Acbagel

Vladius said:

Acbagel said:

Watched the premiere last night, I think I called it pretty well to my expectations. The set design, color palettes, and feel of the worlds exceeded what I saw in marketing, I was pleasantly surprised with the environments, VFX, and characters for the most part, but there are indeed some glaring issues holding it back from being great. I think it will end up being a fine show, but unfortunately, Star Wars does not need fine. In fact, I would say fine hurts Star Wars at this point. They need big wins to restore some brand image. Is it fair to place that much pressure on The Acolyte? Probably not, but it’s reality, something has to come out to unify the fanbase if we want to see Star Wars stay at the forefront of the mainstream.

Why do we want that?

I made a number of different points here, so I’m not sure which one you’re asking about. Assuming the final sentence about Star Wars being at the forefront of culture, I think when it does that it’s proof of its outstanding and well-liked content. Star Wars has gone through many different periods of being a cultural phenomenon and it’s always produced great content in those eras. As a big fan, I want that to return because it means good shows/movies/games/stories and increases the probability of getting new and better content in the future.

The audience reviews for the Acolyte are very low so far. I disagree with a lot of what’s being said against the show, but overwhelmingly negative waves of reviews aren’t good no matter which way you frame it. That doesn’t bode well for investors pulling the trigger on future High Republic era shows or an Acolyte Season 2. Even if the criticisms aren’t fair and aren’t a direct critique of the Acolyte itself, but are instead a general protest against Disney, the money movers don’t make that distinction. They see: “Acolyte got bad reviews and had bad word of mouth online, it didn’t make enough money, scrap related future projects” compared to “Acolyte got great reviews, positive reception on social media, got us x # of new Disney+ subscribers, give us a season 2”.

I want Star Wars to be good/stay good. I think the Acolyte premiere was good, but a lot of people don’t (again, much of that is for alternative reasons, but money talks). I’d personally like Disney to focus on projects that have a higher chance of unifying the fanbase and possibly bringing Star Wars excitement into the mainstream of culture once again. I think the Acolyte is intriguing, but it’s not the project that will do that. Skeleton Crew is not going to do that. The Rey movie isn’t going to do that. Even Andor brings in only a segment of fans and won’t do that. I think a very faithful Old Republic adaptation story would (original Tales of the Jedi/KOTOR comic series), a post-RotJ Legends Luke animated show would, live-action Clone Wars movie with Hayden/Ewan/Ariana would, Darth Bane trilogy novel to film adaptation etc.

Maybe some people enjoy Star Wars becoming a bit more niche and having a split fanbase? If they do, I wouldn’t hold it against them if they are happy with how things are going and like the majority of content that’s released. But I’d like to see a return to widespread excitement. What project do you think would do that?

Watched the premiere last night, I think I called it pretty well to my expectations. The set design, color palettes, and feel of the worlds exceeded what I saw in marketing, I was pleasantly surprised with the environments, VFX, and characters for the most part, but there are indeed some glaring issues holding it back from being great. I think it will end up being a fine show, but unfortunately, Star Wars does not need fine. In fact, I would say fine hurts Star Wars at this point. They need big wins to restore some brand image. Is it fair to place that much pressure on The Acolyte? Probably not, but it’s reality, something has to come out to unify the fanbase if we want to see Star Wars stay at the forefront of the mainstream. The Acolyte does not appear that it will be that thing, but it’s certainly not a terrible show.

Pacing and Structure

The most glaring issue with The Acolyte is its pacing. The hyperspeed paced episodes seem crammed with short-form content, leaving little room for the story to flow naturally, for scenes to breathe, or for us to grow quick attachments to characters. It certainly has that “things are just happening” feel. This series’ potential is being massively held back by rapid and frequent cuts between A and B plots. Scenes often last only around 60 seconds before switching, which feels jarring and disjointed. This approach I suspect is an intentional move by Disney to maintain the action sequences and avoid the viewer drop-off experienced by previous series like Ahsoka and Andor, which received complaints of being “boring” or “slow” (not from me), but here in the Acolyte with a new timeline setting and brand new characters and an unfamiliar storyline, this rapid cut pacing ultimately disrupts the storytelling rhythm. I truly think that each episode was originally ~50 minutes and was chopped to hell in post-production to cut down to get to the action. I really do not like this kind of editing.

The structure of the premiere overall was poorly done in my opinion. Especially the endings to each episode feel extremely tacked on and do not flow whatsoever with character arcs. Very bad forced “hooks” that barely even function as hooks. This show does not want to be 30-minute episodic format, but I believe it was forced to be in Post.

Dialogue and Writing

The dialogue in “The Acolyte” is a mixed bag. While it does not fall to the level of being objectively terrible, it fails at delivering impactful and memorable lines. Fans of Lucas’ dialogue (I find myself strongly in this category, highly recommend watching this video to learn why: George Lucas: King of Wooden Dialogue) may find some nostalgic charm at times, but I absolutely understand why others might find it lacking in the depth that Andor possessed. At the very least, I am happy that this series avoids the contemporary lingo that plagued The Last Jedi and some of BoBF, but the lines here also don’t quite capture the epic feel that Star Wars dialogue is known for. It’s not a standout, but it’s not distractingly bad.

The writing of the plot is intriguing enough to keep my interest piqued, but not enough to impress me. Compared to some of the best show premieres (GoT, Lost, The Boys, House of Cards), this is nowhere close to being called “incredible 10/10!”, nor is it “absolute trash, 1/10!”. It’s a very middle-of-the-road plotline. It’s a simple murder “mystery” where we already know the murderer and some of her motivation, though I am positive there will be some twists here. The element of how the Sith play into all of this is the greatest hook the show has. We had some decent moments teasing this aspect, but it failed to build any tangible tension. I am interested in seeing where this goes, so it’s not bad writing, but I am certainly not on the edge of my seat wanting to rewatch and anticipating next week with great excitement. The prison escape on the ship, the crash, and some of the “infiltration” into the Jedi Outpost in episode 2 was quite weak in terms of writing, but there is at least intrigue with the relationships being developed, the Jedi investigation, and the looming Sith presence. However, someone watching this with no context of the timeline or what the Sith are will be feeling extremely bewildered I would imagine.

Production Quality and Creative Direction

Despite having a significant budget, The Acolyte still feels constrained creatively. There’s a palpable sense that Disney’s marketing team heavily influenced the production, resulting in a cautious approach that prioritizes accessibility over depth. The potential for a more mature and well-crafted narrative is evident but remains unfulfilled. This cautiousness likely stems from Disney’s desire to avoid another significant failure for the “Star Wars brand”, which is currently at a critical juncture for its profit margins. This leads me to feel like a lot of the creativity is stifled and stale. The VFX is good, not outstanding, but serviceable to bring you into the world. I was hoping that this era would feel more distinct, but I am at least pleased that I can say some of it felt like Star Wars. Props to the crew for being able to invoke a feeling that is extremely difficult to replicate. The costumes look a bit stiff, and I think that’s part of the point, but it doesn’t translate well for the point they want to make. You can make the Jedi give the vibe you’re going for without having every robe look like it’s oversized and pulled right off the press. Have to highlight a couple of great designs like the hyperspace droid chairs, the starship models, and the appearance of the Jedi Temple. I will say “No comment” on the pudgy Jedi…

Hope to see more of the High Republic’s uniqueness expanded upon in future episodes, but for now, I think we’re missing the worldbuilding needed to get people interested in these hundreds of years of potential storylines. The style of combat selected for creative purposes does seem to be at the forefront, and I was neither blown away nor disappointed by it. I prefer it to the absolutely atrocious fight choreography and shaky cam in BoBF, Ahsoka, and Kenobi, but it’s still nowhere close to Prequels combat scenes or even other large Hollywood productions (this show had a Dune-sized budget… it has to be judged at a high level). I dislike the constant pausing in the fights, that feels very unnatural, grabs a leg, freeze, lock eyes, start next sequence of choreographed moves. Nick Gillard was so intentional about making attacks look like they are intended to harm/kill, and the threat just doesn’t feel there at times in this show.

Performances and Characters

On a positive note, some performances, particularly by Sol, really stand out and add a ton of value to the series. He is a great actor and his emotions translated well to his character. He reminds me of an emotional Qui-Gon. Of course, Yord is not a character we are supposed to “like” per se, but I enjoyed his presence in the story and for an annoying character, he is the good type of annoying. Jecki is kind of just there, but also not annoying. Not sure if this is just me, but I thought the weakest character in the show was Osha. Found her to be quite bland and I am not at all invested in where her character goes yet. Indara dying so early felt like a bit of a waste…? I understand the deaths of these Jedi is the premise of the whole show, but it’s hard to build memorable characters when each new one is dead within 10 minutes of appearing for the first time in a 30-minute episode. We really, really need some preliminary worldbuilding before characters start dropping or beginning their main character arcs. Other characters like Vernestra, Mae’s accomplice, Torbin, not much to say… I think it’s a waste that we miss out on the depth of development for side characters. The best shows make you care about side characters and even create whole individual scenes around them. Again, this goes back to the bad pacing because you’ll never accomplish this in 30 minutes of total screentime. We need 50 minimum.

Conclusion
Rating: 6.6/10 (I’d call it “pretty good”, but not “really good” or “great”)

Pros:

Standout performance by Sol
Visually pleasing environments that feel alive
Retains elements of “Star Wars” charm

Cons:

Poor pacing and way too frequent cuts
Feels creatively constrained by forced mass appeal
Lack of depth to the main characters and a simple storyline

Best scenes:

1. Sol at the Jedi Temple (great emotion in the performance, resembled a true Jedi with his demeanor)
2. Mae’s interaction with the Monk Jedi (interesting power dynamic, creates intrigue for Mae’s revenge)
3. Confronting Mae’s accomplice (decent tension here, unsure of what would happen)

Worst Scenes:

1. “Sith” hook at the end of episode 1 (worse than 0 budget fan films I have seen)
2. Intercutting of Mae’s crash landing and Jedi coming to rescue her (A/B plots moving WAY too fast)
3. Osha’s vision of Mae (dialogue was WAY too on the nose and expository, “Brendok!” “Hello, SISTER!” the rhyme about them being twins. Show, don’t tell, people!)

rocknroll41 said:

My enthusiasm for this show keeps fluctuating, but the new cast interviews popping up have reignited my excitement, thankfully. Seems like a lot of passion was put into this.

I am experiencing this too. My excitement has jumped up and down week to week from a 3/10 up to a 7/10 or anywhere in between. Really not sure what to think. My suspicion is that the show will be better than the marketing material which hasn’t been a great depiction of the tone/setting. Usually, trailers/teasers/marketing get handled by a completely different team and the director has little to no say in what goes out, and the tone is lost in translation. I think that’s happening here. But I’m with you that I do believe we have a genuine love of the source material and story from the director and actors. That has been missing in past Disney Star Wars productions and was noticeable.

I am currently expecting this show to release decently well and have a 7.5-8/10 review, landing somewhere better than the below-average releases we have been getting recently but not peak Disney Star Wars.

Darth Sadifous said:

I know I would like to personally see a “completed” book five while you tinker with book six if you don’t mind. I think we all understand it may not be the final “product”. However, release things when you are ready and let us know if you need any suggestions in terms of structure or what not for book six. Anyways enjoy the rest of your weekend and may the force be with you!

I think I can manage to get Book 5 ready for release soon. It’s just one scene I can’t say I’m 100% certain on yet, but it might just be a couple of lines of dialogue I’ll change in the future so I’m going to move forward with prepping for release.

I needed a new local storage drive to contain all my files, and unfortunately, I messed up some of my source footage placement… I don’t believe I deleted anything permanently, I just didn’t realize where certain files were linked from and I “lost” them on the drive. As in I simply can’t find them. One of Boba’s segments I forgot I had exported separately and then reimported, so I’m trying to reconnect everything. I definitely needed more space and better organization, so this new drive was necessary, but I have been recently tied up trying to relink everything.

Other than that, not a ton of new updates on Book 6. The only major news to share is that I am now leaning toward once again cutting Dr. Pershing’s content. This movie is just getting too busy, and his story is such a distraction (though it’s individually well done) and every time I’ve reviewed an Act, it always interrupts the flow of the Mandalorians. By Book 6, I have too many characters as-is that need satisfying conclusions. Din, Boba, Bo-katan, and Grogu all get a spotlight in this movie, so to introduce Dr. Pershing AND conclude him here… It’s too much. I am heavily leaning toward cutting it, especially considering this movie is trending ~3 hours already, adding him in there is holding back the flow of the main characters. I may release the mini-film of his episodes as we’ve discussed here before.

Other than that, I have completed audio on a couple of previous scenes, but the next step is an intense dive into the Battle of Mandalore. I have to analyze this thing from top to bottom and see what I can do with it. Disappearing fleets, a base layout that shatters the space-time continuum, and plant-filled symbolic caves, oh my!

PS: What did you think of Tales of the Jedi/ Empire?

I disliked it. Episode 4 and the beginning of 5 were great, Grevious and Thrawn looked good, but other than that… Big no from me. Don’t want to bog down this thread as it’s off topic but I posted my review here: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Tales-of-the-Empire/id/116495/page/1#1588394

Hope The Acolyte is good! I haven’t read any of the High Republic material, so going in pretty blind. The marketing material has been hit and miss for me, but excited to give it a fair chance.

It’s a decent idea Starkiller, but I would say it doesn’t work fully because with a proper understanding of the force, we know that the future is always in motion. For Luke to have such confidence in Kylo’s future violates a very foundational aspect of what we know of the force, and I think this dialogue reads as Luke simply acting like an arrogant dolt who doesn’t understand how the force works rather than him being forced into a legitimate moral dilemma.

Him just saying that he knows Ben’s fate is sealed comes off as him being in great error about reading the force vision, which Rey immediately corrects and she seems in the right. I don’t think this fully solves the problem of Luke still being presented out of character.

TheDimitrios said:

Always good to see this is making progress!

Regarding Bad Batch I hope we get a show that follows up on those plot lines. If Barris happens to be in it as well, there could be a nice way to do a Dark Times fan edit of BB, TotE and that new show.
Fingers crossed.

Honestly, a film or two of “The Dark Times” based on some animated plot lines with TotE and TBB might be pretty cool. Would be a hell of a task to pull off, but I do think it’s possible to have a movie or two about the Republic --> Empire transition that doesn’t solely focus on TBB squad. Something to mull over perhaps. Want to keep focus on TWoM here, but feel free to post in my TBB thread if you have other thoughts on a structure for that.

Final update, I have been working with a professional artist on slightly updating the logo for this series and creating a very well-designed movie poster for it as well. Not necessary of course, but I have put so many hours into this project over the years, it felt appropriate to create that for the final release coming soon.

Darth Sadifous said:

Hey Acbagel, how are you enjoyed bad batch? Have you done anymore tinkering with the final book yet or taking a needed pause to recharge? By all mean take your time, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I can’t wait for the final book this series (at least for now)!

Hey Darth! I did have a little bit of a break, took the family on vacation, had a huge event at work, and then have been working on two editing side projects as well (one relates to The Way of Mandalore and I’ll announce below). I also did indeed watch all of Season 2 and Season 3 of The Bad Batch + Tales of the Empire over the last three weeks, so that was a lot of spare time consumed but I like to stay relatively up to date with ongoing Star Wars stories. To be honest, I thought The Bad Batch peaked in Season 2 Episodes 7/8, the senate ones about the clone conspiracies. End of Season 2 was great as well, but I thought Season 3 went absolutely nowhere and didn’t wrap up any of the plots I was most interested in (Project Necromancer, the developments in the senate, the Clone Rebellions, Rex/Cody/Wolffe etc). So I was quite let down by the conclusion and ended up feeling like the whole series is a little bit pointless. I didn’t connect with the Batch or Omega at all, so I know they got a good story together but I thought they were by far the least interesting part of the series. Oh well, still might try to complete a movie edit one day…

So Book 6 update, I have spent a few hours going through Act 3 which is the battle on Mandalore. It’s not good, there was a lot of criticism about the nonsense structure of the base, starfighters completely disappearing, and very poor pacing, but some of the scenes are well made too (jet pack battle comes to mind). It’s been a lot to sift through looking for solutions. The first 2 hours of the movie are pretty much ready for a final polish check, but that last hour of the film is still a doozy to work out. I could release Book 5 updated right now, but I am somewhat worried I am going to have some idea in Book 6 that makes me need some scene from Book 5 or at least make me need to change a line or two so I’ve just been sitting on it… I might just drop it though as I’m still at least a month+ away from Book 6.

beachedwhale said:

I can see why it can be seen as a bit wordy, but as it is such a short scene I feel this takes the edge off of it. When imagining this taking place between two scenes I can see it not being so overbearing and giving it some substance as it is just a “travel” scene, but either way I think it’s a good job. The AI for Din is unbelievably great here! I like to keep the Skywalker inclusion as it shows with everything that’s going on Grogu is still on his mind.

I think there are a couple of instances where I can cut a word or two out, but I think we have to realize how much Din’s character is presented by season 3. He is VERY talkative compared to “peak Din” in season 1/2 that most people have in their minds. Not as many people have rewatched season 3 a lot, but he does indeed speak 2x-3x times more than in previous seasons. I look at it as part of his character growth in developing real relationships with people. As far as the mentioning of Skywalker, I have it integrated throughout the film that Grogu is still always on his mind and he’s constantly checking his pings to see if anyone from the academy has reached out because he wants to be with Grogu.

ildiem said:

Darth Sadifous said:

I like what you are doing with Boba, trying to integrate him into season three. The audio exchange isn’t completely there yet, but I definetly see what you are going for. I think less may be more. It seems a little too wordy as I know you are trying to sell the new plot through dialogue and insert in some legend’s material. Also, I would let the subtitles for the mando language stay on screen for slighly longer, they are a bit abrupt.

“Sorry, I can’t join you (just) yet. The Hutts are (already) showing interest in my territory. But I will be there when you need me.”

"Check again for a ping from Skywalker('s acedemy on Ossus).

I was thinking the same thing actually, no need for some of those words and phrases.

Acbagel, I feel like I remember seeing this somewhere, but have you already/do you plan on integrating Mando’a into your earlier movies? I can imagine it being pretty jarring otherwise, especially for someone like Boba to speak it since he hasn’t typically lived alongside Mandalorians.

Yes! So, announcement time… I have also been working on “Special Edition” releases of Books 1-5 with integrated Mando’a where appropriate, as well as tossing in more easter eggs throughout (akin to the ones I shared in Book 5/6 previews) plus adding new SFX in a number of scenes. Examples of that include recreating the SFX of the Armorer working on Din’s new armor in Book 1 (previously her hammers never made any sound, so I have reconstructed that whole scene’s audio track to make it actually sound like a sci-fi blacksmith), recreating the audio for Din’s final “flashback” of the Mandalorians saving him as a child etc.

Book 1 Special Edition is released now and in the folders I have previously sent. Will release the Special Editions of the others soon. Just been also trying to rewatch the whole series and make notes of little improvements to make. Also helps me brainstorm the right way to end the saga in Book 6 (for now). Post/DM if you want to see the films and do not have them.

The other side project has been starting my movie saga of The Boys, but I won’t go into detail about that here. I finished the first film of that, going to watch over the weekend and then make a thread and release that next week.

Thanks for checking in, hope to share more soon!

Keyan Farlander said:

The same for me, the new trailer was a solid improveemnt. I hope we get something like a 5-10 minute background video for this explaining what the whole series is about, the tone, before it airs. Something like, but for all the characters, or maybe an overview video from Headland herself?

This 2 minute YouTube video is from the official Disney+ Korea channel:

The Acolyte | Master Sol Lee Jung-jae Special Video

Honestly, this was the best trailer I’ve seen yet for the show. Wish we could get more character previews like this or what you mentioned as well. I think we are missing the background intrigue for this show, like we don’t even have a timeline placement for it yet. I guess it’s possible that could be a spoiler somehow that they’re keeping hidden, but part of the announcement for wiping away the EU was that Disney had a new plan for an organized and structured canon. We certainly didn’t experience that with the ST, no one (not even the directors) understands the chronology or placement for The Mandalorian/BoBF, and it seems like they’re just releasing projects flippantly without trying to work them into the star wars chronology.

The Acolyte has huge potential to bring interest into a structured High Republic era. I don’t like how the HR has gone with the out-of-order Phase 1, 2, 3 to begin with, but I think some background and structure would really help bring the interest in before release. I really, really want this show to succeed, I think it could launch a ton of interest into unique storytelling for this era. Just think the promo for it has been lacking a bit, but I like a lot of what I have heard from Leslye Headland in regard to Legends and her desire for character growth (though I am also concerned for just as much on the flip side for some of her comments). Either way, it’s all coming down to execution in 3-4 weeks. I am excited mostly for the concept of a new show in a new era, but very, very cautious with getting my hopes up.

daveybjones999 said:

So the new trailer for this show has dropped and it’s way better than the first one we get a much better sense of the stakes and the scale that the story is going to take place on. The action we see here looks better than the previous trailer as well. Also, it seems like the color grading is a bit better and we’re seeing scenes with more desaturated colors and a better sense of characterization. So the trailer makes me way more hopeful for the show, but there’s still something that feels missing and I’m not sure what it is.

Agree on this one, new trailer did a much better job than the first teaser. Made me a little bit more hopeful for this project. I disagree with a lot of the criticism online about this, and while I don’t think it looks great, I remain slightly optimistic about this story. Something does still feel off about it though! I don’t feel “High Republic” setting when I watch. It looks like a very sterile hollywood production, but I’m open to being wrong about that once we start seeing full episodes.

Very disappointed by the storyline decisions this time around. To the point where I was actively hating every second of watching Episode 6.

Visually, they have mastered their craft. The art style and thematic depictions are top-notch, probably the best we’ve ever seen in Star Wars animation.

Nothing wrong with Elsbeth’s episodes, other than I find them to be somewhat… pointless? I guess it provides a little bit more context for her appearance in Mando, and some of her attitude in Ahsoka. But when you have an entire universe of characters to choose from to tell 40 minutes of high-quality visual storytelling, I am not exaggerating when I say I could name 200 other characters I would have rather seen get the spotlight than Elsbeth. Her arc here just doesn’t mean anything at the end of the day. Grievous was the highlight of her episodes, followed up by Thrawn. Overall, very mediocre plot with great visuals and thematic presence. 6.2/10

Episode 4 starts incredibly strong with Barriss adjusting to a new life in the Empire. The pacing was as good as it can be in a 15-minute timeslot, and everything here was pure setup potential. Episode 5 appears to start to deliver on this with a very dark and compelling opening scene, but wow does it go off the rails. All of the setup from the previous episode gets tossed out the window, and we get example #100 of dark sider turns good. I just really can’t fathom how that decision makes sense in the second half of the episode. Then 6 just completely lost me from the very premise, to the point where I actively disliked watching it anymore. The Sister gets just as much focus as Barriss, the stupid stab through the chest doesn’t kill people trend, she ALSO turns light, Barriss looks 50 years older but the Sister hasn’t aged a day? And what a tease of Vader for absolutely nothing. That was by far the most interesting premise in the entire show, yet we don’t get anymore than the trailer. Visually still looked great, but I strongly disliked the storyline choices to the point of not even enjoying watching it and now having to try to wipe it from my mind, so a 2.3/10 for me on this arc.

I was a huge fan of Tales of the Jedi, but Tales of the Empire really, really dropped the ball for me. The title of the show barely even makes sense… The Empire was not the focus at all, and at least half the show is set in a time period where the Empire doesn’t even exist. Just very confusing directing decisions, and I left feeling like at best this is simply not worth watching because it adds nothing to the saga other than an improvement in visual effects, and at worst feeling like I disliked it so much I’m going to pretend it doesn’t exist in my headcanon. It gets a 3.1/10 overall from me and I would not recommend it to anyone unless you view it as a tech demo for what the future of Star Wars animation could be.

This final episode of Season 3 in the “Bad Batch” series certainly had its moments, but as a conclusion to the season and the entire show, it left much to be desired.

Throughout Season 3, we were treated to an improvement in storytelling compared to previous seasons, with intriguing subplots hinting at deeper narratives and a lot less random unconnected filler. However, Disney’s tendency to wrap up entire arcs in single episodes rears its head once again, leaving many of these promising storylines unresolved.

From the repetitive rescue mission involving Omega to the lack of consequence for the Bad Batch members, the show as a whole failed to deliver the stakes it initially set up, and this finale episode kind of embodied that. Despite the illusion of danger, no significant character deaths occur, and even Crosshair’s injury feels inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. We are barely even given a moment of him dealing with it, physically or emotionally.

The subplot involving the Kaminoans and their supposed contingency plan is introduced but never fully explored, leaving me wondering about its significance. Similarly, the rushed resolution of Project Necromancer feels forced, with Disney’s insistence on including it seemingly motivated solely by retroactive continuity for the sequel trilogy.

The appearance of characters like Wolffe, Cody, and Rex teased potentially compelling storylines that are ultimately left unfulfilled. Their lack of involvement in the finale feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering the setup for their inclusion earlier in the series.

Even beloved characters like Scorch are given lackluster exits, further adding to the disappointment. Tarkin’s sudden authority to shut down the Emperor’s project feels out of place, and his decision to reallocate funds to the Death Star’s construction contradicts established canon.

While this episode may have its merits on its own in terms of great tension building, incredible visuals, fun action sequences, and ultimately an emotionally happy ending, as a finale to Season 3 and the “Bad Batch” series as a whole, it falls short of expectations, leaving many loose ends and unresolved plot points in its wake. 6.7/10 finale episode, 6.3/10 for the series as a whole.

Sirius said:

Hey Smudger, I’d like to make a suggestion. Do you think it would be a good idea for you to “create” an ending for this third film that had more of an ending feel? Perhaps it is possible to produce an ending that gives at least some kind of answer to all the unresolved plots, even if they are vague answers, repurposing scenes that were discarded from its three edits. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, just something that gives a sense of conclusion.

For example, from what I understand, you will cut the Teth arc. But maybe it would be good to show a scene from this arc at the end, just to imply that Rex’s clone cells are still organizing themselves and will continue fighting against the empire, or something like that.

When Omega, as an adult, looks at Tech’s glasses, just before leaving Pabu, maybe it would be cool if she had a flashback at that moment to something Tech taught her, maybe even something that was motivating her to fight for the rebellion. Or maybe at this moment, make her have a touching memory with all the members of Bad Batch, as if it were her actually saying goodbye to the group. Since you left a lot of filler scenes out of the three seasons, perhaps this would be a good time to use one or more of those scenes that are inspirational, something that makes her remember fondly the moments she spent with them.

Maybe some changes like these will give the ending more impact, I don’t know.

I definitely support this idea too. Honestly, the ending was so simple and standard it makes the whole lead-up adventure barely seem worth a watch, unfortunately. It really needs something more if it’s going to pack any sort of punch. Lots of dangling plot threads, characters introduced and leave for no reason, even the whole premise of the final arc being rescuing Omega for the 27th time in this show… Kind of disappointed. It wasn’t bad by any means, but not good either. Would be in support of a radical re-edit for the ending.

Thanks for the in-depth reviews, Patali! I will respond to those soon. Sent links to everyone else.

Editing progress has been a little bit slower as of late, I’ve actually been using the majority of my free time catching up on The Bad Batch. I still hadn’t even watched through all of Season 2, so I had quite a bit to view. And I have also been distracted finally reading Star Wars: Supernatural Encounters (You can actually find my name in this book 😉 ). So I’ve been consuming rather than creating lately, but I had some technical stuff I was working through for the edit and it was just taking a lot of time and focus. The rotoscoping and soundtrack recreation is quite extensive here.

I have one new scene to share, this is a first demo of Boba’s AI voice and a snippet of how I plan to tie-in Din and Boba’s storylines through Season 3 material. Not final scene yet, but it’s getting there. I have completely rebuilt 100% of this audio from scratch, not one single noise is from the original, this is like 20 brand new SFX mixed together to create an entirely new scene here so it’s been a lot of work, but it’s a plotline I need to communicate so it’s been worth it. Still have some blending to do on some of this, but just wanted to share so you all have an idea of why these things take so long at times! Let me know what you think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfmMulMeovg

beachedwhale said:

Have just finished another Star Wars rewatch including your fan edits and it never gets old seeing the back and forth with Din and Boba!

For some reason Boba taking the shot against Din on the speeder sticks with me the most, it adds further context to why he plans ahead with the Grogu hostage situation after seeing him in action, such a minor addition but I love it.

Unfortunately I do not have any criticisms or prompts to assist with, I’ve been following this thread for so long and like the others am really eager to see how it all caps off, it’s fair to say everybody has opinions on S3 with the lack of Boba and Grogu jumping back in.

That’s wonderful, glad you had a good time with the series! I look forward to showing you the conclusion soon.

Appreciate it is the wrong thread, but can I please get links to your sequel trilogy? Been having a read through and I am pretty keen.

Haha sure I’ll DM you!

In the meantime keep up the amazing work and I will continue to watch your career with great interest!

Thanks! I didn’t get much editing time this week as I had to travel out of state for work, but I got one new scene done that required an extensive audio rebuild.

Having a little bit of a narrative challenge with how freaking fast the clans leave Nevarro to Mandalore. No time to breathe at all… Two total scenes from the time they land on Nevarro to when they leave, it’s not fun to work with. The difficulty is with placing the Grogu-IG walker scene, since I have their reunion so much later it’s just tough to fit that in. Working on moving some stuff around but there just isn’t a lot of content here to deal with.

Sent! I haven’t worked on these edits in a couple of years, but they are moved into a new folder with easy access for anyone still interested in watching. So feel free to keep asking for them! I would like to go back through these at some point in the future for updates, but it will be a while.

I just watched the first film of Smudger’s series here and I have to say, for what you set out to do (Season to movie adaptation), this edit was seriously done perfectly. I don’t think there is any way to break down this whole season into a better movie than how you did it. From the editing tricks to making the storyline make perfect sense from start to finish, to the added worldbuilding through Echo’s flashback, indistinguishable small uses of AI lines, and more, I was never left confused about the overall structure of the plot.

Technically, the edit is in a near-perfect state as well. No distractions from soundtrack changes, the quality was great, and I didn’t see any visual bugs. The only tiny thing was I thought some of the added wipe transitions were a little fast, the one that stood out the most was when they’re traveling back from the snow world in the opening scenes, I believe the original was a slow fade to black but here it was changed to a quick wipe. I think I noticed a couple of times where the transitions were altered and the wipes flew by too quickly, but this was quite minor overall.

If you are looking to consume a season of the Bad Batch in one sitting, this is absolutely 100% the best way possible to do it. You don’t need an episode guide flow chart, or timestamps to skip to the ends of certain episodes when the main plot moves, just watch Smudger’s edits! You will get the series’ core storyline in the best presentation possible.

While I do think that this is a 10/10 for accomplishing a quality Season-to-movie goal, I do have to point out that there are some inescapable narrative challenges with such a format. Particularly in the development of relationships between characters, there is just no possible way to show their bond grow over time when considering the need to tell this story in ~3 hours max. Omega’s relationship with the Batch did not initially feel like a natural growth, as obviously, Smudger has to cut a large number of side adventures in order to preserve this single movie format. I could definitely tell as a viewer that I was missing something because Omega bonded with certain members of the Batch way too quickly and it felt like I had missed the reason why. For example, since we primarily jump from Episode 1 almost immediately to Episode 8, we’ve missed about 2 hours of stories where Omega connects with certain members of the Batch through these side adventures (and yes, many of these filler episodes are indeed boring and do not impact the events of the main storyline whatsoever, but they do serve to pace out the bond formed between characters as each episode does usually contain a moment or two of growth). So when we jump through half a season, Omega suddenly out of nowhere shows extreme care and concern for Wrecker when he is getting his chip removed and calls him “My friend”, even though they have not shared any character moments together and appear like strangers to a new viewer. This is again noticeable when Omega says to Wrecker, “Can you show me how to arm this kind?” as she points to an explosive, referring to a previous episode where Wrecker and Omega go through a trial in disarming a bomb together, but since it’s a filler episode that was cut and we don’t see it in this movie, this character moment is lost but as a viewer I can still tell she was referencing something I never saw. Again, this isn’t Smudger’s fault, it’s an impossible challenge to solve in a Season-to-movie format, but for people watching TBB the first time through this edit, you should be aware that characters do have quite a bit of bonding that occurs outside the main storyline that you won’t be able to see. I noticed similar trends with the pacing of which Crosshair searches for TBB as well, but these missing character moments were the only storyline distraction as the actual events of the main plot work perfectly in the way you’ve structured it.

With that said, I do again want to stress this is seriously a 10/10 edit for the goal it tries to accomplish. You cannot edit a season into a better movie than how Smudger has done it, so for anyone looking for a single sit-down TBB experience, or wanting a refresher before watching Season 3, this is 100% the perfect edit for you. Thanks, Smudger, for all the hard work! It was perfect for what I needed as a recap as I tried to catch up on this show.

Wish they’d just adapt the Dawn of the Jedi novel/comics from the EU. I really want to see Disney Star Wars attempt a genuine and faithful EU adaptation to live action, and the Old Republic/Dawn era is a perfect place to experiment with this.

Darth Sadifous said:

Seems you are hard at work and have a roadmap laid out for the final book at least until the Mandalorian movie comes out now in 2026. I am eager to see the conclusion as Season Three of this show combine with the Book of Boba Fett are the original source material I had the most issue with like many others. The prolonged Grogu/ Din reunion and Boba Fett being semi involved in the final season of The Mandalorian will definetly make this my go to version for rewatches. Also a dedication to Carl Weathers at the end would be a nice touch!

Thanks, excited to share this film with everyone sometime this spring! Just finished rotoscoping Grogu out of the final Nevarro scenes as I have the reuniting occurring between the fleet landing on Nevarro and before they leave for Mandalore. I am working on another The Way of Mandalore project on the side too… Will announce that soon.

But yeah, cool that the Mando-Grogu movie (I really hope that doesn’t end up being the actual title…) has a release date! I think that will be easier to make a fitting fan-edit of for this series compared to the TV show. Or maybe it’ll be so good on its own that it won’t even need an edit 😃

Do you take any stock in the fact that Giancarlo Esposito recently floated his idea to return again as the clean shaven Gideon who met his demise is a clone theory. I’d rather him stay dead at this point. It is like if they had brought back Captain Phasma for TRoS. I think we would be entering into the “you killed Kenny” territory.

Oh boy… I think the writers intentionally left it open for future options as they didn’t know during filming how Season 4 vs the Mando-Grogu movie was going to pan out. They left it open to bring Gideon back or just leave him dead, but I absolutely hope he is dead and gone. Quite fatigued of people dying but not really in recent star wars. His character arc was trashed enough in season 3 so I don’t know what other intrigue the character brings. Certainly, there are better options for new antagonists.

Hey Smudger, would love to watch these when you get a chance. Haven’t seen Season 3 yet but want to binge before the end, and could definitely use a refresher on previous content. This seems perfect for that!

Tobar said:

Acbagel said:

Grievous on Dathomir killing Nightsisters…?? Son of Dathomir adaptation perhaps?

This looks to be a retelling of the battle in Massacre from Elsbeth’s perspective. I don’t think this has anything to do with Son but I still hold out hope that we’ll see that and Dark Disciple adapted as miniseries some day.

Ahh, you may be right… Man, would’ve been a great time to make DD or SoD. Hope to see those brought to life one day.

Grievous on Dathomir killing Nightsisters…?? Son of Dathomir adaptation perhaps? I am intrigued by that and the Bariss storyline. The Elsbeth background storyline, not so much. Thought she was really wasted in Ahsoka, and I don’t think delving into her family history and revenge storyline is going to make me care about her any more.

Overall, this is a nice surprise of a show to be added. I am shocked it was kept under wraps so well! I like the idea of these anthology animations covering the different factions. A lot of potential there. Tales of the Old Republic someday…?

Just a brief production update. Been mainly working on getting the Boba voice model (have a special guest helping with this) and creating a few scene edits with his new lines, and almost done rotoscoping Grogu out of the rest of Plazir-15. Have 3 more scenes to do of that, and then I’ll be moving on to the final assault on Mandalore (which is 1+ hours of content to work through). I am currently trying to place Boba’s storyline against the Hutts around this too, so still a lot of organizing and individual scene edits to make, but progress is going well.

Darth Sadifous said:

vranir said:

Very good.

I’m not sure about the back shot of BoKatan right before he asks if it should be hers. Otherwise, the pacing of the lines with the visuals is great.

I agree. It really comes together when you see it paired with the visuals. However, I did think the backshot of Bo stood out slightly, but it is not a hill I would die on. Overall, you making Book of Boba Fett and Mando season three worth watching is truly…wizard!

Agreed, it’s a little bit jarring! I’ll find a substitute.

g00b said:

Speaking as someone who thinks season 3 of Mando completely dropped the ball. I don’t think you’ve strayed too far from the intentions of the show.

Inserting more of the Mandalorian culture is completely in line with the shows intentions. This season in particular became the season to explore what it means to be Mandalorian. Must they be from Mandalore? Must they fight? Are they a family? Is it about strength, an army, or connection? I think these questions are all explored with the original and are brought out to a much better extent with the changes you’re implementing.

I think what we see in season 3 is a rush to the finish, tapping into ideas but not fully exploring them and that leads us to rushed conclusions. E.g., Din gives the darksaber to Bo because of a technicality and she needed it to recruit her old Mandos. Whereas in your take, the darksaber is returned to Bo because she is the one designed to reunite the Mandalorians. Your take also feels more true to the overarching story of Bo Katarn AND Din. Also having Din tell this story in the critical moment enhances his character and motivations rather then dismissing them as I feel the original did.

I think the difference between the two comes through the exploration of myth (both through your armour scenes and this one) and the commitment to character arks. Your changes keep the essence of the story but enhance character, lore and story telling.

So no, I don’t think you’ve strayed far from the original at all! You’ve clearly got a passion for these changes. I’d trust that instinct and keep pushing your ideas forward!

Thanks for all the feedback. It’s a fine line to balance between trying to improve on some of the original ideas and rewriting it into something that’s no longer even the story. I want to stick close to improving while making changes that make sense.

vranir said:

If anything, I’d like to hear Din say “I was taught… but…” in this monologue, maybe in reference to the mask of Mandalore.

I’m not sure I’m fully tracking on this suggestion. Can you expand on your idea a little bit more?

g00b said:

I think the new lines work VERY well. I don’t think you should cut anything. I honestly don’t mind Din talking for a while here. With all the tension that builds up at the Season 2 Mando finale, we need a strong reason why Din and Bo don’t fight each other and I think this monologue works to explain that on a few levels.

Firstly, this monologue is a fight (both with Bo and the wider Mandalorians), so to cut it down makes the ‘fight’ easier.

Thanks for the feedback! Love the analogy of this moment being akin to a real fight, similar to how Bo-Katan just had to duel Axe Woves physically, now Din has to come in and duel him mentally. I have also sprinkled in lines throughout this film and the last one about how Din doesn’t want to fight Bo, just like at the end of Season 2. He stays consistent on this matter and has been trying to prove his point for some time, so this is the final culmination. He deserves a spotlight here.

Secondly, it helps build Din’s character. He’s no longer just traveling the galaxy solo bounty hunting. He’s lost Grogu by reuniting him with his perceived ‘family’ of the Jedi. He’s now looking to reconcile the Mandalorian’s to fill the void of not having Grogu as his family. Because of this, he’s now willing to lay down his weapons in pursuit of unity and I think this speech conveys that strongly. He wasn’t willing to do this before with Paz Vizsla but he is now. This is development that he completely missed out on in the original season 3 (although, it seems to be what they originally intended for him).

Absolutely! Great take on his characterization and growth. I think that comes across in this new speech.

I think your v2 attempt covers everything we need functionally for the story to work AND develops Din further. I think it’s awesome and you should keep it as is 😃

I am planning to cut just the two indicated lines, mostly for the sake of putting it to visuals, I don’t have infinite source footage to pull from. I have a first draft below of this new scene.

Darth Sadifous said:

I think it sounds pretty good, but reserve judgment until seeing it with visuals which I know you say is coming. Din does sound like he has slipped an ambien sometimes, but I just think that is how his character comes across especially with a modulated voice. I think it is just more apparent in this monologue because normally he is a man of few words so such a long speech may take a little getting use to.

Wish AI could be given some prompt to put more inflection into the voice based on mood. However, I am still in awe of how far the tech has come in just a year. Really looking forward to this final book. Thanks for putting in all the hard work acbagel.

Haha, yeah Din is popping xannys on the regular for sure. So I found the longest Din monologue from the D+ show and want to show this for comparison before you watch the demo scene. This is his speech to Bo-Katan on Mandalore, a good 40 seconds of straight dialogue. Listen to this delivery first.

And then compare it to my newly drafted scene with AI + video.

I think the performances are quite close, and definitely at least believable. Maybe not a knock-it-out-of-the-park delivery from AI-Pedro, but compare it to the original show’s 18 second “speech” of You defeated that robot 5 episodes ago so here’s your darksaber, sorry for hogging it for so long… I know that as a fan of the show, I 100% would’ve preferred a slightly flatter performance that delivers the story well compared to a tad more emotional but nonsensical and disappointing explanation for the Darksaber being passed off.

Agree? Disagree? Are these worthwhile changes or straying too far from the intentions of the show?

vranir said:

It seems a little long to me. It may be better with the visuals.

As far as how it sounds, the only line that struck me as really awkward was the words “for Mandalore” after “leader’s vision.” You could probably even just cut out those two words without losing any meaning.

I think it’s running a little bit too long as well. The video is not done yet because, like the Ugnaught preview above, the original takes have Bo-Katan’s head placements all over the screen and are inconsistent between cuts, gotta fix it first and sync everything with the selected dialogue.

What if I cut the segment around the part that sounded awkward?

“The Darksaber, much like the Mask of Mand’alor, is more than mere tradition. It’s a symbol, a beacon of leadership and unity. Mandalore was not lost because this weapon was accepted as a gift. Our downfall was due to our divisions… our ceaseless conflicts among ourselves. It’s not about the method of acquisition. It’s about belief… Belief in our leader’s vision for Mandalore. We stand here not as adversaries, not as foreigners, but as kin, bound by the soil of our homeworld. If the Darksaber truly is a symbol of our unity, then it should be a gift, passed from one Mandalorian to another. You have fought for Mandalore… bled for it. Your dedication to our people, to our home… You deserve to lead us. If this blade is to be wielded by the leader we believe in most, then I ask you all… Would it not belong to her? Would it not belong to her?”

That still plays well with the story and removes some perhaps unnecessary talking. I’ve listened to A LOT of Din lines over the last year of editing, and I’m pretty confident in how this model is delivering his lines. A few could be touched up but it’s pretty damn close, and I’d say indistinguishable on parts.