NeverarGreat

(All content stolen from imgur)

Only a Sith deals in abs and glutes.

I’ve deleted quite a bit and had to start over from the Netherworld scene. I’m very pleased at the new direction, however:

The medical lifter winds its way through the sterile white halls of the Resistance Blockade Runner Tantive IX. Finn, Rose, Rey, and Chewie hurry alongside as Resistance troops rush hither and thither. Threepio rushes belatedly after them. The stumps of Kylo’s arm and leg, hastily cauterized by Finn on the destroyer, still leak blood onto the lifter.

Kylo is set down in the operating suite of the Tantive IX, more of an alcove than a full room with a glass partition opposite the trio of beds. Doctor Harter Kalonia takes over operations as Finn and Chewie exit to the insistence of the Tantive captain, who needs the Falcon to commence operations to rescue and take prisoner the crew that escaped Kylo’s Destroyer. Chewie roars at Rey, and Finn adds his voice in demanding that Rey come with them and help round up the prisoners. Rose goes over to Rey and says that Kalonia is doing all she can. Rey nevertheless feels that she should stay. Threepio finally arrives at the medical suite just as everyone rushes off, and he is visibly flustered and dismayed. He sees Rey standing all alone and deciding that he will probably just get in the other’s way, he traipses over to Rey’s side. They both stare through the glass partition at Kylo and the doctor.

Time passes. Threepio asks if Rey would like to hear the rest of the final chapter of the Jedi Texts, and Rey agrees. He speaks of the impending demise of the first great sage of the Force, and her student’s attempts to reckon with her death. One student vows to save her through a Force technique alluded to previously in the texts, but another student cautions against this.

Before Threepio can continue the tale, Kalonia exits the suite. Rey moves to intercept her. At her query, Kalonia responds that if she had a full Bacta tank she could do more, but with their facilities she gives Kylo even odds of survival. Rey asks if that’s really all that can be done, and Kalonia responds that with galactic medicine, yes, and it’s up to Kylo himself to find the strength to pull through. After Kalonia leaves, Rey moves into the room proper and sits beside Kylo’s bed. Threepio, clearly not programmed for such a scenario, waits timidly outside.

Rey stares across at Kylo for a while, wrestling internally with what to do. Finally she speaks. ‘Kylo…’ Her look softens. ‘…Ben. I don’t know why I’m here. I know you probably can’t hear me, but if you can I want you to know that…’ She looks away, changing her mind. ‘I could really use some help right now.’ She looks over at Threepio as if in judgement. ‘I don’t know how to rebuild the Jedi, not really. Luke is gone, I don’t know where. And now Leia…she was counting on me, Ben.’ Her voice cracks. ‘As crazy as it sounds, you might be the only one who could have understood.’ From her side comes a new voice. ‘Sorry, Rey. I should have come sooner.’ Rey whirls around. Luke sits on the side of the bed beside Kylo’s. She asks why he took so long, he responds that family matters kept him away, and gestures to Kylo. She realizes that Kylo is closer to death than anyone thought, and Luke says that this is the will of the Force. Rey responds that it is too easy, that she refuses to let him escape the full consequences of his actions. Luke gives her his third lesson. He tells her that in using the Force she must accept the consequences of her own actions, lest her balance be broken. A Jedi, he says, understands that some things are beyond their power to peacefully achieve, and when that happens they must be willing to accept the power of the greater Force. Rey nods, and Luke vanishes. Rey turns to Kylo, who’s vital signs are dwindling to nothing.

In the netherworld, Kylo sits outside watching the sunset with Han and Leia. Luke appears before him. Kylo feels himself go cold, his left side going numb, becoming insubstantial. He looks fearfully at Luke. ‘Looks like someone really wants you back, kiddo.’ Han shakes him on the shoulder ‘Say Hi to Chewie and Rey for me, alright? Tell ‘em to take good care of the old girl!’ Leia gives her son a long look, nodding to him as if in acceptance of everything. Kylo vanishes.

Rey collapses beside Ben’s bed, her whole body bathed in sweat and trembling from exertion. Ben’s vitals are stable, his breathing deep and regular. He opens his eyes to see her gripping his remaining hand, her other hand on his chest. He opens his mouth. ‘Why?’ She gasps, short of breath. ‘Because the galaxy isn’t through with you yet, Ben.’ She collapses on the floor, asleep before Ben can utter another word. Threepio trundles in, deciding that he should at least greet his old friend. Ben looks at the droid as if with new eyes. ‘Hi Goldenrod’.

ACT II

The Resistance fleet, now bolstered by the presence of a First Order Star Destroyer, jumps into hyperspace en route to a nebula where they can coordinate their next moves. Finn has transferred back to the Tantive IX to inquire as to Kylo’s condition, but Kalonia informs him that both Rey and Kylo are resting, Kylo seeming to have made a full recovery. Finn hopes that Kylo’s awake when the fleet reaches the nebula, because they will need both Kylo and Rey’s help to convert the crew of their captured destroyer to the Resistance. They head to the bridge.

Rey awakens to a spirited conversation between Ben and Threepio. The droid is recounting the events which have transpired from his point of view since Ben left to train with Luke those years ago. He’s gotten to the part where he has translated the entire body of the Jedi Texts. Rey complains that she feels drained, and Ben echoes this sentiment. Rey remarks that this is reasonable since he basically died, but then realizes that her feelings portend something far more serious than simple tiredness. She tries to lift a medical instrument and fails. She tries again with the smallest object she can find, and still fails. Ben grabs her and holds her against himself as she begins to hyperventilate. Ben tells her to breathe, just breathe. Rey is calmed somewhat by this echo of Luke’s teaching, and he asks her where she learned of bringing people back from death. Threepio announces that it’s from the Jedi Texts, and he excitedly explains that he was just about to finish the story of the resurrection of the great sage by her student. Ben asks for him to finish the story, and Threepio recounts how the student is successful in reviving the sage but that both of them lose their abilities in the Force. Ben tries to lift an object with the Force at this revelation and predictably cannot. Threepio continues, saying that this event triggers a great schism within the students on the island. Most of them vow never to use this practice again, and these become the Jedi. However, a single student believes that this is but a step on the path to immortality, and is branded Sith by the others, meaning selfishness. With these final words, silence falls. The silence of a tomb.

Thrawn’s fleet hovers over Bacrana and the capital city Amma. A reconnaissance team returns to his ship from the crashed destroyer. He asks if they found Kylo Ren, and they inform him that they found pieces of the Supreme Leader. The officer proffers Kylo’s lightsaber, saying they don’t believe anyone could have survived the crash or those injuries. Thrawn advises not to jump to conclusions in the absence of a full body, however there is one other piece of evidence that could convince him. As if in response, an officer alerts Thrawn that Hux’s office has received an urgent communique from the Knights of Ren. They are requesting the presence of Supreme Leader Ren. This appears to be the evidence he has been waiting for. He tells the ships to prepare to leave the system, but first he orders all batteries to fire on the city. The commander is taken aback, saying that their men are still down there, But Thrawn says that they are doubtless contaminated by Resistance propaganda, which was why this planet was able to revolt in the first place. The turbolasers lance through the sky, the images captured by the small hyperspace relay floating in the garbage above the planet.

Both scenes look very nice indeed!

The only issue I can find is in the shot of Finn exiting his broken speeder, where there remains the increasing hum of the weapon as it prepares to fire. If it is possible to reduce or remove this sound that scene would be perfect to me.

Kitster’s Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnPGyhOR9h0&feature=youtu.be

Just came across this, thought it might be useful for rewrites. In particular, it explores the conundrum of Kylo as the central antagonist and what that means for Star Wars.

Note: I realized after stripping Ben of his Force power that I really missed a trick. Rey and Kylo are so linked that what happens to one must affect the other. Snoke says in TLJ that Kylo’s rise in power instigated Rey’s awakening in the Force to oppose him. Now it could be debated how accurate this is, but I think it’s undeniable that their link is incredibly important, so I will be revising everything after the Netherworld scene to incorporate Rey being suddenly and entirely bereft of the Force. I think this will give much greater impetus to her journey and desire to recruit Force users, and keep Ben as an antagonistic figure despite and because of this devastating occurrence. It also strikes at the heart of Rey’s insecurities. Having found a family in the Resistance for her obvious significance as a powerful Force user, being reduced to merely another person would really turn the knife that is her feeling of being nobody.

Aaand the snow’s gone. It feels like summer again.

A TIE Interceptor and a battered A-wing settle onto the docking bay floor, Rey leaping lightly from her cockpit and waiting as muffled curses emanate from the TIE interior. Rey spies BB-8, R2, and Threepio huddled in conversation near Poe’s X-wing. BB-8 looks up at the TIE and rolls over, followed by the two other droids. Threepio asks Master Solo if he needs a hand, and a metal appendage flies out of the upper hatch to strike him on the chestplate. Rey sweeps up the prosthetic hand and joins the droids by the TIE fighter, asking where the others are. Threepio responds that they are in the mess hall. Rey leaves the bay holding the hand, followed by BB-8.
There is a clatter from the TIE fighter and Threepio rushes over to Ben, who has collapsed in a heap in front of the ship. He asks Master Solo if he is all right, to which Ben responds with a withering stare, staggering up and following Rey to the mess hall. R2 beeps derisively at Threepio, who turns away with something approaching wounded pride. ‘What could I do? I’ll have you know that among my other talents I’m now the galaxy’s foremost authority on the Jedi religion.’ R2 beeps sassily. Threepio turns to him. ‘And what would you know about something like that?’
…
The mess hall is a scene of barely contained chaos. Tables and chairs have been pulled from their brackets and now form clusters throughout the hall. Helmetless troopers chatter and shout, their armor decorated with bright paint and duct tape. Red squadron sits across from the bridge officers, their flight suits festooned with splashes of red paint. In the center of the room, alongside several tables of Resistance soldiers, sits Finn, Rose, Poe, and Chewie. Rose is going over all the mistakes made during the day’s exercises. She laments that they don’t have more ships since they have crews and pilots for almost two Destroyer compliments.
Rey walks up to the table, a tray of First Order rations in her hand, sitting in the open space between Poe and Finn and setting Ben’s hand beside her tray. Finn asks her if she had a nice flight. She gives him side eye, and he mutters to her that any other Captain would have thrown her in the brig for what she did. Poe overhears, speaks up in Rey’s defense, that it’s normal to need to blow off some steam after a defeat. Rose remarks that it’s nice to see Finn and Poe talking directly to each other. Chewie nods. Rey throws down her fork. She admits that Finn is right, and that it’s selfish to act as if she’s the only one so affected by Leia’s death. Silence falls at the table. Rey continues that she wishes she didn’t have the sole responsibility of returning the Jedi to the galaxy, and Poe looks confused, asking if Ben won’t help her.
Before she can respond Ben arrives in the mess hall. A quiet descends on the hall, but Red Squadron stands proud. Their spokesman shouts ‘Let’s hear it for the leader of Red Squadron, Master of the Knights of Ren, Heir to the Empire…Ben Solo!’ Three cheers go up from Red Squadron and a strong showing from the rest of the assembled soldiers. Poe looks at Rey, gesturing to Ben as if that said it all. Rey gives him a ‘really?’ face but then she turns back to Ben as if re-evaluating him.
Ben sits at the table across from Rey, his expression unreadable. He asks for his hand back. She asks him about the Knights of Ren. He asks why she wants to know, and she responds that they need people strong in the Force if they are to rebuild the Jedi Order. Ben shakes his head, saying that he believes it to be a fool’s errand. Poe wonders why this is the first he’s hearing about these Knights, and Rose answers. She says that the Knights were once students of Luke’s Jedi school but they chose to join with Kylo and now each rules over a planet largely independent of the First Order. Ben clarifies that these students originally joined Luke’s school to protect their home planets as the Jedi of old had done before the Republic, and that when it became clear that they were to join or die Kylo Ren, they chose to join in return for control over their planets. Now their planets are off-limits to the First Order and their child-harvesting, and these knights care only about protecting these worlds. He says they will not join an unlikely cause. Rey argues that since Ben is the one who made this deal, Thrawn and Hux have no reason to continue to honor it. Ben clearly hasn’t considered that.
Rey comes to a decision. She will seek out these knights and gain them as allies in their fight, and Ben will come along to help. Ben seems reluctant. The planet they must travel to in order to convene the knights is in Hutt space, he says, and will not be easy to approach. Chewie roars, Rey translating that he and Han once had friends among the pirates there and Chewie will come as well.
Rey reaches to give Ben his hand. He takes it but Rey doesn’t let go, instead saying that they will do this for the Jedi and the memory of Leia. Finn places his hand on the metal hand as well, saying ‘For Leia.’ Poe follows suit. ‘For the General.’ Rose says ‘For our Leader.’ Ben says something as well, but it’s inaudible to the assembled team. Chewie places his paw on top of the pile and roars. Rey translates ‘For the Princess’. Ben asks if he could please have his hand back. He pulls it away from the group and as they all get up from the table to make preparations, he reattaches it to his arm, clenching it into a fist and looking to the departing crew with new resolve.

JEDIT: Obsolete

It’s the vibe I’ve been getting from other corners of the 'net, and though the Disney output is the worst offender right now it is pretty discouraging to have the trilogies on both sides of the OT so completely fail to live up to their promise.

DuracellEnergizer said:

I’m almost astonished by how apathetic I’ve become to Star Wars in the past couple months. There’s no hate left, no love. Just big, gray indifference.

That’s everyone after TROS.

Two Star Destroyers fall out of Hyperspace, their signatures clearly visible through the nebula. Finn barks out orders: ‘Raise shields! Red Squadron, Black Squadron, launch!’ A collection of TIE fighters and Resistance ships pours out of the main hangar bay, collecting into two distinct groups on the underside of the Destroyer. Rose stands to the side of the bridge with Threepio, asks him his projected time. Threepio responds that they will probably last at least 30 seconds longer this time against the simulation. Finn commands his squadrons, ordering them to flank the Destroyers just below their equatorial turbolasers and come about to attack them from the rear. In this way the squadrons will avoid most of the Destroyer’s field of fire. The holographic forms of the ships appear on out of the nebula, and Ben leads Red Squadron towards the leftmost Destroyer. Poe in his X-wing goes to the right, a motley collection of Resistance ships close behind. Rey flies formation with Poe in a battered A-wing. Poe hits the intercom, telling everyone to get in attack formation and orient themselves down in the direction of the projected enemy fighter launch. Both squadrons fly upside-down, headed toward the simulated Destroyers. Finn flashes a grin at Rose. Her expression is skeptical.
The two Destroyers gun their engines, quickly picking up speed as they rush to close distance, angling nearer to themselves as well. Rey asks why they haven’t launched fighters yet, and to scan for fighters around them in the cloud. Poe answers that scanners pick up nothing, and to keep going. Just as the squadrons converge with the prows of the enemy Destroyers the huge vessels begin spinning against their long axis. The sudden spin seems too fast to be possible, and Poe’s X-wing bobs drunkenly with his disorientation. Both formations waver as batteries of ventral cannons and turbolasers come into view directly in front of the squadrons and open fire.
On the bridge of the real Destroyer, Finn stares openmouthed as the two simulations roll opposite each other in space, every gun on their equators and upper decks now trained on him. With a single burst of holographic light the battle is over. Ben spins his fighter in a playful arc, the only pilot to avoid a simulated destruction. He asks why Thrawn didn’t have to even launch a single fighter, and Poe shouts that the simulation was unfair, that no Destroyer can rotate that fast. Finn’s voice comes on the line, saying that Poe is wrong. The simulations, he says, used their tractor beams on each other in addition to their maneuvering engines, and this gave them the speed to pull off this rout. Finn gives the order to return to the ship. Rey pipes up, saying that there’s still one ship left to destroy. She guns her engines and goes after Ben’s fighter. Ben smiles, warming to the friendly contest, and he cuts across the surface of Finn’s vessel before looping under the bridge and disappearing into the nebula. Rey follows, matching his movements perfectly. Finn sighs. Rose tells him it’s no wonder he has trouble keeping order with them around.

JEDIT: Obsolete

'ang on, 'e says 'e’s not dead.

 
https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2020/02/21/jd-dillard-matt-owens-are-developing-a-new-star-wars-movie

www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-movie-works-jd-dillard-matt-owens-1280459

No more information as of yet, unfortunately.

I’ve moved the Thrawn scene to the end of my current place in the script, since I don’t want too much time to pass between him convening the Knights of Ren and it actually happening. The story continues:
Rey walks the hallways back to the bridge, passing groups of helmetless Stormtroopers and officers in the halls, talking and lounging in ready rooms to either side.
She enters the bridge, where the gathered leadership of the Resistance is discussing strategy. Finn greets her warmly, gushing about the changes he plans to make with this crew, which he says have taken to calling themselves the Rebels since they think ‘Resistance’ is too wordy. As he gushes there’s a disturbance by a far terminal, and a Rebel officer reports that a TIE Intercepter has just launched. They all look out the window at the swirling clouds of their nebula refuge and see a small fighter silhouetted against the soft pink and blue of the gas. Poe turns to Rey, asking if that is Ben. She responds that she can’t tell, and it might be one of their newly minted Rebels gone traitor. Poe reassures everyone that a ship that size won’t get far, but Rose rejoins that it wouldn’t take long for it to be within transmitting distance of the nearest First Order base. The Rebel commander reminds them of the tractor beam, but by the time they get it online the ship is already disappearing through the clouds of gas. Poe orders a launching of TIEs to track it down while Finn simultaneously orders the Destroyer to follow the TIE at full speed. The Rebel and Resistance bridge crew looks at them in confusion. Finn looks at Poe. ‘Sorry…Admiral.’ Poe responds ‘No, go ahead…Captain. The bridge is yours.’ Finn nods, and orders the Destroyer to follow the TIE into the nebula.
In the nebula all is murky and distorted. Finn orders a sensor overlay be pulled up in front of the window to track the ship. Sensors can just make it out at the edge of range, pulling them further into the cloud. Suddenly a much larger shape begins to resolve itself in front of the fighter and the TIE’s signal is obscured by the massive object in front of them. The Rebel commander shouts at Finn that it is another Destroyer, and it’s launching TIE Intercepters of its own. Finn yells that it’s a trap, Poe curses ‘Thrawn!’ Finn orders evasive maneuvers and a TIE launch and after an interminable delay they finally launch towards the wave of enemy fighters still only visible on the sensor screen. Finn orders the shields up, double front. Even as their TIEs streak through the nebula at the enemy fighters, there comes a new set of signals, this time from behind. TIE bombers emerge from the cloud at close range, unleashing a wave of missiles streaking towards the exposed engines. There is no time to alter shields, and everyone braces for impact.
A second passes, then another. Rose dares to open her eyes, which had been shut tight in anticipation of disaster. Poe realizes that Finn has taken his hand in panic. They disengage with an embarrassed shifting of eyes and clearing of throats. Suddenly the bridge is rattled by the passage of a single TIE Intercepter sweeping its wings inches from the windows. The radio crackles to life. Ben’s voice appears on the com, dryly stating that their ship has been blown to atoms. Poe stares in confusion and starts to ask how Ben could have controlled that simulation from a TIE, but then sees Rey in the corner of the room nonchalantly leaning against a console. R2 retracts his data arm and trundles past Threepio, chirping innocently. Rey airily informs Poe that she trained on one of these things a lot on Jakku, though it wasn’t in nearly as good condition. Ben continues flying circles around the Destroyer’s bridge, giving them a good dressing-down. This is Thrawn’s modus operandi, he says, drilling and testing his crews every spare minute of the day, and it’s what the Resistance will need to do if it wants to survive even a minute against him.
…
Thrawn gazes down upon the Destroyers of Kylo’s fleet as they float in dock on the orbital shipyards of Corellia. Hux breaks off his conversation with a gaggle of technicians and officials and dismisses them. After they file out of the conference room he joins Thrawn at the expansive window overlooking the sweep of the docking ring as it disappears behind the curve of the planet to their right. Hux asks Thrawn if he believes that Kylo is still alive, and Thrawn nods. Hux informs Thrawn of the Resistance sabotage devices, and snidely remarks that they were more effective than Thrawn’s methods. Thrawn disagrees, believing that the only reason they would have failed is if they were deactivated by the Resistance. He lets this sink in, then says it is for this reason that he believes that the Resistance hasn’t killed Kylo and indeed would try to recruit him. Hux nods. He sneers of the softness of the Resistance that they aren’t capable of destroying their enemies, but Thrawn cautions Hux over assuming that this is mere weakness. He believes it is a governing philosophy and more than that a viable strategy which has won them a ship with its commander and crew, but they can use this to their advantage. They have crews quarantined on board these ships, crews tainted by Resistance propaganda and shaken by the possible return of their old Supreme Leader.
As for how to deal with the crews, Thrawn lays out two possibilities. The first is to play the Resistance game better than they do, to allow these fine soldiers and officers to go free and return them to their families in an unprecedented act of kindness. Hux shakes his head, knowing full well the damage that even a single tainted soldier can cause. Thrawn nods in agreement. He suggests that it would be a waste to destroy these fine ships however, and asks that after the technicians finish repairs that they call the crews to the main hangars and let the ships air out for a while in the vacuum of space. Hux replies that they will need new crews for the ships, and will need to increase the harvest of children from somewhere. Thrawn says that there is a way to kill two Mynoks with one blaster, and ends by saying that it is time to convene the Knights of Ren.

JEDIT: Obsolete

nl0428 said:

NeverarGreat said:

The intention of adding it (in my edit anyway) was to give the vision some more immediate relevance to Rey’s emotional state - she’s afraid of losing people forever and fears that this has just happened with Finn. I don’t think it needs to speak to the rest of the trilogy.

I see your point, but if her vision shows the past and future, such as accurately predicting her fight in the snowy woods with Kylo Ren, then this would be an event that never happened. It could work for a personal nightmare she’s having, but the vision is mainly triggered from touching the lightsaber which has had a legacy that she is unaware of and is experiencing and interacting with for her first time.

You could say that Kylo seeing Rey while standing with his knights in the rain never happened either. I don’t know, making one aspect of the vision be a more personal nightmare makes it more, well, personal than the rest of it and gives the rest of the vision some more grounding in an emotional reality.

Glad you like it! Yes the netherworld was the big nostalgiafest that everyone wanted, but after I got to thinking about it, the scene had a lot of potential to drive the story forward as well as fill out Ben’s backstory.

Kylo losing his power definitely started out as an idea to quickly nerf his level to keep our heroes from becoming overpowered in relation to the villains, but again it feels right as a reaction to such an extreme alignment shift. I don’t think it will be permanent, but his regaining power must be for very good reasons…

As for it being more booklike, that’s just how I’m comfortable writing. Screenplays always feel awkward to read compared to novels and if there’s no chance of it getting made, why go through the trouble?

The intention of adding it (in my edit anyway) was to give the vision some more immediate relevance to Rey’s emotional state - she’s afraid of losing people forever and fears that this has just happened with Finn. I don’t think it needs to speak to the rest of the trilogy.

Eh, the script still had too many problems to feel definitively superior to what we got.

ACT II. In a cavernous hold on the Star Destroyer lies the Millennium Falcon. Ben sits in the darkened Falcon on the floor beside the game table, hands cradling his head. A Porglet hops out of the nest built in the wiring and waddles over to his side. He makes to push it away with the Force, extending a robotic hand, but the Porglet doesn’t move. He stares at the hand in shock, then tries with his right. There is no response. He struggles with all his might to move a piece of debris on the floor before him, but his efforts are in vain. He lets his hands fall, one with a resounding clunk, and breaks down in tears. The Porglet waddles to his good side and nuzzles him for warmth.
Rey comes onboard and goes past him without noticing him. She rummages through her things and pulls out the broken pieces of Luke’s lightsaber. The shattered halves have been repaired to fit like interlocking puzzle pieces picked out in intricate brass amidst the burnished chrome. Still, the interior of the device fails to connect to itself and she sits in increasing concentration attempting to knit the two halves of the crystal back together. Her frustration boils over, and she roughly tosses the pieces away. One rolls to where Ben sits watching her. She starts, walking opposite him in the curving hallway and retrieving the other piece. She says she didn’t notice him there. Ben motions to her piece and asks what she’s trying to do. When she says that she’s been trying to mend the saber for months, Ben shakes his head. He says that mending a crystal was beyond even Luke’s skill in the Force, and that she should just start over with a new one. She refuses to believe this, but Ben insists that some things just can’t be mended so easily. Picking up on this, she asks what’s wrong, he doesn’t answer, just picks up the Porglet and cups it in his right hand, stroking its feathers with the metal fingers of his left.
Rey asks what the speech was about, the dying and the worth of all people. Ben asks what Rey thinks of this being, indicating the Porglet, and whether it might be as connected to the Force as any person. She thought that was what Luke was trying to teach her when he told about the balance between all things. Ben replies that he heard the same lesson from Luke many times, but realized that he had never really understood until now the meaning underneath. She asks if Ben had seen Luke, and he shoos the Porglet away and replies that he has, and that Han and Leia say Hi as well. Rey’s eyes widen. This wasn’t in the Jedi Texts or any teaching she has heard of. She holds out her broken half of the saber, saying that perhaps together they can mend it. Ben responds that Rey didn’t notice him on her way in. She is confused for a moment, then understands. She didn’t notice him or sense his presence in the Force at all!

JEDIT: Obsolete

If you were editing each movie individually, I would agree that ‘saving the reveal’ would cut too much out of ROTS to be worth it. However, if this is a 3-in-1 idea, then there would be plenty of material even if it leaves out Anakin’s fall to darkness.

Of course with so much of Anakin’s part cut, it makes a good argument for centering the story on Obi-wan instead.
Start with his relationship with Qui-gon, the emergence of the Sith, and him taking Anakin as his apprentice.
‘Your apprentice, Skywalker, will be.’
Hard cut to Zam’s speeder weaving in and out of traffic, Anakin hanging onto the roof for dear life. There can be the occasional scene between Anakin and Padme to establish the plot, but most of the scenes with Obi-wan discovering the clones would stay and be the through-line for this section. Continue an abbreviated film with ‘Begun the clone wars have’ and go from the ships lifting off into the Coruscant sky to Anakin and Obi-wan zipping among them in ROTS.
ROTS would focus on Obi-wan and his growing unease at the state of the war. Anakin is painted as more heroic here, with little of Palps insinuations. Focus on Anakin’s love for Padme and future children. End Anakin’s part with him waiting in the council chambers. Order 66 is the big emotional culmination of the film. The implication is that Anakin died defending the young Jedi, but his children will carry on and avenge him. End as ROTS ends, with Obi-wan delivering Luke to Owen and Beru.

DuracellEnergizer said:

I tend to skip over the episodes which don’t focus on world-building/character development/the Dominion War. Seven seasons of 20-26 episodes each are too damn many, anyway.

NeverarGreat said:

DS9 tries to go for an edgier tone, more gray areas and darkness, but that feels antithetical to the optimism of Star Trek. TNG largely remains true to this optimism, to the point that even when it becomes overly comfortable with itself and eschews real world drama it is at least settling into that quietly radical philosophy.

Trek became so insufferably smug with TNG’s self-satisfied utopianism; it needed a spoonful of deconstructive humility to reduce the swelling in its head.

Fair enough, but it works for me. I guess none of the DS9 characters speak to me as much.

Man, I don’t know what people love about DS9 but I just can’t get into it. I’ve been trying to work my way through it for several years and I’m on season 5. I watch an episode and that’s enough DS9 for the next month. That’s not to say it’s bad - Inner Light brought me to tears - but episode to episode it feels like such a stifling drag.

TNG to me is the opposite. After Season 2 it breezes by. I think it’s a tone thing. DS9 tries to go for an edgier tone, more gray areas and darkness, but that feels antithetical to the optimism of Star Trek. TNG largely remains true to this optimism, to the point that even when it becomes overly comfortable with itself and eschews real world drama it is at least settling into that quietly radical philosophy.

I agree with everyone else about TOS though. It’s just fun. Watch it.

I have updated the scenes prior to the afterlife slightly. To continue:
Kylo awakens in a First Order medical bay. Surrounding him are, from left to right, Rose, Poe, Finn, Rey, Threepio, and Chewie. Poe says ‘I still think we should kill him again.’ Finn raises Kylo’s saber. Rose and Chewie voice immediate dissent and Rey asks for the saber, which Finn hands over.
They tell Kylo that he’s been nearly dead for several days, and at one point they really thought he was, but during this time Hux has declared himself Supreme Leader and destroyed Leia on Yavin 4. The Resistance managed to disable and commandeer one of Kylo’s ships, at which point the rest of the fleet evacuated. This meant leaving the First Order soldiers on the ground to be taken prisoner. Now every prisoner is being held in the main hangar of the destroyer, and this is the reason our friends need Kylo Ren. They know that Kylo has been forced out of the First Order and his troops are wavering, their loyalty to the Order sorely tested by this attempt on their life. All his soldiers know is that Kylo has put his life on the line for them in every battle, and they will follow him to the death. Rey hands the saber to Kylo, asking him to lead his forces alongside their own. Kylo nods assent. They fit him with a prosthetic arm and leg, and he dresses for the occasion.
On the balcony overlooking the assembled officers and soldiers, Kylo announces that the First Order has betrayed them and is their enemy as well as his. He names Hux and Thrawn specifically as leaders who will suppress all religions of the Force under their fist and in so doing bring disorder to the galaxy. But, he says, the Force is true. As one who was dead and returned to life he has seen the reality of the Force present in all people, not just those of noble blood. Thus he sees that he is not any more worthy of command than another. He bequeaths his saber to Finn, the man who slew Kylo Ren. Henceforth, he wishes to be known only as Ben. Finn takes the saber and the soldiers salute him. He motions this down. His first order to them is to remove their helmets and see their fellows for who they truly are. They fight for the First Order no longer!
END OF ACT I

JEDIT: Obsolete

BedeHistory731 said:

My write-up has no sequel trilogy. If it did, it’d be the Thrawn Trilogy.

The crowd won’t yawn if you choose Thrawn.

IT’S SNOWING

IT NEVER SNOWS AROUND HERE

I’LL PROBABLY GET SEVERAL INCHES

THAT SOUNDED WEIRDER THAN I INTENDED