give me 5 minutes to take photos

I removed the 4 Torx screws circled in yellow. It sounds like what is giving me a hard time is what I have circled in red. Does that sound correct?

If so, I have lifted up on the panel as you suggested and have tugged pretty damn hard a dozen times and nothing gives. How hard should I have to pull? I feel like I am going to break something.

camera is bad
pic 1 shows 3 screws
pic 2 shows clip location
pic 3 shows direction to lift panel
pic 4 shows bowden cable . it unclips easy
remember speaker cable and puddle light under door

do not pull . lift panel up as pic 3
pics usaully take 5 mins but the attachment thingy could not locate so I had to copy to file to upload

the arm rest locates into the bracket you highlighted in red . no screws holding it
just lift the door panel .might be tight and require a wiggle .

I just recalled the small light for door handle requires delicate handling whilst you disconnect the bowden cable .

amacman, thank you so much for your help. You were right. I lifted harder and the panel came off. I think mine was on extra tight or something (maybe due to me pulling out too hard initially), but the black clip that attaches to the panel actually stayed on the metal piece that I highlighted in red. That was what was making removal of the panel so tough. Here is a photo. Maybe it is actually supposed to stay on there, but either way, mine was a bear to pull off. I thought for sure I was going to break something.

haha i had quite a bit of a struggle trying to lift up the panel too. same anxiety about breaking something. i think this is the toughest bit.

I think the plastic part stays where it is . maybe the part on door panel slides over it .
I removed my panels 2 years ago to stop leaks and gave up at the same stage where you had trouble until I got it figured out .
once I knew the procedure the panel removed easy .

It would be a lot easier to take this piece off and re-attach it to the door panel. This will save you greif when trying to put it back together, just make sure the middle of the hole gets through the metal piece attached to the door on install.