LordRorek

I love all your changes although one of my fave fan-edit endings is during Vader funeral pyre after the camera pans up into space then the credits roll.

I like this ending because I feel it ends it on a more adult and somber tone plus it corrects the continuity error that the war was over after the death of the emperor.

Just throwing in my two cents. 😃

NFBisms said:

It’s similar, but my 1 and 3 are different. Padme possibly dying is still the impetus, but how it’s framed in my cut is Anakin decides that he can only keep Padme safe by aligning with Palpatine, either because of Plagueis or because of the political power and freedom that would come with it. And this becomes more clear once we’re out of these first two acts and into when Anakin actually becomes Vader. Hal keeps Anakin turning into Vader as this slow descent into full dark side corruption and power lust. He starts his descent well-intentioned but by the end is high on all of his new power. And that never sat right with me for Vader. The Vader I know from most of ANH, Empire, RoTJ, and the canon comics wasn’t crazy and corrupted. He wasn’t delusional or blinded by his power and emotions. “It’s too late for me, son.” was one of those things as a kid that showed me Vader knew he was a monster. And while the way he talked about the dark side’s power in the OT was always a supportive endorsement of it, it was more like a reverence of it rather than a dependence on having it.

So my Anakin doesn’t think he’s doing what’s best for the galaxy or the Republic or whatever. Sure, he has had political and ideological differences with the jedi council, and that’s what drives him away from them and to Palpatine, but he can’t believe that all of those jedi, in the temple and across the galaxy are bad. But he has to kill them all to embrace the dark side. He knows this, he knows what a sith is - and he can’t be proud of or eager to do it. That’s what I cut out. Every instance of Anakin being eager to do his master’s bidding is removed. He dances around the subject when he talks to Padme. He’s not proud. It’s just a means to an end for his goals for him and Padme. Their last conversation on Mustafar isn’t about the Republic, it’s about taking down Palpatine. For the two of them. For their baby. That’s what he chooses. He chooses what makes him powerful for them. It makes the Vader/Palpatine dynamic more wonderfully sith. It’s also what’ll inevitably turn him back in RoTJ, when he finally realizes the power doesn’t matter to the ones he loves.

Essentially, Anakin’s relationships to Palpatine, the dark side, and its power are the biggest differences in my cut. It doesn’t corrupt him or make him throw tantrums. As Palpatine says in the movie: ‘it gives [him] focus, make [him] stronger’. This is what makes Darth Vader the sith lord, especially when Kylo Ren exists now, whose unhinged emotionality with the dark side of the force is kind of what makes him a lesser Darth Vader. The idea that Anakin has master and control over his anger, fear, and hate to utilize them so effectively - that’s what made Darth Vader menacing when I was a kid. My Vader isn’t vengeful, emotional, or petty. He’s cold, methodical, and brutal. And this is how I’m keeping that image alive while maintaining the thematic through line of the prequels in a consistent way.

Finally someone who understands the mind of Anakin/Vader and how one became the other. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I love every change you’re planning on making except the fact that Yoda and the Emperor won’t be fighting.

I just don’t agree with people’s justifications for removing this like that “Yoda is mystical and doesn’t fight.” or “Yoda is too old.”.

My feeling is that he has this one chance to end the empire and the sith forever. So he feels it is his duty (as one of the few remaining Jedi) to try and defeat the Emperor even if the effort kills him.

Now I agree the fight on Mustafar should be completely focused on Anakin and Obi-Wan without cutting between the two fights. One solution I have seen other fan-editors use is to make them two separate fights with the Mustafar landing pad scene acting as a breather in between them.

This just my opinion and don’t take this as criticism of your edit. It’s shaping up to be my fave edit of ROTS.

Keep up the good work. 👍🏻