A “Special Edition” of The Rise of Skywalker using the TROS Extended Edition Novelization by Rae Carson with some changes from Hal 9000’s TROS Ascendant movie fan-edit, lore from supplementary materials, and a few minor additions of my own to create what I hope will be the best version of TROS possible. I give credit to both creators throughout, as I DO NOT claim this as an original work but more of a “fan-edit”.
When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of the reformed Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
Likes ❤ and Reblogs are much appreciated!
When I first saw the theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, I was very disappointed and immediately set upon rewriting/fixing it with fanfics such as Star Wars: Rise of the Order, a role-reversal au called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, and a WIP called Star Wars: Prophecy of the Dyad– a combo of TROS and Duel of the Fates with a happy ending.
Then I saw a fanedit of the movie called The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant. It was a tremendous improvement of the theatrical, improving pacing, trimming bad dialogue, saving the moment Chewbacca’s revealed to be alive for when Rey finds out, adding Force Ghosts at the end battle, and making the Tatooine sequence so much better, most notably adding Ben’s Force Ghost with Luke and Leia.
While I still wish Rey and Ben could have lived happily ever after, I believe my own “fanedit” of novelization with some of the changes added from TROS Ascendant and my own changes (like changing Rey’s terrible line “I will earn your brother’s lightsaber, one day.” to “I will be a Jedi, one day.”) will be the best version it could be, improving characterization, clarifying plot lines, and adding the closure of the Reylo story that the theatrical version and the original novelization never did.
A “Special Edition” of The Rise of Skywalker using the TROS Extended Edition Novelization by Rae Carson with some changes from Hal 9000’s TROS Ascendant movie fan-edit, lore from supplementary materials, and a few minor additions of my own to create what I hope will be the best version of TROS possible. I give credit to both creators throughout, as I DO NOT claim this as an original work but more of a “fan-edit”.
When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of the reformed Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
Likes ❤ and Reblogs are much appreciated!
When I first saw the theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, I was very disappointed and immediately set upon rewriting/fixing it with fanfics such as Star Wars: Rise of the Order, a role-reversal au called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, and a WIP called Star Wars: Prophecy of the Dyad– a combo of TROS and Duel of the Fates with a happy ending.
Then I saw a fanedit of the movie called The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant. It was a tremendous improvement of the theatrical, improving pacing, trimming bad dialogue, saving the moment Chewbacca’s revealed to be alive for when Rey finds out, adding Force Ghosts at the end battle, and making the Tatooine sequence so much better, most notably adding Ben’s Force Ghost with Luke and Leia.
While I still wish Rey and Ben could have lived happily ever after, I believe my own “fanedit” of novelization with some of the changes added from TROS Ascendant and my own changes (like changing Rey’s terrible line “I will earn your brother’s lightsaber, one day.” to “I will be a Jedi, one day.”) will be the best version it could be, improving characterization, clarifying plot lines, and adding the closure of the Reylo story that the theatrical version and the original novelization never did.
Just watched this fan-edit version of “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Amazing what a few changes do to improve a film.
The last time I had seen TROS was 2019, and I vowed never to watch it again, unless a “Special Edition” of it was produced.
This was that “Special Edition”
There was a lot of small bits of dialogue removed (like “they fly now”, “somehow Palpatine’s returned”) but the biggest and best changes were:
The title crawl was reworked
We don’t find out Chewie is alive until Rey does
Luke and Leia didn’t know Rey was a Palpatine all along, and Leia didn’t envision her son’s death at the end of her Jedi path and leave her lightsaber for someone to finish it for her, she simply just saw the end of her path. Really improves Luke’s pep talk tremendously
Palpatine doesn’t say “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here…” He just gets right to business
There are Force Ghosts in the end battle!
Rey says “I am a Jedi” instead of that silly “I am all the Jedi”
Naboo and Coruscant are included in one of the celebration montages
The holochess bit with Finn, Chewie, and Poe is moved to the end, as they accompany Rey to Tatooine and the last shot is the Falcon jumping to hyperspace with the twin suns in the background
When Rey says “Rey Skywalker”, she sees the Force Ghosts of Luke, Leia, andBen!
It’s not perfect (as Ben still dies ), and there were a few bits that were retained that I hated like “I will earn your brother’s saber”, and some bits I would have liked from the novel (Ben saying “I will always be with you” as he’s fading away) that weren’t in there, but honestly, this edit made TROS into a watchable, acceptable movie. I wouldn’t be posting the link to it if it wasn’t!
I’m not sure if the last link will work, I know for sure this one will. For real, I’m obsessed with this fan-edit. It’s like comparing the 2017 Justice League with the 2021 Snyder Cut.
All of TROS Ascendant’s changes, as listed by the fan-editor
New title crawl
Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy. The tyrannical First Order has retaliated by attacking any planetary system that supports their enemy.
As Rey, sole heir to the Jedi, continues her training, General Leia Organa sends her brave agents across the stars to unite the disparate worlds in the name of Resistance.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has traveled to Mustafar, chasing whispers of a hidden power that would allow him to destroy any threat to his rule…
Added a Wilhelm scream, somewhere in the film…
Added two new establishing shots to the opening Mustafar sequence to slow the pacing slightly
Added a subtle call from Palpatine, saying “Find me,” as Kylo Ren picks up the Wayfinder
Replaced the vat of cloned Snokes with cloned Palpatines
Removed the slight electrical crackle as Palpatine reveals his hands
Moved Palpatine describing spirit transfer into his first scene, turning it into a warning to Kylo Ren and setting up stakes for later
Reordered opening scenes for a more logical progression and better pacing (Kylo Ren meets Palpatine > Rey trains > Falcon mission > Returning to base)
Moved the scene with Chewie, Poe, and Finn playing holochess to the end of the movie, with a shot having been modified here to depict dropping out of hyperspace
Replaced Finn’s now first line “Artoo” with “Look sharp”
Removed lightspeed skipping sequence. It made no sense given how hyperspace has always been depicted, as quick travel, not teleportation. Now, the Falcon bursts through the ice wall while jumping to hyperspace, and the pursuing TIEs peel off, ending the scene
Only because he has no proper introduction and would appear suddenly due to other changes made, removed Klaud from a few shots
Moved Rey’s repeat of “nothing’s impossible” to after Leia hands her the saber to make it feel more endearing
The blue Skywalker lightsaber is now portrayed throughout the film with a somewhat ‘cracked’ appearance similar to Kylo Ren’s in order to build on the conclusion to TLJ and reflect Rey’s inner conflict
The vision Rey experiences while training with the remote has been heavily modified to better establish her apprehension about the Sith throne, and separated from Kylo’s vision
During the vision, removed Rey’s eyes appearing milky and glossed over
Replaced Poe’s lines, including “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” with part of the Emperor’s speech being played, implied to be part of the gathered intel
Removed a line of dialogue establishing an unnecessary 16-hour ‘ticking clock’ to the plot
Trimmed awkward dialogue between Leia and Rey as the two discuss going off to search for the Wayfinder
Kylo now has a vision separate from Rey’s, before reforging his mask, better establishing his motivation for doing so
Added the planet Coruscant to two shots during the scene with Kylo Ren in a boardroom on his Star Destroyer
Redubbed the two stormtroopers who introduce the Knights of Ren
Removed Poe’s use of the word ‘random.’
The puppet show now depicts Luke’s feats at the Battle of Crait in TLJ, strengthening the idea that Luke’s ‘legend’ has taken root in the galaxy and better setting up in conjunction with the following story beat Rey’s identity formation at the end of the film
Cut Rey saying “that’s an excellent name.” This statement felt overly modern.
After Kylo Ren says “I will find you,” cut him saying “…and turn you to the dark side.” It’s implied that he will try to do that once he finds her, but why say it aloud? He should be trying to seduce her to the dark side and masking his intentions
Moved the scene forward in which Rey’s necklace is reported to be traced to Pasaana aboard the Star Destroyer, for better pacing. Trooper line modified not to show him reporting Rey and company’s identities.
Used a foreign language dub for a milder delivery of Lando’s chauffeur’s one line
Removed the “they fly now” gag
Removed Finn telling Rey he “never told you—“ while the heroes sink in the quicksand, as well as two subsequent references to it
Removed Rey commenting that “horrible things” have happened with the dagger, to uncouple it from her parents’ murders and allow her to sense the blade’s pull to the darkness in keeping with a later change.
Added a few lines of dialogue throughout the film to the Knights of Ren
Extended the confrontation between Rey and Kylo’s TIE in the desert using footage from the trailer
Removed the explosion of Kylo Ren’s TIE, though it still rolls after being sliced by Rey
After Kylo Ren’s TIE is destroyed, for the remainder of the film his TIE is depicted with a differently color stripe
Added new shot of Ochi’s ship taking off with the heroes as Kylo Ren watches in order to slightly slow the pace
When Rey mentions her vision of seeing the Sith throne, she comments she saw herself on it, making no reference to Kylo Ren, for greater consistency with her vision as seen by the audience and connection to her inner conflict of identity
Removed part of Poe’s line about their efforts being for nothing, allowing 3PO’s statement later to feel original to him
Reordered shots to show Rey contemplating before asking 3PO to consider going through with the memory wipe
Chewie is not revealed to be alive until Rey senses him from Kijimi, and not seen until he is rescued by Poe and Finn. The reveal with Hux and Pryde has been replaced with the telepathic Palpatine-Kylo conversation from later.
Zorri gives Poe a cold stare, muting her line about seeing his brains in the snow
Removed dialogue referencing R2 backing up 3PO’s memory, which immediately destroyed any weight his sacrifice had before it had even happened, practically stating to the audience what will later happen.
Removed “from the Southern shore” from 3PO’s recital of the Sith dagger inscription to better fit in with its altered characteristics.
Extended the “squeaky wheel” sequence in order to slow the pace using footage from the bonus disc
Replaced 3PO line starting with “Whoever this Chewie person is…” due to being one of a few clunky reminders that he had his memory erased
Removed Finn yelling “POE!”
Removed another instance of the Sith dagger triggering a memory of her parents.*
Replaced Kylo Ren’s line “I never lied to you” with “You were right” for more intuitive and precise continuity with TLJ even as the scene retcons it. In that film, it is Rey herself who supplies the information that her parents “were nobody.”
Removed Kylo Ren’s line, “They sold you to protect you.”*
Removed the single time either of Rey’s parents called her by name, to allow for headcanon that Rey named herself
Removed line from Rey’s mother, “She’s not on Jakku, she’s gone.” This paints Ochi as a moron not to have found Rey, and appears to have been included to explicitly harmonize with TLJ describing Rey’s parents as being buried on Jakku. This is clunky and unnecessary, all the moreso because that line was omitted from this editor’s TLJ project.
Replace 3PO/trooper dialogue to depict 3PO somewhat out of his element
Removed single line “You are a Palpatine.” The rest of the scene works well enough without this heavy-handed line.
Altered Kylo Ren’s line to, “We’ve become a dyad in the Force,” which feels like it builds on TLJ’s ending
The moon containing the wreckage of the second Death Star has been recontextualized as Endor, replacing what was Endor with an ice moon during the space establishing shot and moving the Ewok snippet up from the film’s climax.
Replaced the obtuse reminder that 3PO had his memory erased in the form of a line “Is everyday like this for you people?”
Removed Rey using the dagger as an impossible compass while surveying the wreckage of the second Death Star. ‘Sith whispers’ have been added strategically to imply the dagger mystically guiding her to the Wayfinder.
Added a brief musical allusion to ‘Duel of the Fates’ during the duel on the Death Star using music from Maul’s scene in Solo
Added a subtle vocalization as Leia drops her headphones
Trimmed Finn’s final whimper of “Rey!” during the duel
Worked in the shot of Leia holding Han’s medal from the trailer, which makes it clearer that she promoted Kylo’s memory and sets up Chewie receiving it later which felt like it came out of nowhere
Reordered the sequence of dialogue and action as Rey heals Ben’s wound
Extended the establishing shot of Kylo during the Han scene by a few seconds to slow the pace
Completely removed the destruction of Kijimi and the Resistance’s reaction. This helps us imagine the Final Order as an Imperial stockpile since it was the only glimpse into them before the First Order arrives to help. It avoids yet another planet destruction, and generally smooths things over.
Softened the stark sound effect slightly as Luke catches the lightsaber, since he is immaterial
Regraded Ach-To sequence to take place at night, concluding at dawn
Added an additional establishing shot breaking up the Rey on Ahch-to scenes so it doesn’t seem like she only spends a couple minutes on the island
A porg sound continues to trail off after their single shot, to help them feel like they were really there
Reduced blue coloration to Luke’s ghostly visage, slimmed him down somewhat, and shortened Mark Hammil’s wig to better fit his prior appearances
Removed talk about Leia (and possibly Luke, depending on one’s interpretation of the scene) having known about Rey being a Palpatine. In this version, Luke essentially tells Rey, “So what if you’re a Palpatine?” It also seems to make a great deal more sense to assume they did not know this during the events of TFA and TLJ, with Luke learning this postmortem.
Leia’s lightsaber blade has been recolored to purple throughout. Carrie Fisher expressed a preference for this color of saber in a TFA-era interview, and it is more visually striking in the Exegol setting which helps the audience track which saber is which, particularly following a restored Leia line before Rey prominently uses her saber.
Removed Luke mentioning Leia sensing “the death of her son” at the end of her Jedi path
Replaced Luke’s line, “You’ll take both sabers to Exegol,” with, “We’ll always be with you"
Added R2 and 3PO’s prequel theme briefly during the memory restoration scene
Removed Finn’s line, “He wanted her alive,” as part of an effort to smooth over Palpatine’s motivations as initially grooming Kylo Ren and switching to Rey once Ben Solo had been redeemed.
Removed the line about the Holdo maneuver. If it is something legitimate then someone who lives in that universe shouldn’t have the same misconception as we may.
Removed the subtitle for Nien Nunb’s one line. He was never subtitled in the past and it’s not needed.
Slightly restructured the Exegol space battle’s beginning to consolidate story threads
Removed Finn telling BB8 “great job, buddy” during the mounted attack in order to preserve a sense of tension or seriousness
Removed Palpatine’s lines, “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here,” and, “…for my grandchild to come home,” to assist in smoothing Palpatine’s motives to switching from grooming Kylo Ren to Rey once Ben Solo was redeemed.*
Replaced the Imperial TIE Kylo took to Exegol with Vader’s TIE, because ANH had made a point to establish that TIEs don’t have hyperdrives.
Trimmed a moment when Ben seems to wait for the Knight to hit his saber
Added a small bit of score from ROTS as Palpatine absorbs the power of Rey and Ben’s dyad
Added a cacophony of voices to the appearance of the civilian fleet to the battle. Several craft can be heard signing in via comm, and a few cheer “For Skywalker!” during the charge in order to tie into Luke’s Inspiring act at the Battle of Crait
Extended a space exterior shot using an ILM demo clip in order to remove Poe’s line, “Every [underbelly cannon] we knock out is a world saved.”
Since Kijimi isn’t destroyed, there’s no need for Babu Frik to pop up only to show he’s alive
Added a line during the spirits of the Jedi communing with Rey from the actor who portrayed the youngling in the Jedi Council chambers in Revenge of the Sith
Added Leia concluding the Jedi voices with “always,” taken from the trailer.
The ghostly visages of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke appear behind Rey and assist with overpowering the Emperor
Altered Rey’s climactic line from, “I am all the Jedi,” to simply, “I am a Jedi.”
Added a subtle Sith scream effect as Palpatine explodes
Because the first Ewok shot was used earlier, Coruscant and Naboo have been added in its place in the planetary celebration montage
The holochess scene between Chewie, Finn, and Poe has been moved to Tatooine
Added a subtle double rainbow to the first shot of the Lars homestead, originally inspired by a similar phenomena at that filming location as seen on the bonus material, rationalized into a deep cut reference to Leia’s infantile destination of Alderaan, which sports a double rainbow in ROTS.
The quick light sequence when Rey ignites her yellow saber has been changed from blue and green to blue and purple to reflect Leia’s new saber color, as the original was an homage to the two Skywalker sabers
The ghostly visage of a redeemed Ben Solo now accompanies the Skywalker twins during the final scene
Rey’s delivery of her final line has been swapped with one from the behind the scenes bonus material that appeared more emotionally resonant, with the background modified to match the finished film
The final shot has been replaced with the Falcon taking off, flying toward the suns, and jumping to hyperspace.
The musical cue leading into the credits has been replaced with something more fitting that does not reuse the cue from the end of TFA
A “Special Edition” of The Rise of Skywalker using the TROS Extended Edition Novelization by Rae Carson with some changes from Hal 9000’s TROS Ascendant movie fan-edit, lore from supplementary materials, and a few minor additions of my own to create what I hope will be the best version of TROS possible. I give credit to both creators throughout, as I DO NOT claim this as an original work but more of a “fan-edit”.
When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of the reformed Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
Likes ❤ and Reblogs are much appreciated!
When I first saw the theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, I was very disappointed and immediately set upon rewriting/fixing it with fanfics such as Star Wars: Rise of the Order, a role-reversal au called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, and a WIP called Star Wars: Prophecy of the Dyad– a combo of TROS and Duel of the Fates with a happy ending.
Then I saw a fanedit of the movie called The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant. It was a tremendous improvement of the theatrical, improving pacing, trimming bad dialogue, saving the moment Chewbacca’s revealed to be alive for when Rey finds out, adding Force Ghosts at the end battle, and making the Tatooine sequence so much better, most notably adding Ben’s Force Ghost with Luke and Leia.
While I still wish Rey and Ben could have lived happily ever after, I believe my own “fanedit” of novelization with some of the changes added from TROS Ascendant and my own changes (like changing Rey’s terrible line “I will earn your brother’s lightsaber, one day.” to “I will be a Jedi, one day.”) will be the best version it could be, improving characterization, clarifying plot lines, and adding the closure of the Reylo story that the theatrical version and the original novelization never did.
Just watched this fan-edit version of “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Amazing what a few changes do to improve a film.
The last time I had seen TROS was 2019, and I vowed never to watch it again, unless a “Special Edition” of it was produced.
This was that “Special Edition”
There was a lot of small bits of dialogue removed (like “they fly now”, “somehow Palpatine’s returned”) but the biggest and best changes were:
The title crawl was reworked
We don’t find out Chewie is alive until Rey does
Luke and Leia didn’t know Rey was a Palpatine all along, and Leia didn’t envision her son’s death at the end of her Jedi path and leave her lightsaber for someone to finish it for her, she simply just saw the end of her path. Really improves Luke’s pep talk tremendously
Palpatine doesn’t say “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here…” He just gets right to business
There are Force Ghosts in the end battle!
Rey says “I am a Jedi” instead of that silly “I am all the Jedi”
Naboo and Coruscant are included in one of the celebration montages
The holochess bit with Finn, Chewie, and Poe is moved to the end, as they accompany Rey to Tatooine and the last shot is the Falcon jumping to hyperspace with the twin suns in the background
When Rey says “Rey Skywalker”, she sees the Force Ghosts of Luke, Leia, andBen!
It’s not perfect (as Ben still dies ), and there were a few bits that were retained that I hated like “I will earn your brother’s saber”, and some bits I would have liked from the novel (Ben saying “I will always be with you” as he’s fading away) that weren’t in there, but honestly, this edit made TROS into a watchable, acceptable movie. I wouldn’t be posting the link to it if it wasn’t!
I’m not sure if the last link will work, I know for sure this one will. For real, I’m obsessed with this fan-edit. It’s like comparing the 2017 Justice League with the 2021 Snyder Cut.
All of TROS Ascendant’s changes, as listed by the fan-editor
New title crawl
Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy. The tyrannical First Order has retaliated by attacking any planetary system that supports their enemy.
As Rey, sole heir to the Jedi, continues her training, General Leia Organa sends her brave agents across the stars to unite the disparate worlds in the name of Resistance.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has traveled to Mustafar, chasing whispers of a hidden power that would allow him to destroy any threat to his rule…
Added a Wilhelm scream, somewhere in the film…
Added two new establishing shots to the opening Mustafar sequence to slow the pacing slightly
Added a subtle call from Palpatine, saying “Find me,” as Kylo Ren picks up the Wayfinder
Replaced the vat of cloned Snokes with cloned Palpatines
Removed the slight electrical crackle as Palpatine reveals his hands
Moved Palpatine describing spirit transfer into his first scene, turning it into a warning to Kylo Ren and setting up stakes for later
Reordered opening scenes for a more logical progression and better pacing (Kylo Ren meets Palpatine > Rey trains > Falcon mission > Returning to base)
Moved the scene with Chewie, Poe, and Finn playing holochess to the end of the movie, with a shot having been modified here to depict dropping out of hyperspace
Replaced Finn’s now first line “Artoo” with “Look sharp”
Removed lightspeed skipping sequence. It made no sense given how hyperspace has always been depicted, as quick travel, not teleportation. Now, the Falcon bursts through the ice wall while jumping to hyperspace, and the pursuing TIEs peel off, ending the scene
Only because he has no proper introduction and would appear suddenly due to other changes made, removed Klaud from a few shots
Moved Rey’s repeat of “nothing’s impossible” to after Leia hands her the saber to make it feel more endearing
The blue Skywalker lightsaber is now portrayed throughout the film with a somewhat ‘cracked’ appearance similar to Kylo Ren’s in order to build on the conclusion to TLJ and reflect Rey’s inner conflict
The vision Rey experiences while training with the remote has been heavily modified to better establish her apprehension about the Sith throne, and separated from Kylo’s vision
During the vision, removed Rey’s eyes appearing milky and glossed over
Replaced Poe’s lines, including “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” with part of the Emperor’s speech being played, implied to be part of the gathered intel
Removed a line of dialogue establishing an unnecessary 16-hour ‘ticking clock’ to the plot
Trimmed awkward dialogue between Leia and Rey as the two discuss going off to search for the Wayfinder
Kylo now has a vision separate from Rey’s, before reforging his mask, better establishing his motivation for doing so
Added the planet Coruscant to two shots during the scene with Kylo Ren in a boardroom on his Star Destroyer
Redubbed the two stormtroopers who introduce the Knights of Ren
Removed Poe’s use of the word ‘random.’
The puppet show now depicts Luke’s feats at the Battle of Crait in TLJ, strengthening the idea that Luke’s ‘legend’ has taken root in the galaxy and better setting up in conjunction with the following story beat Rey’s identity formation at the end of the film
Cut Rey saying “that’s an excellent name.” This statement felt overly modern.
After Kylo Ren says “I will find you,” cut him saying “…and turn you to the dark side.” It’s implied that he will try to do that once he finds her, but why say it aloud? He should be trying to seduce her to the dark side and masking his intentions
Moved the scene forward in which Rey’s necklace is reported to be traced to Pasaana aboard the Star Destroyer, for better pacing. Trooper line modified not to show him reporting Rey and company’s identities.
Used a foreign language dub for a milder delivery of Lando’s chauffeur’s one line
Removed the “they fly now” gag
Removed Finn telling Rey he “never told you—“ while the heroes sink in the quicksand, as well as two subsequent references to it
Removed Rey commenting that “horrible things” have happened with the dagger, to uncouple it from her parents’ murders and allow her to sense the blade’s pull to the darkness in keeping with a later change.
Added a few lines of dialogue throughout the film to the Knights of Ren
Extended the confrontation between Rey and Kylo’s TIE in the desert using footage from the trailer
Removed the explosion of Kylo Ren’s TIE, though it still rolls after being sliced by Rey
After Kylo Ren’s TIE is destroyed, for the remainder of the film his TIE is depicted with a differently color stripe
Added new shot of Ochi’s ship taking off with the heroes as Kylo Ren watches in order to slightly slow the pace
When Rey mentions her vision of seeing the Sith throne, she comments she saw herself on it, making no reference to Kylo Ren, for greater consistency with her vision as seen by the audience and connection to her inner conflict of identity
Removed part of Poe’s line about their efforts being for nothing, allowing 3PO’s statement later to feel original to him
Reordered shots to show Rey contemplating before asking 3PO to consider going through with the memory wipe
Chewie is not revealed to be alive until Rey senses him from Kijimi, and not seen until he is rescued by Poe and Finn. The reveal with Hux and Pryde has been replaced with the telepathic Palpatine-Kylo conversation from later.
Zorri gives Poe a cold stare, muting her line about seeing his brains in the snow
Removed dialogue referencing R2 backing up 3PO’s memory, which immediately destroyed any weight his sacrifice had before it had even happened, practically stating to the audience what will later happen.
Removed “from the Southern shore” from 3PO’s recital of the Sith dagger inscription to better fit in with its altered characteristics.
Extended the “squeaky wheel” sequence in order to slow the pace using footage from the bonus disc
Replaced 3PO line starting with “Whoever this Chewie person is…” due to being one of a few clunky reminders that he had his memory erased
Removed Finn yelling “POE!”
Removed another instance of the Sith dagger triggering a memory of her parents.*
Replaced Kylo Ren’s line “I never lied to you” with “You were right” for more intuitive and precise continuity with TLJ even as the scene retcons it. In that film, it is Rey herself who supplies the information that her parents “were nobody.”
Removed Kylo Ren’s line, “They sold you to protect you.”*
Removed the single time either of Rey’s parents called her by name, to allow for headcanon that Rey named herself
Removed line from Rey’s mother, “She’s not on Jakku, she’s gone.” This paints Ochi as a moron not to have found Rey, and appears to have been included to explicitly harmonize with TLJ describing Rey’s parents as being buried on Jakku. This is clunky and unnecessary, all the moreso because that line was omitted from this editor’s TLJ project.
Replace 3PO/trooper dialogue to depict 3PO somewhat out of his element
Removed single line “You are a Palpatine.” The rest of the scene works well enough without this heavy-handed line.
Altered Kylo Ren’s line to, “We’ve become a dyad in the Force,” which feels like it builds on TLJ’s ending
The moon containing the wreckage of the second Death Star has been recontextualized as Endor, replacing what was Endor with an ice moon during the space establishing shot and moving the Ewok snippet up from the film’s climax.
Replaced the obtuse reminder that 3PO had his memory erased in the form of a line “Is everyday like this for you people?”
Removed Rey using the dagger as an impossible compass while surveying the wreckage of the second Death Star. ‘Sith whispers’ have been added strategically to imply the dagger mystically guiding her to the Wayfinder.
Added a brief musical allusion to ‘Duel of the Fates’ during the duel on the Death Star using music from Maul’s scene in Solo
Added a subtle vocalization as Leia drops her headphones
Trimmed Finn’s final whimper of “Rey!” during the duel
Worked in the shot of Leia holding Han’s medal from the trailer, which makes it clearer that she promoted Kylo’s memory and sets up Chewie receiving it later which felt like it came out of nowhere
Reordered the sequence of dialogue and action as Rey heals Ben’s wound
Extended the establishing shot of Kylo during the Han scene by a few seconds to slow the pace
Completely removed the destruction of Kijimi and the Resistance’s reaction. This helps us imagine the Final Order as an Imperial stockpile since it was the only glimpse into them before the First Order arrives to help. It avoids yet another planet destruction, and generally smooths things over.
Softened the stark sound effect slightly as Luke catches the lightsaber, since he is immaterial
Regraded Ach-To sequence to take place at night, concluding at dawn
Added an additional establishing shot breaking up the Rey on Ahch-to scenes so it doesn’t seem like she only spends a couple minutes on the island
A porg sound continues to trail off after their single shot, to help them feel like they were really there
Reduced blue coloration to Luke’s ghostly visage, slimmed him down somewhat, and shortened Mark Hammil’s wig to better fit his prior appearances
Removed talk about Leia (and possibly Luke, depending on one’s interpretation of the scene) having known about Rey being a Palpatine. In this version, Luke essentially tells Rey, “So what if you’re a Palpatine?” It also seems to make a great deal more sense to assume they did not know this during the events of TFA and TLJ, with Luke learning this postmortem.
Leia’s lightsaber blade has been recolored to purple throughout. Carrie Fisher expressed a preference for this color of saber in a TFA-era interview, and it is more visually striking in the Exegol setting which helps the audience track which saber is which, particularly following a restored Leia line before Rey prominently uses her saber.
Removed Luke mentioning Leia sensing “the death of her son” at the end of her Jedi path
Replaced Luke’s line, “You’ll take both sabers to Exegol,” with, “We’ll always be with you"
Added R2 and 3PO’s prequel theme briefly during the memory restoration scene
Removed Finn’s line, “He wanted her alive,” as part of an effort to smooth over Palpatine’s motivations as initially grooming Kylo Ren and switching to Rey once Ben Solo had been redeemed.
Removed the line about the Holdo maneuver. If it is something legitimate then someone who lives in that universe shouldn’t have the same misconception as we may.
Removed the subtitle for Nien Nunb’s one line. He was never subtitled in the past and it’s not needed.
Slightly restructured the Exegol space battle’s beginning to consolidate story threads
Removed Finn telling BB8 “great job, buddy” during the mounted attack in order to preserve a sense of tension or seriousness
Removed Palpatine’s lines, “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here,” and, “…for my grandchild to come home,” to assist in smoothing Palpatine’s motives to switching from grooming Kylo Ren to Rey once Ben Solo was redeemed.*
Replaced the Imperial TIE Kylo took to Exegol with Vader’s TIE, because ANH had made a point to establish that TIEs don’t have hyperdrives.
Trimmed a moment when Ben seems to wait for the Knight to hit his saber
Added a small bit of score from ROTS as Palpatine absorbs the power of Rey and Ben’s dyad
Added a cacophony of voices to the appearance of the civilian fleet to the battle. Several craft can be heard signing in via comm, and a few cheer “For Skywalker!” during the charge in order to tie into Luke’s Inspiring act at the Battle of Crait
Extended a space exterior shot using an ILM demo clip in order to remove Poe’s line, “Every [underbelly cannon] we knock out is a world saved.”
Since Kijimi isn’t destroyed, there’s no need for Babu Frik to pop up only to show he’s alive
Added a line during the spirits of the Jedi communing with Rey from the actor who portrayed the youngling in the Jedi Council chambers in Revenge of the Sith
Added Leia concluding the Jedi voices with “always,” taken from the trailer.
The ghostly visages of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke appear behind Rey and assist with overpowering the Emperor
Altered Rey’s climactic line from, “I am all the Jedi,” to simply, “I am a Jedi.”
Added a subtle Sith scream effect as Palpatine explodes
Because the first Ewok shot was used earlier, Coruscant and Naboo have been added in its place in the planetary celebration montage
The holochess scene between Chewie, Finn, and Poe has been moved to Tatooine
Added a subtle double rainbow to the first shot of the Lars homestead, originally inspired by a similar phenomena at that filming location as seen on the bonus material, rationalized into a deep cut reference to Leia’s infantile destination of Alderaan, which sports a double rainbow in ROTS.
The quick light sequence when Rey ignites her yellow saber has been changed from blue and green to blue and purple to reflect Leia’s new saber color, as the original was an homage to the two Skywalker sabers
The ghostly visage of a redeemed Ben Solo now accompanies the Skywalker twins during the final scene
Rey’s delivery of her final line has been swapped with one from the behind the scenes bonus material that appeared more emotionally resonant, with the background modified to match the finished film
The final shot has been replaced with the Falcon taking off, flying toward the suns, and jumping to hyperspace.
The musical cue leading into the credits has been replaced with something more fitting that does not reuse the cue from the end of TFA
A “Special Edition” of The Rise of Skywalker using the TROS Extended Edition Novelization by Rae Carson with some changes from Hal 9000’s TROS Ascendant movie fan-edit, lore from supplementary materials, and a few minor additions of my own to create what I hope will be the best version of TROS possible. I give credit to both creators throughout, as I DO NOT claim this as an original work but more of a “fan-edit”.
When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of the reformed Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
Likes ❤ and Reblogs are much appreciated!
When I first saw the theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, I was very disappointed and immediately set upon rewriting/fixing it with fanfics such as Star Wars: Rise of the Order, a role-reversal au called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, and a WIP called Star Wars: Prophecy of the Dyad– a combo of TROS and Duel of the Fates with a happy ending.
Then I saw a fanedit of the movie called The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant. It was a tremendous improvement of the theatrical, improving pacing, trimming bad dialogue, saving the moment Chewbacca’s revealed to be alive for when Rey finds out, adding Force Ghosts at the end battle, and making the Tatooine sequence so much better, most notably adding Ben’s Force Ghost with Luke and Leia.
While I still wish Rey and Ben could have lived happily ever after, I believe my own “fanedit” of novelization with some of the changes added from TROS Ascendant and my own changes (like changing Rey’s terrible line “I will earn your brother’s lightsaber, one day.” to “I will be a Jedi, one day.”) will be the best version it could be, improving characterization, clarifying plot lines, and adding the closure of the Reylo story that the theatrical version and the original novelization never did.
Just watched this fan-edit version of “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Amazing what a few changes do to improve a film.
The last time I had seen TROS was 2019, and I vowed never to watch it again, unless a “Special Edition” of it was produced.
This was that “Special Edition”
There was a lot of small bits of dialogue removed (like “they fly now”, “somehow Palpatine’s returned”) but the biggest and best changes were:
The title crawl was reworked
We don’t find out Chewie is alive until Rey does
Luke and Leia didn’t know Rey was a Palpatine all along, and Leia didn’t envision her son’s death at the end of her Jedi path and leave her lightsaber for someone to finish it for her, she simply just saw the end of her path. Really improves Luke’s pep talk tremendously
Palpatine doesn’t say “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here…” He just gets right to business
There are Force Ghosts in the end battle!
Rey says “I am a Jedi” instead of that silly “I am all the Jedi”
Naboo and Coruscant are included in one of the celebration montages
The holochess bit with Finn, Chewie, and Poe is moved to the end, as they accompany Rey to Tatooine and the last shot is the Falcon jumping to hyperspace with the twin suns in the background
When Rey says “Rey Skywalker”, she sees the Force Ghosts of Luke, Leia, andBen!
It’s not perfect (as Ben still dies ), and there were a few bits that were retained that I hated like “I will earn your brother’s saber”, and some bits I would have liked from the novel (Ben saying “I will always be with you” as he’s fading away) that weren’t in there, but honestly, this edit made TROS into a watchable, acceptable movie. I wouldn’t be posting the link to it if it wasn’t!
I’m not sure if the last link will work, I know for sure this one will. For real, I’m obsessed with this fan-edit. It’s like comparing the 2017 Justice League with the 2021 Snyder Cut.
All of TROS Ascendant’s changes, as listed by the fan-editor
New title crawl
Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy. The tyrannical First Order has retaliated by attacking any planetary system that supports their enemy.
As Rey, sole heir to the Jedi, continues her training, General Leia Organa sends her brave agents across the stars to unite the disparate worlds in the name of Resistance.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has traveled to Mustafar, chasing whispers of a hidden power that would allow him to destroy any threat to his rule…
Added a Wilhelm scream, somewhere in the film…
Added two new establishing shots to the opening Mustafar sequence to slow the pacing slightly
Added a subtle call from Palpatine, saying “Find me,” as Kylo Ren picks up the Wayfinder
Replaced the vat of cloned Snokes with cloned Palpatines
Removed the slight electrical crackle as Palpatine reveals his hands
Moved Palpatine describing spirit transfer into his first scene, turning it into a warning to Kylo Ren and setting up stakes for later
Reordered opening scenes for a more logical progression and better pacing (Kylo Ren meets Palpatine > Rey trains > Falcon mission > Returning to base)
Moved the scene with Chewie, Poe, and Finn playing holochess to the end of the movie, with a shot having been modified here to depict dropping out of hyperspace
Replaced Finn’s now first line “Artoo” with “Look sharp”
Removed lightspeed skipping sequence. It made no sense given how hyperspace has always been depicted, as quick travel, not teleportation. Now, the Falcon bursts through the ice wall while jumping to hyperspace, and the pursuing TIEs peel off, ending the scene
Only because he has no proper introduction and would appear suddenly due to other changes made, removed Klaud from a few shots
Moved Rey’s repeat of “nothing’s impossible” to after Leia hands her the saber to make it feel more endearing
The blue Skywalker lightsaber is now portrayed throughout the film with a somewhat ‘cracked’ appearance similar to Kylo Ren’s in order to build on the conclusion to TLJ and reflect Rey’s inner conflict
The vision Rey experiences while training with the remote has been heavily modified to better establish her apprehension about the Sith throne, and separated from Kylo’s vision
During the vision, removed Rey’s eyes appearing milky and glossed over
Replaced Poe’s lines, including “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” with part of the Emperor’s speech being played, implied to be part of the gathered intel
Removed a line of dialogue establishing an unnecessary 16-hour ‘ticking clock’ to the plot
Trimmed awkward dialogue between Leia and Rey as the two discuss going off to search for the Wayfinder
Kylo now has a vision separate from Rey’s, before reforging his mask, better establishing his motivation for doing so
Added the planet Coruscant to two shots during the scene with Kylo Ren in a boardroom on his Star Destroyer
Redubbed the two stormtroopers who introduce the Knights of Ren
Removed Poe’s use of the word ‘random.’
The puppet show now depicts Luke’s feats at the Battle of Crait in TLJ, strengthening the idea that Luke’s ‘legend’ has taken root in the galaxy and better setting up in conjunction with the following story beat Rey’s identity formation at the end of the film
Cut Rey saying “that’s an excellent name.” This statement felt overly modern.
After Kylo Ren says “I will find you,” cut him saying “…and turn you to the dark side.” It’s implied that he will try to do that once he finds her, but why say it aloud? He should be trying to seduce her to the dark side and masking his intentions
Moved the scene forward in which Rey’s necklace is reported to be traced to Pasaana aboard the Star Destroyer, for better pacing. Trooper line modified not to show him reporting Rey and company’s identities.
Used a foreign language dub for a milder delivery of Lando’s chauffeur’s one line
Removed the “they fly now” gag
Removed Finn telling Rey he “never told you—“ while the heroes sink in the quicksand, as well as two subsequent references to it
Removed Rey commenting that “horrible things” have happened with the dagger, to uncouple it from her parents’ murders and allow her to sense the blade’s pull to the darkness in keeping with a later change.
Added a few lines of dialogue throughout the film to the Knights of Ren
Extended the confrontation between Rey and Kylo’s TIE in the desert using footage from the trailer
Removed the explosion of Kylo Ren’s TIE, though it still rolls after being sliced by Rey
After Kylo Ren’s TIE is destroyed, for the remainder of the film his TIE is depicted with a differently color stripe
Added new shot of Ochi’s ship taking off with the heroes as Kylo Ren watches in order to slightly slow the pace
When Rey mentions her vision of seeing the Sith throne, she comments she saw herself on it, making no reference to Kylo Ren, for greater consistency with her vision as seen by the audience and connection to her inner conflict of identity
Removed part of Poe’s line about their efforts being for nothing, allowing 3PO’s statement later to feel original to him
Reordered shots to show Rey contemplating before asking 3PO to consider going through with the memory wipe
Chewie is not revealed to be alive until Rey senses him from Kijimi, and not seen until he is rescued by Poe and Finn. The reveal with Hux and Pryde has been replaced with the telepathic Palpatine-Kylo conversation from later.
Zorri gives Poe a cold stare, muting her line about seeing his brains in the snow
Removed dialogue referencing R2 backing up 3PO’s memory, which immediately destroyed any weight his sacrifice had before it had even happened, practically stating to the audience what will later happen.
Removed “from the Southern shore” from 3PO’s recital of the Sith dagger inscription to better fit in with its altered characteristics.
Extended the “squeaky wheel” sequence in order to slow the pace using footage from the bonus disc
Replaced 3PO line starting with “Whoever this Chewie person is…” due to being one of a few clunky reminders that he had his memory erased
Removed Finn yelling “POE!”
Removed another instance of the Sith dagger triggering a memory of her parents.*
Replaced Kylo Ren’s line “I never lied to you” with “You were right” for more intuitive and precise continuity with TLJ even as the scene retcons it. In that film, it is Rey herself who supplies the information that her parents “were nobody.”
Removed Kylo Ren’s line, “They sold you to protect you.”*
Removed the single time either of Rey’s parents called her by name, to allow for headcanon that Rey named herself
Removed line from Rey’s mother, “She’s not on Jakku, she’s gone.” This paints Ochi as a moron not to have found Rey, and appears to have been included to explicitly harmonize with TLJ describing Rey’s parents as being buried on Jakku. This is clunky and unnecessary, all the moreso because that line was omitted from this editor’s TLJ project.
Replace 3PO/trooper dialogue to depict 3PO somewhat out of his element
Removed single line “You are a Palpatine.” The rest of the scene works well enough without this heavy-handed line.
Altered Kylo Ren’s line to, “We’ve become a dyad in the Force,” which feels like it builds on TLJ’s ending
The moon containing the wreckage of the second Death Star has been recontextualized as Endor, replacing what was Endor with an ice moon during the space establishing shot and moving the Ewok snippet up from the film’s climax.
Replaced the obtuse reminder that 3PO had his memory erased in the form of a line “Is everyday like this for you people?”
Removed Rey using the dagger as an impossible compass while surveying the wreckage of the second Death Star. ‘Sith whispers’ have been added strategically to imply the dagger mystically guiding her to the Wayfinder.
Added a brief musical allusion to ‘Duel of the Fates’ during the duel on the Death Star using music from Maul’s scene in Solo
Added a subtle vocalization as Leia drops her headphones
Trimmed Finn’s final whimper of “Rey!” during the duel
Worked in the shot of Leia holding Han’s medal from the trailer, which makes it clearer that she promoted Kylo’s memory and sets up Chewie receiving it later which felt like it came out of nowhere
Reordered the sequence of dialogue and action as Rey heals Ben’s wound
Extended the establishing shot of Kylo during the Han scene by a few seconds to slow the pace
Completely removed the destruction of Kijimi and the Resistance’s reaction. This helps us imagine the Final Order as an Imperial stockpile since it was the only glimpse into them before the First Order arrives to help. It avoids yet another planet destruction, and generally smooths things over.
Softened the stark sound effect slightly as Luke catches the lightsaber, since he is immaterial
Regraded Ach-To sequence to take place at night, concluding at dawn
Added an additional establishing shot breaking up the Rey on Ahch-to scenes so it doesn’t seem like she only spends a couple minutes on the island
A porg sound continues to trail off after their single shot, to help them feel like they were really there
Reduced blue coloration to Luke’s ghostly visage, slimmed him down somewhat, and shortened Mark Hammil’s wig to better fit his prior appearances
Removed talk about Leia (and possibly Luke, depending on one’s interpretation of the scene) having known about Rey being a Palpatine. In this version, Luke essentially tells Rey, “So what if you’re a Palpatine?” It also seems to make a great deal more sense to assume they did not know this during the events of TFA and TLJ, with Luke learning this postmortem.
Leia’s lightsaber blade has been recolored to purple throughout. Carrie Fisher expressed a preference for this color of saber in a TFA-era interview, and it is more visually striking in the Exegol setting which helps the audience track which saber is which, particularly following a restored Leia line before Rey prominently uses her saber.
Removed Luke mentioning Leia sensing “the death of her son” at the end of her Jedi path
Replaced Luke’s line, “You’ll take both sabers to Exegol,” with, “We’ll always be with you"
Added R2 and 3PO’s prequel theme briefly during the memory restoration scene
Removed Finn’s line, “He wanted her alive,” as part of an effort to smooth over Palpatine’s motivations as initially grooming Kylo Ren and switching to Rey once Ben Solo had been redeemed.
Removed the line about the Holdo maneuver. If it is something legitimate then someone who lives in that universe shouldn’t have the same misconception as we may.
Removed the subtitle for Nien Nunb’s one line. He was never subtitled in the past and it’s not needed.
Slightly restructured the Exegol space battle’s beginning to consolidate story threads
Removed Finn telling BB8 “great job, buddy” during the mounted attack in order to preserve a sense of tension or seriousness
Removed Palpatine’s lines, “I never wanted you dead, I wanted you here,” and, “…for my grandchild to come home,” to assist in smoothing Palpatine’s motives to switching from grooming Kylo Ren to Rey once Ben Solo was redeemed.*
Replaced the Imperial TIE Kylo took to Exegol with Vader’s TIE, because ANH had made a point to establish that TIEs don’t have hyperdrives.
Trimmed a moment when Ben seems to wait for the Knight to hit his saber
Added a small bit of score from ROTS as Palpatine absorbs the power of Rey and Ben’s dyad
Added a cacophony of voices to the appearance of the civilian fleet to the battle. Several craft can be heard signing in via comm, and a few cheer “For Skywalker!” during the charge in order to tie into Luke’s Inspiring act at the Battle of Crait
Extended a space exterior shot using an ILM demo clip in order to remove Poe’s line, “Every [underbelly cannon] we knock out is a world saved.”
Since Kijimi isn’t destroyed, there’s no need for Babu Frik to pop up only to show he’s alive
Added a line during the spirits of the Jedi communing with Rey from the actor who portrayed the youngling in the Jedi Council chambers in Revenge of the Sith
Added Leia concluding the Jedi voices with “always,” taken from the trailer.
The ghostly visages of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke appear behind Rey and assist with overpowering the Emperor
Altered Rey’s climactic line from, “I am all the Jedi,” to simply, “I am a Jedi.”
Added a subtle Sith scream effect as Palpatine explodes
Because the first Ewok shot was used earlier, Coruscant and Naboo have been added in its place in the planetary celebration montage
The holochess scene between Chewie, Finn, and Poe has been moved to Tatooine
Added a subtle double rainbow to the first shot of the Lars homestead, originally inspired by a similar phenomena at that filming location as seen on the bonus material, rationalized into a deep cut reference to Leia’s infantile destination of Alderaan, which sports a double rainbow in ROTS.
The quick light sequence when Rey ignites her yellow saber has been changed from blue and green to blue and purple to reflect Leia’s new saber color, as the original was an homage to the two Skywalker sabers
The ghostly visage of a redeemed Ben Solo now accompanies the Skywalker twins during the final scene
Rey’s delivery of her final line has been swapped with one from the behind the scenes bonus material that appeared more emotionally resonant, with the background modified to match the finished film
The final shot has been replaced with the Falcon taking off, flying toward the suns, and jumping to hyperspace.
The musical cue leading into the credits has been replaced with something more fitting that does not reuse the cue from the end of TFA
A “Special Edition” of The Rise of Skywalker using the TROS Extended Edition Novelization by Rae Carson with some changes from Hal 9000’s TROS Ascendant movie fan-edit, lore from supplementary materials, and a few minor additions of my own to create what I hope will be the best version of TROS possible. I give credit to both creators throughout, as I DO NOT claim this as an original work but more of a “fan-edit”.
When it’s discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of the reformed Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire, while Rey anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren.
Likes ❤ and Reblogs are much appreciated!
When I first saw the theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, I was very disappointed and immediately set upon rewriting/fixing it with fanfics such as Star Wars: Rise of the Order, a role-reversal au called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, and a WIP called Star Wars: Prophecy of the Dyad– a combo of TROS and Duel of the Fates with a happy ending.
Then I saw a fanedit of the movie called The Rise of Skywalker Ascendant. It was a tremendous improvement of the theatrical, improving pacing, trimming bad dialogue, saving the moment Chewbacca’s revealed to be alive for when Rey finds out, adding Force Ghosts at the end battle, and making the Tatooine sequence so much better, most notably adding Ben’s Force Ghost with Luke and Leia.
While I still wish Rey and Ben could have lived happily ever after, I believe my own “fanedit” of novelization with some of the changes added from TROS Ascendant and my own changes (like changing Rey’s terrible line “I will earn your brother’s lightsaber, one day.” to “I will be a Jedi, one day.”) will be the best version it could be, improving characterization, clarifying plot lines, and adding the closure of the Reylo story that the theatrical version and the original novelization never did.
