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The Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant (Released)

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Time
 (Edited)

The following information and more can be found at FanEdit.org, home of the fan edits.

This is Version 4 of this fan edit.

Running time is about 138 minutes.

Special features:

Italian Language Audio track
German Language Audio track
Fan Editors’ Commentary track
Alternate Audio track without added ‘Knights of Ren’ dialogue
Chapter stops
Subtitles (English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, German, Russian)

Tagline: Every saga has an end…

Synopsis: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gets an overhaul to serve as a conclusion to the Star Wars saga. Pacing, character journeys, and story continuity are improved via an unprecedented fan editing collaboration. A layer of polish and care applied to a relentlessly fast-paced film. Subtle character tweaks. And a few new surprises. (Also available is an alternate ‘Rey Nobody’ version that removes her family connection to Emperor Palpatine.)

Intention: To improve upon this film as the series conclusion to the degree possible, from a constructive perspective. This project does not seriously alter the story, but enhances it.

Other sources: Various sound effects from the Star Wars franchise and elsewhere

Special Thanks:
Everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including:
poppasketti (voice, audio and visual FX, puppet show)
jonh (visual FX)
skenera (visual FX)
NeverarGreat (visual FX)
Movies Remastered (visual FX, ideas, puppet show, various)
kewlfish (visual FX)
Luka Frik (visual FX)
DominicCobb (clips provided)
Sir Ridley (visual FX)
axlanian (KoR voice project)
krausfadr (KoR voice project)
RogueLeader (voice and audio work, puppet show)
sherlockpotter (audio work)
Jar Jar Bricks (AI voicework)
ChainsawAsh (DTS encode)
snooker (visual FX)
ThisIsCreation (vocal work for puppet show)
CaptainFaraday (audio work, puppet show)
IlFanEditore (Italian language audio track)
rik (help with Italian language audio track)
KetchupGore (German language audio track)
Kumbbl (help with German audio)
Burbin (English, Spanish, and French subtitles)
||FanEditore (Italian subtitles)
nevertellmetheodds (Dutch, German subtitles)
ChernobylLiquidator86 (Portuguese subtitles)
LILLIAN02230 (audio work)
21C Peasant (visual FX)
Chase Adams (3PO dialogue)
Cinefy (music mockups, puppet show)
sade1212 (video help, audio work)
idir_hh (video help)
Octorox (video help)
mrbenjamino (audio work)
bbghost (audio work)
onje_berdy (Russian subtitles)
MaláStrana (help proofreading French subtitles)
1amJanus
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(Special thanks to the following legends for help recuperating from computer failure: MMP, poppasketti, Catsailor73, ChainsawAsh, EddieDean, Josanael, RogueLeader, and Neerb)

Cuts and Additions (changes for Version 4 indicated with asterisks):

  • Overall color correction using LUTs provided by skenera

  • Added a new opening crawl, thanks to Sir Ridley:

Episode IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy. The tyrannical First Order has retaliated by attacking any planetary system that supports their enemy.

As Rey, sole heir to the Jedi, continues her training, General Leia Organa sends her brave agents across the stars to unite the disparate worlds in the name of Resistance.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has traveled to Mustafar, chasing whispers of a hidden power that would allow him to destroy any threat to his rule…

  • Added a Wilhelm scream, somewhere in the film…

  • Added two new establishing shots to the opening Mustafar sequence to slow the pacing slightly, building on what was done for V1 (visual FX from poppasketti, Movies Remastered, NeverarGreat, and 21C Peasant as well as audio assistance from LILLIAN02230)

  • Added a subtle call from Palpatine, saying “Find me,” as Kylo Ren picks up the Wayfinder

  • Replaced the vat of cloned Snokes with cloned Palpatine’s (FX by poppasketti)

  • Added a line for Kylo Ren calling Palpatine “a ghost in a rotting clone” (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks)*

  • Removed the slight electrical crackle as Palpatine reveals his hands (FX by skenera)

  • Moved Palpatine describing spirit transfer into his first scene, turning it into a warning to Kylo Ren and setting up stakes for later (RogueLeader idea)

  • Reordered opening scenes for a more logical progression and better pacing (Kylo Ren meets Palpatine > Rey trains > Falcon mission > Returning to base)

  • Moved the scene with Chewie, Poe, and Finn playing holochess to the end of the movie, with a shot having been modified here to depict dropping out of hyperspace (FX by poppasketti)

  • Replaced Finn’s now first line “Artoo” with “Look sharp” (dgraham414 idea)

  • Removed lightspeed skipping sequence. It made no sense given how hyperspace has always been depicted, as quick travel, not teleportation. Now, the Falcon bursts through the ice wall while jumping to hyperspace, and the pursuing TIEs peel off, ending the scene (visual FX by poppasketti)

  • Only because he has no proper introduction and would appear suddenly due to other changes made, removed Klaud from a few shots (FX by poppasketti)

  • Moved Rey’s repeat of “nothing’s impossible” to after Leia hands her the saber to make it feel more endearing (Movies Remastered change)

  • The blue Skywalker lightsaber is now portrayed throughout the film with a somewhat ‘cracked’ appearance similar to Kylo Ren’s in order to build on the conclusion to TLJ and reflect Rey’s inner conflict (visual FX by kewlfish, Luke Frik, and Movies Remastered)

  • The vision Rey experiences while training with the remote has been heavily modified to better establish her apprehension about the Sith throne, and separated from Kylo’s vision. For V4, this is extended further. (by DominicCobb)*

  • Added ‘Sith Eyes’ to ‘Evil Rey’, including replacing her milky eyes for one shot (FX by Burbin)

  • Changed Rey’s line to Leia as she turns over the lightsaber from “your brother’s saber” to “your family’s saber” to begin to plant a seed about eventually identifying herself with the Skywalker family (AI voice provided by RogueLeader)*

  • Added a new illustration to the ancient Jedi texts to foreshadow the healing technique seen in this film (illustration by NeverarGreat, composited by RogueLeader)*

  • Reinstated previously cut dialogue as the heroes reunite at the Resistance base, replacing the term ‘lightspeed skipping’ with ‘lightspeed ramming’ (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks and RogueLeader)*

  • Replaced Poe’s lines, including “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” with part of the Emperor’s speech being played, implied to be part of the gathered intel

  • New dialogue for Poe during the briefing scene establishes clearly that the Final Order fleet consists of modified ships from the Empire, rather than implying they were built from the ground up later on (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks and RogueLeader)*

  • Removed a line of dialogue establishing an unnecessary 16-hour ‘ticking clock’ to the plot

  • In a callback to a line modified earlier, when Leia hands Leia the saber before she departs the base, she tells Rey, “You are family” (AI line provided by RogueLeader)*

  • Kylo now has a vision separate from Rey’s, before reforging his mask, better establishing his motivation for doing so (by DominicCobb)

  • Added the planet Coruscant to two shots during the scene with Kylo Ren in a boardroom on his Star Destroyer (visual FX by poppasketti)

  • Redubbed the two stormtroopers who introduce the Knights of Ren (sherlockpotter and axlanian)

  • Removed Poe’s use of the word ‘random.’

  • The puppet show now depicts Luke’s feats at the Battle of Crait in TLJ, strengthening the idea that Luke’s ‘legend’ has taken root in the galaxy and better setting up in conjunction with the following story beat Rey’s identity formation at the end of the film (RogueLeader handmade and filmed puppet elements influenced by designs from CaptainFaraday and Cinefy, poppasketti and Movies Remastered provided a tedious clean backplate, and ThisIsCreation provided a new vocal dub for the alien narrator)

  • Cut Rey saying “that’s an excellent name.” This statement felt overly modern.

  • After Kylo Ren says “I will find you,” cut him saying “…and turn you to the dark side.” It’s implied that he will try to do that once he finds her, but why say it aloud? He should be trying to seduce her to the dark side and masking his intentions.

  • Moved the scene forward in which Rey’s necklace is reported to be traced to Pasaana aboard the Star Destroyer, for better pacing. Trooper line modified not to show him reporting Rey and company’s identities. (Ziggyonice idea)

  • Used a foreign language dub for a milder delivery of Lando’s chauffeur’s one line

  • Removed the “they fly now” gag

  • Removed Finn telling Rey he “never told you—“ while the heroes sink in the quicksand, as well as two subsequent references to it

  • Removed Rey commenting that “horrible things” have happened with the dagger, to uncouple it from her parents’ murders and allow her to sense the blade’s pull to the darkness in keeping with a later change.

  • After Rey heals the sandworm, she mentions to BB8 that she learned how “from the ancient texts,” involving them to a greater extent in the movie to increase a sense of connection to TLJ (AI voice provided Jar Jar Bricks)*

  • Added a few lines of dialogue throughout the film to the Knights of Ren (sourced from project by axlanian and krausfadr, with voice recordings submitted by axlanian, krausfadr, Ben, axlanian’s wife, poppasketti, DG) (Included an alternate audio track that omits these added lines.)

  • Extended the confrontation between Rey and Kylo’s TIE in the desert using footage from the trailer (by DominicCobb)

  • Removed the explosion of Kylo Ren’s TIE, though it still rolls after being sliced by Rey

  • After Kylo Ren’s TIE is destroyed, for the remainder of the film his TIE is depicted with a differently color stripe (visual FX by poppasketti)

  • Added new shot of Ochi’s ship taking off with the heroes as Kylo Ren watches in order to slightly slow the pace (visual FX by poppasketti)

  • When Rey mentions her vision of seeing the Sith throne, she comments she saw herself on it, making no reference to Kylo Ren, for greater consistency with her vision as seen by the audience and connection to her inner conflict of identity (RogueLeader idea)

  • Removed part of Poe’s line about their efforts being for nothing, allowing 3PO’s statement later to feel original to him

  • Reordered shots to show Rey contemplating before asking 3PO to consider going through with the memory wipe

  • Chewie is not revealed to be alive until Rey senses him from Kijimi, and not seen until he is rescued by Poe and Finn. The reveal with Hux and Pryde has been replaced with the telepathic Palpatine-Kylo conversation from later. (Help and brief color correction from ziggyonice)

  • Zorri gives Poe a cold stare, muting her line about seeing his brains in the snow

  • Removed dialogue referencing R2 backing up 3PO’s memory, which immediately destroyed any weight his sacrifice had before it had even happened, practically stating to the audience what will later happen.

  • Removed “from the Southern shore” from 3PO’s recital of the Sith dagger inscription to better fit in with its altered characteristics.

  • Extended the “squeaky wheel” sequence in order to slow the pace using footage from the bonus disc (audio help from LILLIAN2330, visual FX by poppasketti)

  • Replaced 3PO line starting with “Whoever this Chewie person is…” due to being one of a few clunky reminders that he had his memory erased (alternate line provided by Chase Adams)

  • Removed Finn yelling “POE!”

  • Removed another instance of the Sith dagger triggering a memory of her parents.

  • Replaced Kylo Ren’s line “I never lied to you” with “You were right” for more intuitive and precise continuity with TLJ even as the scene retcons it. In that film, it is Rey herself who supplies the information that her parents “were nobody.” (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks; voiceover provided for prior versions by poppasketti)

  • Added new dialogue for Kylo Ren during his ‘ForceTime’ duel with Rey to provide a more focused retcon of TLJ and make it explicit that Rey’s parents paid Unklar Plutt rather than selling her (AI provided by Jar Jar Bricks)*

  • Removed the single time either of Rey’s parents called her by name, to allow for headcanon that Rey named herself

  • Removed line from Rey’s mother, “She’s not on Jakku, she’s gone.” This paints Ochi as a moron not to have found Rey, and appears to have been included to explicitly harmonize with TLJ describing Rey’s parents as being buried on Jakku. This is clunky and unnecessary, all the moreso because that line was omitted from this editor’s TLJ project.

  • Replace 3PO/trooper dialogue to depict 3PO somewhat out of his element (by axlanian, replacing work from RogueLeader for V1)

  • Removed single line “You are a Palpatine.” The rest of the scene works well enough without this heavy-handed line.

  • Altered Kylo Ren’s line to, “We’ve become a dyad in the Force,” which feels like it builds on TLJ’s ending (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks; audio used in prior versions from sherlockpotter)

  • The moon containing the wreckage of the second Death Star has been recontextualized as Endor, replacing what was Endor with an ice moon during the space establishing shot and moving the Ewok snippet up from the film’s climax. (Visual FX by poppasketti and snooker)

  • Replaced the obtuse reminder that 3PO had his memory erased in the form of a line “Is everyday like this for you people?” (alternate line provided by Chase Adams)

  • Added two brief lines for Jannah to establish that her stormtrooper mutiny was inspired by Finn (AI lines provided by RogueLeader)*

  • Removed Rey using the dagger as an impossible compass while surveying the wreckage of the second Death Star. ‘Sith whispers’ have been added strategically to imply the dagger mystically guiding her to the Wayfinder.

  • Replaced the obtuse reminder while working on the Falcon that 3PO had his memory erased in the form of a line wishing they had an R2 unit to help (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks; audio provided for prior versions by Chase Adams)*

  • Added a brief musical allusion to ‘Duel of the Fates’ during the duel on the Death Star using music from Maul’s scene in Solo (idea and help from Cinefy)

  • Added a subtle vocalization as Leia drops her headphones (idea and clip from JarJar Bricks)

  • Trimmed Finn’s final whimper of “Rey!” during the duel

  • Worked in the shot of Leia holding Han’s medal from the trailer, which makes it clearer that she promoted Kylo’s memory and sets up Chewie receiving it later which felt like it came out of nowhere (help from sade1212, idir_hh, and sherlockpotter)

  • Reordered the sequence of dialogue and action as Rey heals Ben’s wound

  • Extended the establishing shot of Kylo during the Han scene by a few seconds to slow the pace (thanks to Luka Frik and Octorox)

  • Completely removed the destruction of Kijimi and the Resistance’s reaction. This helps us imagine the Final Order as an Imperial stockpile since it was the only glimpse into them before the First Order arrives to help. It avoids yet another planet destruction, and generally smooths things over.

  • Softened the stark sound effect slightly as Luke catches the lightsaber, since he is immaterial

  • Regraded Ach-To sequence to take place at night, concluding at dawn (grading and rotoscoping by NeverarGreat)

  • Added an additional establishing shot breaking up the Rey on Ahch-to scenes so it doesn’t seem like she only spends a couple minutes on the island (modeled after DominicCobb’s clip)

  • A porg sound continues to trail off after their single shot, to help them feel like they were really there

  • Reduced blue coloration to Luke’s ghostly visage, slimmed him down somewhat, and shortened Mark Hammil’s wig to better fit his prior appearances (NeverarGreat and jonh, respectively)

  • Removed talk about Leia (and possibly Luke, depending on one’s interpretation of the scene) having known about Rey being a Palpatine. In this version, Luke essentially tells Rey, “So what if you’re a Palpatine?” It also seems to make a great deal more sense to assume they did not know this during the events of TFA and TLJ, with Luke learning this postmortem.

  • Leia’s lightsaber blade has been recolored to purple throughout. Carrie Fisher expressed a preference for this color of saber in a TFA-era interview, and it is more visually striking in the Exegol setting which helps the audience track which saber is which, particularly following a restored Leia line before Rey prominently uses her saber. (FX by amobex for this scene, originally by skenera)

  • During the flashback to Luke and Leia training together, replaced mention that Leia sensed the death of her son at the end of her Jedi path with mention that she felt called to serve via diplomacy as their mother did (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks)*

  • Replaced Luke’s line, “you’ll take both sabers to Exegol,” with, “We’ll always be with you” (Movies Remastered, NeverarGreat, and ThisIsCreation)

  • Added R2 and 3PO’s prequel theme briefly during the memory restoration scene (Cinefy idea)

  • As 3PO has his memory restored, he no longer implies this was Rey’s very first mission, as it either has or will surely be retconned by ancillary material (AI voice provided by Jar Jar Bricks)

  • Removed Finn’s line, “He wanted her alive,” as part of an effort to smooth over Palpatine’s motivations as initially grooming Kylo Ren and switching to Rey once Ben Solo had been redeemed.

  • Removed the line about the Holdo maneuver. If it is something legitimate then someone who lives in that universe shouldn’t have the same misconception as we may.

  • Removed the subtitle for Nien Nunb’s one line. He was never subtitled in the past and it’s not needed.

  • Slightly restructured the Exegol space battle’s beginning to consolidate story threads (DominicCobb)

  • Removed Finn telling BB8 “great job, buddy” during the mounted attack in order to preserve a sense of tension or seriousness

  • Removed Palpatine’s lines, “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here,” and, “…for my grandchild to come home,” to assist in smoothing Palpatine’s motives to switching from grooming Kylo Ren to Rey once Ben Solo was redeemed.

  • Replaced the Imperial TIE Kylo took to Exegol with Vader’s TIE, because ANH had made a point to establish that TIEs don’t have hyperdrives. (Was originally an Imperial shuttle in V1; FX by poppasketti)

  • Trimmed a moment when Ben seems to wait for the Knight to hit his saber (David_B idea)

  • Added a small bit of score from ROTS as Palpatine absorbs the power of Rey and Ben’s friendship (Cinefy idea)

  • Added a cacophony of voices to the appearance of the civilian fleet to the battle. Several craft can be heard signing in via comm, and a few cheer “For Skywalker!” during the charge in order to tie into Luke’s Inspiring act at the Battle of Crait (thanks to axlanian for help mixing, and to the few dozen contributors who sent in recordings: poppasketti, AbramPT, Wesyeed, mrbenjamino, KieranKhalid, alastair, Anakin Skywalker, JKMaxx, Cinefy, Knight of Kalee, Chase, jonh, tobar, Doubleofive, Dana Domenick, Master Lawdog, Harmy, brewzter, Blake, Justin W, Reylochriso, Elia97963000, EllaLisa15, JediTwilight, deefayy, joelkarnold, AnEnemyAnemone, sixtailedcat, 5footwonderful, ThisIsCreation, CaptainFaraday, CaptainFaraday’s mother, sherlockpotter, Richard D, DZ-330, Ed Slushie, EddieDean, Jar Jar Bricks, JXEditor, and snooker)

  • Extended a space exterior shot using an ILM demo clip in order to remove Poe’s line, “Every [underbelly cannon] we knock out is a world saved.” (Visual FX to remove watermark by Sir Ridley, audio FX assisted by mrbenjamino)

  • Since Kijimi isn’t destroyed, there’s no need for Babu Frik to pop up only to show he’s alive

  • The FX for Leia’s now purple lightsaber has been color corrected to look less pink during sequences on Exegol than in prior versions (color correction by Burbin, FX by Skenera)*

  • Added a line during the spirits of the Jedi communing with Rey from the actor who portrayed the youngling in the Jedi Council chambers in Revenge of the Sith (enlisted by CaptainFaraday, voice by Ross Beadman)

  • Added Leia concluding the Jedi voices with “always,” taken from the trailer.

  • The ghostly visages of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke appear behind Rey and assist with overpowering the Emperor (incredible visual FX work from jonh)

  • V2 adjusts one particular shot of the four spirits (still jonh)

  • Altered Rey’s climactic line from, “I am all the Jedi,” to simply, “I am a Jedi.” (sade1212, CaptainFaraday, sherlockpotter)

  • Added a subtle Sith scream effect as Palpatine explodes (Cinefy idea)

  • Because the first Ewok shot was used earlier, Coruscant and Naboo have been added in its place in the planetary celebration montage (Coruscant FX by poppasketti, and Naboo FX by snooker and skenera)

  • The holochess scene between Chewie, Finn, and Poe has been moved to Tatooine

  • Added a subtle double rainbow to the first shot of the Lars homestead, originally inspired by a similar phenomena at that filming location as seen on the bonus material, rationalized into a deep cut reference to Leia’s infantile destination of Alderaan, which sports a double rainbow in ROTS. (FX by poppasketti)

  • The quick light sequence when Rey ignites her yellow saber has been changed from blue and green to blue and purple to reflect Leia’s new saber color, as the original was an homage to the two Skywalker sabers (visual FX by Burbin)

  • The ghostly visage of a redeemed Ben Solo now accompanies the Skywalker twins during the final scene (visual FX by jonh)

  • Rey’s delivery of her final line has been swapped with one from the behind the scenes bonus material that appeared more emotionally resonant, with the background modified to match the finished film (visual FX by poppasketti)

  • The final shot has been replaced with the Falcon taking off, flying toward the suns, and jumping to hyperspace. (FX by snooker and poppasketti)

  • The musical cue leading into the credits has been replaced with something more fitting that does not reuse the cue from the end of TFA (audio help from bbghost and sherlockpotter)


Here are the changes for this alternate ‘Rey Nobody’ version, as they differ from the regular version of Ascendant (at present these do not yet reflect changes new to V3 or V4):

  • The film’s title in the opening crawl uses the font used in the prequels and TLJ, rather than the one used in TFA and TROS, as a cheeky nod to following after TLJ’s establishment of ‘Rey Nobody’
  • The original placement of the ‘Force essence transfer’ exposition from Palpatine is moved back to late in the film, in order to maintain a logic to Kylo Ren’s actions in this version - Removed dialogue about Rey’s mysterious identify in the opening Exegol sequence
  • Rey’s parents are removed from her vision while training, replaced with hints at her fear of inner darkness as established in TFA and TLJ
  • Removed dialogue that establishes Rey has familiarity with Ochi’s ship
  • When Rey lashes out with Force lightning, it is now yellow both to distance herself from Palpatine (in movie parlance; I realize we’ve seen Count Dooku use it as well) and to tie into embracing what she feared as illustrated by her yellow lightsaber at the end of the film
  • Restructured and switched up dialogue throughout the duel between Rey and Kylo Ren on board the Star Destroyer, moving a few lines from an earlier scene (work largely completed by Spence)
  • Restructured and switched up dialogue during the hangar scene to remove Rey as a Palpatine and replace it with fear that she will take the Sith throne (work largely completed by Spence) - Removed Rey reflecting on the deaths of her parents (work largely completed by Spence)
  • Restructured the scenes surrounding the Ach-To sequence to work around the lack of a dramatic punch about Rey and Exegol - Removed dialogue about Rey being a Palpatine from her conversation with Luke
  • Removed various snippets of dialogue from Palpatine during the fim’s climax that relate to their shared lineage

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I like your edit ideas! A lot of them are similar to my initial thoughts.

Regarding how to tie the civilian fleet to Luke’s sacrifice, maybe someone over the comms could say, “For Skywalker!” I believe someone may have made this suggestion earlier.

Author
Time

Not a bad idea at all. Going from memory, it’d probably need to be a small chorus of comm chatter. Maybe there’s enough “Skywalker” lines from video games and whatnot to use or to blend into it.

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time

Would you consider an alternate ending where Ben lives?

It seems the scene was edited in reshoots and this YouTuber seems to have pieced together the original scene. Link

I’m just not sure how to encorporate Ben in the Finale. Maybe remove the Rey Skywalker scene and add Ben in the last scene with Rey.

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

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I think if he keeps Rey Palpatine, he should also keep Ben dying. Although I do want to see an edit that changes both, I can appreciate wanting to make an edit that ends in the same place as the theatrical version.

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If we are given an alternate ending deleted scene then maybe, but I don’t imagine it being totally satisfying to contrive one based on just what’s in the movie.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I really enjoyed the ROS, but surely a few nips and tucks would help it.

I like what I’m seeing here so far, especially the idea of tweaking the crawl to let the film introduce Palpatine.

Definitely get rid of “light speed skipping” if possible, that took me right out of the movie (or at least get rid of the Tie-fighters keeping up).

The only other thing I can think to suggest is regarding that cone-head droid. There’s a thread in the film about ‘not under-estimating droids’. It seemed like they were building up to have that cone-head do something awesome, but there was never a pay-off. If there is a way to snip that out cleanly, I think it would improve things.

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Well, it was part of the Leia mad-libs they kind of had to play. Rey calling back to the line during the desert chase is good enough for me.

The biggest thing that would help the movie is breathing room sprinkled throughout, but that’s not likely something we can much help.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Reading your initial post was a breath of fresh air haha. I definitely agree with all those points, but I really really hate Rey being a Palpatine. Luke’s sacrifice would pay off with the fleet changes, if possible. But Rey being a Palpatine obliterates the entire theme in TLJ that anyone can be special, it doesn’t matter who you’re related to or where you come from. So much of the movie relies on this plot point though that I’m unsure how such a thing would be done.

It’s unfortunate that as you just said, the movie really needs more breathing room, in particularly when landing setup/payoff combos like the droid line. Same thing with Chewie, there’s barely any time to accept or process the setup and then POOF the payoff shows up almost immediately.

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Good luck with your edit, Hal. This one will likely require all the skills you’ve developed over the years. It might be the kobayashi maru of fanediting. I’ll stick with ROTJ ending for my headcanon, but I respect your dedication to making the I-IX storytelling less choppy.

Side note: it seems you’re gonna reedit Episodes 7 and 8 to accommodate Episode 9… “boldness” (I’m trying to say it kindly). What about adding in Episode 6 a line to Palpy when Anakin throws him into the vent, such as “I’ll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackk you fools…”.

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If you don’t have anything constructive to say…

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Here is another potential crawl:

Episode IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Luke Skywalker has ignited
a resurgence of hope in
the galaxy. Countless worlds
have risen up against the
diabolical FIRST ORDER.

REY, the last hope of the
Jedi, continues her training
under General Leia Organa,
hopeful that she will find
a way to commune with
Jedi of the past.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader
KYLO REN seeks out the source
of his former master’s power,
determined to destroy any
threat to his rule. . . .

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

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Thank the maker. I’m all in to this. Let me know if you want some assistance with this. I can work character removals in scenes and any time code Disney puts in the frame? I got to think with all the reshoots there got to be Additional footage out there.

Been a while for me but this movie requires fixing.

Hal 9000 said:

Well, the time is here to consider what to do about this film fan editing-wise. There already discussions going on around here, but this will be a place for me to segregate those which I am interested in and consider, hopefully with input from the rest of you, about what shape this project should take. Most of the best ideas have come from this community for TFA and TLJ, and I’m hoping the ongoing discussions will yield similar fruit. I don’t intent to detract from those discussions by creating this thread, but to let this particular project begin to brew.

For the moment, after going to see the film again, here are my thoughts for potential alterations:

  • Opening crawl to remove Leia recon mission and direct mentions of Palpatine. Rather, Kylo Ren is tracking the source of Snoke’s power or something. We still find Palpatine right away, but in the body of the movie rather than in the crawl. It’s also be nice to mention Luke’s inspirational sacrifice to attempt to tie the massive civilian fleet into the theme of TLJ.

Here is a potential crawl, based on one drafted by DZ-330:

“Episode IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Luke Skywalker has ignited a resurgence of hope in the galaxy. The populace of countless worlds have risen up against the diabolical First Order.

Rey, the last hope of the Jedi, continues her training under General Leia Organa, hoping to commune with Jedi of the past.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, determined to destroy any threat to his rule, seeks the source of his former master’s power…”

  • Potenrially space out the triple-voice line to sound more like the trailer for dramatic effect.

  • Potentially remove the visual of Snokes in a liquid chamber, maybe replacing them with something else, maybe even other Palpatine bodies. Since the movie isn’t going to give a solid account of what happened in any event, the mere line “I made Snoke” could be interpreted figuratively.

  • If deleted scene is available and suitable, add evil Palpatine broadcast as he lifts the fleet. Hopefully it makes it clear that it’s a broadcast, so later scenes still feel right as they allude to characters already having some idea of what’s up.

  • Add a Wilhelm somewhere I guess.

  • I’d like to remove the 16 hour ticking clock. Only problem I can tell is that Rey seems in an awful hurry to get to the DSII wreckage. It does seem to offer some explanation for the constant frenetic hurry everyone is in, so I’m not sure it’d work to remove it.

  • Maybe remove light speed skipping by ending as they jump the first time, removing TIEs jumping. Or let them jump and we just cut to the next scene. If the former, remove reference to light speed skipping later. However, this would cause a problem as Finn only has one other thing he notices Poe do before referencing all the “shady stuff” he does. (In TLJ, it took a capital ship to track through Lightspeed.) (If this is removed, there’s a later line that might need to be removed when Poe expresses unease about a Destroyer not following them through hyperspace.)

  • When Kylo and then Rey get flashes of scenes from TFA when they touch the Vader mask, Kylo should get flashes of Luke from Crait rather than Ach-To.

  • Remove line about how R2 backs up 3PO’s memory. It felt like this movie reacted to TLJ’s style by trying very hard to hardly ever let the audience be surprised.

  • I don’t like “whoever this Chewie person is, this is madness.” Maybe replace with offer to help negotiate or something as if 3PO were fresh out of the box and ready to do protocol stuff.

  • Possibly remove the destruction of the planet, and the idea that the fleet each has a ‘gun that shoots Death Stars.’

  • Seemed weird to me that once he turns to the Light Side, Kylo doesn’t take advantage of his role as supreme leader. Research of mine indicates that the emperor sensed this and put General Pryde in charge at that point. If a deleted scene is presented to this effect it would be welcome. The existing scene doesn’t make this clear.

  • Remove the line about the Holdo maneuver. If it is something legitimate then someone who lives in that universe shouldn’t have the same misconception as we might.

  • If there’s any other good way to link the massive civilian fleet with Luke’s ‘spark of hope,’ I’d do it.

  • New music to transition into the credits, either here or in TFA.

  • I think one could successfully remove ‘Rey Palpatine,’ but it would be unusual for me to deviate from the lore to that degree. I don’t like it, but I think I’d be better off accepting it and maybe tweaking TFA and TLJ to fit in better. I expect I’ll play around with executing this idea, at least.

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“When Kylo and then Rey get flashes of scenes from TFA when they touch the Vader mask, Kylo should get flashes of Luke from Crait rather than Ach-To.”

When I saw the last Jedi, I thought it was just awful (and just downright unbelievable) that Luke has a moment of weakness and seeks to kill Ben out of fear.

If Luke learned anything from his duel on Bespin, it was Yoda’s warning after losing that hand!

“DONT fly off on a tear because you have a force vision!”

Given the footage in TROS I wondered if it would be possible to insinuate that Luke, Han, and Leia actually hid the fact that Vader was Ben’s grandfather, and this secret being revealed to Ben is what ultimately turns him into Kylo.

Ghosts in the closet have a way of coming back to haunt? Its like a parallel of “the dead speak.”

(as Anakin’s saber called to Rey,) Vader’s mask called to Kylo? To me, this would help both TLJ and TROS.

Since Vader was basically the face of Evil, brute force, and intimidation in the old Empire, our heroes could be forgiven for not telling Ben. This could also retroactively show Rey not to trust what she saw in the dark side hole on Ach to.

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This thread came sooner than I expected! Excellent…

In response to your original post:

  • I don’t mind the 16 hour ticking clock. Like you said, it explains the hurry everyone seems to be in.
  • Removing lightspeed skipping seems like a difficult thing to pull off since there’s a whole exchange between Rey/Poe/Finn/Chewy/BB-8 where it is featured quite heavily. But removing it could possibly help with pacing.

I’ve had a chance to watch the movie three times now and have a few of my own thoughts:

  • Potentially remove Chewy receiving his medal from Maz
  • Remove Lando and Jannah’s useless interaction at the end of the film
  • John William’s cameo on Kijimi felt a little off - not sure if removing it would help with pacing
  • I wonder if it would be possible to postpone the reveal of Chewy actually being alive. We think he’s dead for like 3 seconds and seems kinda lame.
  • On that note, this movie is FULL of fake out deaths: Chewy, 3PO (kinda), Kylo, and finally Rey. I think showing Chewy being alive could be delayed a little and something could be done re: 3PO. You could absolutely remove the line about R2 backing up 3PO’s memory, but I also think that you could leave that line intact and instead remove the whole “taking one last look at my friends” line. It could turn into a whole Spanish Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3 situation where 3PO is reset and we have goofy interactions with him not knowing anything, but in the end we know that R2 will be able to fix everything.
  • The shot where Poe, Finn, and Chewy get captured on Kylo’s destroyer could be trimmed at the very end. When they’re being told to drop their weapons, it feels a little awkward.
  • When Rey and Kylo talk on Kylo’s destroyer, keep “you’re his granddaughter” but remove “you are a Palpatine”. Might make the moment feels a little less ridiculous.

And finally, a couple thoughts about how this could impact your edits of TFA and TLJ:

  • Bring back Han shooting without looking in TFA. Kylo does it against the KoR in ROS and is a cute father/son parallel
  • Include some porg sounds on Ach-To when Rey arrives in TFA (I know you didn’t like this the first time I suggested it but here’s one final attempt to change your mind)
  • In TLJ, Snoke says he bridged Kylo and Rey’s minds. Is this still the case? Or is their connection a result of the force dyad. Don’t know if changes could/should be made to clarify this.
  • Can’t remember if you’ve done this already, but removing Kylo’s line to Rey in TLJ about her parents selling her for drinking money. That’s very clearly not the case anymore.

Shit, this is getting long. Sorry! One last thought about Rey Palpatine: Her lineage doesn’t bother me. TLJ implies that where you come from doesn’t make you any more or less important and ROS kind of continues that thought process but just from a different perspective. Different side of the same coin kinda situation. You can be something if you come from nothing, and can be good despite coming from evil. It’s not amazing, but I think it is better to keep rather than mess too much with the narrative.

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That’s one thing I forgot to list: I’d like to work in the shot from the trailer of Leia holding the medal. You see her holding it as she lays down, but it’s not focused on. It ties into Ben’s memory of Han and with Chewie receiving it later on.

We’ll have to see how it flows to cut out the short scene in which we learn Chewie is alive, because it breaks up the rest of the characters in hyperspace. I’m for it, if it’ll work.

Trimming the company getting caught might be good, I can’t tell from just my head.

I’m still not a fan of Hon firing his blaster without looking, because in this universe that should be something only a force user would do. however, given the callback in this movie, I’ll think about it.

Even within TLJ, Rey and Kylo Ren are shown to have a force connection after the death of Snoke. So I don’t think anything about episode nine undoes that at all.

The line about her parents being buried in the desert will remain cut out, but Kylo says what he does about Rey being sold for drinking money because he saw what was in Rey’s mind. If she didn’t know, how could he?

I don’t think the scene at the end of TFA would benefit from porg sounds, but who knows, I may as well play with the idea.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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And thanks for offers so far to help. We’ll see what would be helpful to have and I’ll air any such requests here.

I intend for this project to be fairly grounded and realistic in the interest of actually completing it and making it into something that can exist and be viewed.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Regarding Han shooting without looking, I played with a version where after he made the shot, he looked at the dead trooper and said, “Huh”, like he actually was surprised he managed to do it.

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@Hal 9000 Can you remove the voice-overs of Mace Windu and Aayla Secura speaking when Rey fights Darth Sidious? It contradicts previously established lore in the pre-sequel trilogy canon, in which only Obi-Wan, Yoda, Qui-Gon, and Anakin knew how to become Force ghosts.

The unfortunate reality of the Star Wars prequel and Disney trilogies is that they will always be around. Forever. They will never go away. It can never be undone.

I also prefer to be referred to as “TNT”, not “Freezing”.

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Yeah, I don’t know though. If a thousand generations live in her and she’s trying to commune with past Jedi, I guess it’d have to be more than like four guys.

I’m not sure what the canon explanation will end up being, though.

I suppose one of Anakin’s lines could be trimmed thus: “Restore the balance, Rey (, as I once did).”

Given how the sequel trilogy planned out, the only natural interpretation would seem to be that Rey ended up as the chosen one. Given TLJ especially, the prophecy thing is a bit misguided, though its nonfundamentalistic essence can be valid in the sense that anyone could be. One could argue that Anakin failed, though did come to redemption. Luke did likewise in a way. Then, the Force awakened in Rey who went on to embody all the Jedi and decisively destroy the Sith. How could it be otherwise, in hindsight? That’s how religious prophecies tend to go IMHO: they are people groups grappling with their realities, and the details are best taken somewhat loosely.

So, Anakin beckoning her to restore the balance can lend some credence to that. Sort of like how Qui-Gon in LOE encouraging Yoda to “complete what [he] could not” implies that the chosen one remains as potential for the future (Luke, supposedly at that point).

My stance on revising fan edits.

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RogueLeader said:

Regarding Han shooting without looking, I played with a version where after he made the shot, he looked at the dead trooper and said, “Huh”, like he actually was surprised he managed to do it.

I’ve never liked the Han not-looking shot, but the Ben call-back makes me feel like I need to include it. I like this solution.

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Hal 9000 said:

Yeah, I don’t know though. If a thousand generations live in her and she’s trying to commune with past Jedi, I guess it’d have to be more than like four guys.

I’m not sure what the canon explanation will end up being, though.

My guess is simply that the voices are not Force ghosts. We never see Luke have to struggle to speak with Ben or Yoda. Rey’s attempting to commune with those who have become one with the Force, whether they’ve achieved “immortality” or not.

I will say, I don’t like including this in the crawl. The crawl is an opportunity to include information not in the film itself and frame the story in the way you choose. When we meet Rey, we learn she’s trying to contact the past Jedi (so putting it in the crawl is redundant and a missed opportunity). But why is she trying to contact them? The why is what should be in the crawl.

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Hal 9000 said:

Yeah, I don’t know though. If a thousand generations live in her and she’s trying to commune with past Jedi, I guess it’d have to be more than like four guys.

I’m not sure what the canon explanation will end up being, though.

I suppose one of Anakin’s lines could be trimmed thus: “Restore the balance, Rey (, as I once did).”

Given how the sequel trilogy planned out, the only natural interpretation would seem to be that Rey ended up as the chosen one. Given TLJ especially, the prophecy thing is a bit misguided, though its nonfundamentalistic essence can be valid in the sense that anyone could be. One could argue that Anakin failed, though did come to redemption. Luke did likewise in a way. Then, the Force awakened in Rey who went on to embody all the Jedi and decisively destroy the Sith. How could it be otherwise, in hindsight? That’s how religious prophecies tend to go IMHO: they are people groups grappling with their realities, and the details are best taken somewhat loosely.

So, Anakin beckoning her to restore the balance can lend some credence to that. Sort of like how Qui-Gon in LOE encouraging Yoda to “complete what [he] could not” implies that the chosen one remains as potential for the future (Luke, supposedly at that point).

cough There’s voice-over of Ahsoka Tano and she likely died after the originals and before the events of The Rise of Skywalker and that’s more than four… cough

The unfortunate reality of the Star Wars prequel and Disney trilogies is that they will always be around. Forever. They will never go away. It can never be undone.

I also prefer to be referred to as “TNT”, not “Freezing”.