Knight of Kalee

I’m gonna take a look to the Domino arc on Disney+ right away so I can think of better feedback. I think “Rookies” has to stay and not only because it’s my favorite season 1 episode, but mainly because: it makes for a good establishing character moment for Rex and Cody (Rex in particular being of great relevance for the Dominos’s future arcs), Grievous and Ventress are shown to be planning an attack on Kamino as depicted in the next episode, and Hevy’s death could really hit the beats as a typical end-of-act-two downer moment.

Clone Cadets could definitely be trimmed somewhat and serve as a cold open. I’d personally like if the first training scenes where they fail could be merged and have at least one moment where the drill instructor refers to them as a “bad batch”. Then you could only show 99’s pep talk to Hevy and the squad succeeding in their test.

If I recall correctly the Kamino invasion plans fail in Rookies, but then in ARC Troopers the Separatist proceed with it anyway. Maybe you could cut the moment where a Republic fleet forces Grievous to retreat earning a happy ending, and find some way to imply that, instead of giving up, the Separatists hasten their attack on Kamino.

There is one thing that could make merging the three episodes together feel a bit rushed, and it’s the fact Echo and Fives step up from sloppy cadets to exemplary graduates to 501st soldiers to ARC Troopers in the span of a single story.

Rtiller said:

Sorry if my Rian comment offended some of you. I figured that since this thread’s goal was to edit the sequels, that most of you didn’t like TLJ, which is the main reason the sequels need to be edited, from a story standpoint.

Arguably all three of them have deeply underwhelming aspects that make people want to edit them on a trilogy level.

The animation of the faces is alright for me, it’s just the designs. Whenever I see a familiar alien (like a Rodian or Ithorian) or any pre-existent characters (like Hondo) the difference is way too jarring. Although let us agree that, different artstyle or not, Rebels Yoda looked like ass 😄

I virtually agree with all of sade’s feedback, so I won’t say much because it would be kind of redundant lol. The frame difference is a bit noticeable but I don’t really think most viewers are gonna catch that, or be taken out of the story because of it. And yeah the last scene with Bail is a bit clunky but forgivable, and honestly reworking the Bail subplot from Cat and Mouse was done pretty great.

EddieDean said:

Don’t worry - I’ll include it in a much fuller form as part of the complete cut. Since you’re our resident Grievous fan, what changes would you like to see made to Lair, if any?

There’s quite a few things I’d like to change about Lair but I’d rather wait til you start working on the complete cut 😄

RogueLeader said:

If someone else could create a clean shot without the current puppets, maybe that is something I could try and make/film. But honestly, the shot is so brief, you probably could get away with using the elements Cinefy used for that proof concept.

That, and cutting the close-up of the alien kid laughing right afterwards.

I have watched the cut of Lair and I agree it works better as a separate episode.

Also I really like that suite you did McFibb! It manages to include almost all the major themes yet it feels natural and fittingly emotional.

McFibb said:

@EddieDean – I know the show changes tonally midway through. Is that true of episode endings too? That is to say, do some episodes end with, “And everything is well and good, yay for adventures!” and others with, “Holy crap. What just happened? Noooo!!” and others with “Uh oh. That’s not good.”?

Impacts my music choices. 😃

There are many cliffhanger-type episodes from season 3 onwards, and accordingly some of the ending music themes are pretty dramatic, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLaCe45e5m4

EddieDean said:

I think you’re saying/asking the same thing McFibb is there? That the final scene of the episode should be followed immediately by the first screen of the credits? I’m very happy to do that - and happy to keep tweaking until we get it feeling perfect.

Maybe not right away, but yeah a middle ground between what you did in Death Watch and Cloak of Darkness. Or maybe alternate depending on how does it blend with the pre-existing lead-up score. I know that not all the episodes have had their soundtracks officially released, but for example “Obi-Wan and Satine”, which is the ending theme of the second Mandalore episode, is one of those tracks, so you could play the entirety of this theme, then give it a couple seconds to breath, then fade in to Clones (Sad). Something like this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wxoE_LSxjL4-YrW-0kSiSEjHvXEq_TM4/view?usp=sharing

I’d honestly prefer if changes are made to the episode ending music rather than change Clones (Sad) each time; keeping the credits theme consistent would make the project seem more “professional” so to speak. This Samuel Kim track works really good as a closing theme and sums the tragic perspective on the Clone Wars that you want to convey with these edits. Of course, if a particular episode/arc warrants it, you could use a different track for the credits, much like the S2 finale of Mando or the S5 finale of Clone Wars.

I’m gonna take a look to your abridged Lair of Grievous and see how it goes. Regarding Fisto appearing out of nowhere, you could state in the opening text that he was supposed to rendezvous with Luminara or something. If enough people believe it works as a cap to Cloak of Darkness, maybe you could release it as an alternate edition?

Regarding the closing titles, personally I think the credits/score sync works best when the piece of music that starts at 21:30 in Cloak of Darkness hits the same time as the OT forum credits, as it did in the previous episode. The starting point of the music of course can vary depending on how it blends better with the episode. Maybe you could move forward the beginning of the credits a few seconds or reduce a bit the duration of the text. I agree with giving more screentime to the most striking concept art.

The episode itself was well-done, and good call on making Argyus the mole as you had suggested earlier. Shame to see Lair go, since it’s the only time Grievous gets any backstory or the chance to kill a Jedi in this series, but at least there will always be the complete cut or the original episode to check out.

I agree that season 2 in general improved on the strengths of the first series, though I’ll conceed some of the new faces or references to the lore could became a bit overwhelming for those who hadn’t kept up with all of the Star Wars content (particularly Filoni’s previous animated works). One of the things I liked the most about season 1 was that even someone who grasps only the basic stuff about SW could enjoy the series. Season 2 isn’t as newcomer-friendly in that regard. However, now that the parallel spin-offs (Boba, Ahsoka, etc.) have been properly set-up, the upcoming third season can go back to a more self-contained narrative, even if it’s bigger in scale.

Hal 9000 said:

That is extremely cool, and your version of the entire opening works well!
For TROS:A I’d love to add just the modified RO castle shot and add the castle over Kylo’s shoulder. I wonder if the RO shot could even lose the red glow, as though it’s just dead and static inside even?

I think this is the best middle-ground choice possible, though I wouldn’t mind to see the concept art Cinefy posted come to life.

EddieDean said:

I’ve quickly mocked this up (VERY ROUGH, excuse quality) to give you an idea of what I’m thinking makes sense.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JwpM7ATxqbDAlMh_6ggOWkFntD0Y_3SE/view?usp=sharing

I think it sounds nicely and doesn’t feel out of place. Personally I’d start the choir after Anakin’s line to make some space for Obi-Wan and Satine’s theme which plays right before, but as it stands right now it’s pretty good.

I have to say “The Death Watch” is pretty great. I can’t speak for new viewers since I’m very familiar with these particular couple of episodes, but it really grasps the CW spirit and feels like something that could have been if the producers chose to do a number of “special”, longer chapters.

The intro and the transition to the episode work well, as I said earlier.

I can live with the mining base scene feeling somewhat rushed. The one thing that was more headscratching for me was to hear both Obi-Wan and Satine mention him being rescued by the Duchess after they escape from the base. Without the conveyor belt sequence Satine showing up hardly qualifies as a rescue at all. I take that you’re not interested in restoring the entire sequence, though you could just excise this later exchange between Obi-Wan and Satine. This would also fit better with Satine and Obi-Wan not acting very friendly to each other the next morning.

The transition between Mandalore Plot and Voyage of Temptation was seamless, great work on that one. The two episodes work surprisingly well when merged; Anakin arrives at the precise moment to act as the audience surrogate and learn about Obi-Wan’s past with Satine which was left somewhat vague in the original Mandalore Plot episode.

The argument between Satine and Obi-Wan flows nicely. The cuts are indiscernible.

I’d argue the shot of the Coronet in hyperspace coming right after the ship makes the jump feels a bit rough. Maybe you could move up the scene of the Coronet activating hyperspace just before the conversation on Satine’s quarters. On the other hand removing the bit with the mini-spider probes works pretty well, the pacing was on point.

I’m very hyped for what this project has next to offer and I’m glad to contribute! In fact I’m interested in making and sharing Spanish subtitles for the episodes if it’s of any help to you.

Great intro for the Mandalore episode!

I’d like a link to the tracker to give you more detailed feedback in the future

I’d personally like to see more of them. For example, for most of them, we don’t know what were the reasons that made them not only turn to the dark side but also be willing to hunt down and kill their former Jedi partners. Was it just to assure their own survival or did they have any other motivations? How did they feel about not being Jedi anymore but technically being excluded from the Sith hierarchy?

I don’t think we’ll see another Inquisitor as a protagonist after Fallen Order, but I’m hoping to see them return in The Bad Batch or even the Kenobi series. Any of the stories featuring Inquisitors should be set before ANH, since Tarkin is confident that Vader is the only remaining Force-wielder around.

I’d really like a link to your version of LOE.

EddieDean said:

Right, while letting other tasks do their thing, I’ve taken a closer look at the necessary cuts to the Malevolence arc - our episode four.

All of the wheat, none of the chaff. And Grievous got to be a savage who just got overwhelmed by superior firepower.

I’m really on board with your suggestion of trimming the arc in a way that keeps Grievous 😉

The clip flows very well. It keeps the better part of the action and most important of all feels like entertaining Star Wars.

Maybe I missed or forgot a detail, but who is meant to be Ventress’ informant that she mentioned? The traitorous clone sargeant was cut.

I agree with the suggestions made about the wording of the opening crawl.

And I don’t think every instance of the droids speaking or providing comic relief should be cut, only if they actively interrupt the flow of the action. I’ve just come to terms with the fact they’re laughable antagonists and little more than cannon fodder. Same for stormtroopers in Rebels, the sequel trilogy and Mandalorian.

Plo Koon was relatively popular in the expanded universe (his role in the 2D Clone Wars is minimal though, he appears only at the council scene and has no lines). Plo appeared in games like Jedi Power Battles and was a part of the prequel era ancillary material since before TPM came out. He even used a yellow lightsaber before that was retconned by Lucas in AOTC.

In Star Wars even the most unknown of characters can inspire a cult following, so I kind of understand why Dave Filoni would be intrigued by Plo Koon and wanted to turn him into a fan favorite.

Dr. Krogshöj said:

Hi all,

I have put together a watching order up for myself after the first season of The Mandalorian and playing Fallen Order, primarilty to get myself up to speed on lore things related to Mandalore and Dathomir. I consulted every available guide and episode rating list online. This is what I have compiled.

I threw out about 38% of the episodes and arranged the rest into 3 or 4 episode long “chapters”. I have to admit I haven’t been able to watch beyond “Chapter 12” so I don’t know if the rest works at all. Any advice is welcome in that matter.
…

I don’t know if you’ve reached that point yet, but “The Lost One” really should come after “The Wrong Jedi”. Also you could sneak in the missing episodes “Heroes on Both Sides” and “A Friend it Need” somewhere before “Dark Empire”.

I’m on the side that favors Vader’s conflict, even did an edit once with “Your mother once thought as you do” and new music to convey it.

So are there gonna be any story changes to ANH now that you’ve dropped the Vader/Obi-Wan aspect?

I’m looking forward to see this tie with the rest of the lore 😄

I personally don’t mind the little spider assassins, I think they dial up the horror aspect, though I’ll admit in terms of pacing cutting the probe antics does more good than harm. But yeah I can do away with Obi-Wan’s “staged accident” at the beskar mine.

This should remain episode two, since the Christophsis stuff does all the necessary to establish most of the vital characters (Ahsoka, Captain Rex, Ventress) that anchor the show. Besides, seeing how the Mandalore episodes are better written and more in-depth, the Christophsis events would feel rushed if they come second.

I like “The Death Watch” for the title.

Ed Slushie said:

CPY?

Creepy Puppet Yoda? The only thing that I could think of lol

I have never really disliked any part of the mainstream saga. There’s just the ones I genuinely love and those who I just kind of enjoy to some extent even if I’m not crazy about them.

I’m a late-nineties/early noughties child, so I grew up with both the SE originals, prequels and 2003 Clone Wars, and my dad made me watch them in chronological order. My favorite was Return of the Jedi, and though I wasn’t a big fan of the films during my childhood I still could recall entire scenes and dialogues from it, being particularly fond of the Jabba Palace sequence and the space battle of Endor.

Around the time I was a teenager I rediscovered my love for Star Wars, but more importently, my appreciation for the originals. I remember Empire used to be the least memorable for me, but after I gave it another chance I came to love it. On the other hand I grew a bit sour on the prequels, with the exception of most of Revenge of the Sith. It was around that time that the 3D Clone Wars series had reached its peak and I started watching it after giving it a pass for its two or three first seasons. I got really hyped for TCW, and thanks to that show I began to like the prequels more in retrospective, and the Republic era of canon became my favorite (despite the OT remaining the best movies without a question).

I remember I got enthusiastic after TFA, despite finding it formulaic. TLJ was a weird one for me, because I was pleased with it the first time but after some time I got caught in the backlash (since then I’ve slowly embracing it again). I liked TROS but the feeling of what could have been left me underwhelmed with the entire trilogy. Rogue One and Solo had worked for me, but what kept me from giving up was the Mandalorian. I loved both seasons and I’ve come to realise the upcoming content will make more happy about the sequels in retrospective, much like I had grew to appreciate the prequels before. So I’m at peace with the movies and excited for what’s to come!

EddieDean said:

I was hoping nobody would say that about the speed of the end credits! I’ve got it right now so it ‘snaps’ which makes it more reproducible, though if I slow it down it’ll be much harder to copy times eleven for each episode. I’ll see if I have any other options.

The end credits are perfect, I meant the intro text (if it doesn’t cause issues with the score sync, of course).