I mean, I’d say it does line up pretty well with those ideas. The only way in which it doesn’t exactly is the fact that whoever does such a ritual is clearly genetically related to the offspring. So that would make Anakin Palpatine’s son in this chain of events.
I mean, I genuinely enjoyed the first two episodes of The Acolyte. And I really don’t have too much of an issue with these witches having a different understanding of the Force. The problem is the whole implication that
Anakin was conceived by the same method shown in this episode. If they debunk this later on somehow, then cool, but I have a feeling they won’t.
Another thing I noticed is that Osha and Mae appear to share a Force dyad. This will line up even better with our new backstory to explain how that came about for Rey and Kylo seeing as how they all would share similar origins now.
Right, that would still be the message, but I’d nevertheless need to remove the Reylo kiss because we’d have an instance in canon wherein it would appear that the person who performs such a ritual is biologically related to the offspring. So might as well have Kylo’s reveal be something like:
“Palpatine influenced the midichlorians to create life. First my grandfather. And then you. We… are both Palpatines.”
Even if Rey and Kylo choose to deny Palpatine’s control over them, I doubt they’d be willing to risk making out like that LMAO.
This edit may or may not revert back to its original plans based upon the reveals in the most recent episode of The Acolyte. Slight spoilers ahead:
We see in The Acolyte that it’s possible for children to be conceived “without a father”, yet still be visibly related to the person that initiated the ritual to start the pregnancy. Depending on if they delve further into this ritual in later episodes will determine, at least for me, if this edit should return to the idea that Anakin and Rey are the offspring of Palpatine through his remote manipulation of the midichlorians. Especially if it’s revealed that the Sith were the ones that taught their coven this method of conception. One thing that will definitely be removed, if I do return to this idea, is the kiss between Kylo and Rey, because they will be genetically related at that point. It’s visibly clear that Osha and Mae are related to the leader of the coven despite her being biologically incapable of starting the pregnancy in her partner, which would mean Anakin and Rey would genetically be Palpatine’s children if he indeed used the same ritual.
Alternatively, I may end up just completely disregarding The Acolyte as canon in my books and never watch it again because of what it implies about the prequels and Anakin. It all really depends on if they further touch on what was revealed in this episode, and how. It seems to me that they will, because:
a character does mention something about the Jedi potentially discovering how Osha and Mae were conceived and implying it would be very bad. Which gives the implication that the Sith are somehow involved.
I watched the Kai Patterson edit of Kenobi yesterday, and that also boasts some new FX work like PixelJoker.
With a bit of distance since the release of Kenobi I’d say that even when tightened up by a fan editor and with many of the clunkiest moments removed, what you’re left with is still… somewhat mid. I want to love it, but it just never really sparks into life, and I’m not sure that tweaking a few visual fx can change that.
This. Everything Pixel is doing will be a major improvement but it will still be a 5/10 at the end of the day. You can’t polish a turd lol
I noticed something, actually. Why is it that for the most part, the recent Star Wars stuff that seems to get the least amount of vocal criticisms online are the ones that don’t have Jedi in them? Rogue One, Solo, Andor, and The Mandalorian spring to mind.
Probably because these show writers think they need to add additional layers to the mythos that were never there originally. Or, at the very least, which were vaguely hinted at. Which makes them divisive by their very nature because everybody has their own level of attachment to the way things are presented in the original saga.
This was exemplified yesterday by The Acolyte’s implied reveal. Which conveniently aligns itself with what I originally had in mind for my edit of Episode IX, but that’s neither here nor there. You can’t expect to mess with a fundamental aspect of Star Wars 20 years later and not get some backlash about it.
And a left-handed stormtrooper is believable despite all of the First Order conditioning provided that character proved a need to his commanding officer for a different type of blaster. Feels like something that would pop up in a comic to explain away inconsistencies lol.
Makes both the trooper and Lando out to be left-handed. Not necessarily a big problem, but….
Not necessarily for Lando, since he’s also got a cane. He could need it on his right side with his left side being his weak side due to age.
You might want to consider mirroring the shot of the characters running on Pasaana when Rey gets her friends to warn them about Kylo. This is Sherlock’s idea, so please check it out on his edit page and credit him if you want it for v5.
Oh my word Ady that is so awful. Please take as much time in recovery as you need. Glad to hear that you’re feeling better now, at the very least.
And my condolences for your loss, Ronster.
I have other thoughts on the other flashbacks to the temple massacre and that event in general that I can share later. I do think you could potentially reuse shots from the various flashbacks to extend them and add more dialogue if needed, but I think a part of it is just adjusting word choices to get that idea across better in the same amount of time. Just depends on how detailed you want to be versus how minimally you want to change the existing dialogue.
This is definitely true. We could potentially show Luke looking at the burning temple again after where the third version of the flashback previously ends. Originally, that is only shown the first go around.
Damn that’s really good stuff, too. I do wonder how all of that could be conveyed, though. The first flashback doesn’t really give us much of an opportunity to slide in an AI Luke line. And it would be hard to fit all of that entirely in the 3rd flashback.
https://youtu.be/5dUCs8QM0fc?si=advpA8y7mA5iiddW
Finally! 😃😃😃
This is awesome! Really seamless stuff. Blows my mind that this wasn’t one of the first things added for the original Special Editions of ANH.
Here’s an alternate take I found on the Lost 20 scene that cuts it down further to use basically only finished footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIQTcvtHvhw
At that point though, I’m not sure if it’s even worth including. Thoughts?
I agree that it is some much needed context. But it is an awful long time to hold on one shot. And the trouble is finding appropriate live-action scenes if you were to do a brief flashback.
Another thing to consider is that the audio transition from the end of the deleted scene back to the normal scene isn’t fully there, either. The “vibration” noise (I don’t know what else to call it) of the archives sort of just appears again when the deleted portion is over.
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.
Which is why it’s so insanely stupid that the original reason why Leia stopped being a Jedi is because she sensed her son would die at the end of her Jedi path. Thank God Ascendant v5 will be fixing this up. And I think this problem is still present to a certain extent in the original TLJ because Luke acts not only on the darkness already within him but also what he saw he was going to do.
My point in bringing this up is that both JJ and Rian seem to have characterized Luke and Leia as believing in the infallible nature of prophecy. Probably because their father did end up fulfilling his own prophecy, from their perspective. Plus, the idea that Luke believes his own visions to be infallible because he’s the “legendary” Luke Skywalker does play into the movie’s theme of the Jedi being arrogant and failing as a result.
Personally, I’d rather Luke’s arrogance and boldness due to his legendary feats be the reason he fails to assess his situation properly rather than him wanting to snuff out his nephew due to some bad dreams in the present.
What about the extended Jango Fett death scene? Looks great with the finished VFX.
Darn, ya beat me to it.
I also recommend taking a look at the extended version of Boba grabbing his father’s helmet from the Book of Boba Fett show.
EDIT: And since we now have a different perspective on the Padme’s bedroom scene, I will admit that I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. I just think there is some cool foreshadowing there in regards to Anakin and it’s another scene where the two are acting relatively normal with each other.
Good news. GregKnight06 is willing to contribute his version of the Kenobi scene for this edit!
Spence’s version of the scene omitted several parts that I think would be integral for an extended version of this movie. Namely, the hypocritical lines from Obi-Wan about his need for victory blinding him and his need to prove himself being his undoing. I think those are perfectly in character, seeing as how one of his other famous, hypocritical lines is “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”.
The one thing I always hated about this movie was that there are two scenes where Anakin is always complaining about Obi-Wan to Padme and claiming that he’s holding him back. But that’s only what we’re told, and we aren’t shown much of anything to really suggest that. As a result, most people just think he’s whiney and entitled. But with the Kenobi scene in place it becomes way easier to empathize with his character.
A similar thing will likely happen with the deleted scenes between Anakin and Padme which show their chemistry better and have normal dialogue. I think once you’re able to buy into their relationship initially, it becomes a lot easier to look over the awkward and cringey stuff that happens when they start getting much closer later on.
I suppose that’s true, but the line I was actually thinking of was: “Obi-Wan, you must have faith that he will choose the right path”. It does seem awfully out of character for the guy who is always doubting and dunking on Anakin. One of his lines in ROTS is literally “I don’t trust him”.
There is some VFX issues in the background of the Mace and Obi-Wan scene, though. That’s a large part of the reason why I’d prefer it to be excluded, beyond being redundant with the other scene. There’s also the fact that Mace Windu seems strangely cool with Anakin and believes in the prophecy in this scene. Which conflicts with his characterization in both episodes 1 and 3. I suppose it’s possible the Clone Wars made him lose some faith in Anakin but it is nonetheless quite jarring.
I appreciate you so much for doing this. I’ve been waiting for a project like this for almost a year now.
Regarding the Kenobi scene, if you have the space, I think it would be worth making two different versions. If you don’t have the space, then I would be willing to host the one with the Kenobi scene. I just need to go back into the thread for this topic because there was an individual that just recently created a very good, uncut version of it with music and everything.
Regarding the other scenes, I agree with most of your judgments. The analysis droids scene I’m leaning toward “yes” on because of the VFX being finished, especially given that Dex references the Jedi analysis droids and Obi makes a joke about them.
Padme’s bedroom I’m also leaning to “yes” on only because it serves as an analogy of Anakin himself. Padme talks about how the kids couldn’t adapt to their new environment and died as a result. Anakin is also unwilling/unable to adapt to change and loss and as a result he dies and Darth Vader is born.
The Geonosian Trial I’m leaning toward “no” on, mostly because Dooku’s last line in the previous deleted scene was “I’ve done all I can for you”. Obi was seemingly never put on trial, either. I think it’s fair to assume that Dooku is the deciding vote here, even if he’s acting like it isn’t. The VFX being unfinished is also a major reason for my opinion.
I agree that this would resolve most of the issues people have with TLJ. And obviously it’s completely doable now thanks to AI. Although I do think his final line is a bit too hardcore.
I think the reason why they opted not to show what was going in Ben’s head/future was because then they’d be having a flash forward inside of a flashback. That would definitely get confusing. I wonder if this is doable with just purely the dialogue. Something like “Han and Leia would die because of what he would become”.
Well, the line you’re describing is the original one, so I guess I’m confused whether or not that’s the one you prefer. If it is, that’s the one Hal went with for v5 mostly because he doesn’t have a problem with the way it’s phrased. I’m not completely determined to change it in this edit, either, so if there are some people that don’t want it changed for some reason I’m willing to oblige for that.
As v5 of Ascendant approaches its release date, I’ve set my sights back on this thread. I’ve updated the description with several (smaller) additional changes I’m considering. I’m thinking the following should be good for the revamped Kylo Ren dialogue:
“It was Palpatine who had your parents taken. He was looking for your father. But he learned your father was a powerless failure. So he gave the order.”
“No!”
“So that’s where you are… Palpatine wants one of us to take the Dark Throne.”
“No…”
“I’ll come tell you why.”
“I know why Palpatine wants us to fight for the Dark Throne.”
“Tell me.”
"Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You have his power. You’re his granddaughter.
“My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn’t know, is we’re a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two, that are one. We’ll kill him. Together. And make a new order.”
I agree. Maybe an echo effect on the line itself and then a significantly quieter version of the line (perhaps just the word “home”) as secondary echo over the shot of the medallion?
Oh yeah and I should have said this when I submitted the Kylo lines but just because I had a preference there doesn’t necessarily mean that was the best pick. So if other people want to listen through those to double check if we got the best takes, I’d appreciate it! Unless Hal already did some experimentation within the work print itself, in which case we should be good.
I think “You were right” sounds flawless, but I would be interested in hearing some variations of the other two lines together. I’ll listen when I get the time tomorrow.