I’ll be interested to see your analysis on top of ours here after you’ve watched it through.

Unlike TCW, I think this show suits movies over shorter episodes, as its ongoing story is quite tight, and it’s got a far larger focus on its core cast than on being an anthology. I think with all the guff cut out it could end up being pretty great.

And unlike the current Mandalorian, where it’s a bit more flexible, I think season two ends pretty conclusively and with a clear direction, so we don’t need to see how season three pans out before finalising decisions on editing season two.

I suppose not as part of TCW:R, but as its own thing it’s something that’s likely to be out fairly soon. I have done some planning for the first two seasons over in Acbagel’s thread, but I do have a week coming up that I intend to spend editing.

Link please!

Interesting! I have some time coming up at the start of May which I intend to spend editing, probably focusing on this. I’d really like to crack the ending, I think I have a vision for it. I might play a bit more with Jar Jar’s voice too.

Looking back over season one, it’s either two longer movies or three shorter ones.

Working back to front, the last movie of the season is fairly clean - 11 and 12 (featuring Ryloth, Orn Free Taa, Hera and Cham Syndulla) can transition nicely into 14, 15, 16 (Gregor, Hunter’s capture, and the destruction of Kamino). 10 (Raxus) and 13 (Cid vs the Pykes) are skippable.

7, 8 and 9 (Rex, Scrappers, Cad Bane, Fennec Shand) are an important arc for more Omega characterisation and story, and I think could work as a closer to a movie. In 7, Rex has tracked the crew via the Martez sisters (seen in 6), but looking over the footage I think there’s an elegant way to switch that to Cut Lawquane, who it’s very reasonable he’s in contact with (as a former deserter only Rex knew of). That means we can skip 6.

Only a little of 5 is necessary - the Batch meet Cid, but then you can cleanly skip the majority and just have her give them the info on Fennec (if you’re keeping that content) or just maintain the intro otherwise and skip straight into Rex being there. Cid’s a former Jedi informant too, so we could even skip the Cut angle and go Echo’s info > Cid > Rex.

4 features Fennec hunting Echo, and has a bit of characterisation for both, but isn’t vital despite her appearance in 9. The Batch’s story from 3 is minor, but the Crosshair/Saw Gererra plot is important. Finally, 2 is nice but not vital, and 1 is necessary but long.

So, let’s put that (and the season two stuff) back together in order:

• (s01e01, 70m) Order 66 happens. The Batch meet Caleb Dume (Kanan), Omega, and Saw Gererra. The Batch desert. Crosshair remains with Tarkin. (Vital)
• (s01e02, 26m) The Batch meet Cut Lawquane and learn about inhibitor chips. Cut escapes, and Echo formally joins the Batch. (Important but possibly able to be minimised)
• (s01e03, ~12m) Tarkin and Rampart assign Crosshair to a unit of conscripts (Important).
• (s01e04, 21m) Fennec Shand hunts Echo. (Nice to have, but optionally skippable)
• (s01e05, ~5m) The Batch meet Cid (Vital).
• (s01e07-09, 71m) The Batch meet Rex at Cid’s (Vital). Rex sends the Batch to remove their chips. The Empire dispatch Crosshair, Cad Bane, and Fennec. Omega is captured but saved by the Batch. (All important)
• (s01e11-12, 48m) The Batch go to Ryloth and meet all that planet’s main characters. Crosshair hunts them. Howzer is introduced. (Important)
• (s01e14-16, 71m) Rex hires the Batch to rescue Gregor. Hunter is captured. Kaminoan politics. The Batch return to Kamino. Crosshair drama. Kamino is destroyed. (Vital)

The Batch’s character models change here.

• (s02e01-02, 43m) Phee is introduced (Probably important.) Cid sends the Batch to steal Dooku’s war chest. The Batch get a feel for a free life, and resent Cid (Important, probably thematically vital) Rampart and Tarkin drama (Interesting).
• (s02e03, 26m) Crosshair meets Cody. Crosshair’s doubts develop (Important), and Cody deserts (Interesting).
• (s02e07-08, 52m) Major focus on Coruscant politics. Chuchi hires Rex, who hires the Batch, to investigate the fall of Kamino. Echo leaves the Batch. (Vital, though Echo leaving could be downplayed)
• (s02e11, 26m) Focus on Kamino and cloning (Vital). Cid hires the Batch to fetch a Zillo Beast (Probably skippable).
• (s02e12, 27m) Crosshair realises the Empire won’t care for clones, kills an Imperial, and is imprisoned. (Vital)
• (s02e13, 24m) Disillusioned with Cid, The Batch travel with Phee to Pabu, and fight a tsunami. They are invited to stay. (Probably important for a few reasons)
• (s02e14-16, 73m) Howzer and other clones are rescued by Echo and Gregor. Chuchi questions them. Echo rejoins the Batch. Crosshair escapes enough to inform the Batch about the ASD. The Batch pursue the ASD lead to Tarkin. Saw Gererra and Cid are involved. Cloning remains in focus. (This one kept vague to avoid spoilers, but it’s Vital.

That would skip:

• (parts of s01e03, 23m) The Batch fix their ship on a moon (Skippable)
• (parts of s01e05, 24m) Cid hires the Batch to fetch a rancor in exchange for information on Shand (Skippable).
• (s01e06, 23m) Cid hires the Batch to fetch a Separatist tactical droid, and they meet the Martez Sisters (Skippable). Wrecker’s inhibitor chip activates a bit (Interesting, but not important).
• (s01e10, 24m) Cid hires the Batch to fetch a senator on the former Separatist capital (Skippable)
• (s01e13, 24m) Cid hires the Batch to fetch spice to earn her base back from the Pykes. (Skippable)
• (s02e04, 22m) Cid hires the Batch to win a race. The Batch start to doubt Cid. (Skippable, though it might be good to use that doubt in a movie for emphasis)
• (s02e05, 25m) Phee and Omega drag the Batch into the plot of Indiana Jones with a doomsday mech. Phee gets a major focus. (Fun but weird. Skippable)
• (s02e06, 25m) The Batch are hired(?) to rescue Gungi, the wookiee padawan. (Good, but skippable)
• (s02e09-10, 52m) The Batch’s ship is stolen on a mining planet. Omega is super sad about losing Echo. Drama with some kid. (Skippable, though it might be necessary to emphasise the loss of Echo in the main show.)

Basically, the vast majority of Cid’s fetch quests are skippable. One or two tie into the main plot (and are thus important to keep), which probably helps protect us against any future references to them doing work for her.

Having done this analysis, I think that season two splits neatly into two movies (1,2,3,7,8; and 12,13,14,15,6; with content from 11 in either). Season one I think ends neatly (11,12,14,15,16), but it’s just the start of season one I’m not sure about whether it should be one movie or two. I can’t quite see two clean blocks in there with proper movie structures that run to a sensible ending - though I do think most of that content listed above is pretty important. Maybe we just have to go (1,3,5,7,8,9) and do without Cut and Fennec’s focuses.

Hm, this is a bit tricky now. 14, 15, and 16 are vital. That adds up to a lot, but I don’t think the season wants to be stretched over two movies - I think punchy and tight is best here.

1 introduces Phee, which might be enough with just a little of 13 to get enough of Pabu in the story.

11 can probably be trimmed to just the Nala Se focus rather than getting into the Zillo Beast.

Ideally it would be this -

• Open with 1 & 2 (trimmed), intercut with 7
• Transition into 8, but minimise the impact of Echo leaving
• Overlap all of the above with Crosshair’s story from 3 and 12
• 14, 15, 16 to conclude
• Pepper the necessary Nala Se and Pabu scenes throughout to make the whole work.

But that makes 4 hours. On reflection, maybe that forces this into two movies.

Maybe instead it’s-

• 1, 2, 7, 8, with crosshair’s 3 and Nala Se’s 11.
• 12 (crosshair) and a little Pabu before 14, 15, 16. Maybe a bit more of 11 to give the Batch something relevant to do earlier.

Those would be a little under 2h each.

I guess the major question Mando will impose on this edit is “Where in Mando S3 do we get content that feels it could conclude a film?” Because you backtrack from there to the content that needs to be included, and that’ll inform any final decisions regarding the structure of the end of the Mando S2/BoBF content.

Just had a look at the changelog and this second one is shaping up excellently too. I love this structure- Din fails to find a home with the wetlanders as Boba loses his with the Tuskens, then they crossover. Din’s story features Cara and the threat of constant pursuit throughout and becomes a true sequel to the previous one with the return of Greef and Nevarro.

I’m so glad you had fun reading the whole journey! I need to read back from about page 50 myself to pick up some old notes for future polish and my other post-release plans!

The Dooku episodes of TOTJ aren’t vital to TCW, as you say, but I definitely think they add value to the prequel movies and work well as a chronological introduction to the franchise and the prequels.

I really hope you enjoy the show!

Drakul said:

EddieDean said:

As the next episode renders, I’ve been thinking a little about structuring the finale of the show.

Interested in thoughts here.

Again I don’t know if you’re still looking for feedback but personally I keep the movies separate. I don’t like mixing too much media together because it kind of takes me out of it.
I try to keep the movies as pure as possible just trimming some of the annoying aspects which is why I like Hal900’s edits for the PT (I think I have the v3 or v4 but I haven’t been on these forums in years so I plan to check that after I’m done with your thread). For the OT I watch harmy’s de-specialized edits.

So my plan it to watch your show. Stop where it makes most sense. Watch RotS. and carry on.
I’m also interested in the Son of Dathomir content since I’ve never read that comic.

PS:On page 72, making my way and I grabbed your season 1.

Agreed, and definitely this version of TCW is designed to split around the viewer’s preferred movies. One day I may look into a merge but I’m not in a rush to do that because it’s not a great value add.

And yes! Son of Dathomir is great! It’s a good comic but the fans have done a really good job bringing it to life with voiced dialogue, SFX, music, and animation.

Ha! Well I don’t think it can quite compete with all the great proper edits that come out over there, but I’m very glad to have it listed.

smudger9 said:

EddieDean said:

I’ve just got the news that the edit is now finally IFDB approved!

Thank you all so much! ❤️

Congrats. I remember the hoops I had to jump through to get Army of the Republic approved back in the day. They have high standards!

Thanks so much Smudger! They absolutely do. Thanks so much for your original TCW movies, they really started this whole thing for me. I still maintain them for those who continue to request them! I’m proud my edit can stand alongside yours.

As part of the approval for this, I was requested to update my Hobbit edit to 5.1 surround sound too, so it can also be listed. If anyone’s interested, that’s here.

I’ve recently updated this to full 5.1 surround sound, so that it can also be listed on IFDB. It’s polished and complete.

I’ve just got the news that the edit is now finally IFDB approved!

Thank you all so much! ❤️

Oh, and I must especially emphasise here, Hal’s help over at Fanedit.org getting this over the line! I’m exceptionally grateful.

Acbagel has already seen this feedback, but he deserves it in public too!

Thoughts

• This is absolutely incredible. I can’t gush about it enough. There have been a few Mando movies hitting the key plot beats from the series, but nothing has done what this does, which is to restructure the existing content to add so much more value. Rather than covering the full plot of season one, this episode is much more of a character piece, and we really get the full picture of Din Djarin’s backstory, character, and challenges. It’s very satisfying, still action-packed, and amazing work.
• Episodes 1,2,6,3 really are the perfect introduction to Mando as a character. Episode 6, the prison break, does lots more great worldbuilding that absolutely belongs in Mando’s first appearance. In this movie, we now get such a complete picture of Mando’s backstory, Mandalorian culture, and the state of the galaxy post-OT. Perfect marriage.
• As we’d hoped, splitting the Grogu story around the prison break works so well. It’s now his final falling-out with the world of bounty hunting, and back into the Mandalorian creed and his adoptive son. Excellent.
• The use of the flashbacks was perfect, and I love how Acbagel took it further to combine Mando’s childhood rescue with the current-timeframe rescue scenes. It deepens the thematic links between Grogu and Mando’s Mandalorian culture. And I’m amazed how many nice moments you found to parallel - the shutting carrier with the bunker, and even the Mandalorian nods. Excellent work.
• The reintroduction of the Jawas worked well. There’s good Mando and Kuiil stuff in there, and a bit more nice worldbuilding. This was a good call.
• The audio work was perfect, it all flowed just great.

This was an absolutely excellent edit, executed very very well. I loved it, and I think it’s really going to impress. I have always loved this approach of trying to retain as much as possible from the show whilst just tightening it and presenting it well, and this movie is the perfect kick-off to that. It would make an excellent introduction to the show for a new viewer.

Glad you’re enjoying reading the process!

I’m never done done, so please always feel free to suggest things! This is totally a living project.

1. I did end up using ‘Snips’ in a few places.
2. That’s a nice nod, but I wanted to use ‘Force’ since it’s got a lot of implications - the military force, the darksiders on the rise, and the dark side of the force rising within Anakin. I like titles which can be read in a few ways.
3. I did end up going a little different with that text. Originally I tried to explain all three stories, but that didn’t really work. Now it’s still six sentences, but I took a more informal ‘storyteller’ tone with it.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

By far my favorite change I’ve seen so far was him putting Qui-Gon’s crystal in Kenobi’s saber chest. I can finally have my fandom explanation that Luke is using Qui-Gon’s lightsaber crystal in episode 6.

Oooooh that is a sweet change.

This sounds incredible - I cannot wait!

Looking at your edit sheet, I really like your solution to the bounty hunters’ fates in the prison heist. Great middle ground!

yoshif8tures said:

Okay so, so far out of season 2, you could make an arc out of episodes 2, 3, 7, 8, 10 and 12 so far, of which episode 12 is a must watch.

Totally agree with this. 7 could intercut with 1 & 2, and then lead into 8, which could conclude a movie if the season becomes two movies. 11 focuses on Nala Se and could fit in there too. 3 and 12 follow Crosshair’s journey, and might belong here. We’ll see where the rest of the season goes but it looks like this is a one-movie affair for now.

6, with Gungi, is OK, but a bit standalone. 5 and 13 feature Phee, which might become important later. And 9 and 10 might fill out the first of two movies, if trimmed, because they do have some good character work for Omega and Tech, plus they set up the Batch leaving Cid.

Season one could be two movies, but I’ll do the promised deeper research on it soon.

Hell yeah, great to have you back! Really interested to hear more of your plans.

I’ve been thinking a little more about a potential movie from the start of the show. NO PROMISES, as ever!

As Smudger and others have observed, it’s right that there’s a focus on Ahsoka meeting Anakin, plus the Clones, for a movie that follows AOTC. For that reason, the core should be the movie’s Christophsis content and the Domino Swuad arc. But I think we also need to focus a bit more heavily on Ahsoka’s early character development, which suggests Malevolence and Cloak of Darkness, and both of those feature Grievous and Ventress respectively, which I think fleshes out the plot nicely.

That way, you get the core three Jedi, a clone focus, and all of the main villains working together toward a single goal. I count thirteen main sequences across those episodes, ordered so the plot works and so the characters flow naturally through it:

1. (Malevolence) Plo Koon is shot down by Grievous’ massive ship (the “emergency”), possibly as a cold open.
2. (Hidden Enemy) Anakin and Obi-Wan, on Christophsis, are ambushed and track Ventress, discovering an invasion.
3. (Cloak of Darkness) Dooku pulls Ventress away from Christophsis since Gunray’s been captured.
4. (Movie) Anakin and Obi-Wan struggle against the invasion.
5. (Movie) Ahsoka is delivered to Christophsis (warning of the “emerency”), and helps Anakin win the day. Obi-Wan leaves.
6. (Malevolence) Anakin and Ahsoka rescue Plo. (I might pepper more scenes of Plo earlier than this, but the main conclusion comes here.)
7. (Domino Squad) The Domino Squad fail their training. (Intercut with the previous.)
8. (Malevolence) The Malevolence targets a medical station and is destroyed by the three Jedi. Grievous escapes. (I might actually cut this or leave it for a later conclusion. With the prior content leaving Grievous on the loose, that lines up nicely with his suprise appearance later.)
9. (Cloak of Darkness) Ahsoka returns to Luminara, and interrogates Gunray.
10. (Domino Squad) The squad are beaten by Grievous’ forces on the Rishi moon.
11. (Cloak of Darkness) Ventress comes for Gunray, Ahsoka survives, and Ventress escapes with Gunray (intercut with the above). (Add dialogue to have Ahsoka’s interrogation yield the Rishi hint for Rex.)
12. (Domino Squad) Rex comes to Rishi, and rescues Domino Squad. They learn of Grievous’ Kamino attack.
13. (Domino Squad) Everyone except Ahsoks goes to destroy or defend Kamino.

There’s a new tab in my spreadsheet you guys can look at if you want to dig into this further.

There are a few good scenes with the right people who can help bridge some of this. And potentially a few good ways to string it together. The Malevolence attacks are now more of a distraction to panic the Republic (“emergency!”) into helping enable the Rishi-Kamino strike.

The main issue is in focusing the first half of the film. You need to introduce the Malevolence threat early, and it’s useful to give Ventress a good reason to get off Christophsis, but then it feels a bit busy to also introduce all-new clones at the start in addition to all this - though you do want to give the 501st enough time to get from Kamino to Rishi.

I’d be really interested to get more brains on this.

Oh wow, that’s amazing!

This is so, so elegant. Not only does it give the audience much-needed information in a sensible in-story way, it actually smooths things out with the dreadnought line. Really impressive, a huge value add.