tangelo1023

Here is one example of what I’m doing and how seamlessly Plagueis works with the TPM novelization. For reference, the first portion is from the novelization. The second is from Plagueis. Splicing them together makes it feel like The Phantom Menace with extended scenes.

“You see, Your Majesty, the tide is with us,” Anakin heard Palpatine announce quietly to the Queen. The boy’s eyes dropped to the viewscreen. “Valorum will be voted out, I assure you, and they will elect a new chancellor, a strong chancellor, one who will not let our tragedy be ignored …”

Mas Amedda was back at the podium, addressing the chamber. “The supreme chancellor requests a recess.”

Shouts rose from the delegates, echoing across the chamber in waves as Valorum stared at Senator Palpatine and Queen Amidala, and even from where he stood watching now at the entry doors to the Naboo box, Anakin Skywalker could discern the look of betrayal registered on the supreme chancellor’s anguished face.

                                                   ***

Magister Damask was still unnerved when he arrived at the Senate Building and hurried through its maze of corridors and turbolifts to reach Naboo’s station on time for the event.

During the recess that ensued after the call for a vote of no-confidence, Queen Amidala and the pair of retainers she had arrived with had decided to return to 500 Republica. But Panaka was there, in his brown leather cap and jerkin, along with Sate Pestage and Kinman Doriana. With scarcely a word of acknowledgment, Plagueis edged past the three men to join Palpatine on the hover platform.

“Did you speak with him?” Palpatine asked, while the voice of the Senator from Kuat boomed through the Rotunda’s speakers.

Links have been sent. Noted on the xanatos point.

I had been working on a new one last year to reconcile the new Tales of the Jedi lore of Dooku’s departure, add in the Phantom Menace novelization, and fix syntax errors on the last chapter. However, I’d put a pin in it after seeing the Acolyte trailer, suspecting that the series could necessitate major changes in this project or even make it irrelevant.

Now we’re nearing the end of that show, so I’ll be restarting on the next version after. How soon depends on how the ending plays out.

Very late on this, but I binged Season 1 all through last week. It’s awesome how seamless this is. There isn’t a single moment where I felt like something was missing. The biggest improvement is the opener.

Using the intros to make these anthology episodes actually connect to each other is a dope idea. Some folks may miss the more standalone nature of arcs from the og show, but this is a interesting experiment.

Sent!

Links sent. Just as a note, the end of Plagueis and the timing of Dooku’s departure needs to be edited somewhat to fit the post TOTJ Dooku timeline. It’s not huge though.

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Changelist sounds amazing. You’re really doing something with this show.

These are great ideas, but it may be helpful to hold off on repurposing those intro scenes as Din’s flashback.

Possible spoilers for Season 3

There’ve been a few leaks that the kid there (the one you’re thinking to repurpose as Din) will play a larger role in the season. It might be wrong, but thought I’d let you know just as a heads up.

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Links sent!

That’s a terrific idea Acbagel.

Making the prison heist a second act without Grogu turns his eventual rescue a lot more powerful. One thing I would do in this case is take some of those episode 3 scenes where Mando is noticing the absence of Grogu on the ship and pepper them throughout the second act. That way, the audience feels like Grogu is somewhere in the back of Mando’s mind and that it’s weighing down on him. This can also lend a different shade to the betrayal by the heist crew. Somewhere, Mando feels like he has no true “tribe,” for a lack of a better word.

I also agree 100% with Eddie that episode 3 would be the best ending in this case. It’s just so climactic. Sanctuary does feel more like a interlude or prologue than a epilogue. In your initial edit, the Sanctuary scenes did feel a bit like a traditional opening to the second episode of a show. It’s the calm after a storm, but with a ominous note at the end that sets up the rest of the story.

One thing you could do is crosscut the flashbacks with the final fight of episode 3. The action in both is vaguely similar, so it might not be too jarring. Then you can show the final flashback scene (the Mando finding child Din) right before Din hands the ship part to Grogu at the end of episode 3. It’s showing how he’s found a new family and continuing the discussions about Mando’s sense of identity in the first and second acts.

That’s a good idea. Moving up the flashbacks to that section will give us a progressive exploration of Mando throughout the film. He’s a cipher that slowly gets filled in as the film goes on. As you said, it adds a strong character arc that ties together a more episodic narrative

I would personally keep the ambiguous ending about the heist crew though. I like the idea that we don’t fully know him or his morality by the end of the first episode.

Watched the first episode. Agreed with Eddie. This was really fantastic, especially how seamlessly you wove together the first three episodes. I never felt once like anything was missing. It’s also pretty great how you joined episodes 4 and 6. Making Sanctuary more of a interlude that sets up the emotional stakes involved in removing Mando’s helmet helps reinforce the helmet references in episode 6. It flows really well. All of the transitions were clean. I only caught one that seemed a little off and that was the shot of the Razor Crest bridging episodes 4 and 6. The music seemed to suddenly switch. Other than that, this was beautifully done.

My only narrative issue was that it did seem like two arcs joined together. Your skill in grouping episodes 1-3 and 4-6 together seemed to create two distinct episodes. The first half deals with Mando finding Grogu and having a crisis of conscience. It sets up the main emotional arc of the show beautifully, even ending with the first instance of Mando handing the ship part to Grogu. The second half feels like a transition chapter with Mando’s helmet and his sense of identity being discussed. It also deepens the Mando-Grogu relationship, ending with the second instance of Mando handing the ship part to Grogu.

Since you seem to be viewing this more with television pacing rather than film pacing, one possible suggestion could be to split the two halves into two episodes. The first half really feels like a knockout series premiere and both halves already have mirrored endings. This would also add some breathing room between Mando’s initial relationship with Grogu in episode 3 and their very warm relationship in episode 4. That’s just a possibility though. It still currently works nicely as a episodic movie.

I really enjoyed this and it’ll be hard to go back to the originals now. I’m looking forward to watching the rest.

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I watched this without watching the original series. I enjoyed it, with some reservations. Note that I still haven’t looked at the changelist or the original show. I’m reacting to this as if it was actually a Kenobi movie that came out. I loved the opening 10 minutes or so. The rapid cuts and repetition of Ben’s daily routine juxtaposed with his nightmares was terrific. It definitely adds a psychological context to the whole thing.

Once the narrative actually got going, I did feel like there was a lack of “rhythm” to many sections. I could feel the absence of scenes, even if I hadn’t seen the original series. A big contributer to this was the music. Nearly every scene had music and the audio transitions between scenes sometimes feels disjointed as a result. One example was the scene where Ben digs up his lightsaber. We hear the Force theme, then a snippet of the show’s main theme. Then there’s a cut to the kidnappers arriving on Daiyu. This scene has a score that is not very congruent with the previous scene. The result is a feeling that something isn’t quite right. I personally would remove the music from some scenes, just to let them breathe a little.

Many scenes also seemed to be cut (apparently) short, contributing to that lack of rhythm. We switch to different scenes before there’s a natural ending. An example was when the Grand Inquisitor met Reva on Daiyu. That scene ends with the Inquisitor chastising Reva, but it doesn’t feel like the end of the conversation. The following scene has Reva put out a alert for Ben. There doesn’t seem to be a natural connect between both scenes. Another example was the knife scene with the unmasked Jedi. We didn’t seem to reach a natural close before moving on.

There are also gaps in the narrative that contribute to that off feeling. I noticed that Ben seemed to recognize and mourn the death of the Jedi at the start of the film. I don’t remember there being an implication that they knew each other though. The inquisitors had also unmasked him earlier in the movie (and presumably killed him then), so I’m wondering why they did the whole “there’s a Jedi on Tatooine” routine after that. I’m also incredibly confused at how the fake Jedi helps rescue Leia. We hear him through a comm help navigate Ben through an ocean. However, what he’s saying isn’t clear and it isn’t apparent what exactly the plan to rescue Leia is. I’m also not sure where this fortress is. When Obi-Wan is swimming to the fortress, there are shots of someone sitting at a communications desk of some sort. Is it being implied that the fake Jedi is helping Ben from the inside?

One thing that I think would strengthen the narrative is lacing Vader throughout the movie. That way, the narrative is emotionally grounded between two strong forces, Vader and Ben, right from the start. At present, it’s hard to find a emotional core in the Inquisitor narrative until Vader comes in later. The Inquisitors and the initial conflict of the movie feels a bit nebulous for the longest time. At the very least, establishing a small hint of Vader’s presence before Ben leaves Tatooine would spark our interest.

I really enjoyed the final scene and the final music choices made me emotional. I don’t know if that was present in the show, but it just reaffirmed what a vital component of Star Wars John Williams is. Sorry if I sounded overly critical. I hope some of my reactions prove useful. I did enjoy watching this and it’s a monumental undertaking. Congratulations on the release. I’ll now read through your changelist and watch the original show.

IlFanEditore said:

Here’s a short playlist of some clips and comparisons, if anyone’s interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8_VHT-NpoeegO4qLZH3db68d55DgCrlQ

I watched this when it first came out and I’m still blown away by how cool the visual additions are. It really makes the universe of this movie feel bigger.

I’d love to see this! Beyond a few key scenes that I’ve seen on Twitter, I actually haven’t seen Kenobi yet. This will be the first time that I’m viewing a fanedit as my first exposure to a Star Wars movie/show, which is exciting.

CaptainFaraday said:

I always love to see fanedits of novels, and I love the old EU Han Solo novels. One day when I actually have the time to sit and read, I’m keen to read this!

Hope you enjoy it when you eventually read it! Excited to read the Faraday cut for TROS as well.

THE HAN SOLO TRILOGY: THE CANON CUT is a fanedit combining the novels The Han Solo Trilogy 1: The Paradise Snare (a Legends novel) and the Solo novelization into one long story about Han Solo’s origins and the people surrounding him. VERSION 1.0 is out now.

As someone who adores the EU Han Solo Trilogy, I was incredibly excited to watch the canon film. I was disappointed. The late AC Crispin’s iconic trilogy had the feeling of a Dickensian epic. It spanned decades and told Han’s story from his time as a streetrat up until the moment he sits down in front of Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi in that famous cantina. More importantly, it had a real grit and weight to it, combining tragedy and adventure and love in a way reminiscent of a 70s American New Wave movie. In contrast, Solo felt like a filmed Wookiepeedia article. It wasn’t terrible but in trying to simultaneously be a fun caper and a epic origin story, Solo made it feel like everything remotely important to Han Solo as a individual and as a icon happened in one week. He meets Chewie, meets Lando and the Falcon, flies the Kessel Run, gets the Falcon, and becomes a fully formed character on one heist.

I got the idea for this edit when rereading The Paradise Snare. In one scene, Han’s romantic interest, Bria Tharen, remarks that Han is a good man at heart. I noticed that there was an almost identical scene in Solo, except with Qi’ra saying it instead. Key spoilerish moments in both novels (that will be discussed in the spoiler filled changelist) subtly and overtly call back to this “good man” line. When putting both novels together, I felt that there was a very compelling narrative that could be brought out. I didn’t have to add any key story beats. There was a beautiful story hidden beneath the continuity conflicts of novels set in two timelines. My job was to emphasize what was already there and smooth over these contradictions. This was done in a few key ways. Main changes are listed below. Story spoilers have been tagged. If you haven’t read Paradise Snare, I highly recommend not looking at those!

• Han doesn’t join the Empire right after leaving Corellia, as seen in the film. Instead, he boards a trader ship which leads into the start of the EU Han Solo Trilogy where Han has lived on a trader ship his whole life. This is changed to one year in this edit. He joins the Empire at the end of Paradise Snare (as originally present in the novel), leading to the events of the canon Solo novel.
• Han’s relationship and desire to get back to Qi’ra is referenced throughout The Paradise Snare. This is where most of the text additions came in. There are no new scenes, but many conversations have been extended to naturally include Qi’ra into this plot. Both this and the references to Bria in Solo have intentionally been added to form a mirrored arc and I’m very happy with how it has turned out.
• Bria’s relationship with Han is referenced throughout Solo.

SPOILERS FOR THE PARADISE SNARE AND SOLO

• Bria’s sacrificial death is moved up from the third Han Solo book (which isn’t canon compatible and isn’t included in this edit) to the end of the Paradise Snare. It is off screen and presented by a omniscient narrator. This brief switch in POV is probably the most obvious addition to the novel, but it was the only way to go about this without creating a whole new scene. If you’re a Witcher fan, this has been done similarly to how a key character’s fate is revealed in the “Little Sacrifice” short story. Bria’s death is mentioned throughout the Solo novel.
• Lines are added to explicitly connect Han’s decision to not kill Garris Shrike at the end of Paradise Snare and Han’s decision to kill Beckett at the end of Solo. Bria and Qi’ra’s assertions about Han being “a good man” are referenced here as well.
• Han’s promise to his EU Wookie friend at the start of Paradise Snare (“I’ll save one of your kind. I promise.”) is explicitly referenced after he saves Chewie at the start of the Solo novel.
• Han’s EU backstory connecting him to Corellian royalty has been completely removed.
• Bria and Han’s relationship has been slightly rewritten to remove the “passionate first love that is mutual” angle. This would’ve made the Qi’ra references in Paradise Snare feel awkward. The relationship is now a bit more complicated, especially on Han’s end. Bria adores Han (as in the original novel) and Han likes her, but he can’t fully forget Qi’ra.
• The closing lines of Paradise Snare are moved to end of the Solo novel.

THE HAN SOLO TRILOGY: THE CANON CUT uses the relationships Han Solo has with the two mentors in his life, Garris Shrike and Tobias Beckett, and the romantic relationships he has with two women in his life, Bria Tharen and Qi’ra, in order to explore his morality and kickstart his journey towards the more grey shaded man we see in A New Hope. I’m extremely proud of this edit and I hope you all feel that it is a more complex, mythic origin story for our favorite smuggler.

FINAL NOTE: As always, support the original authors, AC Crispin and Mur Lafferty, and make sure that you purchase both books. This is especially important in AC Crispin’s case. Crispin’s family had not been receiving royalty payments from Disney on some editions of The Han Solo Trilogy until recently. It is still not evident if this has been completely remedied. Support the creators that contribute to our favorite universe, especially when the corporations that control these IPs frequently don’t. Ok, I’m done soapboxing. Enjoy the edit, y’all.

Congratulations on the release of the “Rey Nobody” version. I took a look at the scenes where Rey’s heritage (or lack of) had the most discussion. It’s very seamless. So much so that it’s a testament to how unnecessary the Palps revelation was. The new plotline about the twin opposing paths of Ben and Rey is a lot more compelling and mythic.

That’s a terrific opening and really made me wish that there were more creative stylistic choices in how these things (franchise shows and films) were filmed and edited. There’s something so workmanlike about the filmmaking in Boba and Kenobi that just makes everything a bit bland.

Very excited for this edit

Links sent to everyone. Sorry for the delay. Had taken a break due to personal commitments.

Sirius said:

Boba Fett has some weak lines in this show. Maybe you could use this site to create new lines for him:

https://fakeyou.com/?vocodes=1

This is a site that creates AI generated voices, and have Boba Fett and Din Djarin voices in it.

That’s very cool. I’ve been playing around with some lines and it sounds really good for Boba since his voice is already modulated.

Hi Acbangel, would love to check these out.