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The Mandalorian - Season 3: Complete Edition | A brand-new Season 3 forged from The Mandalorian and BoBF [ON HOLD]

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 (Edited)

So, about Season 3.

The general reception of Season 3 of The Mandalorian has been… mixed, to say the least. I didn’t hate it, but to me it’s easily been the weakest of the three seasons so far.

My biggest frustration is how an essential part of the main characters’ journeys was squashed into three episodes of The Book of Boba Fett. Call me crazy, but I prefer for a character’s journey to happen in their story, not in a spin-off. Din and Grogu’s storyline in The Book of Boba Fett was also incredibly rushed, so it really ended up ruining both series: Boba’s spotlight got stolen by Din, and he didn’t even tell a good story with it and was left with nothing to do in Season 3.

The approach I’ve often seen to remedy this in the past is to cut out the Din-related episodes and package it as a Mandalorian special movie or “Season 2.5.” This at least makes it obvious that this is an important continuation of The Mandalorian’s story, but it doesn’t address the rushed plotting.

Another approach I’ve seen is to intercut The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian into a new episodic narrative; see Acbagel’s The Way of Mandalore for an example. This works really well for what it’s trying to accomplish, but a little beyond the scope of this project.

What is this project then?

Season 3: Complete Edition is intended to be a replacement for the original Season 3 of The Mandalorian. The viewer will only need to have seen Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian to understand everything that happens, as it should have been. Everything that was relevant to Din and Grogu’s story in The Book of Boba Fett is now in this project, in one form or another. It tells a complete story, hence “Complete Edition.”

Season 3: Complete Edition has two major goals:

  • Din Djarin and Grogu will have more defined character arcs
  • The overall arcs revolving around reclaiming Mandalore and the return of Moff Gideon will be more present and more developed

as well as other minor fixes; more details on those can be found in the individual chapter summaries.

Din and Grogu’s character arc

The solution is so frustratingly obvious: Din and Grogu should still be separated—at least for the majority of the season.

After all, that’s the status quo that the last season set up. The average viewer would rightfully expect for Season 3 to pick up after Season 2. (I have to wonder what people who only watch The Mandalorian were thinking when watching Season 3—why is Grogu back? where did Din get this new ship?)

So, all of the character and storyline development for Din and Grogu from The Book of Boba Fett will be reintegrated across Season 3. Everything important from that show happens in The Mandalorian now. Din starts Chapter 17 as an empty-nester and an apostate, and Grogu starts as a student at Luke’s Jedi Order. They won’t reunite until Chapter 22.

This also helps justify why Din goes to redeem himself in the Living Waters, despite choosing to remove his helmet for his son in Season 2. Since Din has been cast out by his tribe and no longer has his son, he is in a very lonely place, and is probably desperate to feel a sense of belonging again. He goes to redeem himself because he sees no other options to cure his loneliness, and falls back into old ways. Not long after he reunites with Grogu does he realize why he removed the helmet to begin with, hence why he swears allegiance to Bo-Katan, symbolizing his growth beyond his dogmatic upbringing.

Removing Grogu from the majority of the season means a lot of VFX work is in order; see here for an example of a scene with him removed. I’m relatively new to VFX, and there’s a lot of shots with Grogu, so please don’t expect this to be a quick turn-around; I want to make sure I do this right.

The season arcs (retaking Mandalore and Moff Gideon’s return)

By the penultimate episode, it’s clear that the two overall arcs in this season were:

  • reuniting the Mandalorians to retake their home planet
  • the return of Moff Gideon and the growing conflict between the Mandalorians and the Imperial Remnants

The problem is that this was not obvious until the penultimate episode. The arcs are technically set up throughout, but the setup is so few and far between that the season felt directionless for too long. It’s okay if not everything directly sets up these storylines—Seasons 1 and 2 had plenty of stuff that was just meant to service character growth or tell a contained story—but Season 3’s balance between episodic and season-arc storytelling was way off.

In this edit, the covert’s plans to retake Mandalore start in Chapter 19, and then evolves to include reuniting the Mandalorians. This will get the ball rolling much quicker, and give room for a small mini-arc inside this arc: Bo-Katan will be the one that begins to open up the Armorer’s mind to seeking out other Mandalorians. on a first watch through, Bo-Katan’s induction into the Children of the Watch felt strange, and her goals didn’t feel clear. Now she has a reason for going along with it: to hopefully liberate the Children of the Watch from their limited worldview. The Children of the Watch’s journey to accepting the other tribes also feels more active than before, where the Armorer decided it was the right idea seemingly out of nowhere. She is the face of the Children of the Watch, so her beliefs should be challenged.

Also, Moff Gideon’s return now builds steadily throughout the season, with his first full appearance in Chapter 21. The Imperial Remnant threat is reestablished in Chapter 18 with the TIE interceptor/bomber attack, and from there we learn of Elia Kane’s deceptive nature and Moff Gideon’s escape in Chapter 20, Gideon’s involvement in the pirate attack in Chapter 21, and the Shadow Council and Moff Gideon’s preparations for a Mandalorian attack in Chapter 22. The cloning project also will be more of a threat in Chapter 24, to the best of my ability.

Other minor things

  • New “previously on” sequences and closing credits that reflect the material in each chapter.
  • Season 3 introduced a generic “previously” card, probably because half of the things in the sequences didn’t happen in The Mandalorian. Since everything revelant from The Book of Boba Fett is already in this new season, the generic card is redundant, so the original “previously on The Mandalorian” card will return.
  • I won’t be changing any major parts of continuity that would alter the status quo of any of the characters or factions; this is meant to fit in as a replacement for the existing Season 3, so it has to be future-proof in case anything I would’ve cut ends up returning in Season 4 or beyond. So unfortunately, less popular stories like Plazir-15 and Dr. Pershing on Coruscant are staying—but I have some ideas that will hopefully make these stories stronger (more on that below).

The New Chapter Breakdown

Below are the new chapters, Click on “expand” for a more detailed breakdown of the new sequence of events, what’s changing, and explanations on why I’m doing something specific if it’s relevant or interesting.

Anything written in italics is something completely new, to be accomplished either through re-contextualization, VFX work, AI-generated voice dubbing (which is easy to get away with when half the cast wears helmets), or a combination of the three.

Chapter 17: The Apostate

Din, now alone, becomes an apostate after confessing he removed his helmet. He goes to Tatooine to get a new ship, then visits Bo-Katan to join her, but she turns him away. Left with no other options, he chooses to visit Mandalore to redeem himself. He travels to Nevarro to try and fix IG-11 to use him for spelunking, but ends up buying R5 from Peli instead. Before he sets off, he tries to give Grogu a gift, but Ahsoka warns him not to interfere and delivers the gift herself.

Breakdown

  • from BoBF E05 - Din Djarin collects a bounty in exchange for information on the covert’s location, and uses the Darksaber but injures himself in the process
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 17 card)
  • from BoBF E05 - Din returns the bounty; Din finds the covert and Paz heals his wound; Din, Paz, and the Armorer discuss the Darksaber; the Armorer forges the beskar spear into chain mail; the Armorer lore dumps about Bo-Katan and the Purge; the Armorer and Din spar; Paz duels Din for the Darksaber; Din confesses and becomes an apostate; Din takes a commercial vessel to Tatooine
  • from Mando S03 E01 - Establishing shot showing Boonta Eve festivities
  • from BoBF E05 - Din goes to Peli to get the new ship; Din and Peli repair and modify the N-1; Din tests the N-1 through Beggar’s Canyon; Din comes into contact with a New Republic patrol, and takes off after getting a warning; Din thanks Peli, telling her that the ship is great and he’ll take it, but he can’t land since he thinks the New Republic patrol is on his tail, and has to go attend to other things
  • from Mando S03 E01 - Din travels to Kalevala to join Bo-Katan, learns she has been abandoned by her people, and tells her he will go to Mandalore
  • from Mando S03 E01 - Din goes to Nevarro to get IG-11 repaired; Greef offers Din a place on Nevarro, but he declines since he has other things to attend to; Din and Greef run into pirates and fend them off; Din and Greef take IG-11 to the Anzellans, who need a memory circuit to fix him; Din runs into Gorian Shard over Nevarro, fights his snubfighters, and escapes
  • from Mando S03 E02 - Din returns to Tatooine to get an IG memory circuit, but takes R5 from Peli instead (who is not missing a tooth since that hasn’t happened yet)
  • from BoBF E06 - Din goes to Ossus to give Grogu his chain mail (R5 is in the droid slot of the N-1); R2 leads Din to the construction site; Din waits and meets Ahsoka; Din and Ahsoka talk about Grogu, and he expresses his desire to give him the chain mail; Din elaborates and tells Ahsoka he is about to embark on a journey he doesn’t expect to survive; Din gives Ahsoka the chain mail to give to Grogu and leaves

Notes

  • This will probably have to be a very long chapter, which I’m okay with—season premieres should feel grand—but depending on how long it ends up I might make a shorter cut of it.
  • Eliminating the second conversation between the Armorer and Din in the original Chapter 17—where he provides the rock as evidence that Mandalore may not be poisoned—makes Din’s decision to redeem himself even more desperate, since now he has nothing that even challenges the idea that Mandalore is inhospitable; for all he knows, he could die, but the risk is worth it to him.
  • I’m moving Din and Bo-Katan’s conversation earlier to establish earlier on that Din is looking for a place to belong. The dialogue helps sell this a lot, since now he asks to join Bo-Katan before even mentioning a plan to bathe in the Living Waters; it’s truly his last resort. One might even interpret his announcing he will go to Mandalore himself to be an impromptu decision after Bo-Katan denies him.
  • This also helps streamline the spelunking droid plot, which for some reason was interrupted with the Bo-Katan scene originally (why does Din look to get IG-11 repaired, fail, and then go talk to Bo-Katan before continuing to find a spelunking droid?). Now it all happens together after his decision to go to Mandalore, which makes even more sense if he made the decision to redeem himself after failing to join Bo-Katan.
  • Din goes to Ossus to give Grogu the chain mail here, making it part of his preparations. Since now he doesn’t know if he will survive, he needs to make sure Grogu gets his armor now before he goes; of course he wants to say goodbye to him, but Ahsoka advises him not to, which becomes even more heart-wrenching for Din in this new context.

Chapter 18: The Curse

Din arrives on Mandalore, and begins to search for the Living Waters but gets trapped by a creature in the caves of the planet. He signals R5 to fly to Bo-Katan, who figures out what happened and goes to rescue Din. Afterwards she guides him to the Living Waters. As Din redeems himself, he falls in; Bo-Katan rescues him but sees a Mythosaur as she dives down. As Din and Bo-Katan leave they’re ambushed by a squadron of TIEs that follow them and destroy Bo-Katan’s home.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E02 - Din enters the Mandalore system, breaches the atmosphere, and lands; Din deploys R5 to take atmosphere readings; R5 disappears on the scope and Din leaves the ship to find him; Din gets attacked by Alamites, fends them off, and finds R5; back at the ship R5’s data reveals the air is breathable
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 20 card)
  • from Mando S03 E02 - Din goes to explore the Civic Center ruins in search of the mines; Din gets trapped by the cyborg crab thing and taken to its lair; Din comes to and sends a distress signal to R5 to get Bo-Katan; The N-1 arrives at Kalevala, Bo-Katan notices the empty cockpit and tells her droid to download R5’s data to figure out what happened; Bo-Katan ventures into the ruins to find Din; the cyborg puts Din in his cage on a holder and starts to drain his blood(?); Bo-Katan encounters Alamites on her way down; Bo-Katan finds Din and kills his captor using the Darksaber the cyborg took from him; Din wakes up as Bo-Katan prepares a soup for him (when asked how she found him, she mentions the droid), Din and Bo-Katan set off for the Living Waters; Din bathes in the waters but falls under the surface; Bo-Katan rescues him and sees the Mythosaur
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Din wakes up redeemed, Bo-Katan asks him if he saw anything alive, he says he didn’t; Din and Bo-Katan leave Mandalore and are ambushed by TIE Interceptors; Bo-Katan flies to Kalevala, Din drops to pilot the N-1 for backup; Bo-Katan evades the Interceptors through the canyons; Din and Bo-Katan eliminate the Interceptors; TIE Bombers destroy Bo-Katan’s castle; a bunch more TIEs come into play and Din and Bo-Katan escape

Notes

  • New chapter title! I don’t hate “The Mines of Mandalore,” but “The Curse” allows for multiple interpretations, much like other Mandalorian chapter titles have done: the curse could be the state of the civilization, as Bo-Katan implies, or the TIEs attacking and bombing Bo-Katan’s home; maybe even seeing the Mythosaur is the curse, as now Bo-Katan may be burdened with honor she doesn’t want.
    • I think having Din saying “Mandalore isn’t cursed!” followed by “The Curse” appearing in block letters is funny, in the way that “The Tragedy” worked back in Season 2. Also it immediately gets the viewer thinking, “wait, what is the curse then?”
  • Since Grogu isn’t in this chapter anymore, R5 is the only person who Din can call on to fetch Bo-Katan; R5 saving Din’s life gives him another reason to trust droids, contributing to that part of his character development.
  • All of the early action in the Mandalore system is in this chapter to better tie the Imperial bombing with the visit to Mandalore, and also because I felt that the original Chapter 18’s cliffhanger felt out of place; this contains everything more nicely in my opinion.

Chapter 19: The Son

Din returns to the covert, now hiding on a dangerous planet. Bo-Katan joins since she has nowhere else to go. Din has been redeemed, and Bo-Katan has too on a technicality, and is accepted by the covert. Since the two have survived Mandalore, the covert begins to think about reclaiming the planet. Paz Vizsla’s son gets catpured by a raptor, and Bo-Katan leads a team to save the foundling. Meanwhile, Grogu trains with Luke Skywalker, who receives Din’s gift from Ahsoka and contemplates what to do. After the rescue, Bo-Katan and the Armorer discuss reclaiming Mandalore, and moving the covert to a safer world in the meantime.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E01 - The Armorer forges Ragnar’s helmet and inducts him into the creed, saying his full name out loud, and the covert is attacked by sea monster, but is saved by Din in the N-1
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 18 card)
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Bo-Katan lands next to Din in her ship; Paz confronts Din, Din tells him he has been redeemed, Paz doesn’t believe him; Din brings vial of the Living Waters to the Armorer, who verifies it, Din is redeemed along with Bo-Katan
  • from BoBF E06 - On Ossus, Grogu meditates with Luke and uses the Force on a frog, Luke disapproves; Luke lifts several frogs; Luke and Grogu walk as Luke asks him about Yoda
  • from Mando S03 E04 - The covert spars on the beach outside the cave; Ragnar is in his own world, taking in the planet instead of sparring; Paz and the Armorer watch Ragnar, they talk about how if Din and Bo-Katan survived Mandalore, perhaps it is time for them to reclaim the planet, and Paz considers how he would like to raise his son proudly on Mandalore rather than in hiding; Ragnar gets taken by the Raptor; Din, Paz, and other Mandalorians pursue but run out of fuel; Bo-Katan pursues in her ship and returns with its location; Bo-Katan, Din, Paz, and others set off to save Ragnar
  • from BoBF E06 - Luke helps Grogu remember his past
  • from Mando S03 E04 - in his memories, Grogu is rescued from the 501st storming the Jedi Temple by Kelleran Beq
  • from BoBF E06 - Grogu wakes up, and Luke consoles him saying that the Galaxy is a dangerous place
  • from Mando S03 E04 - The hunting party lands and continues on foot; eventually they stop to set up camp for the night, someone in the party states that they cannot continue without proper visibility, Paz expresses concern but reluctantly agrees; the party eats dinner at night
  • from BoBF E06 - Luke continues training Grogu, teaching him how to jump using the Force; Luke shows Grogu his Force athletics with him in his backpack, and takes up up a bamboo shoot to look over the valley
  • from Mando S03 E04 - The party regroups that morning and continues their pursuit; they climb the mountain on ropes; they reach the summit, don’t see Ragnar, but Din sees a heat source which Paz pursues; Paz is attacked by the raptor chicks, alerting the raptor; the raptor spits out Ragnar to feed her chicks, and the Mandalorians pursue as the raptor grabs the child again and takes off; Din rescues Ragnar, and the raptor plummets and is eaten by the sea monster; Din returns Ragnar to Paz who thanks him, and Din looks longingly at the child reunited with his father
  • from BoBF E06 - Grogu’s training continues; Grogu trains with a training remote in the forest and across the river as his jumping improves; Grogu defeats the remote as Ahsoka approaches Luke with Din’s gift; Ahsoka and Luke discuss what to do with Grogu, as Ahsoka leaves Luke looks at Grogu pensively
  • from Mando S03 E04 - The party returns to the covert and is greeted with applause for Ragnar’s recovery; the Armorer tells Bo-Katan of her honorable work, and Bo-Katan tells her of the new “foundlings” they recovered; the Armorer takes Bo-Katan in to have her pauldron replaced; the Armorer makes a new pauldron with a signet of the Mythosaur, per Bo-Katan’s request; the Armorer speaks to Bo-Katan about reclaiming Mandalore, since she knows Bo-Katan once had planned to do so, Bo-Katan, having a community of Mandalorians who care for her once again, agrees that the covert should begin to make plans to do so, but says that two things need to happen first: that the covert must relocate to a new world for the safety of the foundlings, to which the Armorer agrees, and that the Mandalorians must reunite first before taking the planet, which the Armorer rebukes, stating that the others do not follow the Way.

Notes

  • I’m changing the chapter title from “The Foundling” to “The Son,” since the double entendre of the original title doesn’t work in this context, since Grogu isn’t currently a foundling. It does further enforce the idea that Grogu is Din’s son though, which is something the original Season 3 did pretty well (“Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?”)
  • Like how the opening bookend of the original Chapter 19 was appended to the new Chapter 18, the closing bookend of that chapter is part of the opening of this chapter, further containing the “covert hiding on the rocky world” plot
  • This chapter is where the idea of reclaiming Mandalore is now introduced, getting this plot thread rolling earlier.
  • I want to further reinforce the familial ties between Paz and Ragnar (hence the latter’s earlier name drop) to give Paz’s eventual death more weight. It also creates a parallel with Din and Grogu’s relationship, and give Din something that reminds him of his son.
  • Grogu being the B plot kind of already fits since Grogu’s Order 66 flashback originally happened in this chapter, which is now integrated with him training on Ossus with Luke.
  • Having the sea monster attack and the raptor attack in the same chapter helps reinforce the idea that this planet is too dangerous, giving Bo-Katan’s suggestion that covert needs to relocate for their children’s safety more credence.
  • Some new dialogue at the end also introduces obstacles in the plot to reclaim Mandalore; introducing them here should help give the viewer a rough idea of what needs to happen as the season progresses, something the original Season 3 lacked.

Chapter 20: The Reformed

Din and Bo-Katan are searching for a place to relocate the covert. When they reach Plazir-15 they get swept up in a request to fix an issue with malfunctioning droids. As they investigate, they learn that the planet is not a good fit for the covert, and complete their job and set off to keep searching. Meanwhile, Dr. Pershing—now a member of the New Republic Amnesty Program—wishes to continue his research and befriends a fellow program member and former officer under Moff Gideon, Elia Kane, who helps him accomplish his goal. However, she betrays Pershing and turns him in to the New Republic, with seemingly devious intents.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E03 - Dr. Pershing, now part of the Amnesty program, gives a talk on Coruscant, and is overwhelmed with the public outside the opera house
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 22 card)
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan arrive at Plazir 15 with the goal of assessing the planet as a possible place for the covert to operate in the meantime before taking Mandalore; Din and Bo-Katan board the transport to meet with the leader of Plazir-15
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Pershing arrives at Amnesty Housing, joins fellow Amnesty members in the courtyard for a drink, and sees Elia again; the officers drink together
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan find Captain Bombardier and his Duchess, leaders of Plazir-15, and are invited to dine with them; Din and Bo-Katan are requested by the Captain and the Duchess for aid in a droid malfunction in exchange for them to petition for Mandalore’s recognition as a sovereign system
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Elia takes Pershing out to explore Coruscant
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan meet with Helgait to learn about their task; Helgait sends them to the Ugnaughts; Din communicates with the Ugnaughts to get the information they need; Bo-Katan asks Din about how he knew how to communicate with Ugnaughts
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Pershing has his first Amnesty survey meeting; Pershing confronts Elia about his desire to continue his research, which Elia encourages, offering a solution which involves going outside their designation, which Pershing deliberates
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan go to the loading docks to investigate, and find the next malfunctioning droid; Din and Bo-Katan chase the droid down and “retire” it; Bo-Katan finds the spark pad leading to The Resistor
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Pershing prepares for going undercover, and psychs himself up; Elia and Pershing go to the train station, and sneak onto a train; Elia tells Pershing they’re going to an Imperial scrapyard
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan investigate The Resistor, and learn about the bad batch of Nepenthé; Din and Bo-Katan go to the droid morgue to investigate, and learn that Helgait placed the subparticles in the Nepenthé
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Elia and Pershing arrive at the junkyard and find a Star Destroyer; Elia and Pershing explore the ship looking for the equipment; Elia and Pershing find the equipment and escape the Star Destroyer, but Pershing is caught by the New Republic in a setup by Elia
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan confront Helgait about the Nepenthé and he retaliates, but is subdued; Helgait is brought in custody to the Captain and the Duchess, who exile him to the planet’s moon; the Duchess grants the Mandalorians the key to the city and a place for them to stay
  • from Mando S03 E03 - Pershing is placed into the mindflayer, and Elia increases the device’s intensity after everyone else has left the room
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din and Bo-Katan leave Plazir-15 and discuss the state of their mission to relocate the covert
  • from Mando S03 E05 - Carson finds a trashed Lambda shuttle in space that matches the one that supposedly took Gideon to trial, with trace amounts of beskar alloy at the scene

Notes

  • So, the new title: “The Reformed” can refer to the Amnesty program members of course, but also to the reformed battle droids employed on Plazir-15—double meanings are fun.
  • One of the bigger changes to the season: I’m moving the Plazir-15 story to be earlier in the season. This is as early as I can put it, since Bo-Katan’s rocking the replacement pauldron in this chapter which means it can’t happen before she gets the new piece of armor. Why am I moving it up? Since by my own rules I have to keep this story in the season, I felt that since this is a “filler” story it would be more palatable earlier in the season when the stakes aren’t as high. Filler episodes often have character development, and this is no exception. While it felt inconsequential being so late in the original season, having it earlier also helps build Din and Bo-Katan’s relationship.
  • Due to the reshuffling, Din and Bo-Katan‘s reason for going to Plazir-15 is to assess the planet as a potential place for the covert to relocate. A nice benefit of this is that their “side quest” is more relevant to their actual goal than in the original chapter, since they determine that Plazir-15 isn’t a suitable home based on what they learn in their investigation.
  • Bo-Katan not wearing her helmet in between her being redeemed and the Armorer telling her to helps show that Bo-Katan doesn’t really share the Children of the Watch’s beliefs, and therefore is staying with them for a greater cause. It also shows that Din respects her views, since he isn’t calling her out for it.
  • Since the Dr. Pershing story also has to happen somewhere, I’m intercutting these two stories; this benefits the Plazir-15 plot since it gives it something more important to cut to, but the Plazir-15 plot being intercut also benefits the Pershing plot by keeping the main characters in focus throughout the chapter so that the important set up from the Pershing storyline doesn’t feel boring or irrelevant from barely featuring the main characters (like it originally did). A 22-episode season has room for that, an 8-episode season doesn’t.
  • Another nice touch is that both the Plazir-15 and the Pershing plots have something to do with the Amnesty program, which gives it a little more synergy.
  • The chapter ends with the cliffhanger of Carson Teva locating the trashed remains of Moff Gideon’s trial shuttle. This is moved up primarily to introduce the Moff Gideon plot line earlier, but it also ties into the Pershing-New Republic plot of the chapter. It also makes Carson’s point about the threat of Moff Gideon’s return at the office on Coruscant more frustrating because he knows that Gideon likely escaped now, but can’t do anything about it. It also helps make the chapter feel more interesting after a weaker “filler” story.

Chapter 21: The Pirate King

Pirate King Gorian Shard is leading an assault on Nevarro. Greef Karga calls on the New Republic to help them, but Carson Teva can’t get permission from Coruscant. He locates the covert and requests they help Nevarro. Din convinces the covert to help save the planet. After fending off the pirates, Greef gives the covert some land to live freely on. The Armorer speaks with Bo-Katan and accepts her request to unite the Mandalorian tribes to reclaim Mandalore. Moff Gideon is revealed to have escaped trial.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E05 - Pirate King Gorian Shard arrives above Nevarro and begins to assault the town, Greef Karga and his townspeople flee for the lava flats
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 21 card)
  • from Mando S03 E05 - Carson receives distress call from Greef at Adelphi base and leaves for Coruscant; Carson arrives at Coruscant and asks for permission to help Nevarro, encounters Elia, and leaves unsuccessfully; Greef leads the people of Nevarro across the lava flats and sets up camp; Carson finds the covert and requests them to help Nevarro since he can’t without abandoning his post; Din asks the covert to aid him in saving Nevarro, adding that they could relocate there before they retake Mandalore, Paz then speaks and gives his support, and rallies the rest to the cause; the covert sets off for Nevarro; the N-1 arrives, followed by Bo-Katan’s ship; the covert fights the pirates and successfully gets rid of them; Greef cedes land to the Mandalorians for them to live on; Paz brings Bo-Katan to the Armorer; The Armorer asks Bo-Katan to remove her helmet, and she discusses Bo-Katan’s idea to begin reuniting the Mandalorians, which after having seen Bo-Katan’s devotion to the people of Mandalore on display, she has realized that walking the Way can take more than one form, and then approves for Bo-Katan and Din to begin searching for other Mandalorians; now showing her face, Bo-Katan returns with the Armorer, who informs the group of Bo-Katan and Din’s new mission, when her lack of a helmet is acknowledged, the Armorer states that Bo-Katan walks two worlds, and that there are many ways to walk the Way; Din states that he knows of a Mandalorian who might be interested in joining
  • from Mando S03 E07 - On Coruscant, Elia contacts Moff Gideon and informs him that the pirates’ attack on Nevarro failed

Notes

  • The title is now “The Pirate King.” Why? Purely because it sounds cooler than “The Pirate.”
  • Since the idea of uniting the Mandalorian people is now introduced earlier, the ending scene is a coninuation of that plot thread rather than introducing it here.
  • The mission to reunite the Mandalorians is now a task given to both Bo-Katan and Din, so that Din has a reason to visit Boba Fett next chapter—to hopefully recruit him for retaking Mandalore.
  • The first part of the cold open from the original Chapter 23 is now the final scene of this chapter, so that Moff Gideon’s escape is confirmed sooner so he can loom over the rest of the season. It also helps the pirate story feel more connected to the overall narrative, since now the reveal that it was part of Gideon’s plans happens sooner and gives him more presence in the chapter.

Chapter 22: The Daimyo

Din goes to Tatooine to recruit Boba Fett to reclaim Mandalore, but ends up helping him in a crime war against the Pyke Syndicate. Meanwhile, Grogu chooses to leave the Jedi Order and return to Din, and they reunite on the battlefield. Grogu displays his Force abilities and subdues a Rancor. Moff Gideon is revealed to be on Mandalore, awaiting the Mandalorians to retake the planet.

Breakdown

  • from BoBF E06 - Luke offers Grogu to choose between the beskar chain mail and Yoda’s lightsaber (he doesn’t mentioning the attachment thing because he’s supposed to have grown beyond the prequel-era Jedi)
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 19 card)
  • from BoBF E06 - Din exits hyperspace above Tatooine
  • from BoBF E05 - Din arrives at Peli’s spot to look for Boba Fett, but Fennec is already there; Din tells Fennec he was just looking for her, asking if he can talk with Boba, she counters saying they could use his help
  • from BoBF E06 - Din lands at Boba’s palace; Fennec holds a strategy meeting with Boba and his allies regarding the Pyke Syndicate, where Din offers to help find footsoldiers; Din goes to Freetown to talk with Cobb Vanth about aiding Boba , which Cobb says he’ll consider; Cobb tells the Weequay to gather the fight-eligible townspeople; Cad Bane approaches Cobb at Freetown, threatens him, and shoots him; the Pykes place and detonate a bomb in the cantina
  • from BoBF E07 - R2 flies Grogu to Mos Eisely; Peli takes Grogu from R2 (with a different astromech besides R5 in the background) and feeds him
  • from BoBF E07 - Boba and Fennec investigate the cantina ruins the next morning; Din enters and reports on him getting Cobb to gather soldiers, as the Mods convince Boba to wage the war on the Syndicate from the ruins; Din, Boba, and Fennec wait for Freetown’s reinforcements in the cantina, and discusses strategy as the Mods patrol and the rest of Boba’s team is stationed across Mos Espa; Boba is requested outside the cantina by Cad; Cad reveals he’s eliminated Cobb, and Boba and Cad reveal their backshooters; Fennec warns Boba to back off; Boba and Cad back off; The Mods call in to warn Boba that the families of Mos Espa laid a trap; the families attack Boba’s team; Boba sends Fennec to Mos Eisely to eliminate the head of the Syndicate; the Pykes surround the cantina; Mando tells Boba he intends to stick with him, and mentions that he initially came to see if Boba would like to join the rest of the Mandalorians to retake Mandalore, but Boba tells him that his place for now is Mos Espa; the majordomo suggests he negotiates with the Pykes, which Boba agrees to; the majordomo reads Boba’s terms (or lack thereof), and Din and Boba take advantage of the distraction and fight the Pykes but become overpowered; the people of Freetown rescue Din and Boba; the Mods arrive and join the fight; Krrsantan arrives to join the fight but gets injured; the Pykes fall back, Din spots two Scorpenek droids; the people fire on the droids, their shields are too strong; the people flee as Din and Boba take the droids on; Boba goes to get reinforcements as Din continues to distract the droids; Din continues to lead one droid away, runs into Peli, the droid keeps coming so they flee; Din and Peli keep running as she reveals Grogu’s with them, and Din and Grogu reunite as the droid pursues and destroys their vehicle; Boba returns, riding his Rancor to provide aid; Boba weakens one of the droid’s shields, which Din takes advantage of, chopping at the droid with the Darksaber; Grogu uses the Force to take apart one of the droid’s legs, and Boba on the Rancor finishes the job; the other droid continues to attack the others, but the Rancor arrives and destroys the other droid; Din arrives and fends off the rest of the Pykes with the people and the Rancor; Cad shows up and gets rid of Boba’s Rancor, which runs off; Boba and Cad fight, and Boba kills Cad; the Rancor rampages through Mos Espa; Din hands Grogu to Peli to take on the Rancor, but fails; Grogu subdues the Rancor with the Force, and falls asleep next to it; Fennec eliminates the families and the Pykes; Boba and Fennec take in their town as it rebuilds, and as they talk about the bacta tank Cobb is seen with a Mod preparing over him; Din flies away with Grogu*, telling him that it’s a shame Boba can’t join the rest of the Mandalorians, but that he’s glad to be back with Grogu* as they fly off
  • from Mando S03 E07 - Moff Gideon meets with the Shadow Council to discuss new leadership as well as reinforcements to deal with Mandalorians potentially retaking Mandalore, ending with an establishing shot revealing that Gideon is stationed on Mandalore

Notes

  • A pretty obvious title, not as multi-layered. If you have a better idea let me know.
  • This is basically just the finale of The Book of Boba Fett, but heavily condensed to focus primarily on Din and Grogu reuniting, and cutting other stuff so that you can understand everything without having seen the rest of BoBF. It’s not my favorite story, but it’s a necessary evil, and it’s a better late episode than the original Chapter 22 since it’s more emotionally connected to the main story.
  • There’s also a neat parallel between Season 2’s sixth chapter being about Boba Fett and losing Grogu and Season 3’s sixth chapter being about Boba Fett and reuniting with Grogu
  • Din’s new reason to be on Tatooine is to try and convince Boba to join the Mandalorians, which Boba can’t do since he’s busy ruling Mos Espa, which admittedly means this doesn’t really forward the Mandalore plot but it does forward DIn and Grogu’s arc by reuniting them.
  • Having Din and Grogu reunite this late gives the finale more emotional weight as well since they only just reunited before things started to get messy.
  • I’m moving the second part of the original Chapter 23 prologue here so that something relevant to the main plot is set up in this chapter, and it also contributes to spacing out Moff Gideon throughout the season. Including a final shot revealing that he is on Mandalore gives the next chapter some dramatic irony, as now the viewer is dreading when the Mandalorians will inevitably run into Gideon.

Chapter 23: The Tribes

Din and Bo-Katan recruit the Nite-Owls. To do so, Din tells them that Bo-Katan is the rightful owner of the Darksaber, and they rally behind her. They all return to Nevarro and the two tribes set off for Mandalore. On the surface they encounter survivors of the Purge, who guide them to the Great Forge. However, they walk right into Moff Gideon’s base and are defeated by his beskar-armored troopers. Din is captured by Moff Gideon, the TIEs are sent after the fleet in orbit, and Paz Vizsla sacrifices himself to give the other Mandalorians a chance to escape.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E06 - the Nite-Owls privateer the Quarren ship and return the Mon Calamari viceroy’s son to his family
  • Title card (music from original chapter 23 card)
  • from Mando S03 E06 - Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan approach the Nite-Owls; Bo-Katan challenges Axe Woves for control of the fleet and wins, but Axe says that she should challenge Din since he holds the Darksaber, and Din decides to exploit a loophole to give Bo-Katan the blade, which the Nite-Owls reluctantly accept
  • from Mando S03 E07 - The Nite-Owls return with Din, Grogu, and Bo-Katan to Nevarro to meet with the rest of the covert; the Armorer invites them into camp, as Greef tells Din he has a gift for him; Greef gifts Din and Grogu a mech made from IG-11 for Grogu to pilot, saying that since he returned with the kid a little while ago he asked the Anzellans if they could do something special for him; Din walks with Grogu in the mech through the Nevarro streets; the Mandalorians eat dinner together; Bo-Katan proposes they leave for Mandalore and slowly Mandalorians volunteer to join the recon party; the fleet leaves for Mandalore; the scouting party descends to the surface and begins to trek to find the forge; the party comes across a group of Mandalorian survivors on a land ship; the Mandalorians eat dinner on the ship together, and Bo-Katan reveals how she lost the Darksaber while the Armorer discusses how the Children of the Watch survived the purge; the Armorer takes some of the ill stragglers back to the fleet while the survivors guide the rest to the forge; Paz and Axe play a game but tensions arise and they fight, but Grogu breaks the fight up; the Armorer exits the atmosphere and contacts the fleet; Din approaches Bo-Katan and pledges his loyalty to her; the Mandalorians are attacked by a lava monster as they reach the forge; they go into the caves and find the forge but are ambushed by Imperial Supercommandos; they retreat further into the cave but are trapped as it’s actually an Imperial bunker; Din is disarmed and singled out by Supercommandos, Moff Gideon arrives in new beskar Dark Trooper armor and captures Din, and sends the TIEs after the fleet in orbit; Bo-Katan and the Mandalorians fight the Supercommandos as the blast door opens, then Bo-Katan cuts an escape out with the Darksaber; Paz stays behind to keep the Supercommandos at bay, and uses everything he’s got to do it; the Praetorian guards kill Paz

Notes

  • New title, since the episode is more focused on reuniting the Mandalorian tribes, and because the original title’s reference was too subtle for the general audience to understand.
  • This is essentially the same story as the original chapter 23, but instead it opens with Din and Bo-Katan recruiting the Nite-Owls. The reason the Darksaber handoff doesn’t work in the original season (in my opinion) is because it treats it as a resolution rather than setup. By using it as an opener the viewer starts to wonder why Bo-Katan got the saber so quickly and easily, which makes it come off more as foreboding in my opinion.
  • There’s a bit more dialogue in the IG-12 scene to suggest that the mech was commissioned after Din returned with Grogu, implying that some time has passed between last chapter and this one to help explain why all the characters aren’t acknowledging that Grogu’s back.
  • I’m also moving the scene where Din swears allegiance to Bo-Katan to be the last scene on the land ship before the monster attacks and they retreat and get captured. This does two things:
    • It functions as the resolution to the building tension in the other scenes. Now, Bo-Katan confessing how she lost the Darksaber and the infighting between Paz and Axe contribute to the stress she displays when she confesses to Din that she doesn’t know if she can do this.
    • It also feels more dramatic and powerful if it’s the last moment that Din and Bo-Katan share before everything goes south.
  • Having Grogu’s return so close to Din swearing allegiance to Bo-Katan helps sell the idea that Din cares more about Grogu than being in the Children of the Watch. when he left with Luke he didn’t understand that and fell back into his old ways; now, as he’s been reunited with the reason he took off his helmet and is allied with Mandalorians that challenge and expand his understanding of Mandalorian culture, him swearing to Bo-Katan can symbolize him beginning to grow out of the dogma instilled in him by the Children of the Watch.
  • Some lines in the end of the episode are unnecessary and kinda remove the tension, so they’ll get trimmed

Chapter 24: The Promised Land

Bo-Katan escapes the Imperial base, while Din and Grogu fight their way out from the inside. Axe Woves contacts the fleet and warns them of the ambush, and the Mandalorians fly down to the surface to rendezvous with Bo-Katan defeat Gideon’s forces. Din and Grogu reach Gideon’s command center and discover vats with clones of Gideon. Gideon then confronts them and fights Din, revealing the nature of the clones and sending the Praetorian guards after Grogu. Bo-Katan saves Din and lets him save Grogu; after they defeat the Praetorian Guards Din goes to destroy Gideon’s clones. Axe Woves then crashes the fleet’s capital ship into the base, seemingly killing Gideon. The Mandalorians relight the Great Forge, and in ceremony Din adopts Grogu as his son. The two strike a deal with Carson Teva to work as mercenaries for hire; and return to Nevarro to rest in a house gifted to them by Greef, until their next adventure.

Breakdown

  • from Mando S03 E08 - Bo-Katan retreats with her Mandalorians, while Axe Woves returns to the fleet; Din fights his captors and is rescued by Grogu;
  • Title Card (music from original chapter 24 card)
  • Din calls R5 to help him locate Moff Gideon; The TIEs start to fly towards the fleet; Axe returns to the capital ship and gets everyone to leave and join Bo-Katan on the surface, piloting the capital ship as a decoy; Din breaks into the control room, taking down the guards one at a time; mouse droids scare R5 away; Bo-Katan regroups with the rest of the Mandalorians in a lush cave; Gideon and Din fight and Gideon reveals the true purpose of his cloning program, which hasn’t been destroyed yet, and Gideon sends the Praetorian Guards after Din, then Grogu; Bo-Katan saves Din and fights Gideon, letting him rescue Grogu; the Mandalorians engage with the Beskar troopers in aerial combat; Gideon destroys the Darksaber; Din, knowing how dangerous the clones he saw earlier can be, finds Gideon’s clones and destroys them; Din returns to Gideon who realizes his clones have been destroyed; Axe Woves crashes the capital ship into the Imperial base, causing an explosion that engulfs Gideon; Grogu protects Din and Bo-Katan with the Force; Bo-Katan and the Armorer relight the Great Forge; the Armorer leads a ritual in the Living Waters, where Din adopts Grogu as his son, him becoming a Mandalorian apprentice; Grogu senses the Mythosaur in the Living Waters; Din and Grogu go to Adelphi base to strike a deal with Carson to work as a mercenary in the Outer Rim; Din and Grogu return to Nevarro to gift the town a rebuilt IG-11 as a marshal; Greef gives Din and Grogu a deed to a house in the countryside; Din and Grogu rest on their new property as Din removes his helment in the comfort of his family

Notes

  • New title, just because “The Return” is way too generic in my opinion. “The Promised Land” reintroduces the biblical allegory that the original Chapter 23 was going for, even if now it’s a bit on the nose. It also kinda works in referring to the land that was promised to Din back in Chapter 17, which he accepts at the end.
  • I want to restructure the clone reveal a bit so that they can loom as a threat during Din and Gideon’s fight. Having the clones destroyed before their confrontation is frustratingly anti-climactic, so now Din sees the clones, then Gideon gloats about them, then they fight, and once Din goes after Grogu he gets the chance to destroy the clones.
  • I have no idea if I can make it work, but I would love to have Din lose his helmet in the final battle, and when Bo-Katan saves him there’s some sort of recognition of the fact that he is a Mandalorian despite losing his helmet. It would be tricky but it doesn’t seem impossible. I would love feedback/workshopping on this idea.
  • I do want to have Din remove the helmet when he’s resting in his home, which should be much easier and helps reinforce that Din is growing beyond the cult he was raised in.
  • Having some payoff for Grogu’s chain mail, like having it protect him from a fatal blow, would be great if I can make it happen.
  • I’m going to cut some lines to help with the tension, like last episode.
  • Some acknowledgement of the destruction of the Darksaber would be great. Not sure how that will happen but we’ll see.
  • This is kind of a pipe dream, since I have no 3D experience, but an extended battle around the Mandalorian light cruiser between the Fang fighters and TIEs would be lovely.

When will this release?

Gosh! Soon, I hope! No promises, as I am a full-time student so I can’t work on this super consistently. If I go radio silent I’m probably just working slowly; I’ll be sure to clarify if the project is officially on hold.

This is kind of on the back burner right now, sorry! See here for more info.

Have an idea/want to help?

Please, share below! I have a background that involves storytelling and editing, so I like to think I know what I’m doing, but the truth is I’m brand-new to fanediting.

I’d really love to hear any feedback or suggestions. Nothing is set in stone! Please feel free to share ideas, thoughts, criticism, or anything else down below!

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This sounds fantastic! The grogu VFX will do wonders for the season. I think it would be fun to use this as a base for a film edit once it’s complete too.

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I enjoyed season 3 for the most part but putting Din and Grogu’s reunion in TBoBF was a bizarre decision and really hurt the season.

How do you plan to create the new dialogue scenes?

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So many wonderful ideas in here, that’s a lot to unpack! Much of this could turn out very well if the right context can be presented. I especially love the change to include BoBF final battle as part of an episode. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

I’m starting to do some VFX removing Grogu from many scenes as well, so DM me if you want to collab on anything and split up the work.

(The Force Awakens) Heirs of the Force | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit

(The Last Jedi) Fate of the Jedi | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit

(The Rise of Skywalker) Legacy of the Force | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit

(The Bad Batch) Cinematic Version | A More Mature Edit

(The Mandalorian+Boba) The Way of Mandalore | A Compilation Edit

(Kenobi) | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit

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Octorox said:

How do you plan to create the new dialogue scenes?

I’m looking at using ElevenLab’s AI voice generator for the most part. It’s still got some growing pains, but since a lot of the characters wear helmets I feel like I can get away with a lot. For dialogue scenes with characters that show their face, I’ll have to just re-contextualize their lines the old-fashioned way, but if they’re talking with a helmeted character then I’m sure there’s still a lot of freedom to change what they’re talking about.

The Mandalorians also tend to speak in somewhat monotone voices, so the lack of expression in the AI-generated lines might not be as noticeable.

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Acbagel said:

So many wonderful ideas in here, that’s a lot to unpack! Much of this could turn out very well if the right context can be presented. I especially love the change to include BoBF final battle as part of an episode. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Much appreciated! I’ll do my best lol

I’m starting to do some VFX removing Grogu from many scenes as well, so DM me if you want to collab on anything and split up the work.

For sure! The Grogu VFX is pretty time-consuming and my real life schedule is pretty packed at the moment, but I’ll be in touch whenever I’m working on it.

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This also helps justify why Din goes to redeem himself in the Living Waters, despite choosing to remove his helmet for his son in Season 2. Since Din has been cast out by his tribe and no longer has his son, he is in a very lonely place, and is probably desperate to feel a sense of belonging again. He goes to redeem himself because he sees no other options to cure his loneliness, and falls back into old ways. Not long after he reunites with Grogu does he realize why he removed the helmet to begin with, hence why he swears allegiance to Bo-Katan, symbolizing his growth beyond his dogmatic upbringing.

There was nothing wrong with Din wanting to redeem himself after getting Grogu back IMO. Just because he made one exception doesn’t mean he’s not still deeply dedicated to his creed. His respect for The Way has been incredibly consistent and abandoning The Way makes him less interesting. It’s such a defining part of his character.

His arc was never about abandoning The Way. He becomes more accepting of other Mandalorians (like Bo-Katan), but he still remains loyal to The Way.

It never frames The Way as wrong either. Everyone who follows it does so willingly and there’s an easy out. If wearing your helmet all the time is such a big problem, then you can just take it off and get kicked out. Or leave. Religion doesn’t always need to be portrayed in a negative light. The Children of the Watch have always been portrayed in a positive light.

Still, I’m interested in seeing where your edit goes. It seems to be better structured.

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This outline sounds great, and I cannot wait to see how it comes to fruition.

The Skywalker Saga:
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This is the way.

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G&G-Fan said:

There was nothing wrong with Din wanting to redeem himself after getting Grogu back IMO. Just because he made one exception doesn’t mean he’s not still deeply dedicated to his creed. His respect for The Way has been incredibly consistent and abandoning The Way makes him less interesting. It’s such a defining part of his character.

The way that I interpreted it is that the fact that he made the exception in the first place shows that he cares more about Grogu than abiding by the Creed. I agree that his relationship with the Creed is a defining part of his character, but I want to see that relationship evolve.

His arc was never about abandoning The Way. He becomes more accepting of other Mandalorians (like Bo-Katan), but he still remains loyal to The Way.

An idea that Season 3 introduces that I actually liked is that following the Way can take many forms, so I think I agree here. Din (and the Children of the Watch) learn to accept other Mandalorians as equals in following the Way; they expand what it means rather than abandoning it.

It never frames The Way as wrong either. Everyone who follows it does so willingly and there’s an easy out. If wearing your helmet all the time is such a big problem, then you can just take it off and get kicked out. Or leave. Religion doesn’t always need to be portrayed in a negative light. The Children of the Watch have always been portrayed in a positive light.

Getting kicked out of your community is not a very easy way out, to me at least. And while the show never really portrays the helmet rule as “wrong,” it does challenge its validity several times, and I think focusing on that can happen without portraying the Children of the Watch negatively.

Still, I’m interested in seeing where your edit goes. It seems to be better structured.

Much appreciated! Genuinely glad to hear your thoughts and opinions on it all.

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You have some very solid ideas here! The VFX work you did in that sample clip is fantastic — what software are you using for that?

Can I make one suggestion? You could easily remove the pirates from chapter 17, as the over-acting was awful, and the generic “leave one guy alive to escape” was very poorly written. The first introduction to the pirates can come from chapter 21.

My edits:
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/fanedit-search/tag/faneditorname/phase3/

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Phase3 said:

You have some very solid ideas here! The VFX work you did in that sample clip is fantastic — what software are you using for that?

Thanks! I’m using DaVinci Resolve, gotta love free software.

Can I make one suggestion? You could easily remove the pirates from chapter 17, as the over-acting was awful, and the generic “leave one guy alive to escape” was very poorly written. The first introduction to the pirates can come from chapter 21.

This is something I had been considering. Pros of that sequence were the space battle and—this is admittedly more personal taste—Gorian Shard is the right level of Star Wars camp for me. You’re right though about the over-acting from the other pirates, and the chapter might be too long with everything it’s covering, so if I trim it down that’s definitely something I’ll consider removing.

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This had me intrigued until I saw that you have kept the Coruscant plot that went nowhere and only exists to show that the NR are just as evil as the empire were and also the ridiculous Lizzy and Jack Black subplot.

Have you cut any scenes out or is it just rearranging everything?

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yoshif8tures said:

This had me intrigued until I saw that you have kept the Coruscant plot that went nowhere and only exists to show that the NR are just as evil as the empire were and also the ridiculous Lizzy and Jack Black subplot.

Have you cut any scenes out or is it just rearranging everything?

I agree that they’re weaker stories. However the Coruscant plot does set up Elia Kane, and her taking Pershing off the board ties into Moff Gideon’s storyline, so I feel like it’s important enough to keep. And I have to keep Din and Bo-Katan’s visit to Plazir-15 here so that things make sense if the writers end up revisiting this planet in the future. I wish I could remove it, but the goal is to not disrupt canon too much with this.

That’s not to say I won’t disrupt canon a little bit though! The plan is to cut both of those down to the bare minimum, and I have some ideas to recontextualize the Plazir-15 storyline to be more important to the overall journey.

Both of these storylines will be condensed into one episode too which makes it easy to get through or easy to skip, your choice!

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Is the plan for this edit that you can still watch the first four episodes of Boba as a miniseries, then go to your edit for the “complete” Season 3 of Mando?

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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DZ-330 said:

Is the plan for this edit that you can still watch the first four episodes of Boba as a miniseries, then go to your edit for the “complete” Season 3 of Mando?

Basically, yes.

The only issue is that since I’m focusing on Din and Grogu primarily for the Boba chapter, a lot of plot threads that show introduces relevant to Mos Espa won’t have their resolutions play out (mainly things to do with Fett’s entourage and the Pykes).

What I might end up doing is making a companion edit of those first four episodes that can also stand on its own while also playing well with this edit. No idea what form that would take, and I have no plans to actually make it as of right now, but it’s something I’m toying with.

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yoshif8tures said:

This had me intrigued until I saw that you have kept the Coruscant plot that went nowhere and only exists to show that the NR are just as evil as the empire were and also the ridiculous Lizzy and Jack Black subplot.

Have you cut any scenes out or is it just rearranging everything?

I’m going to disagree with this. Too many edits use the hammer when the scalpel will do. I like that you’re focus on restructuring and making targeted edits rather than cutting this thing to shreds.

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Looking forward to this edit! I have been beyond disappointed with both how TBOBF and Mando Season 3 has turned out. Looking at your rundown, I feel like this is a better pace for things and could probably help this season more cohesive to me.

JEDIT:

So, I actually have a suggestion I’d like to throw out there based off of something I saw on Twitter. But I wonder if during your new “The Pirate King” episode, you could cut out Green making a big to-do about giving the Mandalorians land on Navarro since it’s kind of weird how they’re super happy about finding a new home and yet they still go off to reclaim Mandalore.

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BrotherOfSasquatch said:

Looking forward to this edit! I have been beyond disappointed with both how TBOBF and Mando Season 3 has turned out. Looking at your rundown, I feel like this is a better pace for things and could probably help this season more cohesive to me.

Thanks! Glad to hear.

JEDIT:

So, I actually have a suggestion I’d like to throw out there based off of something I saw on Twitter. But I wonder if during your new “The Pirate King” episode, you could cut out Green making a big to-do about giving the Mandalorians land on Navarro since it’s kind of weird how they’re super happy about finding a new home and yet they still go off to reclaim Mandalore.

I like your idea, especially since I want to emphasize that Nevarro is intended to be a temporary home to prepare for retaking Mandalore. Perhaps just trimming some of Greef’s additional comments will get that point across.

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One thing that bothered me personally is Din essentially reverting to distrusting droids in the Plazir-15 episode when he had shown character growth on that front in the past. If there’s a way to imply that his prejudice is reserved for the separatist battle droids I think that would make more sense.

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Octorox said:

One thing that bothered me personally is Din essentially reverting to distrusting droids in the Plazir-15 episode when he had shown character growth on that front in the past. If there’s a way to imply that his prejudice is reserved for the separatist battle droids I think that would make more sense.

I agree! Definitely think focusing on that not only prevents him from regressing but actually works as him growing past his trauma since he’s facing the exact droids that took away his family and community from him.

Combine that with R5 being the one to save his life in Chapter 18, and I think a nice mini-character arc is beginning to take shape. Thanks for the input!

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So, something I’ve been wondering about in regards to this edit is if you’re going to put in the post-credits scene from the Season 2 finale as the cold open for the Boba Fett episode.

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This sounds amazing! I’ve been toying with ideas to repair the weird storytelling this season, but I think you’ve got the best angle on it.

One thing that kind of bothers me is Din adopting Grogu and making him an apprentice. Given the growth he’s had up to that point, it feels weird to double down on how committed he is to the Children of the Watch. I feel like it might be more fitting if Din and Grogu just left at the end and struck the deal with the New Republic, satisfied with taking back Mandalore but ready to go back to being a bounty hunting team.

It works either way, but that felt like a better character arc to me anyway.

Really looking forward to this one! If you need any assistance let me know.

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BrotherOfSasquatch said:

So, something I’ve been wondering about in regards to this edit is if you’re going to put in the post-credits scene from the Season 2 finale as the cold open for the Boba Fett episode.

Probably not; since I don’t want to make edits of Seasons 1 and 2, including that scene again would end up just being a bit redundant. It teases what Boba and Fennec are up to in between the end of Season 2 and the new Chapter 22 pretty nicely as-is, in my opinion.

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SpenceEdit said:

This sounds amazing! I’ve been toying with ideas to repair the weird storytelling this season, but I think you’ve got the best angle on it.

Thanks! Glad you like it!

One thing that kind of bothers me is Din adopting Grogu and making him an apprentice. Given the growth he’s had up to that point, it feels weird to double down on how committed he is to the Children of the Watch. I feel like it might be more fitting if Din and Grogu just left at the end and struck the deal with the New Republic, satisfied with taking back Mandalore but ready to go back to being a bounty hunting team.

It works either way, but that felt like a better character arc to me anyway.

I agree with that; I have an idea for the finale that I haven’t shared yet (partially because I have no clue how feasible it is yet and I want to focus on the rest of this edit first) that should give Din a very nice resolution to his development in Mandalorian culture. Part of this involves recontextualizing Din adopting Grogu as something he does not as a commitment to the Children of the Watch, but to Mandalorian lifestyle in a broader sense, having expanded his understanding of what it means to be a Mandalorian.

I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, but I hope once I figure out how feasible my plan for this is I’ll share it then, so that I don’t prematurely raise hopes.

Really looking forward to this one! If you need any assistance let me know.

Will do!

The Mandalorian - Season 3: Complete Edition - [ON HOLD]