroyed. This further explains Finn’s statement that the Death Star was where the last war ended. Even if the battle of Jakku was the official end of hostilities, the war was decided when the Emperor died and much of his starfleet vanished.
The dreadnought cannons addition can be conveyed in the Kijimi destruction scene, which can be altered to indicate that only the primary city was destroyed in the attack.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
Rey Palpatine?
Rey’s identity is by far the most tangled web of confusion in the story, so disentangling them starts with determining the overlap between what is possible and what is thematically resonant. The most resonant part of Rey’s identity is that she was a nobody abandoned by her parents. However, this is not sufficient because it merely says what Rey is not: she is not a Palpatine, not a Skywalker, not anyone of any importance. TLJ establishes that her insecurity and grief over her abandonment drives her actions, and her deepest desire is to find a family to call her own.
Therefore, if the story of TROS is to remain relatively intact, the most promising tactic would be to establish that Rey’s Palpatine heritage is a lie created by Palpatine in order to tempt her with the one thing she desires most: belonging. This is easily done. The only object tying Rey to the Sith is that Ochi’s ship appears similar to one that left Jakku with her parents many years ago. However, the solution to this puzzle is staring us in the face: They are simply different ships. This is demonstrably true by comparing TFA’s vision with Rey’s memory in TROS, where the designs of the ships are quite clearly different. Palpatine can latch onto this similarity and tell Kylo Ren the lie that Rey is a Palpatine, and he can convey this to Rey. There is also dialogue between Finn and Poe where they discuss the information in D-O that appears to confirm the Rey Palpatine connection, but that can be deleted.
Rey Nobody
Now that Rey Palpatine is established as a lie, a problem arises. There still needs to be some dark revelation about Rey for her to doubt herself, beyond the Rey Palpatine lie. This is because all Rey needs to do is reject the lie in order to resolve the problem, which isn’t thematically resonant. This was the problem in TLJ as well: if Rey is a nobody, it isn’t particularly devastating. Rather, the film establishes that she is a force of light to rival Kylo’s force of darkness, as described by Snoke, so by rejecting Kylo’s hand she is establishing herself as good in opposition to Kylo’s evil. This can be viewed as a victory, rather than an insurmountable obstacle.
Dark Revelation
Any revelation about Rey must be about Rey herself, rather than her lineage, and must cast her story into doubt. The strongest way to do this is to flip the script and paint her as an underdog in her own story, a force of evil rather than one of light. This is what TROS attempts to do with Rey Palpatine. Yet the issue, among others, is that it is established that Rey is Kylo’s rival in the Force, a counterbalance to an equation of light and dark.
The solution now appears obvious: Kylo Ren must be a force of good. Is there evidence for this? Yes, in fact. He is secretly drawn to the light, and all characters know how conflicted he appears. It takes only a little more exposition to establish that he has secretly been attempting to destroy the Sith for his entire life, ever since he learned of Palpatine during his training with Luke. In order to get close to Snoke, Han had to die. In order to find Palpatine, Snoke had to be destroyed. Ben followed the ways of the Jedi, divesting himself of attachments to all those whom he was afraid to lose and forging a new identity for himself as Kylo Ren, a false identity taken merely to complete what Vader could not and destroy the Sith once and for all.
Rey’s Darkness
Kylo can reveal to Rey the truth, that she was always driven by the Dark Side. Her insecurity and need for a family is founded on selfishness, which is the core of the Dark Side. She wears a mask just as Ben does, but instead of an evil visage she wears a mask of false benevolence. Deep down, she is driven by a desire for a family, and Palpatine’s lie secretly appeals to her because it allows her a belonging that she has never allowed herself to feel with Luke or Leia or her friends.
Rey’s blazing fast rise in power is only possible through the use of the Dark Side, giving her a quick and easy path to a place in the story and the family she has always wanted. She knows, however, that only Palpatine would really accept her, and so Kylo reveals to her in the hangar that though she may not be a Palpatine, she undoubtedly has the spirit of a Sith. This is why she is unable to contact the spirits of the Jedi.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
It seems I can’t help but think about this mess of a movie, so instead of cluttering other threads I’ll just put the ideas here for now. 😃
The Final Order:
The Ascendant edit has Poe explain that Emperor has a stockpile of old Star Destroyers leftover from the war, and further says that they have been updated with dreadnought cannons.
I would alter this dialogue to convey that directly after the Emperor’s death, his most loyal captains from across the galaxy charted a course into the unknown regions and eventually regrouped over Exegol, and this is where they have remained all these years. This contingency plan was known to his loyalists as ‘The Final Order’, to be executed in the event of his death. This explains why the Rebels were victorious even when the Imperial Starfleet was undefeated in ROTJ; much of it disappeared into Hyperspace after the Death Star was destroyed. This further explains Finn’s statement that the Death Star was where the last war ended. Even if the battle of Jakku was the official end of hostilities, the war was decided when the Emperor died and much of his starfleet vanished.
The dreadnought cannons addition can be conveyed in the Kijimi destruction scene, which can be altered to indicate that only the primary city was destroyed in the attack.
This is a good idea to convey, but I think it’s best placed in one of the earlier movies as setup for this one. There must be an opportunity to have someone say something like “after Palpatine’s most loyal admirals fled with their fleets after the battle of Endor/Jakku/etc” in TFA or TLJ.
Double post
Love all of this, a great way to crystalize Rise of Skywalker in a way that truly doesn’t contradict anything that came before. As far as establishing Palpatine’s most loyal admirals fleeing, feels like the easiest place would be to put it in an opening crawl…meaning it’s time to once again rewrite Starlight’s opening crawl for two pages! XD
The problem with your idea is that it makes things incredibly murky imo. Rey isn’t even revealed to be a Palpatine until the tail end of the hangar scene, so why should it even be mentioned there that Palpatine intended to lie about her being one there if Kylo immediately shuts it down in the next sentence? When Palpatine later starts his whole “Empress Palpatine” spiel, all Rey has to say is: “Nah, Kylo and Luke told me that’s false. Besides, Leia has always been more accepting of me. Look, I brought these two lightsabers with me that she gifted to me, why don’t you just start shooting some lightning at me so I can reflect it back at you?”
The problem with Rey Nobody is that it benefited the narrative of TLJ, but runs counterintuitive to the dilemma of Rey striking down Palpatine to take the Sith throne. Allow me to explain. If Rey is a nobody, that means she is free to make her own legacy. She gets to decide how to go forward from there with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. That’s what makes Kylo’s offer so enticing to her in TLJ - they get to make something new together. Confronted with striking down Palpatine, if she’s a nobody, the only thing he can offer her is a sense of belonging - with the shadowy cloaked figures watching them whom she’s never met in her life. In this scenario, Rey is just coming out of a conversation with Luke about how Leia has so much faith in her that she wants her to carry on her Jedi path. The only thing that could shake that foundation just a bit is if Rey is related to him, or the stronger of the two, Rey was literally created from a vat to sit on that throne and is a clone of Palpatine. Adopted by nobody parents to rescue her, only to be later adopted by the Skywalkers.
Now, yes, Rey being a chosen one who determines the fate of the galaxy - Vader or Anakin style - would allow her to be a nobody and still have some semblance of temptation. The problem with that idea is you have to cut out so much of the conversation between Rey and Palpatine (among other things), and I remain unconvinced that any of this would feel natural in a movie with such rushed pacing as it stands. The conversation between her and Luke on Ahch-To, for instance, wouldn’t have a lot going on because it would have to remove “some things [being] stronger than blood” and Leia seeing her spirit and heart to counteract something negative about her.
I felt like you were really into something with having Rey be a direct clone, with her parents still nobodies.
I feel like there are tons of movies and stories are out there where our hero has to confront the villain and be tempted to join their side and they’re not related to the villain.
The solution now appears obvious: Kylo Ren must be a force of good. Is there evidence for this? Yes, in fact. He is secretly drawn to the light, and all characters know how conflicted he appears. It takes only a little more exposition to establish that he has secretly been attempting to destroy the Sith for his entire life, ever since he learned of Palpatine during his training with Luke. In order to get close to Snoke, Han had to die. In order to find Palpatine, Snoke had to be destroyed. Ben followed the ways of the Jedi, divesting himself of attachments to all those whom he was afraid to lose and forging a new identity for himself as Kylo Ren, a false identity taken merely to complete what Vader could not and destroy the Sith once and for all.
I really like this idea in theory, but I wonder if there’s too much going against it. If Kylo were good all along, why would he consider Finn’s actions that of a traitor? What is his obsession with having Anakin’s blue lightsaber anything but a sense of entitlement? Why was Luke so concerned in the darkness rising in Kylo that he contemplated killing him in his sleep after “Snoke had already turned his heart?” Why did Snoke say “as [Kylo] grew stronger, his equal in the light would rise?” (Then again, Snoke was wrong about a lot of things). Why did he double down on letting old things die & destroying the rebels while also snapping at Rey for still holding on and telling her she’s nothing? Why did he sacrifice total victory over the Resistance for a chance to kill what he thought was Luke other than out of vindictive pettiness? Why is he so adamant about killing “the last Jedi” & saying he’ll destroy Rey to get under Luke’s skin?
To bring an idea from the Duel of the Fates script, maybe Luke’s been communicating with Kylo between movies/at the beginning of Episode IX. Saying things like “I know what you’ve been trying to do, but you can’t do it this way.” You can also always redub his lines with Rey with phrases like “You asked me why I killed my father: to draw him out” or “You think you belong to the Light, Rey, but you don’t.”
I feel like there are tons of movies and stories are out there where our hero has to confront the villain and be tempted to join their side and they’re not related to the villain.
Yes, but this is a different situation. The film is giving Rey as a character literally everything she could ever want on a silver platter leading up to her confrontation with Palpatine. Leia is revealed to support Rey beyond all measure, Luke is telling her that a thousand generations of Jedi live in her now, etc. Legitimately the only thing that could ever tempt her to even consider Palpatine’s request is if she believed it were her fate, or her very nature, to give in to his demands. Ascendant already alleviates this quite a bit by giving her a vision of just her on the throne. The problem with her being the “granddaughter” of Palpatine is that we already know you can be the offspring of an evil person and still be a fantastic person in life, namely Leia in new canon. That’s why this is such a good idea. If Rey were manufactured using Sith alchemy and cloning specifically to be a suitable vessel for Palpatine, her confrontation with him quite literally defines why she was made in the first place. It’s much more harsh and uncomfortable to have to deal with - especially after being told that her anger towards Palpatine for killing her loving, adoptive parents means she can’t hope to defeat him without being possessed. At that moment, she begins to doubt Luke and Leia’s guidance, no matter how thoughtful it was, that perhaps her vision of the future was true and she must conform to her destiny.
The film is giving Rey as a character literally everything she could ever want on a silver platter leading up to her confrontation with Palpatine. Leia is revealed to support Rey beyond all measure, Luke is telling her that a thousand generations of Jedi live in her now, etc. Legitimately the only thing that could even persuade her to ever consider Palpatine’s request is if she believed it were her fate, or her very nature, to give in to his demands.
And this is exactly why I want to find a way to cut the Ach-To scene completely. Besides that scene just kind of sucking in general, it almost completely resolves Rey’s internal conflict before the final battle has even begun. It would be much more effective if, right after giving into her darkness and almost killing Kylo, Rey headed straight to Exegol, the temptation of the Sith throne still driving her to Palpatine.
Of course, there are a few problems with this idea (namely what to do with Leia’s saber), but I do think a “No Ach-To” edit could be entirely feasible if someone like Nev is willing to accept the challenge.
My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
And that is an unforgiveable thing to do imo. The way I see it, we have two options here:
And that is an unforgiveable thing to do imo.
Why, though? What’s so good about the Ach-To scene that it needs to be in the movie? All it does is use Luke as a mouthpiece to diss Rian Johnson, introduce a mindblowingly stupid retcon where Luke and Leia somehow knew Rey’s heritage the entire time, and make Luke look like an idiot for not using his inexplicably functional X-Wing to leave the island in the previous movie. Cutting all that bullshit, plus drastically improving Rey’s character arc as I outlined earlier, is more than enough of a reason to throw the Ach-To scene in the trash.
My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
EDIT: Oh yeah, also Leia knowing that Rey has such a dark history yet still hedging all of her bets into her regardless is the emotional undercurrent of the whole film. She made the mistake of sending Ben away for her brother to deal with, but this time she takes up the reigns herself and her faith and devotion to Rey is what pays off and saves the galaxy. Otherwise Leia does basically nothing for the plot in what is supposed to be her movie of the triology (TFA was Han, TLJ was Luke, TROS was hers).
- Nothing Luke says disservices what he was like in TLJ. “A Jedi’s weapon deserves more respect” - yes, he’s poking fun at his old ways. He changed by the end of The Last Jedi. It’s a meta joke at the same time, but that’s besides the point. Plus, it was fear that kept him there. Fear that he’d fail the galaxy again, fear how Leia and Han would react to his actions, etc.
I’ll accept the saber point (even if I still think this whole religious reverence for lightsabers was mainly started by the angry fan reaction to TLJ), but didn’t Rian literally say that the reason he came up with the “Luke almost killed Ben” backstory was because Luke wouldn’t just hide away out of fear? It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to his mistake that caused Luke to exile himself: he genuinely thought the galaxy would be better with the Jedi gone.
- We are already planning on fixing the Leia knowledge in Ascendant. Especially if Rey is turned into a clone, Leia will begin to recognize the similarities as she trains her. She spent time with Palpatine in the Senate, so she is used to his aura in the Force, even if she wasn’t aware of such a thing at the time. Luke knows because he’s a ghost. They’ve sorta just gained omniscience.
Yeah, I know about the plans there. But it’s still a major problem with the original scene, and one that can just as easily be solved by scrapping the thing entirely.
- Luke raising the X-Wing is such poetic language for how much his character has grown across the saga it would just be a shame to see it gone. Yes, it doesn’t make the most sense that it’s functional, but he did make the right choice by not using it in TLJ. If he had shown up to those gorilla walkers in-person he would have been dead in 10 seconds flat, Skywalker blood or not. His use of the Force at the end of TLJ really can’t be diminished to just a “that was the only way to intervene” moment. It was the most Jedi-like way to intervene. He never attacked, only using the Force for defense.
How is Luke raising the X-Wing poetic in any way, other than the most surface level? All it seemed like to me was yet another one of JJ’s beloved “ZOMG I RECOGNIZE THAT THING, I LOVE STAR WAAAAAAAARRRRRRSSSSS!!!” moments, blandly recycling iconic imagery from the OT with no regard for context, emotion, or logic. And Luke probably would have died if he showed up to Crait in person, but he had no way of knowing that. If he had a choice between going to Crait in person and possibly dying, or going to Crait with a life-draining astral projection technique and definitely dying, then he looks like an idiot for choosing the latter.
EDIT: Oh yeah, also Leia knowing that Rey has such a dark history yet still hedging all of her bets into her regardless is the emotional undercurrent of the whole film. She made the mistake of sending Ben away for her brother to deal with, but this time she takes up the reigns herself and her faith and devotion to Rey is what pays off and saves the galaxy. Otherwise Leia does basically nothing for the plot in what is supposed to be her movie of the triology (TFA was Han, TLJ was Luke, TROS was hers).
This is a good point, but I feel like there could be a way to convey this even in a cut that removes Ach-To. Maybe during the “Be with me” scene, instead of hearing the voices of Jedi she doesn’t even know, Rey could hear Luke and Leia’s voices instead? They could say that despite Rey’s [INSERT SECRET DARK BACKSTORY HERE] (which they would logically know about due to being ghosts), they still have faith in her, and encourage her to rise and face her fears. That way, you could deliver the same emotional payoff originally contained in the Ach-To scene, only in a much more logical place given the main tension of the climax.
My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
I’ll accept the saber point (even if I still think this whole religious reverence for lightsabers was mainly started by the angry fan reaction to TLJ), but didn’t Rian literally say that the reason he came up with the “Luke almost killed Ben” backstory was because Luke wouldn’t just hide away out of fear? It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to his mistake that caused Luke to exile himself: he genuinely thought the galaxy would be better with the Jedi gone.
Nah, it was started with Kenobi in AOTC. “This weapon is your life”. As for Rian’s justification, I can see that. But perhaps Luke was referring to the fact that it was fear which led him to consider attacking his nephew? Maybe a better wording of this would be “It was fear that led me here.” Could definitely be dubbed over.
How is Luke raising the X-Wing poetic in any way, other than the most surface level? All it seemed like to me was yet another one of JJ’s beloved “ZOMG I RECOGNIZE THAT THING, I LOVE STAR WAAAAAAAARRRRRRSSSSS!!!” moments, blandly recycling iconic imagery from the OT with no regard for context, emotion, or logic. And Luke probably would have died if he showed up to Crait in person, but he had no way of knowing that. If he had a choice between going to Crait in person and possibly dying, or going to Crait with a life-draining astral projection technique and definitely dying, then he looks like an idiot for choosing the latter.
Because Luke couldn’t do it in ESB. He was angry and exclaimed that it’s impossible. Then Yoda proves him wrong. “Size matters not” and all that. What was impossible for Luke before is possible now. The subtext of the scene is that nothing should be impossible for Rey going forward, as well. This is what Leia is teaching her at the beginning of the movie.
The only explanation for your other point is his earlier line criticizing Rey for thinking he’s gonna face down the whole First Order with a laser sword. Luke probably realized how futile it would be to come in person and wanted to try something special.
This is a good point, but I feel like there could be a way to convey this even in a cut that removes Ach-To. Maybe during the “Be with me” scene, instead of hearing the voices of Jedi she doesn’t even know, Rey could hear Luke and Leia’s voices instead? They could say that despite Rey’s [INSERT SECRET DARK BACKSTORY HERE] (which they would logically know about due to being ghosts), they still have faith in her, and encourage her to rise and face her fears. That way, you could deliver the same emotional payoff originally contained in the Ach-To scene, only in a much more logical place given the main tension of the climax.
Would be interesting and entirely possible. Although the film definitely sets up ALL of the Jedi responding to her due to her first line “I don’t think it’s possible. To hear the voices of the Jedi who came before.” Then Leia responds with what Luke has learned and imparted to her “Nothing’s impossible.” Would definitely be emotionally resonant, but would make the Force ghosts kinda come out of nowhere since some of them wouldn’t have lines. Not worth removing Ahch-To over, either IMO.
Wow, a lot happened here.
I don’t think I can address everyone’s points here, but in short: If we’re going for a Rey Palpatine version of the film, my go-to is the Rey as a clone concept. I think that is the best version of that story we’re going to get, so it’s well worth pursuing for a Rey Palpatine cut.
However, a Rey Palpatine cut is still kneecapped by the larger issue that this would mean that Rey isn’t nobody in this version, no matter how you slice it. And Rey coming from nothing is an absolutely essential part of what makes Rey interesting in this story.
The only other option I see to edit this movie and retain much of its existing dialogue is to reframe the Rey Palpatine revelation as a lie.
Rey’s Vision
So I’d say that we can keep the Hangar Revelation that Rey is a Palpatine, but with the caveat that this is information which comes directly from Palpatine, and isn’t presented as omniscient knowledge. It could even be that we use the Rey as a clone concept as part of the lie, in order to more clearly paint her parents as the innocent victims of Palpatine’s evil plan. The visions of Rey’s parents as good people who were killed by Ochi could then be reframed as parts of the vision that Rey had during her training, and which she is now recalling with Kylo’s goading. However, these are not memories from her childhood, but images given to her in a vision directly from Palpatine, including the image of her on the Sith throne.
“There was more to your vision, Rey. Remember it!”
This means that Palpatine now has a direct line to Rey, which is strange because she has never met him. However, Snoke was able to bridge Rey and Kylo’s minds without meeting Rey, so this means that Palpatine would be able to get to anyone if they were in contact with one who was under his influence, however briefly. This explains why Ben turned to the Dark Side: he was being trained by Luke, who had confronted Palpatine years earlier. It even gives greater threat to Luke in ROTJ, since he had already confronted Vader who was under Palpatine’s control.
As a bonus, Luke blaming himself for Ben’s turn to the Dark Side becomes completely understandable, as he may view himself as contaminated by his contact with Palpatine, necessitating quarantine on a desolate world. Rey fleeing to Luke after learning that she is contaminated with this mental link is a natural conclusion.
Kylo could explain to Rey that Palpatine is bringing Rey under his control through their mental connection, as Palpatine can already contact Kylo. Perhaps the original version of the Vader mask scene would be used here, since it shows both Rey and Kylo sharing the vision when Kylo touches the mask.
Luke’s Response
If Rey being a Palpatine is a lie, then Luke’s statement to her must change.
“What are you afraid of?”
“Myself.”
“Because you’re a Palpatine. Leia felt your darkness as well.”
This means that Luke doesn’t confirm or deny that Rey is a Palpatine, since he probably wouldn’t know either way. He merely tries to support her.
D-O’s Information
The scene between Finn and Poe could change to explain that D-O has information about Ochi’s mission that contradicts the story of Palpatine:
“This droid has a ton of information about Exegol”
“Wait, coneface?”
“D-O”
“Sorry, D-O”
“He was going to Exegol with Ochi of Bestoon.”
“Why was Ochi going there?”
“To bring a little girl he was supposed to take from Jakku, to the Emperor.”
It could be changed to:
“To bring a little girl he took from Lando Calrissian, to the Emperor.”
D-O’s reaction shot would mask the line change. This could imply that it was Lando’s daughter who was captured by Ochi, perhaps to be used as bait to lure Luke into a confrontation on Exegol. Rey would never have been on their radar.
In the reunion scene, Jannah appears to glance down at something that Lando could be holding in his hand. If there was an insert shot of Lando holding a photo of himself and his daughter, it would put a button on this subplot which was originally meant to be in the film, as well as make it clear what Lando’s intentions are in this scene.
Finn’s Response
Because Finn knows that Ochi is unconnected with the deaths of Rey’s parents due to D-O’s information, he is able to convey this to Rey. When Rey reaches out to the spirits of the Jedi, she is greeted not by the Jedi, but by the voice of Finn, who tells her what she needs to know: that she wasn’t a Palpatine after all.
“Rey, you know the truth. Palpatine isn’t your family…we are. We are all with you…forever.”
This is why Palpatine says that she is nothing after this point, that she is merely a scavenger girl who is no match for the power in him.
Final Confrontation Reorder
-Rey arrives on Exegol, meets Palpatine.
-Poe arrives on Exegol, the battle begins.
-Finn lands on the Command Ship.
-Palpatine makes an ultimatum, Rey prepares to strike him down.
-Finn destroys the first beacon.
-Ben arrives on Exegol, battle with the Knights of Ren/Praetorian Guards.
-Civilian Fleet arrives.
-Finn destroys the Command Ship, is rescued by the Falcon.
-Rey and Ben defeat their enemies, confront Palpatine, are drained of Force, Palpatine rises and attacks the fleet, Rey calls out to the Jedi.
-Finn responds from within the Falcon, tells her about her past.
-Rey’s friends join Finn in helping Rey, who confronts Palpatine for the last time.
-The fleet gains a reprieve, attacks one last time.
-Palpatine is destroyed, Rey dies, Ben returns and restores her.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
Hey, I mean, as long as you’d be willing to help me in creating a modified version of the Force-bond duel and Kylo scene with the dialogue supporting a cloned Rey idea, I’m certainly not opposed to a version which reveals it all to be a deception by the end - so long as there’s another version which is essentially just Ascendant with these two scene changes slotted in. Granted, Hal hasn’t weighed in on the idea yet, so these two scenes might even end up that way in the v5 of normal Ascendant if good enough. I’m personally not all that interested in Rey being nobody, I’ve already gone into some of the reasons why, but that doesn’t matter for this part of the project, at least.
Here’s where I left off on the last thread:
“Rey….wherever you are…You are hard to find.
“You are hard to get rid of.”
“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it…I needed you to see it…who you are. Darkness is in your blood. Rey…”
“You’re lying.”
“You were right…your parents were no one. Vulnerable to the allure of a Sith cult.”
“Don’t!”
“Your barren mother… she took a liking to their prize jewel…”
“I don’t want this!”
“…you were adopted from the hoard of the Sith.”
“No!”
“But their actions had awakened a sleeping dragon…”
(Rey sees the vision of her parents and her abandonment.)
“My Love…be brave.”
“You’ll be safe here…I promise.”
“Come back! Nooo!”
“They paid for your protection…in more than one way.”
“Stop talking.”
“Rey…I learned what happened to them.”
(Cutaway to heroes capture)
“Your parents sought sanctuary on Jakku, chasing rumors of a congregation dedicated to Skywalker’s Jedi. But they couldn’t escape the sweeping shadow of the Sith.”
(Rey sees her parents get killed.)
“So that’s where you are.”
“You know why the Emperor’s always wanted you dead. I’ll come tell you.”
…
“Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.”
“Because his spirit chose another vessel, rendering the others created by his followers as threats to his rule. Rey, you… are his clone.”
“You were created to sit upon the throne of the Sith, a vessel for the Emperor’s conjured spirit. But what he couldn’t foresee was our connection in the Force. We can kill him, Rey, destroy the Sith…and bring a new order to the galaxy.”
(Removes his helmet)
“You know what you need to do. You know.”
“I know.”
That’s a really evocative way to describe things. I like it!
And yeah, I think as long as we emphasize that this information comes entirely from Palpatine, it shouldn’t contradict the concept of having the Rey Palpatine story be a fabrication. In fact, the more evocative the story is, the better.
I kind of like the idea that in this current conception, Rey Palpatine and Rey Nobody are both plausible interpretations of events. Changing D-O’s information from being about a child from Jakku to being about Lando’s daughter doesn’t negate the possibility that Ochi had first tried to find Rey, merely that there was no information about Rey or Jakku within D-O’s memory. Similarly, changing Luke’s dialogue to suggest that he’s just going off of Leia’s feelings makes him as trustworthy as Obi-wan. Finally, if we gave Finn something to say to Rey in the final confrontation, his statement about family and belonging can be seen as metaphorical, and in fact maybe the point of the story is that it doesn’t matter where Rey comes from, because in the end she is the one who must choose what to believe and she must choose what ‘family’ really means to her. The final scene shows her rejecting the two stories put forth for her past and choosing a third, one that may not be factual but one that holds the most truth for her.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
In explaining the Emperor’s fleet, I think the best place to put it would be when it is established.
“What could you…offer me?”
“Everything. My Empire was not defeated…it was preserved…frozen at my command. And now…awakened. The might of the Final Order will soon be ready. It will be yours…if you do what I ask.”
Then Poe could reiterate:
“He’s been planning his revenge. His followers have been building something for years. Upgrading a fleet of Star Destroyers that vanished after his death. He calls it the Final Order. Each ship has been modified with dreadnought cannons. The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the Unknown Regions on a world called Exegol.”
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
This is all coming together really nicely. I like the idea of conciling Rey Nobody with Rey Palpatine.
For Finn’s line to Rey, perhaps something that serves them both: “Rey, I found family with the Resistance. Now, you get to choose your own.”
I forgot that most of Palp’s dialog there comes from offscreen. I’ll have to add that to the bucket of potential ideas. Poe’s explanation is good enough as-is but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if it sounds good enough.
I also love the D-O idea, mostly because we already decided that Palps wanting Rey alive from the beginning is not what makes sense. So currently in Ascendant, that scene only serves to tell us information that makes things more confusing. I do seem to remember that line coming from Finn on-screen though, so it would make matching things really difficult. But having Finn’s arc entirely focused on his new stormtrooper pals and Jannah is great. He can still be emotional support for Rey and everything, but it isn’t necessary for him to understand the full picture, at least.
Reconciling Rey Palpatine & Rey Nobody sounds good in theory, but it still reads to me that Rey being a Palpatine is the truth instead of, at best, ambiguous. If we’re going with Rey being a clone, then it’s fine, but maybe Finn needs more definitive dialogue about Palpatine having lied.
If you want to undercut the granddaughter idea and plant the idea of their being more to what he says, you could have Palpatine say upfront to Kylo that Rey’s his granddaughter:
Kylo Ren : What could you give me?
Emperor Palpatine : Everything. My Empire was not defeated…it was preserved…frozen at my command. And now…awakened. The might of the Final Order will soon be ready. It will be yours…if you kill my granddaughter.
Kylo Ren : (Confused look)
Palpatine : (smug smile)
Then the problem would be that Kylo wouldn’t be able to learn everything that he’s conveying to Rey later on about being a clone. Unless you’re referring back to the idea that Kylo would shoot down the idea that she’s related to him at all in the hangar scene, but that’s a distinctly different idea from what we are currently discussing.