Synopsis:
The Mandalorian, Season 3 edited as a 2-hour and 30-minute epic war film complete with the Star Wars opening crawl and end credits.
Intentions:
Season 3 was very hit-and-miss for me. I thought the misses weren’t that bad but it’s certainly my least favorite out of all Mandalorian seasons- maybe just above Boba Fett if we’re talking about the shows in general. What I find interesting is that all the great stuff about this season do tie together nicely as a single standalone volume.
Change List:
Main Changes:
Act 1:
Added opening crawl.
Introduced mystery and main story threat – Captain Carson Teva investigates transport wreckage.
Introduced characters, sense of wonder, whimsy, and space action - Din Djarin and Grogu in hyperspace then escapes a pirate attack. I could’ve taken out the space whales, but I didn’t. I like them.
Bo-Katan introduced at Kalevala.
Cut down scenes at Nevarro. Removed pirate standoff outside the school.
Removed Dr. Pershing’s day-to-day scenes. Kept essential scenes with Elia Kane as a necessary story-point for Moff Gideon.
Shortened dialogue with Peli Motto. Scenes are needed because of R5.
Din arrives to Mandalore and gets imprisoned. Grogu escapes and reaches out to Bo.
Pirate King Gorian Shard attacks Nevarro which sets up Act 2.
Carson Teva receives Greef’s call for help.
Act 2
Bo saves Din. Kept most scenes at the Living Waters redeeming both Din and Bo.
Din and Bo fight off Tie-fighters forcing them into the Covert. Preserved action sequence in its entirety.
The Armorer redeems both Din and Bo. Removed all scenes with the flying creature.
Removed scenes with Paz and his son getting abducted. I do like Paz a lot so I kept as much of him around as possible so that his death is emotional. But no more of his son.
Carson arrives to the Covert and Mandalorians answer the call.
Mandalorians save Nevarro.
The Armorer appoints Bo to unite dispossessed survivors to retake Mandalore.
Removed all scenes with the Captain and the Duchess. As much as I love Lizzo, Jack Black, and Christopher Lloyd individually, those scenes weren’t relevant. Bo arrive at Plazir-15 and claims leadership from Axe Woves. That’s it, and it works.
Act 3
Mandalorians arrive at their home planet and find a separate clan living there.
Removed fight scene between Paz and Axe.
Removed big creature action scene forcing them to the Great Forge. It’s better if they just go there.
The rest of Act 3 pretty much plays out as the final two episodes of the season: The Spies and The Return
Removed minor scenes with R5 zapping those mouse droids (except for the bit at the end). It’s better suited as one-long, hallway action sequence John Wick-style for Din. Pretty cool.
Removed scene at the secret garden. I do like the idea that good things still persevere in Mandalore, but sadly I didn't think it added much to the closing sequences.
Removed Paz's son at the Living Waters. Get outta here kid.
Removed scene with Carson Teva at the space saloon. It’s a setup I don’t need for this, unfortunately.
Removed scenes with IG-12 (or -11 rebuilt?) as Nevarro’s new lawman. I just need closure with Din, Grogu, and Greef.
Removed iris-wipe to Grogu’s face (too cheesy). Added feathered iris-wipe to Grogu’s face (cheesy but in a Star Wars way).
Added classic Star Wars credits sequence.
Sadly, Carl Weathers passed away February this year (2024). Added commemoration for him in the credits.
Additional Notes:
When working on this, I realized I didn’t have to over-complicate it. No need to modify the main storylines that much. It really does edit itself down. Of course, there are things I can’t “fix” such as Carson already knowing Greef and Din (so it's not really standalone), or where the heck did Bo get new shoulder armor since I removed the flying creature episode entirely. Those are difficult to add in exposition so I edited around it as much as possible. Also, I feel like all Star Wars editors can attest to a specific struggle- when to use and when not to use a wipe transition. I think it’s just personal taste and pacing. Honestly one of the more difficult aspects of this is at the very beginning- the opening crawl! It has to read mythic and Star Wars, but not too campy and inside baseball. But it also can’t be too wordy. And it also can't be too general. I had to study existing crawls and made sure that I was around the average word count and things like that when I wrote it.
Other Sources:
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi