Count me interested! While I’d prefer setting Kingpin up earlier, focusing on the main players is a good instinct. I’m especially excited your using the GotG Holiday Intro, really Christmas it up! And the title of the edit? (Chef’s Kiss)
Thanks for the update, Sherlock, warms my heart to know you’re still working on this! I’ll admit, I’m more a fan of the “Rey waiting for Kylo” option with the ending, since an ambiguous ending is different enough from RotJ & it works as a meta-commentary for the franchise in general (“where do we go from Episode IX?”).
I’d hate to give you even more visual work to do, but I floated around the idea on other threads of incorporating the fan film “Force of Darkness” into the beginning, like with joshuabri’s edit. The idea being Kylo has an “ESB cave” scene as he picks up the Wayfinder has to fight Vader to get it, but here’s my spin: recolor Vader’s lightsaber blue & get a Christensen/Matt Lanter sound-alike.
The idea being that Kylo has to fight Anakin Skywalker to get the Wayfinder, who manifestation is filtered by Kylo’s view of Vader. New dialogue could be added to help better set up the idea that Palpatine’s still out there even if we’re not explicit, & the image of Vader holding a blue lightsaber would just be really cool to see.
Do you still have a link for this? Would love to check it out.
Anyone have copies of these?
Could I get a link as well? Some time’s freeing up & I’m excited to see this radical edit of the series.
That actually sounds very close to how I’d rationalize the decision in an edit: Ben still feels some toxic, co-dependency towards Vader, & wants the Sith to learn the lesson he did not learn as Anakin Skywalker. So yeah, color me intrigued.
I disagree, there are a few ways of addressing it. The one the seems like it’d work for this edit the best would be if Qui-Gon’s voice stressed to Ben that Anakin is still the Chosen One, so that Ben spares Vader against his better judgement.
Alright, that’s at least something. Color me intrigued.
Please tell me you fixed the end of Ben not killing Vader. Literally, I was fin with the series until that moment, because it comes across as Ben having watched Episode IV & knowing that Vader needs to stay alive rather than any satisfying, in-story reason.
Do you address the fact of Obi-Wan not killing Vader then & there. In the series, it came across as very irresponsible of Ben not to end him, regardless of canon or “not being the Jedi way.”
Color me intrigued at how you’ve cut the series to under 2 hours, but I’m curious if you’ve fixed the issue of Obi-Wan not killing Vader at the end of Part 6. As is, Kenobi no longer sees Anakin as Vader, so it shouldn’t be an issue for Ben to kill Vader then & there outside of canon.
Interesting that you’re keeping in the last action scene with Reva. Plus, since you have it so Obi-Wan senses her attacking the Lars homestead, now it makes sense that Obi-Wan leaves Vader behind because he’s now running against a ticking clock! Color me intrigued!
How did you address Vader staying alive after Ben has him dead to rights? It’d feel weird if boththis edit & RotS end roughly the same way.
Interesting that you’re adding Qui-Gon to the final Ben/Vader duel. Is he going to say something like “he is the Chosen One,” as a way of giving an in-universe reason of why doesn’t Ben just kill Obi-Wan?
I forgot, what was the consensus on squaring the “why doesn’t Obi-Wan just kill Vader” circle? Is it being addressed or will it remain untouched?
Thank you for ending the film on Jabim and avoiding the question of “why doesn’t Obi-Wan just kill Vader?” Color me intrigued.
With that said that’s still not a good reason for Obi Wan not to kill Vader in this moment in the show. For that I just assume he can’t bring himself to do it, which is the same thing he had in Revenge of the Sith. He has pity in the same way Bilbo and Frodo have pity on Gollum.
The problem with that is that, like you said, it’s the same. The context of the duel has to be different from what we saw before in RotS to feel meaningful & additive to the franchise.
This is the last thing that does bug me a bit. Here’s my suggestion… Save the end of Obi-Wan & Anakin’s fight from “AotC” for the end of the final fight between Obi-Wan & Vader in Episode 6. Instead of Obi-Wan saying “Then my friend is truly dead,” (this is the line that confuses me, because if that statement were true, then why would you not kill him here to protect Luke and Leia?) and instead have Obi-Wan complete his reflection on their duel as student & master. This way it comes across as trying to teach Vader the lesson he tried to teach Anakin long ago instead of a strange contradiction of his words and actions, and it brings a conclusion to the flashbacks we saw in the Episode 5 content. To compliment this change, also change the end of the Episode 3 duel by having Vader say his “The years have made you weak” line as Obi-Wan is rescued by the robot, further showing that Vader didn’t want to fight a weakling Obi-Wan.
Now, at the end of the series with these changes, Vader & Obi-Wan’s relationship has developed into something more complicated & co-dependent. Vader won’t kill Ben because he wants to fight him at his best, & Ben won’t kill Vader because he still considers Anakin his friend, he wants him to grow & gain the wisdom that Ben knows he’s capable of learning.
Hmm, now where have I seen that before…
Delete Ben saying “then my friend is truly dead,” & replace it with the end of Ben & Anakin’s duel from “AotC” where Obi-Wan is trying to impart a lesson. While Ben still disappointingly says “Good bye, Darth” to distance himself, deep down he still thinks Anakin is in there. This plays very well with the way the edit is currently is, with Vader refusing to kill Ben in Part III because “the years have made you weak,” & that’s unsatisfying for Vader.
So now, at the end of the edit, Vader & Ben’s relationship has developed into something more complicated & co-dependent. Vader won’t kill Ben because he wants to fight him at his best, & Ben won’t kill Vader because, whether or not he knows it, he still considers Vader his friend, & wants him to grow & gain the wisdom that Ben knows he’s capable of learning.
Still, thanks for agreeing & expanding on my original assessment, Acbagel!
Thank you for all your work, Anhojan. Take as much time as you need in polishing this edit.
I don’t question why Obi-Wan left Vader to die on Mustafar since (thanks to this series) Obi-Wan thought Vader died there anyway. As for in the moment of the duel, chopping off your “brother’s” limbs & watch him get set on fire has got to be pretty traumatic, even for a Jedi Master like Obi-Wan, so I don’t blame him for not wanting to do the deed then & there, much less risking smoke inhalation from the planet.
With the final duel here, I have a lot more problems. On top of taking place in a much safer environment, Vader is beaten by Obi-Wan AND basically absolves Obi-Wan of having killed Anakin Skywalker. By not killing Vader, Obi-Wan’s no responsible for all the people Vader will kill in the future. You have to do something to address it.
I think you can include Qui-Gon’s line about Anakin being the Chosen One if you remove Obi-Wan’s line about Anakin being truly dead. Obi-Wan saying “Goodbye, Darth,” will suffice.
Also, I second “Kenobi: A Star Wars Story.”
I love the music in all three videos, but the third one still bothers me because of Ben’s refusal to kill Vader. But,
I believe I’ve managed to galaxy brain a solution of “why doesn’t Ben just kill Vader” that doesn’t involve Reva.
Delete Ben saying “then my friend is truly dead,” & replace it with the end of Ben & Anakin’s duel from “AotC” where Obi-Wan is trying to impart a lesson. While Ben still disappointingly says “Good bye, Darth” to distance himself, deep down he still thinks Anakin is in there. This plays very well with the way the edit is currently is, with Vader refusing to kill Ben in Part III because “the years have made you weak,” & that’s unsatisfying for Vader.
So now, at the end of the edit, Vader & Ben’s relationship has developed into something more complicated & co-dependent. Vader won’t kill Ben because he wants to fight him at his best, & Ben won’t kill Vader because, whether or not he knows it, he still considers Vader his friend, & wants him to grow & gain the wisdom that Ben knows he’s capable of learning.
At the very least, it’s a better justification than “because the Canon says so.”
So, thoughts on Part VI:
All about adding in Qui-Gon speaking to Obi-Wan when he’s being crushed by rocks. Bonus points if, after Vader’s helmet gets sliced in half, Anakin sees a brief glimpse of Qui-Gon either behind or as Kenobi. Gives new context to Vader saying “I killed Anakin Skywalker,” raises the question on whether that line was to torment Obi-Wan or absolve him. Plus, way to twist the knife into Anakin’s turn to the dark side further, shamed by the one person who believed in him.
Some of Reva needs to be kept if only to explain why Obi-Wan doesn’t just kill Vader then & there. This was my only “wait, what” moment in the show. Kenobi admits that Anakin is really gone, so he should take down someone who’s still & threat and (as far as he knows) will not change. If he senses Reva attacking Owen’s farm, at least there’s a ticking clock that Obi-Wan has to beat & can’t waste time on Vader. I forgive a lot of the Reva stuff in this episode because (A) Even the Grand Inquisitor said “revenge does wonders for one’s will to live” in the last part, which explains how she survived being stabbed by Vader, as child & adult), (B) Luke took a bad fall & probably doesn’t remember her, chalking it up to the Tusken Raiders like Owen said, & © the stuff kid Luke pulled off in the comics bugged me much more than this fight.
For the overall edit, I wonder if it’s worth bringing Reva’s backstory to the forefront, of staring Vader in the eyes as he marched on the temple, try & earn the audience over a little earlier.
Overall, I prefer Obi-Wan Kenobi over most Disney-SW, but I look forward to your edit.
Best episode so far? Love that Hayden gets to show his face (even if it wasn’t de aged), love that the flashback fight happened around Attack of the Clones love the reveal with Reva (CALLED IT, BTW!!!), love getting to see Vader dual wield, love Tala’s death scene (it’s kind of astounding how I cared about Tala more than almost anyone else introduced in the Disney canon lately), love Kingo’s return, just a lot to love in this episode.
Probably justifies cutting out Part IV in your edit, lol.
I second that motion, maybe having a flash of Snoke’s face for a frame of footage when Kylo first meets “Palpatine,” to better set up the twist.
Hope you’re still working on this, even if it’s just little by little everyday. Your edit sounds very transformative & worth the watch.
Do you still have links for these? I’d enjoy seeing a more consistent ST, lol.