10 Greatest Unspoken Star Wars Movie Plot Points
Darth Plagueis was right there all along.
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00:00 Star Wars is such a gargantuan franchise at this point that it's basically impossible
00:04 for any single movie to say and do everything a filmmaker wants to, incorporating every
00:10 character, location and event that means something to fans.
00:14 And so, perhaps more than any other IP in history, Star Wars does a lot of its storytelling
00:19 on the periphery, slyly revealing fascinating plot points in the background, whether through
00:23 implication or clever visual signposting.
00:26 So let's take a look at some of the best today, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:30 and these are the 10 Greatest Unspoken Star Wars Movie Plot Points.
00:34 The Real Reason For R2-D2's Disobedience - The Empire Strikes Back
00:38 You'll probably remember that, in The Empire Strikes Back, R2-D2 demonstrates a habit of
00:43 disobeying Luke Skywalker's orders to stay put and remain with the ship.
00:47 Now, while at first glance this seems nothing more than R2-D2 being an amusingly independent-minded
00:52 droid who wants to help his charge complete his mission, the much sadder truth is actually
00:57 subtly explained in the prequels.
00:59 You see, in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin touches down on Mustafar with R2 in tow, he
01:05 tells R2 to stay with the ship, except in this case, R2 obeys Anakin's request, only
01:10 for Anakin to subsequently become Darth Vader and never return to R2.
01:15 This in turn seemingly caused R2 to develop some understandable abandonment issues, and
01:20 so, in the events of the original trilogy, he's not about to sit still and wait around
01:24 for a human who may or may not abandon him again.
01:28 While we can technically put this down to George Lucas developing the plot point in
01:31 retrospect in the prequels, it's still totally effective in explaining R2's distaste for
01:37 compliance.
01:38 Number 9.
01:39 Jango Fett's Damaged Backpack - Attack of the Clones
01:42 One of the most memorable moments in Attack of the Clones is the absolutely savage death
01:46 of Jango Fett, who is swiftly decapitated, helmet and all, by a lightsaber swipe from
01:51 Mace Windu during the Battle of Geonosis.
01:54 Many fans have questioned over the years why Jango didn't use his jetpack to either fly
01:58 away or outmanoeuvre Windu, but instead he just seemed to stand there and wait to be
02:03 beheaded.
02:04 Well, the answer is actually clear if you look a little closer at the scene, because
02:07 if you remember that, just a few moments before his brawl with Windu, Drango is trampled by
02:11 a runaway reek, and if you keep an eye on Jango's back, sparks are emanating from
02:16 his jetpack.
02:17 And so, with a broken jetpack, Jango was unable to hastily flee from Windu or avoid his brutal
02:22 demise.
02:23 But it's a fun fact for you, the sparks weren't actually included in the theatrical
02:27 release of the film.
02:28 But after many fans complained about Jango just standing around waiting to die, Lucas
02:32 added in these sparks to try and clarify things.
02:34 And yet, it still apparently mystifies a lot of people.
02:37 Number 8.
02:38 The last thing that Obi-Wan sees is Luke and Leia reunited.
02:41 A new hope.
02:43 If you call yourself even a casual Star Wars fan, the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi is basically
02:48 seared into your mind.
02:49 And yet, it's easy to miss a pivotal detail that's basically hiding in plain sight.
02:54 Obi-Wan, of course, sacrifices himself during the lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, in turn
02:59 allowing the heroes to escape the Death Star.
03:01 But if you take a closer look at Obi-Wan in his final moments, you'll observe that he
03:05 only lets his guard down after first seeing Luke and Leia making their escape.
03:09 Obi-Wan even lets out a wry smile in the seconds before Vader ends him.
03:13 Meaning the last thing that he sees before laying down his life is Luke and Leia, the
03:17 twins that he separated at birth 19 years earlier, finally reunited.
03:21 And while it's no secret that George Lucas hadn't planned out that Luke and Leia were
03:26 siblings at this point of shooting, and this really is more of a case of serendipity at
03:30 play, it still works perfectly for the story that was ultimately told.
03:34 7.
03:35 The Tragedy of Rats – The Phantom Menace
03:38 And now we sing the ballad of poor Rats, an extremely minor character in The Phantom Menace
03:42 who nevertheless has a low-key, heartbreaking arc in the middle of this film.
03:46 You see, Rats is a pod racing pilot glimpsed a few brief times during the movie's pod
03:51 racing sequence, namely at his moment of death.
03:54 In the second lap of the Bunter Eve classic, Rats can be seen letting out a scream as his
03:58 pod crashes into a stalactite and explodes into a fireball which kills him instantly.
04:03 Now, though the scene swiftly moves on and the audience isn't invited to actively think
04:07 about Rats ever again, keep your eyes peeled when Qui-Gon Jinn talks to Watto about Anakin
04:12 after the race.
04:13 In the background, a couple of tiny alien creatures can be seen walking around mournfully,
04:18 and one of the film's deleted scenes reveals these characters to be Rats' wife and children,
04:22 who were in attendance for the race and presumably saw him die.
04:26 Not so fun fact from the wider Star Wars universe, one of Rats' sons, Deland, went on to found
04:31 the Rats Foundation and became a lobbyist to heighten the dangers of pod racing, successfully
04:35 having it banned on many planets throughout the galaxy.
04:38 Number 6.
04:39 Why Darth Vader Stopped Boba Fett From Killing Chewie - The Empire Strikes Back
04:44 Now a question that's bugged fans ever since the release of The Empire Strikes Back is
04:48 why Darth Vader stops Boba Fett from shooting Chewbacca in the film's climax as Han Solo
04:53 is being encased in carbonite.
04:54 You see, Fett goes to shoot Chewie, but Vader lifts up his hand and stops him from firing,
04:59 a seemingly bizarre move that has seen fans perform Olympic-level mental gymnastics in
05:03 an attempt to explain.
05:05 Some assumed that Vader didn't want to risk an errant blaster shot ruining the carbonite,
05:09 or perhaps he simply had a sense of humour about dealing with his prisoners.
05:13 But 2020's canon comic Darth Vader #12 finally lends context to Vader's actions, revealing
05:18 that he wanted to keep Luke's friends alive to demonstrate the carefully controlled power
05:23 that he could exert over the Rebels.
05:25 It's certainly a better outcome than just trying to come up with a convoluted reasoning
05:28 for why Vader might specifically want to keep Chewie alive, so it really is just a Machiavellian
05:32 feat of psychological warfare on his behalf.
05:35 5.
05:36 Dryden Vos' Decraniated Slaves - Solo
05:40 Now Solo - A Star Wars Story may be awash in on-the-nose fan service, but it also offered
05:44 up some more subdued world-building and plotting, such as providing a further glimpse at the
05:49 Decraniated, the android-looking individuals with half a head who are first briefly seen
05:54 in Jedha in Rogue One.
05:56 In Solo, we see that the villain Dryden Vos is using the Decraniated as servants, and
06:01 while that might seem harmless enough if they are indeed androids, the visual guide for
06:05 Rogue One reveals that that definitely isn't the case.
06:07 In fact, the Decraniated are injured humans who were kidnapped and experimented on by
06:12 fugitive surgeon Cornelius Everson, who had a famous encounter with Luke and Obi-Wan in
06:17 the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope, before making a brief reappearance in Rogue One.
06:22 We can infer from the Decraniated's appearance that their heads were cut in half and replaced
06:27 with robotic "enhancements" in a procedure that was clearly not in any way consensual.
06:32 This is easily one of the most horrific, unspoken aspects of Star Wars lore.
06:36 I mean, after all, who expects to see a Cronenbergian body horror in a supposedly family-friendly
06:41 sci-fi blockbuster franchise of all things?
06:43 4.
06:44 General Grievous Hides His Cough From Palpatine - Revenge of the Sith
06:48 Beyond being a four-armed cyborg, the most distinctive thing about Revenge of the Sith
06:53 Separatist Commander General Grievous is his distinctive asthmatic cough.
06:57 The 2003 Clone Wars series revealed this to be the result of lung damage inflicted upon
07:02 him during a battle with Mace Windu, though this technically isn't canon anymore.
07:07 All the same, a small but intriguing character flourish is noticeable when he speaks with
07:11 Palpatine's hologram, because he loudly clears his throat before connecting the call.
07:16 Given that Grievous doesn't seem bothered about coughing in front of anyone else, we
07:19 can infer that he basically wants to conceal his cough from Palpatine as much as possible,
07:23 maybe through a fear of him looking air quotes "weak" in his presence.
07:27 It speaks not only to Palpatine's fearsome standing, but more curiously Grievous' own
07:31 insecurity about his cough and how it might present him to others, especially those in
07:36 positions of authority above him.
07:38 3.
07:39 Hera Syndulla Took Part In The Battle Of Scarif - Rogue One
07:43 Easter eggs are nothing new to the world of Star Wars, though sometimes a reference that
07:47 might seem throwaway to casual fans actually has far more intriguing implications for the
07:51 die-hard set.
07:53 Case in point, during Rogue One's climactic battle on Scarif, keen-eyed fans may have
07:57 spotted the Ghost, the ship owned by Syndulla, one of the main characters from the Star Wars
08:01 Rebels animated series.
08:03 Between this and the fact that an announcer can be heard calling the name General Syndulla
08:07 on Yavin 4 in one scene, the clear implication is that she took part in the Battle of Scarif.
08:12 While we only got to see a few shots of the Ghost in action during the battle, it was
08:16 simply neat enough to know that such a beloved Star Wars character was in the mix and helping
08:20 out.
08:21 At the time of Rogue One's release, this Easter egg was a bit of a double-edged sword,
08:24 though, as it effectively left her fate hanging in the balance.
08:27 Thankfully, though, Rebels' final episode ultimately revealed that she went on to fight
08:31 in the Battle of Endor, confirming her survival at Scarif.
08:34 2.
08:35 Darth Plagueis' Ashes Are Stored Outside Of Palpatine's Office - Revenge Of The Sith
08:40 You may or may not recall that, outside of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's office, sits
08:45 two impractically large black vases, which are placed either side of the door.
08:49 To the casual observer, these vases would appear to be merely ornamental, though the
08:52 2012 reference book Star Wars Beware the Sith reveals that these vases are actually spirit
08:58 urns.
08:59 Canonically, these urns have been used to store important items, and in this case, Beware
09:03 the Sith reveals one of them to contain the ashen remains of Palpatine's own departed
09:08 master, Darth Plagueis.
09:09 That's certainly a bold move on Palpatine's part, and though Beware the Sith is technically
09:14 now part of Star Wars' Legends continuity, like most Legends, lore fans are free to debate
09:19 whether or not it is canon until explicitly stated within the new canon.
09:23 Given that the spirit urns are also mentioned in 2017's Visual Encyclopedia book, which
09:27 is now 100% canon, it seems unlikely that their status as Plagueis' final resting
09:32 place will ever be directly contradicted in any new Star Wars media.
09:36 1.
09:37 Obi-Wan Taught Luke How To Get The High Ground – Return Of The Jedi
09:41 Now this is one of those plot points that splits fans right down the middle.
09:44 You see, during Darth Vader's battle with Luke in Return of the Jedi, you'll recall
09:48 that Vader looks up at Luke who is standing in an elevated position and says, "Obi-Wan
09:53 has taught you well."
09:54 Well, looking at the movies today, it's hard not to view this as a nodding towards
09:57 the event of Revenge of the Sith, where Obi-Wan gets the high ground against Anakin during
10:01 their very fiery and fateful duel on Mustafar.
10:05 While it's a simple fact that Return was of course made more than 20 years before Revenge,
10:09 it's conceivable that George Lucas came up with this now meme-worthy high ground motif
10:14 to lend greater importance to Vader's original comment.
10:17 Sure, Vader could simply be talking about Luke's general combat aptitude as a result
10:20 of training with Obi-Wan, but it makes all the sense in the world that Obi-Wan would
10:24 teach Luke to get the high ground against an opponent.
10:27 It's blatant revisionism, but it also fits perfectly.
10:30 And there we go my friends, those were 10 of the greatest unspoken Star Wars movie plot
10:34 points.
10:35 I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:37 comments section below.
10:38 As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter @RetroJWithA0, or you can
10:43 swing by Live & Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming and Warhammer Battle Reports
10:47 outside of work and it'd be great to see you over there.
10:49 But before I go I just want to say one thing, I'm not going to let this moment be unspoken,
10:52 and that is that you my friend listening to this video should be kind to yourself both
10:56 mentally and physically because you deserve all of the best things in life and do not
10:59 let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright?
11:02 You're a massive legend, I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today, I'll
11:06 believe in you.
11:07 As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
11:11 to you soon, bye.