In the waning days of the Old Republic, the galaxy was caught in an era of strife. The corporations of the galaxy had grown in power and with numerous worlds formed one of many powerful economic alliances known as the Trade Federation. The Outer Rim world of Naboo, choose to break away from this alliance.

 

Secretly entering an alliance with the mighty Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, the Trade Federation leadership was encouraged to surround Naboo with a blockade of deadly battleships. A blockade would be considered an act of war by the rest of the galaxy; however, Sidious convinced the Trade Federation viceroy that the alliance’s influence in the Republic Senate would prevent any meaningful action from being taken. Not trusting the viceroy to take charge of the situation, Sidious sent his apprentice Darth Maul to oversee the blockade.

 

True to the Sith Lord’s words, no military response was sent to deal with the blockade, just two members of the Republic’s protectors, Jedi Knights. The Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Qui-Gon Jin, along with a brash and talented young pilot they hired named Anakin Skywalker.

 

Seeing a pair of Jedi were sent to handle the negotiations, Darth Maul ordered them killed, along with their pilot. To his annoyance, the Trade Federation’s battledroids failed to kill the Jedi, and Anakin proved a capable enough fighter to stay alive in the ensuing firefight. Both the Jedi and the Sith sensed Anakin’s strength in the Force during the battle. Maul was prepared to deal with the heroes himself, but found that the cowardly bussinessman calling up additional droids was enough to drive their enemies away through sheer numbers.

 

With the interlopers out of the way, the Trade Federation blockade began its invasion of Naboo. As the planet had no standing military, it defenders were not match for the invading droid army. At best, a handful of talented pilots and soldiers were able to avoid defeat and prove a minor nuisance to the occupying army. They could do nothing to stop the army closing in on the Theed, the planet’s capital, with the only solace being that queen was to be taken alive. While the invasion was illegal, Sidious had orders for Trade Federation to force a treaty that will make the invasion legal and for Naboo to return to the Federation.

 

Unable to fight their way through the army around Theed, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon managed to find a way in thanks to a clumsy Gungan named Jar Jar who directs them to an entry through the river.

 

The heroes barely managed to help Naboo’s young queen Amidala escape the planet. The queen’s pilot was killed in the escape so Anakin took over flying the her ship narrowly makes it past a harrowing swarm of droid fighters. Unfortunately when fleeing the blockade, their ship was damaged an unable to reach the Republic’ capital, Coruscant. In a desperate effort to find a way to an alternate way to Courcasant, they traveled to the nearby star system to land on the planet Tatoonie.

 

Anakin, who grew up on Tatoonie before winning his freedom, described the planet as “the furthest thing away from whatever bright center of the universe may exist.” The planet was ruled by crime lords and slavery was common place, Anakin having had the misfortune of being born a slave before he could win his freedom. The only boon is that the planet’s ruling crime lords aren’t looking for a missing queen or have any idea one is there.

 

During the escape, Anakin made a friend with Amidala’s handmaiden, Padame, along with her two droids, the astromech R2-D2 and his best friend/full time responsibility C-3PO. While everyone looked for a way to get to Coruscant, Anakin investigated the status of his mother, Shimi. He was irate to learn that she was still the property of his old master, Watoo. Watoo’s gambling problems that caused him to lose Anakin had caused him to fall on hard times. Since Shmi was the one thing of value that Watoo still owns, he refused to part with her even with Anakin offering to purchase. Livid by how stubborn his old owner was, Anakin struck him in the face and was only stopped from killing him by Shmi showing fear of her son’s temper, while also reminded him that if Watoo dies while the transmitter placed inside her is active, the device will explode.

 

Calming down, Anakin played on Watoo’s old gambling habit on the upcoming pod race. Anakin plans to enter the offer to work for him again if he loses and the promise Watoo has to free Shmi if he wins. When the heroes reconvened, Obi-Wan explained he has hired a ship that will get them to Coruscant and they can leave within the hour. Anakin requested a delay so he has time to free his mother, shocking everyone else with the revelation he intendd to enter a dangerous pod race with the promise of becoming a slave if he loses. Anakin proved his worth as a pilot, but his arrogance still stunned the others. Qui-Gon in particular was aghast with Anakin’s impulses and arrogance combined with his strong connection to the Force.

 

Anakin did indeed win the race and Watoo is forced to give up Shmi with the warning he doesn’t want to develop a reputation as someone who doesn’t pay up his debts when he is in such dire need of money already. While Anakin offered to take Shmi off Tatoonie, she opted to instead remain with farmer she befriended named Lars.

 

Unfortunately, delaying the departure allowed Darth Maul to find the heroes. Obi-Wan faced the Sith in a short duel before their smuggler's arrival allowed him to escape. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan explain Anakin’s potential with the Force, the energy field created life which gives a Jedi their power. Anakin recounts that he did have dreams of joining the Jedi Order was never permitted. Qui-Gon feels that the path of Jedi isn’t the destiny of Anakin, while Obi-Wan feels that perhaps they may need to bend tradition given the troubled state of the galaxy.

 

On Coruscant, the Senate was slow to act, with the Trade Federation’s representatives claiming that Padame is slandering them due to Naboo’s attempts at leaving the alliance. Naboo’s senator, Shev Palpatine, Darth Sidious’ public persona, advised that the best course of action is a vote of no confidence against the current chancellor. Amidala saw how slow the Senate and the chancellor were to act, and raised the vote, paving the way for the removal of the chancellor and Palpatine’s election to take his place. Obi-Wan presented the case of Anakin to join the Jedi Order, along with his encounter with Maul, warning about the returning Sith. The Jedi Council rejected Anakin’s requests, a decision that comes as no surprise to him when they rejected him before. As for whether or not their enemy is a Sith, the ancient enemies of the Jedi, the council notes they have encountered wielders of the Force not allied with the Jedi or Sith before so they intend to wait to determine if Maul is a Sith.

 

Behind the scenes, Sidious and Maul discussed the situation; as Maul pointed out, Padame wasn’t supposed to make it to Coruscant. Sidious didn’t count on this, but it works in his favor regardless. However, he now feels the queen has outlived her usefulness, and knowing the queen plans to return to her planet, he sends Maul back to kill her and martyr her for their cause.

 

Since the droid army realized that Anakin and the Jedi were able to sneak into Theed through the river last time, they have dammed up and filled in to prevent another entry. The only way they are getting in is if they get someone to lure the army away. Jar Jar thinks that his people, the Gungans, could use their army to lure the bulk of the droids away. The Gungans have not been on the best terms with the humans of Naboo. Padame dispenses with her masquerade as her own handmaiden and reveals herself as the queen, begging the Gungans for aid, swearing that the two people need each other’s help to deal with their mutual enemy. As the invading droid army had been forcing the Gungans off their land entirely, the Gungans agreed to help against the Trade Federation.

 

While the droid army was distracted, the heroes planned to sneak into Theed to take the viceroy hostage and force the Trade Federation to the bargaining table. The cheapskate businessman felt keeping his entire fleet around Naboo was too expensive so he pulled back most of his battleships, only leaving one to control the droids he has on the planet. There was not much hope of destroying the ship. While Naboo’s pilots are likely held prisoner in the palace and ready to fight if released, the ships they have were not designed to engage a battleship, but it is their only hope.

 

Arriving back on Naboo himself, Darth Maul informed his master of the Gungan army amassing out in the open. The Sith realized this was a feint as the Gungans lacked the numbers or firepower for a direct offensive against Theed. Nonetheless, Sidious ordered Maul to send the droid army against the feint, since reports of a massacre by the Trade Federation droid army would bolster Sidious’ push to create a standing army.

 

“Wipe them out. All of them.”

 

Outnumbered, outgunned, and encircled, some of the Gungans offered themselves to the battle droids as a surrender, just to get shot. It dawned on all of them that they could survive long enough for the battleship in orbit of the planet to be destroyed.

 

Darth Maul waited in the place to impede the heroes and confront Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. He managed to mortally wound the apprentice, just for the master to cut the Sith in half and drop him down a shaft.

 

Meanwhile, Anakin and R2 joined the attack on the battleship in one of the Naboo starfighters. Seeing brave pilots die in defense of their planet triggered Anakin’s short fuse; fortunately, R2’s guidance is enough to get him to focus his anger on an opening in the battleship’s hangar. Getting aboard, Anakin managed to destroy the ship. Returning to see that the droid army was shut down by his victory, Anakin is declared a hero, an accolade that fed his already inflated ego. Seeing Anakin’s potential, the Jedi Council reluctantly agreed to let Obi-Wan take Anakin on as his new apprentice. Obi-Wan promised not to fail Anakin like he did Qui-Gon, and Anakin in turn promised not to let down his new master. After fighting Maul and sensing how strong he was in the Dark Side of the Force, Obi-Wan was certain he was a Sith.

 

Seeing most of the Gungan army killed left Jar Jar with a hardened heart. Hearing that Palpatine promises stronger leadership, he fully supports it.

_____

I have seen many ideas for how to fix The Phantom Menace, something everyone agrees on is that Anakin should have been introduced as an adult since the Anakin of the next two movies is nothing like the kid we were introduced to in TPM.

This might be a controversial choice, or maybe not, but my idea to fix the issue of Obi-Wan having so little screen time with Anakin is to introduce him as a Jedi Master and make Qui-Gon his apprentice. It does make Qui-Gon a less interesting character but I feel it is a worthy sacrifice.

Nobody likes Viceroy Newt Gingrich, so my fix is giving a bigger role to Darth Maul.

Jar Jar, oh boy. I never hated this character, but I agree that he had more screen time than he should have given how little importance he has while just being comic relief. Rather than cutting him out, my idea for fixing him is to make him into a tragic hero. Which obviously means the Gungan army fighting the Battledroids isn't done for slapstick

There was no need to connect C-3PO to Anakin, so I feel it is better to just introduce him as already part of the duo with R2.

I still love TCW so I tried to write my version of the prequels as something that would allow the show to still take place.

Overview of Supergirl's Problems

Supergirl is baffling because it should've been good on so many levels, from its great cast to promising source material. Craig Gillespie has consistently made good movies - I, Tonya was even my favorite movie the year it came out. Yet, at every single point when Supergirl sets something up that has potential, it misses the mark: every character arc, every theme, even action sequences.

Despite the solid source material, Kara's journey as a character feels as choppy as the film's editing. Despite the involvement of James Gunn - who has the Guardians of the Galaxy movies on his resume - many of the film's sci-fi locations feel claustrophobic and artificial. At times, the movie looks like it was filmed at Star Tours and Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland - and I'm not just referring to the space shuttle or multiple cantinas. Despite all the effort spent showing how the yellow sun impacts Kara, the film retreats just when it could elevate an action scene into a standout moment. [Spoilers follow...]

>!Lastly, although I had some fun watching Supergirl, it's just way too easy to poke holes in the film, with contrivances beginning as soon as the opening scene when Krem (a trafficker) chooses to steal a sword from Ruthie's family, kills her family in front of her - but doesn't even take Ruthie along with them? Also, why does he care about the sword?!<

>!It would've been smart to make Krypto the emotional core of the film, which seemed to be hinted by Kara's line, "Home is wherever your are, buddy." But the movie abandons that premise, as she suddenly changes her mind, choosing to go to Earth which she declares to be her home instead - after killing a guy and ending her pub crawl days due to undisclosed reasons. The film fails to explain why her pub crawl days were problematic, which should've been easy enough to explain. It also fails to communicate why Supergirl feels like damaged goods and is beyond saving, which is what seemingly leads her to take Krem's life into her own hands.!<

Main Fix

There aren't many movies that manage to have potential, while consistently throwing that potential away simultaneously. Somehow, Supergirl feels unaware of the story it sets up, ditching every payoff it should've had, including the most obvious thing that should've happened: >!Lobo should've killed Krem as a comedic beat after Supergirl convinces Ruthie to walk away. This would've allowed both Kara and Ruthie to have a sense of morality that was coherent with their arcs. It also would've allowed Lobo to be serviceable to the story. Instead, he passively stands in the distance, watching and providing commentary as the scene takes place without any greater purpose.!<

Ultimately, Supergirl is a frustrating entry to the DCU, constantly undermining itself and dismissing its potential to be more than a movie bound for Guardians of the Galaxy comparisons.

4 Alternate Movies

And after giving you my rundown of general problems I had with this movie, this is where my 4 alternate movies come in.

1. Lobo villain movie: Clearly, James Gunn wanted Lobo to be in this movie. And on the surface, it makes total sense - of course Lobo can show up somewhere in the galaxy. But the way it happens in Supergirl is truly bizarre and feels like the sort of thing that happens during a reshoot. Big bar fight, cut to post-bar fight when things are calm, Lobo just casually ends up being somewhere else in the room and leaves - and Supergirl knows who he is. What? She just fought the whole bar, and he was sitting in a corner the whole time? It was awkward. I won't even get into how he could've easily been a bounty hunter tasked with finding Krem, allowing him to join Supergirl and Ruthie on their mission - in a similar style to Thor: Ragnarok grouping together Thor, Hulk, and Valkyrie. Instead, Lobo could've easily been the bad guy who Supergirl claimed he was. We barely got a glimpse of that. In the movie, Lobo is basically just the same as Supergirl, with no clear distinction. In an alternate movie, he could've been the main villain, whether he's tasked with hunting Supergirl, Ruthie, etc.
2. Woman of Tomorrow: Just adapt the book with the proper creative team attached. There were a number of things that went wrong, from visuals to the directorial intent of scenes. Ideally, this movie should've resembled Project Hail Mary.
3. Supergirl - The Extended Krypton Flashback and Revenge Subplot Cut: Maybe open with the flashbacks to Krypton's destruction, setting up Kara's motivation from the first few minutes, instead of over an hour into the movie. Also worth noting how strange it was that her Kryptonian watch is stolen and she gets it back, then we realize it's of sentimental value in the flashback, then it never shows up again... Opening with a flashback sequence would've set a foundation for the film. Alternatively, the movie we got felt incoherent for a number of reasons - and one reason in particular was the fact that Supergirl is bent on Ruthie not getting revenge. Why does Kara care? It seems almost like Kara hints that she was once in a similar state of being, and took someone's life, leading her to regret her actions. I think the movie would've benefitted greatly if we saw that in flashbacks. Maybe it turns out someone else was behind Argo becoming poisoned, and she kills whoever that was, leading her to self-loathing and drinking.
4. Warworld: As I said, I like Craig Gillespie. I also like James Gunn. If you had to have anyone interfere with your movie in post-production, Gunn doesn't seem like such a bad choice. But clearly it didn't help much. If Gunn had directed his own Supergirl movie, similar to a Lobo-centric version of this movie, I think he would've had a lot of fun. It's hard to deny he would've been an ideal candidate for the job. And the villain? Mongul. Or Mongal for the sake of choosing the female iteration - she even showed up in Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Warworld is basically Thor: Ragnarok within the DC Universe, with a planet dedicated to gladiator matches between imprisoned aliens, ruled by the tyrant Mongul - who has a similar presence to Thanos or Darkseid. Imagine a Supergirl movie where she's forced to fight to the death, threatened with Kryptonite, locked up with Lobo, etc. Now, why is she fighting? For Krypto of course. Mongal threatens Supergirl by keeping her dog, forcing her to take part in the arena. And like that, boom- Krypto is the heart of the movie. The emotion of Krypto's fate isn't a subplot competing with Ruthie. I think it would've been a good time.

No hate on the Natasha x Bruce relationship, but it just wasn’t the right move imo.

Disclaimer: I know most people on here may not share my opinion, and it seems wrong how I’m gonna go about this, but this is the only way I can think of to keep them together.

I’m also gonna tweak the story to add in references to the 616 comics.

Plot: During the experiment gone wrong, rather than him Hulking out instantly, there’d be a big explosion. Betty would’ve rushed in to help Bruce, only to be shoved into a wall, injured but alive. The opening scene stays mostly the same, but unknown to all parties involved, there was another unintended consequence of said experiment. One that would emerge 5 years later.

During the battle at culver, when Thunderhead and his lackeys are restraining Betty and she starts screaming, her eyes and skin would’ve turned red, she’d increase in build and height, The Red She-Hulk is born. Yes, that’s right, during the explosion, she would’ve also been exposed to the Gamma Radiation. Only it laid dormant. She would’ve rushed to destroy the sonic cannons and Bruce would’ve saw and would’ve been shocked. Before the helicopter starts shooting at them, Hulk would’ve said “Betty?”. During the explosion, Betty would’ve been unharmed, having absorbed the flames into her person then releasing it, injuring Ross and his platoon. Betty would’ve reverted to normal and fainted, not used to said transformation.

In the cave, Betty would’ve awoken and the shock at seeing Hulk would’ve caused her second transformation, and she would’ve actually managed to actually get a good punch on him. Hulk wouldn’t have gotten too angry, as it’s still Betty. They’d have a conversation that goes sort of like this:

Hulk: (upon seeing Betty’s form) Hulk……hurt Betty. Hulk did this…….Hulk sorry he turn Betty into……(points at himself).

Betty: No. It’s not your fault, Bruce. You didn’t know.

Hulk: Dunderhead know about Red Betty?

Betty: He does now.(she takes his hand)

Most of the film can go the same, only Betty would’ve assisted Hulk against Blonsky.

Rather than them being separated, Betty would’ve followed Bruce, warning Thunderbolt “stay away from him, and stay away from me.” Thunderbolt would’ve reluctantly called off the search…..for now.

Film ends the same, only we’d actually see him transform, only he has better control because Betty is by his side.

And no, I’m not exchanging her for Natasha in endgame so don’t ask.

ETA: I considered having Betty become Red Harpy, but I figured that would’ve been too OP.

Posted this in r/Incredibles, so I thought this could go here, too.

Incredibles 2 has a structurally interesting villain in Evelyn Deavor, but the execution undercuts both the twist and the ideology. My main criticism of her is one of the biggest reasons people find her weak: her operational behavior doesn’t align with her stated objective.

The best Pixar villains usually touch a real emotional truth. Evelyn’s core argument is: “People weaken themselves by relying on superheroes.”

That’s not inherently bad. In fact, it’s potentially compelling. The problem is the film never seriously engages with it.

If Evelyn truly wanted superheroes outlawed permanently, her plan should’ve logically aimed to:

- destroy public trust in superheroes,

- expose them as dangerous or manipulable,

- actively sabotage legalization efforts,

or create catastrophic collateral damage tied directly to superhero activity.

Instead, she engineered situations where heroes look effective and necessary. The film tries to argue that she’s setting up a larger discrediting event later, but because so much screen time is devoted to successful heroics improving public opinion, her actions come across as self-defeating.

So, I thought, why not make her someone who’s, in a way, the exact opposite of Syndrome, where she WANTS to bring heroes back rather than make them stay in hiding or just killing them off? The first movie already utilized the anti-hero rhetoric with the villain, anyway, so I think seeing it used again, albeit in another way, in the sequel made the villain fall flat on rewatches for me.

Here’s how I would rewrite it:

When Winston first meets Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone, Evelyn never appears at all. Winston explains that after their parents were killed during the robbery that happened because supers were illegal, Evelyn’s mental state rapidly deteriorated, and she eventually took her own life believing that there was nothing that could be done.

The next part of how I’d rewrite this uses the character whom my favorite action scene in the movie centers around: the ambassador Elastigirl saves from the hijacked helicopter. After the rescue, she becomes a recurring supporting character and a major public advocate for re-legalizing superheroes. She seems compassionate, intelligent, and genuinely committed to helping supers regain public trust.

Winston should also have been made a bit of a more suspicious character from that point, too, like having him a little too enthusiastic about the prospect of how closer the disasters have brought the re-legalization of supers. I think utilizing the bit where he has an aggressive outburst with Evelyn in the original movie before switching back to normal would help, too. The ambassador could also come in handy here, because she can be the one to talk him down from the over excitement and aggression, which gains her Elastigirl’s trust in a more genuine way than Evelyn originally did.

Meanwhile, the Screenslaver’s ideology would be completely different. Instead of ranting about people depending too much on superheroes, the speeches would focus on society’s hypocrisy and cowardice for abandoning supers when they needed them most. Like how in society sometimes, heroes go unappreciated for the hard work they do.

Something like:

“You cheer heroes when you’re afraid. You outlaw them when you feel safe.”

Or:

“You rejected the people willing to save you. Now you’ll remember what helplessness feels like.”

The disasters throughout the movie would still happen, but now they have a clearer purpose: they are designed to force the public into realizing how badly they need superheroes.

I think it’s also worth making a call-back to some of the characters from the first film to make the film feel like a better sequel; Oliver Sansweet, the man who sparked the whole “anti-supers” movement. The headline of a breaking news story could show him having finally yet suddenly died, but in a way too suspicious to be true suicide. Cue the Screenslaver interrupting the story to give the public a warning about how this should act as a warning for all those who spoke out against supers and forced them into hiding, which, imo, makes them a darker villain (albeit probably not to Syndrome’s level) since they’re more willing to get their hands dirty to get their way.

Then during the betrayal scene, instead of Evelyn suddenly revealing herself, the ambassador betrays Elastigirl and reveals that she actually IS Evelyn, alive the entire time. Her suicide attempt was fake, and she had been masquerading as a foreign ambassador since then.

In this version, Evelyn’s psychology becomes much darker and more coherent. She became the way she did because she realized inaction led to the family tragedy, and now she knows the best way to “make things right again“ is to take action, no matter how drastic. She isn’t trying to prove superheroes are bad. She’s trying to punish society for rejecting them. She wants to create so much chaos and destruction that the public is forced to beg superheroes to come back permanently. She doesn’t care that she’ll potentially hurt innocents in the process because that’s how the system felt when they made her and her family suffer when they outlawed supers.

In the scene on the jet, instead of mocking Elastigirl with how supers’ reputations are ruined and that they will never become legal, she could be degrading her for being ungrateful towards her efforts that would ironically help Elastigirl and the other superheroes, and how they could’ve made such a great team. This also circles back to Evelyn’s line from that scene, “Y’know what’s sad? If it weren’t for your core beliefs, I think we could’ve been good friends.” Elastigirl would naturally disagree because she believes in protecting innocents and not making everyone suffer because of the actions of a certain few, also alluding to her retort to Evelyn’s statement; “at least I have core beliefs.”

That makes all her actions line up with her motive:

- manufacturing disasters

- manipulating public opinion

- pushing legalization

- escalating crises

and creating dependence on superheroes again.

It also makes the twist less predictable because Evelyn isn’t standing around acting suspicious for half the movie. I thought about utilizing the element of Turbo from Wreck-It-Ralph and Syndrome from the previous movie that made their twist awesome: a secret, more insidious identity.

I also think this version creates a stronger thematic conflict with Bob Parr. Bob already believes exceptional people are necessary. Evelyn would basically be the extreme, twisted version of that belief: humanity *needs* superheroes and deserves to suffer if it rejects them. I think the earlier mentioned scenario of Sansweet’s murder would put his belief to the test with his sense of morality and protecting the people, forcing him to ultimately take issue with this (which could take the place of the scene of him finding out about his Incredibile car being sold to a billionaire).

The original movie had the pieces for a really interesting villain, but I think this approach would’ve made Evelyn feel far more tragic, coherent, and memorable.

Comment below your thoughts, but please be polite!

\"Be not afraid...\"

Walk into the heart of darkness.

Hello, friends.

Welcome to this next posting in my comprehensive rewrite of Fox's Alien. A redux of the franchise which presented both a revision of the prequels as a trilogy:

• Prometheus - 2012
• Paradise Lost - 2015
• Covenant - 2017

And a pitch of the cancelled Aliens sequel which might have retconned the events of *Alien***^(3) onward:

• State of the Alien Universe
• Alien: Awakening (Part 1, the Pitch)
• Alien: Awakening (Part 2, the Film)

An in-universe mythology of mine further fleshes out the universe, a sort of lore codex which lifts from various canon materials, old drafts and some ideas by myself and collaborators.

• Franchise Codex

Here is my plot outline for the next entry. An odyssey which both continues the personal journey of the Ripley clan, and finally reveals the full fallout of the prequels.

Before proceeding, go ahead and read the previous posts/rewrites, and especially the Codex entry as the lore involved informs much of the plot.

****

A voyage into the unknown becomes a living nightmare.

Dispatched to map out a planet beyond all charted space, young scientist William Ripley finds something grander and more terrifying than anything he'd imagined. In the endless darkness his crew are menaced by an alien threat whose origins are tied to those of mankind.

New dangers crawl from out of the shadows. Secrets buried for millennia come to light.

And at last, the Ripley family uncovers the truth of a long-lost human vessel called the Covenant...

****

ALIENS: THE DESTROYING ANGELS

Starring

Alex Høgh Andersen as William Ripley

Jaz Sinclair as Martine Roby

Doug Jones as the Last Ancient / " Space Jockey "

with Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley

and Michael Biehn as Dwayne Hicks

and >!Michael Fassbender!< as the Brother/Voice in the Dark

****

PROLOGUE

Survivor

On an unknown planet, in some indeterminate past, a woman awakes from a stupor aboard the bridge of her ship. The woman, warrant officer Martine Roby, is covered in blood and apparently suffering from shock.

Her vessel hangs in orbit above a desolate planet marked with a site the computer designates "City of the Ancients".

Stumbling to an escape pod, Martine passes the mutilated bodies of her crew. And she is just barely able to escape a shrouded, Xenomorph-like creature before she makes it into the escape shuttles.

Her ship, the USCSS Conrad, plunges into a death spiral above the dark planet. A computerized voice warns Martine that she in in direct violated of company policy, and will be "decommissioned" upon return if she cannot return the specimen.

Martine hesitates only for a moment before tearfully shutting down the message, and apologizing to "Mother" before she rockets off into space.

The Conrad begins to careen to a fiery death in the atmosphere, but Martine's solitude is broken when the Alien lands on the window of her ship and screams down at her.

****

CUT TO BLACK

****

ALIENS

The Destroying Angels

****

Act 1

Survivors

Several years have passed since the events of Alien: Awakening.

Amidst the frontier, the assorted human superpowers have been thrown into disarray with the leak of Weyland-Yutani's many illicit activities and the arms race they nearly sparked into outright war by way of the Xenomorphs.

In United Americas space, Ellen Ripley and her found family have committed to cleanup operations sanctioned by a multi-nation cooperative aimed at wiping out all remnants of the Company and their work.

• After several films of the Weyland-Yutani corporation wreaking havoc and more or less getting off scott-free, they have finally been taken off the board.
  • A major shift in the status quo of the setting.
• Their absence however causes a chaotic power vacuum amidst their former competitors and the various nations still tied to them.

Here in this entry we see William Ripley, son of Ellen and Dwayne Hicks, step into the role of lead protagonist.

• As Rebecca "Newt" Jorden acted as protagonist in the previous outing.

William, continuing his journey after the introduction seen in Awakening, is a more methodical and scientifically-minded lead than those who came before.

• As opposed to rough working-class heroes like Ellen Ripley or Rain Carradine, we somebody in the vein of Elizabeth Shaw or Katherine Daniels.
  • Other media inspirations being Alan Grant from the Jurassic Park franchise, a curious soul who has an almost innate understanding of the dangerous creatures he encounters.

The New Mission

The first act of the film jumps into motion with William and a team of xenobiologists and mapmakers investigating a possible Engineer signal on the corner of charted space. A platoon of Colonial Marines accompanies the mission, one of several militaries deployed to exterminate Xeno threats on sight.

Amongst the team is a biologist calling herself "Rowan".

• She is in fact the woman featured in the prologue sequence, Martine Roby .

Having apparently covered her tracks well, she accompanies the team, who stay in close contact with an escort commanded by Ripley and Hicks.

• The two of them not wanting to let William stray too far.

The voyage takes them to a corner of space quarantined by the Three World Empire. Here, a drifting artifact has been discovered, referred to by translated Creator script as "Lychgate".

Here, William's team lands and explores the site. Half a space station, half a temple constructed by the Engineer caste which came to dominate the Creator race in their later ages.

As expected, traces of alien activity are present, as are the remains of human crews who'd died fighting them.

Gateway Opens

The exploration of the Lychgate leads to a sequence in which William and Martine, in a temple at the heart of the station, activate a dimensional gateway which takes the temple beyond known space.

The Marine force are unable to stop the sequence, and are kept from following by an awakening of Xenomorph-like creatures with pallid blue features and more blade-like skulls.

• The creatures, apparently emerging from a primordial hive-like structure, are seemingly hostile but make no move to attack yet.

While Ripley and Hicks hunker down with the Marines, William and Martine vanish into the gateway.

Into dark space.

Act 2

The Forge

William and Martine awake to find themselves lost on a lifeless moon. One set under dark, starless skies in which a myriad of titanic shadows twist and bend in the endless void.

Young, pale aliens greet the two. Hairless, marble-like humanoids with glassy black eyes.

Engineers.

Last of their Kind

The aliens appear youthful and simple, with forms not unlike the population exterminated by David 8 in his culling of Planet 4/"Paradise".

The scouts determine Martine has been injured, and much to his shock William realizes "Rowan" is in fact a synthetic.

Bewildered, and in Martine's case hurt, the pair are escorted into the depths of the moon. Not a natural celestial body, but in fact an artificial construct.

• Built out of black stone and "metal".
  • What could be metal, or just as easily glass or fossilized ancient bones.

Mounted on the walls of the station's cavernous depths are the skeletons of vast aliens.

• Ancient titans fused to the very structure which now houses their remains.

In the depths of this floating station is a small, pale star which powers the vast structure. William marvels at the artistry, determining this station to be a hypothetical device often referred to as a Dyson Sphere.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

The young Engineers simply called it the Forge. The Forge of the Gods.

At its heart, as Martine undergoes treatment, William meets a towering preserved in a sort of stasis point between life and death.

A Pilot. Last of its race, the precursor race which spawned the Creators and made, warlike Engineers.

• The race of the fossilized corpse found on LV-426/Acheron.

Echoes

The Pilot speaks gently to the Engineers, its 'Children', and asks them to heal Martine's wounds. William, having experience mostly cruelty at the hands of the synthetics created by Weyland-Yutani, is wary of Martine and suspects her of being an agent of the Company's remnants.

The Pilot doesn't believe so, having seen true pain and fear in her the minute they landed.

Here, William communes with the last living remnant of a primordial era which saw the origins of the Engineers, Mankind, and the fearsome Xenomorphs. Through hieroglyphs and shimmering holographic displays, William observes sparse scenes of creation, death and rebirth spanning countless millions of years.

• A history that has only been been partially put together in the files of companies like Weyland-Yutani.
  • Plugging this again.

The Pilot shepherds the last of these Engineers, beings intended to build a better world than the one that birthed their kind long ago. But even in Dark Space, a void in which only primordial chaos dwells, it appears the sins of their brethren have followed them.

The Perfected

Others have entered this realm called Dark Space.

'Fulfremmen', translated to the 'Perfected'. A race not unlike Mankind, spawned to inherit the stars before they rebelled against their masters.

In a vision granted by the Pilot, William bears witness to the conflict between this synthetically-grown species and their Engineer brethren.

***

An ancient settlement of humans, maybe on Earth or maybe on another planet, watch the sun go down.

Some in the group pray at the sign of an evening star, but the prayer is cut short when it becomes clear what the light is.

A vessel, carrying "gods".

Monstrous creatures emerging from the darkness, eyeless demons with slavering jaws and sharp claws which cut down all before them.

The bloodied survivors run for their lives and barricade themselves behind the walls of their settlement.

On the cliffsides above, an eerie inhuman observer watches the chaos unfold.

More falling stars alert the observer to danger, and the sky lights up.

A war in heaven.

***

While the Engineers died off or fled into exile, so too have their children the Perfected. Until now.

Voice in the Dark

Outside of the Forge, a host of the Fulfremmen have arrived to claim this Forge for themselves. Here are the last wonders of the Pilot's people, eldest of the sentient races, and the Fulfremmen now desire it.

As does a mysterious stranger, one they call 'Voice in the Dark' or simply 'Brother'.

The Fulfremmen direct a breed of Xenomorphs linked to their minds to attack the Forge. And, back in more material space beyond the Lychgate, they sense more of their brethren awakening to help them.

Ripley and Hicks witness the mysterious Perfected arrive at the Lychgate and direct their Proto-Xenomorph spawn to attack.

As they and the Marines attempt to fend them off, a faceless apparition of the Brother observes Ripley. Speaking in a seemingly human voice it remarks on her bravery, apparently knowing something of her story. That of a survivor who somehow stood her ground against the galaxy's greatest horrors and survived.

Mockingly, the Brother compares her to the fames Horatius of Rome.

Then out spake brave Horatius,

the Captain of the Gate:

"To every man upon this earth

Death cometh soon or late.

And how can man die better

than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers,

And the temples of his Gods..."

The Brother directs the Fulfremmen to seize the Lychgate and prepare for his arrival, wishing to 'meet his maker' in the void.

Act III

The Heart of Darkness

As the Proto-Xenomorphs and their Perfected parents attack, a recovered Martine helps coordinate the Forge's defenses.

Even unleashing specimens of preserved Xenomorphs, a contingency built into the outer walls of the Pilot's fortress.

• On sight, the different breeds fight to the death.

Wayward Children

Martine visibly bears nothing but disgust for the aliens. And with her full strength recovered she tells William the truth of who she was.

A company android, yes, programmed as a science officer who would recover a specimen from Ancients' ruins. Her priority directive was one known to the Ripley family; Special Order 937.

• The directive was assigned to several different synthetics deployed to recover the Xenomorph and other such creatures.

Martine, however, had a few quirks in her programming which inadvertently made her capable of forming genuine attachments to her crew aboard the Conrad. And at the sight of them slaughtered by the Alien, she broke and resolved to destroy the creature.

• The creature being an unnamed Xenomorph strain unique to the planet and the city on which it was discovered.

Martine has lived on the run ever since, in fear of being terminated by her creators. A conflict she bitterly remarks is the story of the Milky Way, told time and again. Ancient, to Engineer, to Human and Fulfremmen, to the monsters who ruined her life and the Ripleys'.

William, guilty for having judged her, apologizes.

Sacrifice, and Rebirth

The Pilot summons Martine and William, knowing the being revered by the rogue Fulfremmen is coming.

He asks William and Martine to destroy the Forge. Unsealing the fusion core which houses the star at its very heart, and burning the moon to ashes rather than let the Fulfremmen claim it.

The young Engineers despair, but the Pilot is resolved. His time is over, as his people's was long ago. He asks the human and android to usher his children back to material space, and carry one final gift with them.

A gift he calls only 'the Seed'.

William and Martine obey, and send the Forge into a death spiral just as the Proto-Xenomorphs breach the Pilot's temple.

But upon their approaching the gateway one of the Proto-Hive growths summoned by the Fulfremmen snags William. He is freed, but not before being poisoned by the black Pathogen which spawned countless cosmic horrors.

• Marking the return of the substance after its appearances in
  • The entire prequel trilogy
  • Alien: Romulus
  • Alien: Awakening
• William's poisoning is not unlike Charlie Holloway's on LV-223.

As the jump back to the galaxy proper commences, Martine follows the urging of one Engineer and applies a drop of the fluid Seed to William's wound.

In utter agony, William's body wars with the Pathogen and he experiences a nightmarish vision.

****

His body warps and distorts amidst the primordial void of Dark Space.

Adrift, floating amidst the black starless sky, he is followed by eldritch beings.

Fiendish intelligence bar beyond Man observes him, and very nearly drags him into oblivion. An oblivion in which someone else waits for him.

But as he hears Martine, screaming for him to come back, he is pulled back towards a distant light.

****

A feverish William awakens, back on the Lychgate, with Martine, Ripley and Hicks all huddled around him.

His wounds are healed, but only barely, and he is visibly sick. Whatever the Seed is saved his life, but his recovery will not be a swift one.

William's parents carry him away, with Marine and the Engineer children in tow, while the Lychgate's gateway collapses.

The Serpent

In his last moments, the Pilot hosts a transmission carrying the Voice that has hounded his flock.

Lamenting his unfinished business which began on Planet 4, the Fulfremmen's new figure of devotion can at least savor the last remnants of Engineer civilization dying before him. Even if he can't be there to claim their gifts, knowing they will finally die off is enough.

The Pilot bids his "grandchild" a bitter farewell, vowing he will never attain the godhood he seeks. He is little more than a fallen angel, a serpent who dared to crawl back into Eden and corrupt what he could not own.

The Biblical reference amuses the Brother, as the Forge erupts into a blazing star which soon dissipates in Dark Space, his attention returns to his own dwelling on the edge of the galaxy.

A horrific wilderness in which he has experimented for years. On aliens, on hybrid creatures of his own making, and most gruesomely of all on the crew of a human spacecraft though long-lost.

Epilogue

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come...

Back in human space, the report on the Forge pieces together much of the tapestry of galactic history. The threads of which connected the disastrous mission of the Prometheus, the Covenant, the Nostromo, the Conrad and many more.

Ripley calls up her contacts who've been hunting Engineer sites, broadcasting all she now has on hand. But an ominous reply tells her something is wrong. Settled worlds on the frontier have started to go dark.

Something, or someone, is on the move. Perhaps the Fulfremmen, perhaps the Xenomorphs. Perhaps both. Or perhaps someone else.

Whoever it is, the source of the growing disappearances originates from the course charted by the Covenant.

Visions of the End

In his bunker, Ripley finds the recovering William suffering a nightmare.

And in the twisted garden at the end of all the worlds, the Brother is revealed at last.

****

In William's mind he sees who was waiting for him in the darkness.

A woman. Darkness made flesh, a biomechanical horror which stands at the end of the union between Mankind and Alien.

A horror with the face of a woman once called Elizabeth Shaw.

****

In the garden, the android who survived the Prometheus and doomed the Covenant laughs joyously as he summons his last experiment.

A swarm of black locusts. A deluge which will purge all before him as the great flood once purged the Earth.

David 8 revels in his acts of creation, and the coming destruction. And he muses the Pilot was wrong.

He is not a god. But he is not the Serpent either.

He has become Death.

The destroyer of worlds.

TO BE CONCLUDED

****

There we have it.

One more horrific adventure to go, in my redux of this franchise.

I hope you liked this one! Let me know your thoughts, and keep an eye out for my next post on HBO's Batman, which I will also be posting tonight.

See you next time!

Safin's goal is to get revenge on Spectre, but halfway through the movie he does that and he doesn't have anymore motivation after that other than being vaguely obsessed with Lea Seydoux (understandable, but still). Wouldn't it be better if it turned out that somehow Blofeld had been manipulating him, that Safin's attempted revenge backfires and he ends up freeing Blofeld? Blofeld kills him, takes over his little nanovirus scheme, and plots to sell it to the highest bidder just to fill up his coffers again. Blofeld kidnaps Madelaine just to screw with Bond, Bond goes after him, you get your classic hero-villain showdown without all this weird patter of Safin saying he's Bond's dark reflection or whatever.

I think it would make a lot more sense and fit Bond better to go down in one last epic battle with his arch-nemesis instead of some guy who just showed up and you don't even know what he's trying to do. Because once you've gone and made Bond's arch-nemesis also his foster brother, you might as well go all the way and let him be the final boss.

The movie begins with Hercules' birth. Zeus is happy, Poisedon is happy, Hades is brooding, and you know who's also unhappy? Hera. She can't believe it... another man? She's sick of men! Olympus is full of them! And he looks so much like his annoying father, Hera can't believe it. She envisions Hercules growing into another partying loud obnoxious God like his father, and she has had enough of it.

Hades notices his chance and comes to Hera. If she's sick of how things are going in Olympus, maybe he can help? Hades takes Hera to the underworld, away from Zeus' ears, and tells him about his plan to overthrow Zeus, and in exchange for her help, Hera can have a slice of that pie, and not have to deal with as many annoying boys in the future. Hera approves.

So, Hades calls Pain and Panic. In this rewrite, they are goofy skeleton soldiers. They fall and knock into each other, mixing up their bones. Pain salutes with his foot. Hades tells them the plan. Hera steals Hercules and sneaks him out of Olympus, giving him to Pain and panic, who feed him the mortality potion. Due to their incompetence, a farmer and his wife effortlessly chase them away before they can finish the job. A frustrated Hera resorts to trying to sneak a snake into Hercules' crib. Hercules is found cuddling it's strangled remains like a stuffy.

Phil is a centaur again but acts mostly the same. He's funny enough, so I'll allow the inaccuracy.

Much of the rest goes the same, except instead of the titans, a desperate Hades realizes that the monsters he and Hera are sending aren't enough, so he empties Tartarus, and some of the nastiest spirits in Greek history are unleashed.

Hercules defeats them anyway with similar means to the original plot. He also regains his godhood similarly to the original story. In the end, Hercules confronts his mother, who is terrified and thinks he will kill her or throw her out of Tartarus, but instead, he forgives her, and Hera realizes that perhaps not all men are bad and they reconcile.

(It's spelled Herakles, I know, but getting Hollywood to use that is a losing battle I'm not joining.)

Hi all,

I've been playing around with an idea of how I'd take the next "Skywalker trilogy" forward if I were in charge of Lucasfilm (I'm not, sadly), and I'd love to share it with you.

Here's the high-level pitch:

Ten years after The Rise of Skywalker, Rey has rebuilt the Jedi but something arrives from beyond the galaxy that the old order had unknowingly been holding at bay. For a thousand years the dark side screamed across the stars, and these beings evolved out in the silence, listening in dread. When Rey killed Palpatine, the screaming stopped so they've come to see what made that sound, and whether it's truly gone. What they find is someone teaching children to make it again.

The twist is that they aren't wrong. To them, every Jedi and every Sith is the same thing - a will reaching out to force the Force to obey. Light and dark are just two flavours of the same imposition. They have a genuine diagnosis of why the Jedi keep failing, and the galaxy's instinctive response (fight back, hit harder) only confirms to them that the wound is spreading. Their "weapon" isn't destruction, it's erasure: they can return people to a serene, vacated calm, alive but no longer themselves.

So the trilogy can't be won with a fight. It's about the Jedi finally becoming what their oldest teachings always pointed at - stewards rather than wielders - and it's Finn, the one who was set up as Force-sensitive and never paid off, who turns out to have been doing it right all along. The antagonists are right about the disease and wrong about the cure, and the ending concedes nothing on either side: nobody discovers they were wrong, each side discovers what it couldn't perceive.

It's built to fix what a lot of people felt the sequels broke: Finn's dropped arc; the "all the Sith" line; villains who just need killing - and to give the Jedi an antagonist that keeps them honest forever instead of one more dark lord to put down.

I've got this worked out in a lot more detail - the full three-film structure, the new characters, how it all resolves. Would people want to read a full treatment?

Thanks!

Im currently remastering the whole season(revising new scenes, adding new scenes, etc), and this is the definitive final cut of the final battle I cooked up. I hope y'all enjoy from here! Sharing this would absolutely be appreciated.

“We are One.”

Vecna’s structure bends, and contracts, as the large spinal legs fall to the ground. They are made of charred Demogorgon flesh, as seen in a close up of one of their mouths being almost patterned into it. The large mass rises, revealing its three heads, so close together that they almost are merged. Some of its legs are webbed together at the tips. The mind flayer lives.

Mike, zooming in: ....The thesselhydra.

The party takes in the creature, letting out a loud almost human screech of agony. He sees Vecna controlling the massive creature, with a large sphere of Dark matter as its palpitating heart. It launches toward the party with incredible speed, and the Creatures of the upside down follow its example. As the party sprints back to the portal, the Thesselhydra nearly rips Dustin’s leg off, and he falls. Steve yells Dustin's name, and has to go back, but the Demo reaches both of them, and rips Steve’s back. He shrieks, but keeps fighting, and as they barely stumble back,Steve sees the bottom of the Thesselhydra above him, seemingly filled with eggs. As the Thesselhydra gains on them, its right head vomits red, and black matter onto the ground, nearly hitting Nancy, with Mike pulling her back. It burns, and smoke arises from it, turning everything it touches to ash, and vines, and red mass. Just as they gain up on the party (Steve and Dustin barely caught up) a rock hits its center head. We turn to see El staring down the creature. As she and the creature run toward each other, El lunges at it, and narrowly avoiding a blast from all three heads, she cuts open its chest, lands inside with a summersault, and knocks Verna off his shrine. Meanwhile outside:

Joyce: What do we do?!

Mike: What can we do against this asshole?!

Dustin: …I don’t- I don't know. We could try to gain high ground against it, but…

We then see the Thesselhydra run toward them.

Steve: (annoyed) ah, shit. C'mon, Henderson.

It erupts matter onto the floor, enough to cover it completely in smoke, it sinks heads first into the ground with an earthquake that shook a floating rock to the ground. As it collapses, the party takes cover. We see Mike, and the rest look up to see the beast completely gone, with a red portal in its place.

Mike: Go! Go! Go!

Before they can get to the portal, a demo dog lunges through the smoke, and hits Johnathon. It tears at his flesh, with Steve only stabbing it at just the right time before he loses a substantial amount of blood. Nancy immediately runs to pick him up, while Dustin saves Lucas from getting his arm chopped off by one. limping, and barely jogging, they jump through the portal as it tears.

They fall head first from the darkened sky of the upside down, narrowly avoiding a lightning strike, burning at Lucas’s flesh, and they tip at an angle, narrowly making it onto the dead grass of Hawkins.

As they rest, they hear nothing but the sound of screams, and honking, and crashing of cars, and Nancy looks up to see the Thesselhydra demolishing the town, while helicopters fly around it with lights. It takes out one with its breath attack almost immediately. Nancy is completely speechless.

We then see shots of the Thesselhydra demolishing Hawkins such as general (?) In his station looking above at the massive calamity, The two police chiefs being completely engulfed in flames as it destroys the station, Dr Kay looking upon the beast in awe, Andy and his goons fight their way to a safe spot, only to be turned to a pile of fleshy meat after the creature engulfs them in its vomit breath attack, and the best shot being a wide shot of the creature compared to Hawkins, A callback to season 4’s ending. It is releasing its breath on the town, not only unleashing many demos from the portals, but also killing many soldiers. Meanwhile, the party reaches the MAC-Z, and pleads with Dr Kay:

Hopper: Dr. Kay! You have to listen to us.

Dr. Kay (to soldier): get ‘em out.

Soldiers begin grabbing them

Nancy (struggling): No! Please, we know how to stop this! You need flamethrowers! The only chance to breach these things are with a flammable substance, or a sharp, cutting projectile! You have to hit the legs, or heads. Please….everything is on fire, I beg that you let us help.

Dr. Kay: (ponders)

Soldier: Docter……does it matter at this point?

Dr. Kay: ……talk fast.

(Cut to soldiers, and the party gearing up)

Soldier: we have a Short range ballistic in 2-8c.

Dr Kay: Give him hell.

Mike: wait, El’s in-

Lucas: Mike, it is literally the only way.

Mike watches in worry, but doesn't argue.

Dr. Kay: I want anyone old enough to hold a knife to be out there fighting the damn thing.

Soldier: yes, ma’am. (Slowly turns to Robin) Aren't you that Roslin chick?

We cut to Robin driving along to the WSQK building, and running inside. She quickly puts on her equipment, edits the settings, and broadcasts this message to Hawkins:

“ Hawkins, this is Robin Buckely. Okay, I know things seem awful right now, like ‘cry in a corner, and pray’ awful, but…”

We then see a television broadcast of the Thesselhydra while Robin is narrating above it, she sounds scared, and on the verge of tears. We then zoom out to see a father shuffling out his door.

“We’ve always thought the end of the world would be something we could fight against, y’know? Ghostbusters, Terminator, etc. But the thing is, those movie’s themes go beyond just wanting to live another day. They showed the light in the dark. How people could swallow their goddam pride, and live almost happily in the last moments. Funny thing is I think more love is shared in those moments than any other time.”

We see crowds of people suiting up with flamethrowers, and other weapons in the MAC-Z, people tossing each other materials as well, and encouraging one another.

“Hawkins, we need you to do the same right now. They are coming, and we don't have enough left to fight for. But that's why we should fight. For not just another day, but another chance. To do more. To find more. Anyone who can hold a weapon should fire it if it means we can join hands at the end of this. I’ll be out fighting as well. God help us all. ”

We see the people of Hawkins frantically watching as a line of Demos, and other creatures crawl through the streets, and fields, while the Thesselhydra is looming above them in shadow, and red mist. It releases a screech that shakes the ground, and. We see a demo come out of the gate underneath their feet, and slaughter Lucas’s dad. He shouts in outrage, and all breaks loose.

We then have a wide shot of the people of Hawkins firing upon the many creatures. Lucas, Nancy, Steve, and Johnathon are fighting alongside them. We also cut to the fields, where we see soldiers shooting flamethrows at the legs of the Thesselhydra along with Dustin, and Robin fighting side by side, while Joyce, Vicky, and Max watch from afar in the WSQK building. Mike, and Will arrive in a police car with a sword, and shield.

Mike: Still wanna play DND?

Will:....yeah.

Mike raises his sword.

They run up the creatures attacking the soldiers, and Mike slashes one, whilst Will hurls a spear at its mouth. Dustin creates a circle of fire around him and Robin as the Demos look hellish, and shadowed outside of it.

The fight commences for a long while. The party tires, and yearns for an end. The Thesselhydra continues demolishing its insect-like foes.

Eddie's uncle is running frantically, and sees the Thesselhydra towering above the trees. It begins its attack, about to crush him with its long spindle-like legs. He gets down on his knees, and prays to the ground. Nancy pushes him out of the way just in time.

Nancy: Come on! We gotta get you inside

The Thesselhydra looks directly at Will with its three heads, Will realizes, and looks in horror, he’s been in immense pain this entire fight due to his connection with all of his foes. The beast shoots vomit out of all of its head directly at Will as he looks up at it with acceptance.

Mike: Will!!!

Joyce: Will!!!!

Will comes to his senses. He is surrounded by dark fog, with cries of pain, and screeches around him, and the only thing visible is a boy sitting in front of a TV screen, quietly sobbing. We zoom in from behind as Will watches in stunned silence. The boy is Will. Henry appears walking through the mist slowly, in his original, friendly orderly form. We do not see his face, only glimpses as he converses with Will.

Henry: Do you remember?

Will: No,No, please, stop, no. Anything….pick another, any other. Pl-

Henry: Do you remember the way your parents broke up? Do you remember the way they looked at you? They way your mother denied this part of you? The way your father scolded her?

Will: Henry, please-

Henry: The way he beat her while you stood alone, staring away. Wishing. Wishing it was over. Wishing it was all over. Wishing none of it was real. Wishing you could only

Will: quietly sobbing.

Henry: Nothing he could do would ever replicate this feeling. You know this, William. He never saw you at your worst. I know it. (he puts a hand on Will's shoulder) Wouldn't you want to rid yourself of the pain? You wondered at this moment if life required this much effort to go on? Was it even worth the effort?(Brief silence)Was it?

Will:....No. I wanted a release.

Henry: We offer it, William. It will all fade away in the fire. It can all be over. You only have to say the word, and he will take it all away.

Will: Looks over at Henry, his eyes are white as pearls, and skin grey. No soul is in sight. He has lost himself.

Will Looks back at his former self, and at Henry twice. His expression roughens.

Will: No. No, you- you put this in my head, and tell me that only you can stop it all? I’ve felt this hundreds of times over from what you shoved down my throat. You made me feel-feel weak. The small, frightened, shrunken coward I thought I was is all because of you!

Henry: (looks noticeably stern. Looks at a Demogorgon as it shuffles off straight to where Mike is, still shouting Will’s name.)

Henry: Last chance. We can relieve you of your pain.

Will: Did you say the same to Max?...Did you say the same to Eddie?...To Lucas…To El, (voice breaking) to my mom?! Did you say the same to Henry before you took his mind?!!

Henry nudges his finger, and the demo attacks. Mike dodges, and runs, and tries to stab it but with no avail. The Demo attempts to bite his arm, but he struggles.

Will: You can't use me anymore. Go away.

Henry: (looks angered)

Will: Go away!

The Demogorgon bites Mike’s arm. He screams.

Will: Go away! Go away!!

Henry slowly backs off into the mist, as his face becomes shrouded, and his arm slowly turns into Vecnas.

Will: Go away!!! Go away!!! (His eyes slowly turn white as well. Flashes of his life appear before us)

Will: (Wakes up, and forces his hand upward) Get away!

The Demogorgon shakes, and screeches, almost blending with Will’s screech. Its bones crack, as each slowly goes into place, like a marionette being puppeteered at first, before stumbling and stepping into the smoke Will was hit by.

Mike stares in silence. We then see a shadow of many things, but noticeably someone in front of many.

We get a close up of Will getting to his feet, surrounded by Demos, an entire army, as the red lightning flashes, and reflects around his pupilless eyes, and face. He is afraid no longer.

Mike is stunned.

He reaches out, like a general commanding his legion, and the demos charge into battle as he stands, rooted inside.

Mike shouts for Will's victory, and watches as the demos begin tearing up the other creatures. Thousands begin ripping, and climbing at the legs of the Thesselhydra.

We flash back to El slowly walking toward where she threw Vecna. Before she reaches him, he slowly gets up, showing his eyes, and the socket where a nose once sat is completely gone. Although no longer human, he is greatly nerved.

El tries to put him down again, but before he does, Vecna snaps her arm in another direction. She shouts in agony. Verna then snaps one leg. She falls to the ground, all the while playing horrible memories, and illusions in her head. She is crying, and wiggling on the floor, despite desperately attempting to keep fighting.

Will jumps into a demodog, as he begins riding it towards the center of the Thesselhydra. The dog lunges for the chest area. As it climbs up on the beast, Will Reluctantly jumps. We repeat the shot of El lunging at it in slow motion, and he sees the opened wound, now healed. He screams as he commands the demos to rip the wound open diagonally just enough for him to get inside, and he and the demo dog land inside with a thud. He sees Vecna tearing El apart, and with another painful amount of force rips his arm off with his powers.

Vecna gasps, shocked, and falls on his knees.

Will: El!

El gasps, and tries to get her up!

El: Stop!

El shouts as she slowly snaps her leg, and arm each back into position. She then lays down on Will to catch her breath.

Vecna Yells, and lunges his right arm at will, but Will uses the demodog to block it, and distract him.

Will and El both get up.

El: “hi.”

Will: (hugs her)...Thank you for saving me.

El: (crying) Will…I opened the door.

Will: I know, I know. You’re my sister. I don't care.

She looks at him in earnest. They both smile warmly, only for EL to gasp in pain when Vecna slices her other leg off.

She falls to the ground, and we see Vecna grin slightly.

Will and Vecna both take each other using their powers, and float, as he tries to impale Vecna into the oncoming spikes surrounding the center, whilst Vecna tries to rip his throat.

Outside the Demos are swarming the Thesselhydra, even getting into its mouth to overpower its vomit attacks. Even the demos it's made of begin coming alive, eating, and collapsing its structure, whilst everyone is hacking at the legs with knives, and flamethrowers. We see a single jet come in at a distance. The party is back together as well, in the Fields next to the WSQK, and the Citizens of Hawkins all going at this creature invading this town. We cut to a distance to see creatures in the sky, and we see a single fighter jet come in up close.

“Target is acquired. Tell my Wife, and children I’ll see them on the other side.”

As the Demos hold the beast’s mouth open, the jet launches into its center mouth, creating a massive explosion, and tearing it to shreds.

Will, Vecna and El get launched as this happens, and we see the dark matter of the Thesselhydra’s heart implode. Once they lane, Vecna walks through the rubble, and tries to get one last blow in, even with Will pulling him back, before El grabs onto a spike, and yanks Vecna into the Right hand spike, effectively piercing his flesh. Will feels this in his heart, and is taken aback, but feels relief, and shock instead of pain.

Outside, the Thesselhydra finally cries a mournful last note, before falling onto the field below in a pile of dust.

It is noticeably silent. Everyone begins counting their dead. Only a few soldiers survived the battle, with lifeless bodies of citizens, and soldiers in fire, shrouded in mist.

Wil breaths for a while, before a small grin is perched upon his face. He takes El’s shoulder, and walks her over to exit the corpse.

After this, the same events occur with the party meeting each other, entering the chasm of the Thesselhydra, setting the kids free, and chopping off Vecna’s head.

It’s over. The suffering ends.