Countdown to Rogue One

We're only one post into my series analysing lightsaber duels in Star Wars and I'm already taking crazy detours to talk about other stuff. Given that this series mainly exists as an excuse for me to nerd out about my favourite film series, it doesn't really matter to me much if not every article adheres to the lightsaber theme. That being said, let's talk about the new Star Wars film that's less than two weeks away!

So! Rogue One. The first anthology film in the Star Wars series. Jumping around the galactic timeline is obviously a feature of Star Wars by now given that these films were made in the order 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, so it makes sense for Disney and Lucasfilm to use this as a way to revisit previous eras and give us new stories to fill out the wait between episodes. Of all the anthology films that have been either confirmed or rumoured, Rogue One is the one that makes the most sense to me. The other anthology ideas revolve around characters, like Han Solo or Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi, but Rogue One's elevator pitch revolves around an actual story premise: stealing the plans to the first Death Star. It's a simple idea that has a lot of potential as an adventure story. So, let's discuss a few details of the film I'm most excited about and make some predictions, mainly so I've got these all documented online and I can revisit them after the film comes out to see how accurate I was.

WARNING: IF YOU WANT TO GO IN TO ROGUE ONE UNSPOILED, DON'T READ THIS ARTICLE!

The international trailer gave us a look at Jyn Erso's necklace which I think we can safely assume is a kyber crystal. We know that kyber crystals are going to feature in Rogue One in some capacity considering kyber crystals fuel the Death Star's main laser, and we also know that Jyn's father, Galen Erso, works with these crystals a lot. Now the obvious question is, what function will this specific crystal serve in the plot? My guess: it won't have a function. I think it'll just be a memorable bit of costume design to help with world building and so that we can identity Jyn when the story transitions between her childhood and adult life. That being said, I imagine we'll see a canon story one day where a force user recovers this necklace and uses it in the construction of a new lightsaber. The most extreme possibility is that Rey uses it in Episode VIII as a bit of subtle continuity between the anthologies and the episodes, and if Jyn does turn out to be Rey's mother as some have suggested, I think it would be an absolute certainty. Personally, I doubt Jyn is Rey's mother and I sort of hope she isn't. It wouldn't be terrible, but I'd like Rogue One to just be a standalone adventure. However, I am expecting some sort of Sequel Trilogy continuity reference. Surely it'd be irresistible to have a new story set in the past and not attempt to smuggle in some small nod to the future. I don't think it'll be big or distracting, but a tiny reference to Snoke or Maz given that they're supposed to be centuries old would be cool.

As much as I think Jyn's kyber crystal will find its way into a lightsaber one day, I don't think it'll be a lightsaber Jyn owns. One of the many wonderful things about the Disney era of Star Wars so far is that they're making the force, lightsabers, and who has access to them much more fluid. In the Disney era, not all force users have lightsabers (Leia, Maz), not all people with lightsabers have the force (Finn), and not all people with lightsabers and the force are Jedi or Sith (Kylo Ren). It makes the galaxy infinitely more interesting and gives us way more storytelling possibilities. Because of this, I hope Jyn Erso doesn't have a lightsaber or the force. It would completely undermine the hopeful message of the trailers if she needed ancient weapons and superpowers to be able to take down the Empire. It'd be more impactful for the main character to just be an ordinary person who wants to do some good.

Next we have an equally amazing picture, continuity-wise: a live action image of Saw Gerrera, a character from the animated Clone Wars series. Personally I have no attachment to this character because I never watched the show he's from, but the fact that he's making his live action debut is incredible. I hope we see a lot more of this sort of continuity in the future as it validates people's enjoyment of the expanded universe Star Wars canon by reassuring them that everything in the Disney era of the series matters. Despite never having seen Clone Wars, I do watch Rebels and I'm fascinated by the implications of animated characters appearing or being referenced in live action, particularly with Rogue One being a film set in the Rebels time period. The TV show has done a pretty shite job of tying in to the film but I wouldn't be surprised if the film tied in to the TV show, maybe by referencing Lothal or having the Ghost fly by in the background in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it easter egg to be spotted once the blu-ray is out. Before the announcement of Saw Gerrera, those would have seemed like hopeless fanboy wishes. Now, they seem like normal fanboy wishes.

 

Speaking of returning characters: Darth Vader. What's interesting isn't that he's in the film; we all kinda knew he'd show up. What's interesting is that they chose to announce he was in it. In the run up to The Force Awakens, Luke Skywalker was never shown in any posters or trailers because Lucasfilm didn't want to get anyone's hopes up about him having a role any bigger than a cameo. The fact that Darth Vader has been the centrepiece of a few trailers for Rogue One means that he'll have a pretty substantial role in the new film. Think less like Episode VII Luke Skywalker and more like Episode VII Leia Organa, or even Han Solo.

Am I excited about Darth Vader's return? Not really. I mean, what can he be allowed to do in Rogue One? All of the major beats of his character arc are already well documented by the first six episodes of the main saga. All he can really do is stomp around and be badass which, yes, that would be cool, but it probably wouldn't be worth pulling the suit out of storage and hiring back James Earl Jones for. They kinda have to do something new and unique with Vader to make his return to live action worth while, especially because he has the potential to upstage the Sequel Trilogy villains in the eyes of nostalgic fans (I personally think Kylo Ren, with enough development in Episode VIII, could surpass Vader in terms of character depth). So, what could they do with Vader to make his appearance special? Because this takes place between Episodes III and IV, focusing on Anakin Skywalker getting used to life inside the suit certainly has potential. They could reference Vader's attempts during the events of Star Wars Rebels to hunt down and kill the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy, perhaps alluding to his upcoming reunion with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or, as I've already said further up this article, they could use the past to generate more interest in the future. Perhaps Darth Vader has heard whispers of Snoke manipulating the galaxy behind the scenes? That would certainly be one way to stop him upstaging the Sequel Trilogy villains. Much in the same way that Han Solo gave his approval to Rey and Finn in The Force Awakens in an attempt to make the inherent Star Wars-ness of Harrison Ford rub off on them, hearing Darth Vader discuss Snoke would give legitimacy to the upcoming batch of baddies. If it could be done without being intrusive, it'd be a nice way to build intrigue for the main saga.

Beyond that, I think Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be a very simple and standalone adventure film set in the Star Wars galaxy. As much as I've focused on continuity porn in this article, I hope that for the most part the film is a nice self-contained quest story that takes its simple premise and executes it in the best way it can. Other predictions: given that Bail Organa is in this film, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Leia at the very, very end as she gets the Death Star plans on board the Tantive IV. We probably won't see a face, but the iconic white dress, the hair buns, and a few bars of some John Williams would be all we need to know it's her. Also, I'm expecting some dramatic irony involving characters going to Alderaan to celebrate their victory at the end. It's so deliciously cruel, it's irresistible.