RogueLeader

I wasn’t making this for Ascendant, just testing out some lines for a Rey Nobody edit, but I was planning to replace the “Do you still count the days since your parents left?” line with something relevant to this. It works fine for a Rey Nobody edit, but I liked the idea of paralleling Kylo’s cracked mask with Rey’s cracked lightsaber. And also play into her identity stuff.

He doesn’t see the actual blade in this scene obviously, but he sees the hilt on her waist, and sees she has repaired it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15c1Uq-aZhsnSrLcTBrhjfAG1DBwbhMKB/view?usp=drivesdk

NeverarGreat said:

Changing that line so extensively would probably clash with the rest of the scene, though.

“I just want to know what’s going on.”
“Of course you do. I understand. But what I want is a captain I can trust. You’re impulsive…dangerous…and the last thing we need right now.”

Hal might not want to open this can of worms with the other movies outside of TROS. But it is something I’m looking into. I actually recent went through and took notes on what I dialogue I would alter for the movie. I had something similar, but that line is even better! And, I feel like it flows really well with how it looks like she moves. Better than the current line.

NFBisms said:

I love Hayden Christensen

I was wondering you’d think about this episode! I felt the way Hayden acted here was similar to how you had him be in the new canon cut.

That’s kind of how I was picturing it. You could paint out the lightning directly hit Palpatine from Rey’s sabers, and make it seem like what is happening to the throne is happening to him.

At the very least, this whole idea made me realize that another nice VFX change would be for Palpatine to have Lightning emanating from his hands the entire time right up until he dies, instead of stopping toward the end. It just makes it feel a little more like Rey killing him, rather than Rey just deflecting Palpatine’s Lightning back at him while defending herself.

Yeah, it’s the cruft that Hal has talked about. And I tried to use the same method I used to clean up Poe’s dialogue but it doesn’t work.

These are just some random lines I spat out real quick to test it:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18R7jtXjYzgKaLAgMriWPk7Ku10rayCw_

It’s something you might be able to get away with through the narrative filter of holograms or masks, like in Kylo’s case, but when they’re just speaking out loud it doesn’t hold up.

Both fair points.

Also, I played around with a Palpatine AI voice just so we know if all this is even worth discussing, and I’ll admit I’m honestly surprised with it. With that said, I still don’t think any AI dialogue would even hold up with the surrounding dialogue.

The only scene I could think of that you could make it work would be the hologram scene he has with general Pryde, since his hologram voice doesn’t have that heavy reverb, and any artifacts can be “masked” by the hologram distortion. The Sith ship blowing up Kijimi was cut, wasn’t it? If so, was the relevant dialogue from this scene also cut? If anything, you could potentially pop in one line in its place.

Palpatine: The Princess of Alderaan has disrupted my plan, but her foolish act will be in vain. Come to me on Exegol, General Pryde.
Pryde: As I served you in the old wars, I serve you now.
Palpatine: Only the strongest shall rule. The Final Order begins. She will come, her friends will follow.

Having Palpatine say this to a third party doesn’t mess with how he manipulates Rey or Kylo directly. But, it speaks to Palpatine’s philosophy, that Kylo is no longer the strongest and maybe “she” is, and it can even hint at Pryde’s motivations for being loyal to Palpatine. He clearly felt he was stronger than Hux and deserved to rule more than him.

Anyway, we can drop the Palpatine stuff. Like I said, I think this is the only scene you could seamlessly use Palpatine AI voice.

NeverarGreat said:

• When Rey calls upon the Jedi for the final time, after the Jedi give their generic support…”

This is something I am wanting to address too.

DominicCobb said:

RogueLeader said:

Continuing a convo from the Ascendant thread (though this would be relevant for Rey Nobody as well)

NeverarGreat said:

The thing is, Rey has never wanted power, which is the issue with this entire ending. There’s nothing that Palpatine can give her that she genuinely wants, other than a sense of belonging and family, so with the revelation about him as her grandfather, she has just as much reason to want him alive as she does to kill him.

Rey doesn’t want power, she doesn’t want to rule the galaxy.

She wants to be a Jedi and gain a family, so unless Palpatine’s plan can give her that he has no angle.

So hang on a sec, here’s an idea: What if Palpatine reveals the reason that Rey can’t connect with the Jedi of the past is because he personally is blocking that connection?

“Do you know why the Jedi reject you? Because of me.”

“Kill me, and the spirit of the Jedi shall pass into you.”

We know he’s lying about that of course, but at least he’s offering her something she would genuinely want. And when she is finally able to call the Jedi to her in her final moment, it is the culmination of Rey rejecting Palpatine’s lie.

The angle I’m going for right now is control. Rey has this raw power, but she really doesn’t have any control over it. She hurts BB-8 during her training, she almost kills Chewbacca, she Force-pushes Finn on the Death Star, and she almost kills Kylo/Ben. Her raw, uncontrollable power is a threat to her belonging and family, which ties into her sense of self-worth. She fears she isn’t good enough for a family, that she might just hurt the ones she cares about. She might lose her family if she joined the Sith, but they might die if she doesn’t, or get hurt by her if she can’t learn to control her powers. She feels trapped, and doesn’t know what to do.

Basically, “if you can’t control the dark side, the dark side will control you.” That’s the argument the villains are making. Palpatine and Kylo Ren both offer her ways to do so. But there’s a catch with both.

Not saying it is the best approach ever, but I think it at least gives more of a plausible reason Rey might be even a little tempted to join either of them.

Most of this idea would be framed by Kylo in new dialogue, but I think everything else that already exists would support it well.

I dig it. So you have AI line ideas for this?

I actually have each conversation mapped out, with a few to several options for certain lines. 😅 Honestly had avoided thinking about it the past year or two, but this voice AI stuff kind of sparked my brain again. I think it needs some adjustments, to make it all focused, but it feels closer than it has ever been before. At least my version of it.

I could share it here and maybe it could be hammered out.

And I like that idea, Nev, that the throne/temple itself is a significant nexus in the dark side. And the Sith made the throne to channel its power. It’d explain why he is tied to that place. Maybe that would explain all the damn lightning coming from the ground!
Even if it was explicitly spelled out, I could imagine a few ways it could be implied as much.

It does seem like “taking the throne” is pretty significant. It feels like a metaphorical gesture, but this could imply that maybe it isn’t.

As far as the lie goes, if she joins the Sith they at least won’t be dead, and she won’t hurt them because she’ll be in control of her powers. That’s a start. And as long as they’re alive, maybe she can convince them that this is the only way.

In that way it is similar to Anakin in ROTS. He knows the Sith are problematic, but he hopes he can convince Padmé it is the only way they can be together, and make things the way they want them to be.

Continuing a convo from the Ascendant thread (though this would be relevant for Rey Nobody as well)

NeverarGreat said:

The thing is, Rey has never wanted power, which is the issue with this entire ending. There’s nothing that Palpatine can give her that she genuinely wants, other than a sense of belonging and family, so with the revelation about him as her grandfather, she has just as much reason to want him alive as she does to kill him.

Rey doesn’t want power, she doesn’t want to rule the galaxy.

She wants to be a Jedi and gain a family, so unless Palpatine’s plan can give her that he has no angle.

So hang on a sec, here’s an idea: What if Palpatine reveals the reason that Rey can’t connect with the Jedi of the past is because he personally is blocking that connection?

“Do you know why the Jedi reject you? Because of me.”

“Kill me, and the spirit of the Jedi shall pass into you.”

We know he’s lying about that of course, but at least he’s offering her something she would genuinely want. And when she is finally able to call the Jedi to her in her final moment, it is the culmination of Rey rejecting Palpatine’s lie.

The angle I’m going for right now is control. Rey has this raw power, but she really doesn’t have any control over it. She hurts BB-8 during her training, she almost kills Chewbacca, she Force-pushes Finn on the Death Star, and she almost kills Kylo/Ben. Her raw, uncontrollable power is a threat to her belonging and family, which ties into her sense of self-worth. She fears she isn’t good enough for a family, that she might just hurt the ones she cares about. She might lose her family if she joined the Sith, but they might die if she doesn’t, or get hurt by her if she can’t learn to control her powers. She feels trapped, and doesn’t know what to do.

Basically, “if you can’t control the dark side, the dark side will control you.” That’s the argument the villains are making. Palpatine and Kylo Ren both offer her ways to do so. But there’s a catch with both.

Not saying it is the best approach ever, but I think it at least gives more of a plausible reason Rey might be even a little tempted to join either of them.

Most of this idea would be framed by Kylo in new dialogue, but I think everything else that already exists would support it well.

I’ll continue this convo in the Sequel Redux thread!

Not that it has to be used for Ascendant, but this all lines up with how I’m rewriting Kylo’s dialogue! (Hopefully to make Rey’s insecurities and temptations clearer, and make Kylo’s dialogue sound less generic).

Right? I had actually been rewriting Kylo’s dialogue throughout the film with a similar idea in mind as DZ. But after reading y’all’s convo, I think his motivation just could be clarified a little more. Luckily it is really only one or two lines.

If you wanted to just strengthen the current/theatrical plan, you could have Palpatine say something to Rey like, “Only the strongest can rule.”

Basically, having them fight only benefits Palpatine. If one kills the other, then nothing would stand in the way of him possessing the survivor. And whoever survives would be the stronger vessel. And Palpatine frames it as a test. Testing their skill and strength to see who can be the rightful heir.

“I never wanted you dead. I only wanted the strongest to rule.”
“Only the strongest can take the throne.”
Idk, something like that.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

Jar Jar Bricks said:

I’d like to hear from all of you which of these Poe lines sound the best? Also, which ones might pair together well?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/107YPYFjOXKBXthoIZl14wJ0OD0RyUjl7?usp=sharing

Please keep in mind that the background noise of some these is a little wonky, but ignore that. RL has the software that can make it clean.

In my opinion, #3 from each sound nicely when paired together.

I do think 3 sounds the best out of these options.

This is cool! The new changes feel very seamless.

In this context, Luke is saying that Leia knew Rey has a good spirit and heart because their bond was stronger than blood. I don’t think it is a non-sequitur.
Luke’s basically saying, “Leia saws those dark vision of you too, but she trained you anyway, because she saw your true spirit. She knew the real you, because your bond was stronger than blood.” That’s the idea at least.

DominicCobb said:

Jar Jar Bricks said:

I kinda think that scene is already pretty thin and short, I don’t know personally if what you gain from adding this Leia line is enough to cut out a couple of the back and forths and making it even shorter.

Whereas in a Rey Nobody you kind of have no choice but to cut it down. Speaking of, what was the alt line we landed on for this? “Leia sensed your struggle with the dark side”? Can you add that to the google drive?

I agree with you that I think the scenes would be better served if we keep as much of it as possible. The more you trim, the more edited it feels.

I actually disagree that it has to be cut down at all for Rey Nobody. I think you could keep the same amount of lines with just slight word changes and additions. The only line that would need to be cut would be “Because you’re a Palpatine.”

EDIT: For reference (with some slight touches for preference)

Luke (off screen): Leia saw it, too.
Rey: She didn’t tell me. She still trained me.
Luke (off screen): Because she saw your spirit-
Luke (on screen): -your heart.
Luke (off screen): She knew, because-
Luke (on screen): -some things are stronger than blood.
Luke (off screen): Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. A constant struggle. If you don’t face it-
Luke (on screen): -it will mean the end of the Jedi.
Luke (off screen): And you will be lost.
Luke (wide): There’s something my sister would want you to have.

Sometimes I think less is more.
(“A constant struggle” could also be Always”. Just thought it would be a more useful lesson than just saying “your destiny”)

Thanks for the notes! I probably won’t get to again until this weekend, at least, but I’ll look at getting closer to your mock-up.

I’m sensing a pattern with me spending a lot of energy on blink and you’ll miss it shots.

If I need to make edits I can but here is the high res clip for now.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VorirravXQCUNYadlzaa-K9y9ZpMhRhc/view?usp=drive_link

Hal 9000 said:

And oh jeez, sorry I skipped right by Nev’s awesome drawing.

Also, can the Poe line be shortened to just read “each ship [has been] modified with delreadnaught laser cannons”?

JarJar, let me know if you don’t do the Poe thing and I can try to mess with it sometime. I kept having trouble getting Poe to say “dreadnought” and “cannons” in a more Oscar Isaac way. I even typed it out more phonetically, like “dread not” and “can-ins”. Maybe you’ll have more luck with it than I did. But any lines needs a “de-cruft” just send it my way.

BrotherOfSasquatch said:

Not to derail this thread too much but I just want to say that this new sort of AI voice model work you all have been doing for this is so exciting, not only for this edit but for any future edits of other shows and movies. Within Star Wars alone, I know some people have had problems with how both Vader’s lines in Obi-Wan Kenobi/Rogue One and Luke’s lines in Mando/Boba Fett have sounded and with this new way to use this tech, we could get a more accurate voiceprint of both of these characters from the original movies.

I honestly shut Star Wars edits mostly out of my mind when this stuff first started popping up because the possibilities were just too overwhelming. Now I’m just trying to take it one idea at a time. The Rey Nobody edit has been this forum’s white whale for awhile, so I’ve been mapping out new dialogue for that. Might not be right for Ascendant but I’ll try to post some test sometime.

Ooo, perfect. Get that to me!

I love it! And I have after effects.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

That is a fair argument, krlozdac. She tells the Aki-Aki girl that she doesn’t have a family mere scenes later. “I don’t have one”.

Does she say she doesn’t have a family, or that she just doesn’t have a family name? I mean, it’s not like Leia legally adopted Rey. She’s just saying that she is where she belongs.