“[The next three Star Wars films] were going to get into a microbiotic world. But there’s this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the ones who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force.”
George Lucas, 2018, James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction companion book
Title: Journal of the Whills
Runtime: 207 minutes
Synopsis: Witness the transformation of the contested sequel trilogy into a stunning homage to the Skywalker Saga. Journey through the Outer Rim where a new generation re-examines the legacy of Darth Vader and weighs the future of the emerging New Republic, while an ancient evil slowly wakes from the shadows… This reimagining of the sequel trilogy is a completely original story using false subtitles over Japanese audio, with the aim of weaving together the entire Skywalker Saga while respecting the vision of George Lucas, restoring elements of the original sequel trilogy outlines and providing answers to all loose ends from the prequels.
Trailer 1: https://youtu.be/6sNl54Fo-Sw
Trailer 2: https://youtu.be/5CcNJVHitls (shows more of the special effects)
Hello there! I spent the past two years working on this edit, and even longer thinking about it. The idea was to make the sequels into a single movie that would feel like a continuation of the saga (as opposed to a soft reboot). By the end of episode 6 the Empire was significantly weakened, Luke Skywalker was a great Jedi who redeemed his father, Han Solo had become a hero fighting for good, et cetera. This edit picks up with the galaxy in a state you would expect it to be in a few decades later. As such it honors the legacies of the OT characters, while improving the arcs of the new characters. I asked myself: how would George Lucas have made the sequels? Luckily, we have the answer to that question.
“The third trilogy will deal with moral and philosophical problems. In Star Wars, there is a very clear line drawn between good and evil. Eventually you have to face the fact that good and evil aren’t that clear-cut and the real issue is trying to understand the difference.”
George Lucas to Denise Worrell, 1983, ICONS: Intimate Portraits
Over the years, George Lucas has released many snippets of information alluding to his original plans. But in 2020 the most comprehensive source of information on the sequels was released: The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005, by Paul Duncan. As I understand it, the sequels would have gone more into the nature of the Force and the way the galaxy is kept in balance. The Whills are higher beings who are the keepers of that balance, and of the history of the galaxy. After episode 6, the galaxy would have been in a state of unrest where terrorists and criminals would have had free reign. The Empire would have been reduced to a terrorist organization and Darth Maul would have been the main villain, heading a criminal syndicate. Luke Skywalker would have been looking for Force sensitive kids to restart the Jedi Order with, and at the end of the trilogy the New Republic would have been formed, with Leia ending up as the Chosen One, literally chosen by the people as Supreme Chancellor to bring balance to the galaxy.
Obviously the material I had to work with was limited and I couldn’t replicate some details of these ideas very precisely, such as Darth Maul being the main villain. Nevertheless I maintained the spirit of George Lucas’ ideas as much as I could. I tried to unify the saga into a larger story with characters pondering the future of the galaxy, and going into the intricacies of the Force. While I attempted not to overexplain things, everything the characters go through was based on the mechanics of the Force as explained by George Lucas in the aforementioned media. This means that the story is grounded in an understanding of a deeper lore which, I hope, makes it feel more consistent and profound.
To create an edit like this, I took inspiration from the excellent The Blackened Mantle, using the Japanese dub of the movies but altering the subtitles as though the characters were saying lines that are different from the original dialogue. I also added new special effects and changed the soundtrack. It was insanely complicated to reshape the sequels into the narrative I wanted and to make it work while maintaining a good pacing, but in the end, after numerous revisions, I managed to create something I’m quite satisfied with.
List of changes:
These are some of the changes I can list without spoiling any major story elements:
- Rewrote about 1500 lines of dialogue to create a completely new story designed to form a satisfying conclusion to the entire Star Wars saga, while restoring as much of George Lucas’ original concepts for the sequels as possible.
- The story is more philosophical, taking inspiration from the Expanded Universe (“Legends”), perhaps most notably from Kreia and Jacen Solo.
- The scene order is completely, unrecognizably rearranged, while maintaining a meticulously finetuned pacing.
- Despite having a comprehensive story, the edit is split up into three parts of roughly an hour each for easier viewing. A beginning, a middle and an end, if you will.
1. Echoes of the Empire
2. Sanctum of the Force
3. The Supremacy Antithesis
- Created an extended intro that bridges the OT into the sequel era.
- Added new VFX including Kylo Ren using force lightning, and the planets Yavin and Coruscant.
- Added various Force visions, dreams and callbacks to the other Star Wars movies.
- Added many references to the prequel trilogy, continuing the story elements that were set up there.
- Added a lore-accurate explanation on the Whills and their role in the universe.
- Added deep musing voiceover sequences.
- Added new panoramic shots and shots from other movies to fill in gaps in the narrative.
- The lightsaber battle on Snoke’s ship is now a lot more fast-paced.
- Restructured the space battles.
- Changed a lot of music into tracks from the other Star Wars movies and other media.
- The First Order is now the Imperial Remnant, driven back to the remote edges of the galaxy.
- Leia is the chancellor of the New Republic.
- Luke Skywalker and Han Solo stay more in-character and have a more satisfying arc now.
- Snoke now has a better backstory and a more important role.
- Kylo Ren’s motives and dark side journey are a lot more comprehensive.
- Rey is now a Jedi from the beginning of the movie.
- Finn has a lot more character and is an agent for the New Republic from the start.
- No Phasma, Holdo or Rose arc.
- No Starkiller base.
- Jakku and Pasaana are now Tatooine.
- D’Qar and Ajan Kloss are now combined into Yavin IV.
- Extended and grandiose ending sequence.
- Two bonus post-credit scenes.
- Numerous more changes, both large and small, including a few… surprises.
Anyone interested in watching this edit can DM me!
Feedback is welcome! Who knows, I might create a V2 one day!
