If we go for a genetic experiment instead of direct clone angle, it could still work.
Also: What if they just posed as simple junk dealers as a cover for the Sith cult?
edit: How do you feel about seperating the Connection made by snoke more directly from the Dyad in general?
Another shot. Tried to make things more blatant. Also tried to work in a more clear separation between the Dyad and the connection Snoke initially made.
“Rey… wherever you are… you are hard to find.”
“You are hard to get rid of.”
“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. I know the darkness that lives in you, Rey…”
“You’re lying.”
“You were right… your parents were no one. But they did not start out as junk traders.”
“Don’t!”
“As loyal subjects of the Sith, they were first assigned with raising you…"
“I don’t want this!”
“…and then killing you."
“No!”
“But they’d grown to care for you, so they hid you from Palpatine.”
(Rey sees the vision of her parents and her abandonment.)
“Rey, my love… be brave.”
“You’ll be safe here… I promise.”
“Come back! Nooo!”
“They paid for your protection… in more than one way.”
“Stop talking.”
“Rey… I learned what happened to them.”
(Cutaway to heroes capture)
“Your parents sought Luke’s protection, searching the Jakku desert for his allies… but Palpatine’s assassins tracked them down. They resisted fiercely, only to be forgotten by the sands of time."
(Rey sees her parents get killed.)
“So that’s where you are.”
“You know why the Emperor’s always wanted you dead. I’ll come tell you.”
…etc
“Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.”
“Because you were one of many experiments, Rey… Modeled after the Emperor’s genetic code, meant to host his lingering essence… Which chose another vessel,…”
“To them, you are nothing more than a leftover liability. But what Palpatine cannot see is that we’ve become a Dyad in the Force, linked by Snoke, but grown beyond that. We can end him and the Sith, and create something new, together…”
(Removes his helmet)
“You know what you need to do. You know.”
“I do.”
Also, I don’t get the thing about the New Republic busting a trade. Seems superfluous and needlessly confusing.
Insert any reason why the Sith cultists would be out of the picture.
Story idea behind my suggestion;
The cultists traded with Reys parents and happened to have one of the experiments (Rey) on board.
Something happened to them, baby Rey was found on their ship and then adopted by Reys parents. (Ny pretending it is their kid that was kidnapped by the Cultists)
Palpi found out about it and sent an Assassin. leading to the parents seaking protection.
But while they managed to save Rey, the Sith found and killed her parents.
I chose the New Republic as the party to shut down the Cultists because they seem like a faction that would be inclined to give out a “kidnapped” toddler.
almost there.
It feels still off, that junk traders get tasked with a job like this. It looks fun, let me also try xD
“Rey… wherever you are… you are hard to find.”
“You are hard to get rid of.”
“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. I know the darkness that lives in you, Rey…”
“You’re lying.”
“You were right… your parents were no one. Junk traders desperately selling parts to anyone… even the Sith Cult.”
“Don’t!”
“When a trade was busted by the New Republic, a toddler was found on the Cultist’s ship."
“I don’t want this!”
“Your parents had wanted, but couldnt have kids”
“No!”
“So they claimed you were theirs, abducted by the Sith.”
“Stop talking.”
“Rey… I learned what happened to them.”
(Cutaway to heroes capture)
“Your parents sought Luke’s protection, searching the Jakku desert for his allies… but Palpatine’s assassins tracked them down. They resisted fiercely, only to be forgotten by the sands of time."
(Rey sees her parents get killed.)
“So that’s where you are.”
“You know why the Emperor’s always wanted you dead. I’ll come tell you.”
…etc
“Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me.”
“Because you were one of many experiments, Rey… all of which became loose threads, failed attempts at bringing him back. You’re based off his template. You… are a clone of Palpatine.”
“The only purpose for your creation was to be a potential host for the Emporer. But what Palpatine cannot foresee is that we’ve become a Dyad in the Force, Rey… two, linked by raw power. We can end him and the Sith, and create something new, together…”
(Removes his helmet)
“You know what you need to do. You know.”
“I do.”
Around 1:59 when the ships take off, there seems to be one ship flying sound too much in the end.
I disagree strongly. Here are some of the numerous benefits to this change:
- It’s not a copy-paste of “I am your father”. Instead of the reveal simply being a relative is evil, the reveal is that you, as a person, are extremely evil in what is basically another life. This gets into the whole nature vs. nuture debate. Rey’s challenges can’t be dismissed as easily by Luke anymore because nobody has ever gone through what she is experiencing.
- It makes it abundantly clear how Palpatine was resurrected. Ya know, the thing that people most take issue with in the film. As a bonus, it’s more heavily implied what Snoke is exactly compared to Ascendant v4.
- TLJ only places a hard emphasis on Rey’s parents. Notice how Kylo only says he was shown who her parents are - not who she is. Beyond that, everything he says must be taken as assumptions he is making. Let’s take a look at Kylo’s following line: “You come from nothing. [Therefore] you’re nothing.” He’s only saying that because any normal person would think that since the people who raised her and gave birth to her are nobodies, she must be one, as well. Regular TROS straight up retcons this because the son of the Emperor is not nobody - end of story. This change is a clever way of bypassing a complete retcon for the sake of a Rey Palpatine reveal. Rey’s mother gave birth to a clone of Palpatine, but both parents are genetically unrelated to her.
- TLJ’s mirror cave sequence is a stupid scene originally. This change elevates it into an actual hint to her entire backstory and the trajectory of the trilogy. We see that Rey is one among an endless line of clones. Rey asks to see her parents. She doesn’t have actual parents, so she sees herself.
- There is a reason why Rey’s parents die on Jakku (or are there to begin with). They were looking for Lor San Tekka and his village so that their child could be saved by Luke. This ties back to the very first scene of the entire trilogy.
- Leia accepting Rey into her family is more profound. Of course the daughter of Darth Vader would be willing to accept the granddaughter of Sidious. But a clone of Sidious? That’s something else.
- It doesn’t require any further changes beyond this scene and what’s already present in Ascendant v4.
To be clear, I don’t believe Rey being a chosen one is a bad idea. I was a big supporter of it just a few weeks ago. But when I think about what kind of edit to this movie I want to keep for the rest of my life, it would be one that respects canon to a reasonable degree for the sake of compatibility, and also doesn’t remove chunks of the film throughout. The movie desperately needs more padding throughout (please release the deleted scenes Disney) so removing stuff is only going to make that feel even worse.
Agree with all of these.
Idea, don’t know if this has been brought up yet: How about cutting the Sequel Trilogy into a mini series, with intros TCW:R style?
That could open up cool new possibilities.
I like your first two suggestions. But, again, Rey must be viable for the sake of the plot. Nev’s explanation makes the most sense there.
What I like most about this idea is that it isn’t a complete retcon of TLJ. It’s just a clever way of taking the reveals in that movie, leaving them (mostly) the way they are, and expanding on them. The people she knows as her parents are the most unknown people in the galaxy - probably getting drunk all the time to bide their time. Kylo misinterprets currency being handed between Unkar and them as her being sold, but they instead paid for her to be looked after while they searched for Lor San Tekka. Her vision in TLJ’s mirror cave can’t show her parents because she doesn’t have any. Snoke likely knew her true identity and that’s why he wanted her killed - more competition for himself. And most importantly, it’s a dramatic reveal that is so distinct from merely being a descendant of somebody evil. It stings so much more to be told you, for all intents and purposes, ARE them.
this.
I do like this new idea. It stays close enough to the original so it can be implemented without too many tweaks, but it does connect the dots of the Trilogy in a very nice way.
I would be excited to watch this version!
Also, skipping into the middle of a city is kinda silly.
It does seem like the dagger would have been made recently by Ochi, doesn’t it? It may be easier to find one moment to state that somewhere rather than change several moments to make the blade seem older.
If the blade was made, say, fifteen years ago, then it would even make sense to keep the goonies moment in.
But why would he create a dagger with a shape resembling the death star wreck?
Is there maybe a way to imply that the inscriptions are everchanging? So if the wayfinder moves, the inscription changes?
@NeverarGreat
I agree with everything, but I think it would be better not to show the Wayfinder in the XWing. That could be very easily misread as her using it, even when not hooked up.
Because why should she bring it if it is of no use?
I think these are really good points and ideas. RotJ really works at the end because Luke faces so much temptation. Rey has a tending towards the dark but that temptation could really be emphasised.
Speaking of the dagger, now that it operates by whisper rather than the absolutely contrived pointing, it’s remaining flaw as a plot device is that the good guys stumble upon it in an absolute quirk of chance. Perhaps it could be implied that it’s somehow drawn Rey to it- either through Palpatine’s machinations or its own.
Regarding the dagger, see my comment in the Ascension thread.
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/The-Rise-of-Skywalker-Ascendant-Released/id/71835/page/684#1569710
To the random nature of them finding the dagger: The only thing i could think of is getting rid of the chase completely and inserting an AI line in the Lando conversation that mentions a dangerous cave. Then we cut away to the Knights of Ren or something and the next time we see the group they are already in the cave. No idea if that would flow well, but it would take away the random nature and maybe even slow down the pace a bit by taking out an action scene.
I have to agree that this moment s a bit too vague for a first time watcher without background knowledge.
Since the movie has already established visions for Rey, maybe a short, flashy vision of the Death Star Throne Room could be inserted when Rey stands on the shore, preferably intercut with closeups on the dagger.
Maybe you could go even further: Show a vision of the Throne Room from RotJ when sje first picks up the dagger and then one from the present as she stands on the shore. The closer she gets physically, the closer the visions come to the present. That could be kinda neat.
And another idea: Maybe 3POs dialogue could be changed in a way that he explains (after his wipe) that the dagger has an inscription that also says something to the likes of “To the sworn guardian of the wayfinder”. This would imply that the reason it is leading to the wayfinder is so the guardian can track it down should it be stolen.
Sounds very reasonable
s01e03 was very well rounded
s01e04 had a black frame popping up around 1:20 and when they are running from the parade and zeb says “welcome back kid”, it is pretty obvious that they are running around some corners, so the next shot of zeb shooting the Inquisitor does not really fit. Maybe there is a way to rearrange this in some way?
Other than that, it flowed super nice. 😃
For what it’s worth: I still had a good time watching this edit start to finish. Non-ideal pacing is something I expect from a single-movie edit of a TV show and honestly, it is kind of amazing that the first 4 movies were paced as well as they were…
And let’s see… If there is a season 2 of Ahsoka (or she turns up in Skeleton Crew), maybe there is another way to cut these.I can see the third act of this easily be the first act of another movie, depending on what’s coming of course…
I cannot wait to see what you will do with bad batch btw. 😃
s01e02:
Knowing the original episodes, this is probably as good as it gets. One thing I liked: Watching it directly after e01 it is kinda implied that the “we are even” moment at the end references Zeb pushing Ezra back in ep01 leading to his capture. That is actually quite elegant.
Only little downside on this one: There is not enough time to read the intro texts.
“Because you’re a Palpatine. Leia sensed it during your training.”
this!
With the Inquisitor transition it might help to keep the dramatic music cue just a tad longer into the next scene?
But it speaks to the quality of your edit that the stuff that stands out is baggage from the original show. 😉
i will go through these new versions as they come out. 😃
s01e01:
The first scene with the Inquisitor and Vader needs a better transition. The close up shot of the inquisitor builds up to his eyes being revealed, but because of the very sudden fade out that reveal does not have enough room to breath. I would either give they “eye reveal” a bit more time to sink in or just show him from the back, not cutting to the close up of the face at all. (which would make the last scene the first time we see his face, which would be kinda neat)
The scene with Ezra returning the lightsaber and joining the crew also needs a bit more room to breath before it cuts away.
Last small thing: around 12:00 there is an establishing shot of the full city that goes by way too fast. I would either take that out or prolong it.
All in all, a very good job, the rest flowed wonderfully. 😃
Double post cause of importance: The video has an issue when ezra attempt the jump. Video and audio stop for a good minute.
Guess I will also post it here:
Just had an idea regarding the wbw scenes.
Would it be possible to change it to “believe or die”?
Ahsoka has been on a trend of rejecting students and not believing in people (and maybe herself)
So Anakin, redeemed Vader, posing that question is kinda neat.
edit: As I keep watching… With the conversation between Ahsoka and Sabine about how she gambled with the map to get to Ezra… it just fits too well.
That’s nice, but how would you even begin to convey that information?
Watched the first 2 hours yesterday up until the Purgill journey starts.
As someone who did not watch the original show, I had no trouble following the story, it all flowed very well so far.
Only 2 things made me flinch for a second:
When Ahsokas ship gets hit, I did not really understand why Huyang got deactivated.
When Ahsoka finishes the fight with the robot/dude with the Inquisitor lightsaber, it seems like she just stands still for quite a while, which seemed odd.
Although I went in blind, i obviously saw Sabine getting stabbed before, it was everywhere… And this version seemed way better. Although it made me stop for a second, not quite knowing what exactly made her pass out, this is by far the better question to ask. Even a slice would be too much considering how fast she is back up on her feet.
Oh, and when Sabine sits down to cut off her hair, I felt like there was a small hiccup in the audio.