- Post
- #1509127
- Topic
- (The Mandalorian+BoBF) The Way of Mandalore | A Legends Movie Saga (Final Update in Progress: 5/6 Done)
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1509127/action/topic#1509127
- Time
What runtimes are we ending up with here?
What runtimes are we ending up with here?
Thank you all so so much.
Hinvention, there’s a short arc in TCW that makes an optional episode zero of Bad Batch, but while it is set during the Clone Wars, it’s not part of TCW:R. I’d just watch it when you choose to pick up Bad Batch. The spreadsheet marks this all out - ctrl+F for ‘Bad Batch’ should illuminate all you might need to think about.
This sounds so good!
Alright! I did cut together the ending credits in a way that lets me chop and change. Let’s see how Tales of the Jedi goes next Wednesday then I’ll make the call.
Thank you my dears!
That’s all that, eh. Forty six episodes, down from 137, in just under two years. Sixteen hours trimmed. Over twenty eight hours released.
Of course, that isn’t all that, not really. Two episodes need final polish, and eleven need a little tweak to opening and closing credits and another once-over. And naturally there’s more of your feedback to be accommodated. Oh, and whatever the Tales of the Jedi shorts add for us in a few days’ time. But that original goal, of producing complete episodes comprising a full end-to-end show, has been achieved.
Well, not really. There’s still optional extended versions of five episodes, five optional ‘wider canon’ arcs, and as many as fourteen ‘I’m more tolerant of the bad stuff’ optional episodes still to be made. But then I’ll have a version of this for any audience.
Well, not quite. There’s still Bad Batch episode zero to create, plus the movies to consider mucking around with. But then I’m done-done.
What’s to say, but thanks for all your support and sense of community these past two years. I wouldn’t have started, continued, or finished this project, if it wasn’t for all of you. Every last word posted in this thread has been valuable to the process, and to the final product. Please - still - don’t consider any decision made here final, keep your feedback coming, and I will keep these edits living. I am always, always, willing to refine this content to make it the absolute best possible experience for all of you.
I would sincerely love to know what you guys think of the finished product - especially how the Mauldalore content works when the show is watched end-to-end. I’m very happy to run a weekly community watchthrough of one episode at a time, if there’s interest in that, and I’ll definitely have the as-yet unpolished episodes polished by the time we get to them in a live runthrough if so.
This is a little extra, just to close out the Maul/Obi-Wan plotline that’s been such a key feature of this series and the prequel era. It’s intended for people who DON’T intend to watch the rest of the Star Wars Rebels animated show. To that end, I’ve removed all Rebels context, allowing the plot to focus on Maul and Obi-Wan, with Ezra just being a context-free tool of Maul - though he still has character. As to how he’s a force-sensitive with holocrons and knowledge of Maul and Obi-Wan, well, the viewer would have to watch more of Rebels for that.
Noteworthy changes:
Onwards to - ope, nothing! We’re all done!
This is the final episode of my edit, comprising the final two episodes of the show, which play back-to-back almost literally shot-for-shot (we don’t need the second episode’s new establishing shot). It’s perfect, and there’s not much to say about it.
I technically could have used this episode’s opening scene (Ahsoka takes Maul to Bo Katan) as the conclusion of the previous episode. That would have been neater from a chronological perspective, and left another useful implied timeskip before Maul (now in a Jedi prison) is handed off from Bo Katan to the Republic. However, in this case, the previous episode’s ending (Ahsoka staring doubtfully into the future), and this episode’s opening, are just too strong.
Noteworthy changes:
Onwards to a little extra nugget of content - the Maul and Obi-Wan coda.
This is the second episode of the arc, The Phantom Apprentice, but skipping the opening scene from the previous episode, Old Friends Not Forgotten, because I’ve added that to conclude my first episode in this arc. Now we simply open on the meeting which followed that scene originally.
This episode fits chronologically after Palpatine’s rescue, but before Anakin discovers Palpatine’s secret - during the period of tension and doubt in Anakin’s mind.
I’ve deliberately split this arc here because it allows you to mentally fit in a few days’ time jump if you want to - which the movie also implies around this time.
Noteworthy changes:
This is the first episode of the arc, Old Friends Not Forgotten, but concluding on the opening scene from The Phantom Apprentice. The original ends on a cliffhanger as Ahsoka faces Maul - this version shows us that fight and Maul’s escape before concluding the episode (for a cleaner break when watching chronologically).
It also includes most of the Padmé scene from the Siege of Anaxes, as shown in A Distant Echo, part of the Bad Batch arc. On review, I decided that the Bad Batch arc doesn’t belong in TCW:R. (It’s just not that strong and distracts us from the important momentum toward this finale, so instead it should belong as an optional episode zero ‘flashback’ of the Bad Batch show… which you could always choose to watch here chronologically if you wanted to.) But the Padmé content belongs in this show, not the Bad Batch, so I wanted to preserve it. To that end, I’ve included it as the opening scene of this episode. (It doesn’t have any Anaxes references now, though if you wanted it to it’d still fit as what happened after that Bad Batch arc.) In the new context, the battle they’re talking about is this episode’s Yerbana fight, and Rex’s tension is regarding the Order 66 revelations (which’ll pay off in this arc) rather than Echo.
Noteworthy changes:
This is the show’s final arc - the Siege of Mandalore - taken from its original four-episode format and simply turned into three episodes that break more naturally around story breakpoints. It flows a bit more cleanly around a watch of Revenge of the Sith this way.
What an incredible arc! Arguably the strongest arc in the entire show, and one which, does a great job to justify the existence of the show and elevates it to one of the Star Wars saga’s greats. It’s this arc which finally paid off on the show’s main throughlines - Ahsoka and Mauldalore - and in so doing created us a solid ‘spine’ which flows through the entire show. It’s that core throughline which I designed this edit around, trying to emphasise and enhance those moments and keeping them in focus, to help build toward this arc in particular. I hope that’s worked for you as a viewer.
Very importantly here, I strove to preserve much of what makes this arc unique, especially in terms of the unique music and audio cues, and some visual choices, to preserve its special tone. So really, I’ve made only the tiniest tweaks to the actual content, and all I’ve done here is repackage the finale into the TCW:R conventions, with slight changes to fit this unique tone, so it should work from all angles.
More detail below.
I love this. I just watched Rogue One last night, having been on a mental Andor binge. It’s absolutely appropriate that Rogue One becomes the final arc of the Cassian Andor story- featuring a partially new cast just as the two previous arcs of Andor have.
Interestingly, I didn’t mind a passive Jyn quite so much in this, since I was watching it in more of a Cassian mindset this time.
Two episodes seems most sensible, with the final one being the final rebel visit to Yavin IV and Scarif, and the preceding content in the prior episode.
Anything that can be done to bring it closer to Andor in terms of music, direction, or editing, I welcome.
I don’t know about losing the Vader hallway scene though, that’s a big one for me. I like his saga-enhancing presence as a bonus antagonist in this movie, and I like seeing him in a moment of desperate violence. I don’t mind the slight contradictions to original canon- at least it’s handwavey enough and Raddus’ ship (with Tantive IV docked) does receive transmissions- what that bending permits for us seems more additive than pure adherence would have. You could add that dialogue too though, so you could get the best of both worlds.
Exciting nonetheless - though yes, I’d love to see you continue exploring RotJ!
Yeah, Rebels does need a trim, but it’s not as offensive as TCW in its original form. It has some kiddy humour, but it’s at least tonally consistent with itself, which is why I think most people are OK with either a list of which episodes should be watched or skips, or a tightening like g00b’s. His might be the R:R you’re looking for, to be honest, since his goals sound very similar to mine. He hasn’t needed to faff around with opening text or new presentation either.
I’d be down for a book feedback chamber! My synthaurs, and vampires as proof that the sun’s a deity, need an outlet!
Ohhhhhh yeah, it’s all coming together!
Don’t worry, it’s already cleaned. The original line just flows around it, they talk about the orders without naming who gave them. It works fine as they were all there for Order 66 and have already discussed the orders with Rex, so no context is lost. Lovely and smooth, you won’t notice the cut.
Oh man. So close. Sooo close now. I’ve been editing the final three episodes at the same time, since all three come from the same arc, but it just so happened that I’ve finished the final episode first. Naturally, I won’t upload them till they’re all ready, but it’s been such a privilege working on this final arc, because it’s so damn strong and really in many ways justifies the existence of the whole show. I’ve managed to get my favourite track (‘Clones Sad’) in there too, which I’ve wanted to since the beginning. I’m also pleased with my opening text - I think it’s useful to have an actual reminder of what’s going on in the Revenge of the Sith story at this point, since the overlap is important.
I have put in a vanity card, which I wasn’t sure about (it’s something I’ve avoided throughout), but I figure I’ve probably earned it after two years and 45 episodes. Though the main reason I included it was because it fit naturally into a bit of audio space between the end of the episode and the start of my credits.
I have managed to very cleanly remove the reference to clones knowing the name ‘Darth Sidious’, and in fact all of the places where I’ve split or merged content in this arc are now particularly clean - I’ve adhered very very closely to the original arc’s unique musical cues and tone, so my edit should feel like a very light touch inclusion into my format.
VERY EXCITING!
Thanks man, I absolutely cannot wait for your Way of Mandalore edit, it feels absolutely the way I’d like to see that content presented. I don’t have a go-to for Rebels yet - I haven’t watched the show in a good while - but g00b’s Rebels Recut is the one I’m most interested in.
Oh, and when you pick up your Bad Batch project I’ll be sure to watch along with you and contribute in your thread. I’m actually passively editing up the Bad Batch episodes of TCW right now (I needed a little of their content for my finale), so I’d be very happy to coordinate with you on that front so that TCW:R and your BB:CV can be compatible, if you want those episodes as an optional episode zero of your show.
Great to know others out there agree on the collaboration front. I’ve tried and failed to do community threads before, but perhaps I’ll try to get a community focusing lens out for some of the upcoming shows, especially since 2023 will feature three Filoniverse shows.
I’ll see what I can do with that ‘Darth’ line…
I appreciate the faith, Peon! That one’s highest up my list for sure. Man, I’m just putting the finishing touches to the last moments of this show, and god damn it’s so great. These are the moments that inspired me to create this edit in the first place. I can’t wait to hand this over to you guys.
I can tell you that the final three episodes will be titled:
THE SIEGE OF MANDALORE
THE MASTER PLAN
LOYALTY AND FATE
Whoah, I’ve just realised something: I don’t know if this is an error, I’d assume it wouldn’t be - but near end of the final episode, Jesse says to Rex “Darth Sidious ordered us to kill the Jedi”. Shouldn’t he be saying “Chancellor Palpatine ordered us to kill the Jedi?” Surely the clones wouldn’t have been just given the information that they were controlled by a Sith Lord?
Do you guys think I should modify this?
I’ve considered Rebels: Refocused, but others have picked up that task and done it well. I don’t think its need is as intense as TCW:R as it doesn’t need to repackage itself as a more confident show, like I thought was important with this one. So it’s a maybe, but it’s a fairly low priority. I also thought about seeing what could be done if anything with Resistance, since nobody seems to have picked that one up.
The coda scene is mainly necessary here because it closes out an important TCW plotline, and really should be watched whether or not you’re planning to watch Rebels.
That said, I do naturally have plenty of other ideas:
Question: Since this show will have a coda (Maul and Obi-Wan from Rebels), and potentially another coda (Ahsoka from Tales of the Jedi), should I consider cutting out the very final scene from Victory and Death (you know the one) and making that a third coda, rather than keeping it within its own episode? It is very much a coda scene, though it follows most naturally from its preceding episode. It might merge well with the Ahsoka coda, leaving us with a Maul and Obi-Wan one, and an Anakin and Ahsoka one.
I think the key is self-contained arcs rather than specific lengths, so I’d cut to story not time. But it would be a bonus to have them all roughly balanced to normal movie length where possible.
We know now that the groupings for this season will be 3/3/1/3/2, as opposed to the 3/3/3/3 we expected and are getting for season two.
Episode 7 was so good, that I’m glad you’re trying to include it, but it does have its challenges, as you’ve mentioned.
Since the next content after #7 is a three episode arc, you won’t want to over-pad it, and then the final arc is only two episodes so you’ll likely need to add stuff to it for balance.
One thing that’s still not anchored is chronological placement of most of the Mon Mothma stuff. I feel like that’s the content that can slide around the most. The Cyril content probably wants to sit within the second arc as a B-plot, but also might do well to be pulled later, especially if he only joins the Cassian story in the two-part finale.
And Cassian on the beach can probably open the arc which features him in prison.
The big question is how full of content the next arc (three episodes) is going to be, and we won’t know that till we see it. In the meantime I’d focus on identifying the content that is or isn’t pinned to Cassian’s chronologically.
I am making no visual changes.
I thought you were same fan editor that did the update to the rebels lightsabers. either way sorry If i bothered you.
No problem buddy. The OP contains detailed info on all of my plans.
Yeah, these are all fair criticisms of that idea! Oh well! 😃
I’d appreciate a PM too please!