Are the scenes with the Nikto Jedi master, in particular his last stand and death, included in your cut of Supply Lines?
Yep, all of his scenes are preserved.
I just found out that guy’s name is literally ‘Ima-Gun Di’, pronounced “I’mma gon’ die”.
Well, this period of editing has been a big success. I’ve chopped out all of the unwanted scenes from Supply Lines, leaving just the Cham/Bail ones, ready to insert into Storm.
I had written out in this post a bonus scene I’m quite proud of, but actually I think I’ll leave it a suprise. But suffice to say, those wishing for a little more value to the Toydarians should be pleased - I think I’ve found a way to emphasise their nobility whilst minimising their goofiness and Jar Jar’s scenes. (And avoid the fact that we’ve literally just seen Katuunko die.)
OK, yeah, I don’t think it’s worth extending the episode beyond what I’ve described above.
In terms of Innocents of Ryloth-
In terms of Liberty on Ryloth-
So yeah, sorry Numa and Cham fans, I think we have to keep the focus on Supply Lines / Storm over Ryloth.
The good news is that, like Lair of Grievous following my version of Cloak of Darkness, you can simply follow my Ryloth episode with Innocents/Liberty if you prefer.
I think I’ve learned a lesson about storytelling from this and a couple of prior episodes. And that’s that, in something we know is fictional, we don’t build an emotional connection to “the nameless masses”. Because we know they’re made up. BUT, when they’re used to demonstrate the personality of the characters we have invested in, then they have value. Seeing Obi-Wan liberate some nameless masses doesn’t add to his character because we already know he’s that kind of hero. But seeing the nameless masses’ happiness over supplies delivered (even indirectly) through Ahsoka’s actions adds value to her struggles as we’re seeing her grow.
So, on to Ryloth.
The strongest emotional arc, and the one which is most relevant to the show, is Storm Over Ryloth’s Ahsoka plot. She fails to break the blockade, then helps Anakin to break it, allowing the military led by Obi-Wan to establish a ground presence. This can be enhanced quite easily by splicing it with the scenes on the ground from Supply Lines, where Cham Syndulla is involved in protecting civilians in a ground assault, and capped at the beginning and end with Bail helping bring supplies to the front lines, to make Ahsoka’s vistory that much sweeter.
With some droid chatter trimming, and either trims to or the full removal of the Neimoidian admiral who serves as Anakin’s foil, that’s a tight and tidy ~30 minute episode, which gives some great Ahsoka content and also keeps Cham in for future continuity.
The only question really is how much of Innocents of Ryloth and Liberty on Ryloth to preserve. I’m reviewing those episodes now, and the ideal without watching them is to allow the breaking of the blockade to remain the finale of the episode, since it’s the emotional conclusion. Anything else that’s good from those other episodes ideally will be able to fit within the established timeline rather than after it. Let’s see how possible that is…
Absolutely possible, Delpheas. And it might not be for a long time that Rey Palpatine becomes relevant again. In spite of what I said above, Rey Nobody is one thing I’ll cling to for as long as possible. And it looks like the TV focus is currently post-OT, and the only known post-ST source (Rogue Squadron) has a subject less likely to touch on that plotline. And with luck, new sources featuring Rey/Palpatine will have softened the awkwardness of that ‘fact’ of canon by then.
Yeah, that’s the thing. And I like the phrase “ALL of Star Wars is better than ANY of Star Wars.” By which I mean, the world is better than the elements, and the more you explore the world, the more good you’ll find. Imagine being a ‘Boba Fett died in the Sarlacc’ purist and denying yourself the Mandalorian season 2.
And The Clone Wars is one of the best examples of this. From an EXTREMELY shaky start it gave us some moments which are absolutely best-of-the-best Star Wars. And for that reason, it deserves to be made as palatable as possible.
Well, getting started with the Ryloth arc I had that popping issue again, and I’ve found the fix for it, so after I’ve finished using Big Brain on the Ryloth arc I’ll use Small Brain to fix the Nightsisters arc.
Just wondering, will the opening line “It is the early days of the Clone Wars” be changed at some point through the series? It’s only three years and Anakin’s had time to fight a while, get knighted, and grow his hair out.
Yes, starting in the very next episode, which begins my (production) season 02. So roughly every six episodes, that first line will change. My intention is that taken as a whole, you have that slow-rolling update of where the war is at, then within each episode you follow that first line with a bit more context on what’s happening in the war that’s relevant to that episode, then you get more custom detail. So it’s always kind of framed within this developing war, and you have a bit more of a sense of the ebb and flow.
Oh and one other thing about the last episode I know I would have commented on, even though it should it impact any of your decisions, is that Obi-Wan calls R2 by name. Just because of my history. There’s no good way to reconcile it with ANH. lol
Yeah, I’m afraid that viewers of TCW (and TCW:R) are going to have to live with the fact that Obi-Wan and Yoda both knew R2-D2 well enough to recognise him in the Original Trilogy, and vice versa. I understand of course why people would prefer to allow the OT’s canon win out in conflicts like this, and I appreciate that it takes a little of the magic away from the OT. (R2-D2 was actually WITH Yoda when Yoda first visited Dagobah…)
It’s a shame, but I think the audience need to bend on this one. I know the OT spawned all of Star Wars, and is some of the very best of Star Wars, and therefore holds great cultural ‘mass’. However, with the franchise being as alive and productive as it is right now, there’s new content being created all of the time which builds typically on the newest content, which also gives the ‘new world’ huge momentum. There’s a conflict between the purity of the OT which people want preserved in amber, and the momentum of this new content which is going to refer to (and thus reinforce) increasingly to non-OT sources. And because that new content is never going to stop, I think it wins the fight, and the OT regrettably has to bend. For this reason, I believe that the ‘easier’ fix is to accept that in the OT, R2 and Yoda/Obi-Wan know each other, and Padmé dies in childbirth in a way that Leia doesn’t (conventionally) remember, etc.
It’s the ‘rocks in the stream’ approach to editing. We’re editing now within an absolute flowing torrent of new content and canon. Our edits, the rocks, can cause minor diversions - to minimise cringe, to restructure for impact, to emphasise and de-emphasise - but ultimately that water is going to flow in the same direction. Our starts and ends, and all of our main beats, have to fit within that flow, otherwise the franchise (and the potential FUTURE franchise) doesn’t work as a coherent whole. For example, I’m really against Rey being a Palpatine. I’d love a Nobody cut. But I know that sooner or later there’s going to be some new media - Rey’s Jedi Academy, Mandalorian 2.0, whatever - that references Rey Palpatine, and in order to enjoy that new bit of content we’re going to have to accept Rey Palpatine. So I’ll always edit towards preservation of the FRANCHISE canon, over canon from any one source - and I think that’s necessary in order that fanediting doesn’t become a Sisyphean effort. And in this case, I think the franchise now says “Those guys knew each other, which raises some awkward questions in the OT.”
That’s just me though, and I can understand people wishing it weren’t so enough to make it so.
So I’m aware I haven’t yet released a “finished” episode, so I’ve got a growing backlog of patches, but I’m still waiting on a handful of sources from others, so I’m going to continue to put them to one side, just whilst I wait. But I’ll absolutely pick them up and finish the full batch before long.
I tried to get started on s01e00 Tartaovsky just now, but NumeralJoker’s AI upscaled sources disagree with my editing software, and his part one and part two are in two different FPS. So I’ve contacted Tackel. Worst case I’ll end up cutting it from non-upscaled sources soon.
But those two facts, plus the fact that I now have two full uninterrupted weekend days ahead of me, mean that it’s sensible right now to take on something that requires more mental capacity. So I’m going to pick up the next episode, the Battle of Ryloth arc. Let’s see how far through it I can get in 48 hours…
I’ve gotta say, Movies Remastered, that it’s very impressive that you persist at this in the face of the additional challenges of colour. Well done, and good for you.
Maybe I’ll take the following episode, Geonosis, which has Ahsoka, and put it before Children of Night.
Or I could move Cloak of Darkness to after The 501st Legion…
Edit: Actually yeah, I’m definitely going to do the latter. That way the season’s narrative becomes:
This way your first experience of the show is Ahsoka/no Ahsoka in balance for a few episodes, so if you like her you get her every other episode, but if you don’t, you get a break every other episode.
Yup, using Son of Dathomir in full.
I actually have a plan for this! I forget exactly the placement, but I intend to have the Clovis arc immediately AFTER Ahsoka’s Trial. But the kicker is, I’m going to add the audio of the fireside chat from Utapau where Anakin and Obi-Wan discuss the loss of Ahsoka. So this way, my hope will be that the violence Anakin displays over his jealousy of Padmé is partially an emotional response to that.
In terms of the actual pacing, I can’t remember where I ended up but it’s trying to balance feeling Ahsoka’s absence with wanting to not have her away too long.
Speaking as the ‘why movie format?’ guy, I can also see a restructuring of Rogue One that turns it into the N+1th season of the Andor show, featuring two to four episodes (based on sensible arcs).
Question: If S01E06 has everyone with their new ‘ROTS’ outifts, we are going to chronologically see them revert back to their old outfits in for example, the Geonosis episode. Is there a way this will be adressed. I’m loving what’s going on so far.
Nah, it’s not something I can address. In this version of the Clone Wars, just like in real life, after you change your clothes you might change back to an older set of clothes some other day. Ahsoka won’t de-age, and I won’t have the guys change their hair back and forward, but they’re going to switch between a few outfits.
Ignore my post.
That’d be lovely. I’ll wait until we have the main outro finalised then get in touch!
Thanks Kalee, glad that worked for you. I assume you still had the popping sounds? And yeah, I’m not happy with the outro music there. The difficulty was that the existing music was in a minor key whilst my outro is major, so there was just no good blend point (with my limited skills), so I just had to switch to the outro early. It’s something I’ll chat with McFibb about but I don’t want to make him any more work. There might be something I can do if I have time to play around.
Do you plan to do anything about the fact that Grievous is basically a completely different character in the Tartakovsky Clone Wars? NumeralJoker1 was able to redub him entirely with Matt Wood lines in the Coruscant arc but I imagine that would be a bit harder for the rest. He’s also all-around more competent and fearsome in Tartakovsky’s series in a way that doesn’t gel with his portrayal in Clone Wars or Revenge of the Sith, where his primary character traits are checks notes moustache-twirling and running away from fights.
Battlefront II has a ton of lines for him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9p_S9wzd4k
Not really, to be honest. Tartakovsky’s gonna Tartakovsk, so I always intended to leave that as its own piece of fun. Definitely for the first pass, I only intend to trim it so that its story elements give the (optionally) necessary backstory for this show. Maybe a second pass will consider that, but to be honest, it’s unlikely within the scope of this project.
That said, I really do need to convey sometime quite how easy editing is, so you guys feel empowered to make these kind of tweaks.
That’s now fixed!
Wait till someone tells them what the Star Wars franchise thinks of authoritarian regimes!
Hm, OK, that’s worth a thought. I’ll be mindful of it when I work through the episode, then. I don’t want to take away any Tartakovskiness but I don’t mind trimming for continuity. Thanks for raising it!
Hey Del! I’ll actually pick up editing this episode tomorrow.
The plan for Tartakovsky is basically as you say in terms of content. I’m not sure if I need the Nelvaan or Coruscant arcs, but my plan is to present a trimmed version of the Hypori and Muunilinst storylines as our episode zero. So that’d cover Muunilinst except for Durge (you’d just have the clones win that fight), with Anakin pursuing Ventress off to Yavin, and you’d have Hypori to introduce Grievous and bring that whole chapter to a close. I might include a little of Ilium, and Grievous training under Dooku. Then Anakin gets knighted and flies off into space.
I’ll trim things that aren’t vital to the story, but it’s Tartakovsky, so while it isn’t the tone I’m going for, it is super charming, so I don’t really want to meddle with his tone. So I will keep Anakin/Obi-Wan banter, and if I was including the sexy C-3PO scene I’d keep the sexy music. Though I don’t think I’ll need that.
I’m presenting it as episode zero rather than one, to emphasise that it’s an optional prologue.
I just watched option 2 of the Domino episode. I think it works better in the story department, but the option 1 felt marginally better polished for me, mostly because of technical/continuity issues. For example, during the test both Echo and Droid Bait are shot but immediately after there are four clones left standing.
Looking forward to the Nighsisters cut and glad to see you kept the Toydarians
I did think there was a chance this could get picked up on, but I figured that the first time viewer isn’t going to be tracking this. Besides, in this version of the test, maybe getting shot is just points against rather than knockouts? Droidbait gets actually injured by mistake, but who’s to say Echo can’t get back up during a test? I don’t know, it’s a bit fuzzy, but I’d be interested to know what people think versus the original longer version.
Covering the Nightsisters arc - Nightsister, Monster, and Witches of the Mist.
That’s v1.0 up now. Notes just above.