he original Star Wars takes on a whole new meaning with the release of this once untold story.
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00:00 Of all the Disney Star Wars movies, Rogue One is perhaps the most beloved.
00:04 This proved that you can do a side story and still have it be hugely meaningful to the
00:09 overall narrative.
00:10 Critics loved it, the fans loved it, and it's still heavily talked about today.
00:14 So in honour of how much it changed the game, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and this
00:18 is Star Wars Rogue One - 10 Ways It Changed A New Hope.
00:22 Number 10 - The boarding of the Tantive IV.
00:25 First obviously, the iconic opening scene that kicked off the Star Wars saga nearly
00:30 50 years ago takes on a whole new meaning after Rogue One, given how the events of this
00:34 movie had literally just taken place.
00:38 Probably just a few hours to a day at most before this scene, Jyn Erso and co had just
00:43 given their lives in a successful effort to steal and transmit the Death Star plants,
00:47 which were now in the custody of Princess Leia.
00:49 As a result, the entire scene is now even more urgent than it already was.
00:53 Leia's cover story as well of being on a diplomatic mission sounds even more like a
00:57 last minute lie, as she obviously did not have much time to prepare for Darth Vader's
01:02 arrival.
01:03 Speaking of Vader as well, it appears that he is far angrier in this scene than previously
01:06 thought.
01:07 Now he does come off as more reserved in comparison to the slaughter he committed in the final
01:11 minutes of Rogue One, but that makes sense, as he appears to have gotten most of his initial
01:16 anger out of his system.
01:17 In addition, Threepio's line of "there'll be no escape for the Princess this time"
01:21 certainly fits in with everything much better, considering we now know he was referring to
01:26 what had transpired only several hours beforehand.
01:29 One of the most glaring literal plot holes that bothered Star Wars fans for decades is
01:36 how the Empire, the ultimate military force in the galaxy, could allow such a potentially
01:41 devastating flaw in their supposedly all-powerful superweapon.
01:45 Rogue One of course filled us in on that, as it turned out that the flaw in the Death
01:49 Star was not naive oversight on the part of the Empire, but rather sabotage of the main
01:53 reactor by Galen Erso, a traitor with the Empire's trust.
01:57 So it was not incompetence on the part of the Empire, it was someone on the inside setting
02:02 them up to fail right under their noses.
02:04 Now they come off as a much more believable threat in regards to battle strategy given
02:09 this information.
02:10 Also, as an added bonus, the Empire's decision to build a second Death Star in Return of
02:14 the Jedi suddenly makes a lot more sense, since they knew that the only reason the first
02:18 one failed was because of the aforementioned sabotage.
02:22 Number 8 - Darth Vader's Behaviour and Musings
02:25 Despite his relatively restrained nature in the opening scene, Darth Vader still appears
02:29 to be very high strung throughout the duration of A New Hope.
02:32 Granted, he's not going on an absolute madman rampage like he did at the end of Rogue One
02:36 as again, that likely served as a way for him to vent, but he still has absolutely no
02:41 problem choking a rebel to death with minimal effort.
02:44 While it's not always overt, it now very much seems that Vader is almost running on
02:49 an adrenaline high after the events of Rogue One.
02:52 This is apparent by the aforementioned choking of a man to death during the interrogation,
02:56 his merciless killing of Obi-Wan which was preceded by self-indulgent gloating, and his
03:00 haste in taking to his fighter to put a stop to the assault on the Death Star himself.
03:04 At this point Vader is absolutely furious that the Rebel Alliance got the best of him
03:08 and managed to escape with the plans in the first place, and as such is determined to
03:12 not let such a defeat befall him again.
03:14 In addition, certain quotes and reflections the Sith Lord has throughout the film now
03:18 seem to feel much more at home.
03:20 Most notably his line similar to that of C-3PO's in which he proclaims to an Imperial officer
03:25 that "there'll be no one to stop us this time".
03:28 We now know that he was referring to what had just taken place on Scarif.
03:31 Throughout the early goings of A New Hope, R2-D2 is something of a painfully stubborn
03:38 little spy, not sharing his mission of delivering the Death Star plans with even his closest
03:42 companion 3PO.
03:44 In addition he tricks Luke into turning off his projector to keep him from seeing Leia's
03:47 message, as well as sneaking off in the middle of the night to search for Obi-Wan and complete
03:51 his objective.
03:52 All of this of course is much to the frustration of 3PO and Luke.
03:57 However, given the events of Rogue One, R2's behaviour now feels much more logical, especially
04:02 from his perspective.
04:03 Given the countless number of Rebels who had just died in the effort to steal these plans,
04:07 plus the ones who were slaughtered like fish in a barrel by Darth Vader while trying to
04:11 get them to Leia, it's understandable that he would rather nobody know that he was now
04:15 their custodian.
04:16 And that means nobody.
04:18 Rewatching A New Hope with this in mind makes R2's behaviour come off as smart strategy,
04:22 as opposed to just obnoxious stubbornness.
04:25 Another point of criticism for A New Hope has been Grand Moff Tarkin's brash arrogance
04:32 during the assault on the Death Star.
04:34 Many have deemed this as foolish overconfidence, but Rogue One told us that this was far from
04:39 the truth.
04:40 Was he overconfident?
04:41 Well, arguably, but it was far from foolish.
04:44 In fact, had it not been for Galen Erso's actions, he would have been absolutely justified
04:48 in his refusal to evacuate the base.
04:51 As stated before, the Death Star's only weakness at this point was the result of an
04:54 inside job, something Tarkin was completely unaware of and could not have planned for.
04:59 The only two Imperial officers who knew of the sabotage were Galen himself and Director
05:03 Krennic, both of whom perished during the events of Rogue One before the information
05:07 could get back to Tarkin himself.
05:08 Moreover, Tarkin's attitude towards the Death Star in Rogue One tells us a lot as
05:12 well.
05:13 The sheer amount of pride that the Grand Moff had, which we only had gotten a glimpse of
05:17 in A New Hope while he made an example of Alderaan for instance, was now on display
05:21 in full force.
05:23 The Death Star was so destructive that Tarkin had both Jedha and Scarif fired upon on the
05:28 station's weakest setting, and yet it still caused cataclysmic devastation.
05:33 The Death Star created something of a God Complex for Tarkin, and he refused to entertain
05:37 the idea that it could be destroyed.
05:39 And given what we saw in Rogue One, who can honestly blame him?
05:43 The Rebels' Will to Fight
05:44 Throughout their appearance in A New Hope, the Rebel Alliance seems willing to take the
05:48 fight directly to the Empire no matter what the cost.
05:51 However, the first two acts of Rogue One tell a very different story.
05:55 In fact, many were disillusioned with the cause, disgusted with themselves and some
05:59 of the heinous orders they'd had to carry out, and were beginning to feel the apparent
06:03 hopelessness of fighting the Empire.
06:05 In short, they were just about ready to give up.
06:07 And it was the sacrifice of Rogue One that caused their change of heart.
06:11 The Rebels' original motivation of simply wanting to restore freedom to the galaxy is
06:15 all well and good, however now knowing that they were doing what they did to honour those
06:19 who gave their lives just to give them a fighting chance makes their drive and determination
06:23 mean so much more.
06:25 Which brings us nicely to number four, the size of the Death Star Assault Team.
06:30 Continuing from the last point, the Rebels having such a small team for the famous assault
06:34 on the Death Star now seems much more fitting, given the fact that a sizeable portion of
06:38 their forces had just been wiped out during the Battle of Scarif.
06:42 During said battle we see an absolute fleet of X and Y wings, most of which would be destroyed
06:46 while Rogue One fought below to retrieve the Death Star plans.
06:50 So when it came time to attack the Death Star directly, thirty one-man fighters were all
06:54 that the Rebellion had left to spare for the battle that would decide the very fate of
06:59 them and their cause.
07:00 Worse yet, all but three ships, the Millennium Falcon excluded, would meet their bitter end
07:05 over the course of this assault.
07:07 The attack on the Death Star truly was an all or nothing gamble for the Rebels, sending
07:12 what small amount of men they had left in a last ditch effort to get the job done.
07:16 The job not being merely win the war against the Empire, but simply to survive another
07:21 day.
07:22 And finally, the Stormtroopers inability to hit targets.
07:25 For years, the Stormtroopers apparent ineptitude when it came to firefights had been the subject
07:29 of mockery and ridicule amongst fans.
07:32 This of course goes all the way back to A New Hope, in which the Imperial soldiers were
07:36 completely unable to hit the film's protagonists with their blasters, despite them having perfectly
07:41 clear shots throughout the movie and our heroes being sitting ducks at times.
07:45 So what gives?
07:46 Well in Rogue One, despite his blindness, Donnie Yen's character is able to not only
07:51 effectively dodge each blast that came his way, but walk through a chaotic battlefield
07:55 without so much as being graced.
07:57 All the while proclaiming "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me".
08:02 He is only finally hit and killed after making it across the firefight unscathed and flipping
08:06 the switch that would help make the Rebels mission a success.
08:09 His dying words are "I fulfilled my destiny".
08:12 Provided this was the intention, this information kinda changes everything.
08:16 This tells us that when the Force is involved, not even the most highly trained soldiers
08:20 in the galaxy can keep something from their purpose.
08:24 So how did Luke Skywalker and company manage to remain unshot for so long?
08:28 Well it's because they hadn't fulfilled their destiny yet, and the Force was going
08:31 to help make sure they did.
08:33 Number 2 - The Destruction of the Death Star
08:35 Because of the information given to us in Rogue One, the ultimate destruction of the
08:38 original Death Star in A New Hope retroactively becomes one of the most emotional moments
08:43 in all of Star Wars, if it wasn't already.
08:45 Rogue One gave the mission everything, up to and including their lives, just for a chance.
08:51 A chance at nothing more.
08:53 A chance that maybe what they did could help the Rebellion succeed.
08:57 They clung to the last bit of hope there was all the way to the bitter end, just to buy
09:01 a little more time for everyone else, and it paid off.
09:04 It was because of the bravery and selfishness of Rogue One that Luke Skywalker was even
09:08 given the chance to go on his iconic mission.
09:11 So the Death Star's destruction was not only Luke's moment of triumph, but also,
09:15 and arguably more so in a way, that of Rogue One.
09:18 The last will and testament of those previously unsung heroes was what made the Rebellion's
09:23 finest hour of possibility.
09:24 The Force truly was with Rogue One, and you can bet that somewhere they were smiling when
09:28 the Empire's ultimate weapon, the one they had given their lives to stop, went up in
09:33 flames.
09:34 Number 1 - The Title
09:35 When the original Star Wars film was rebranded as A New Hope four years after its initial
09:39 release, everyone assumed that this was referring to Luke Skywalker.
09:43 And how could they not, given the content of the film?
09:45 However, after Rogue One, the title takes on a whole other meaning.
09:49 Throughout Rogue One, we are constantly reminded that Rebellions are built on hope.
09:53 They drive this point to the viewer over and over again.
09:57 The team do what they do in the name of hope, and this culminates in Leia's last line
10:02 that closes the film, in which she receives the stolen Death Star plants.
10:06 When the Rebel who gave her the transmission asks what had been delivered, she replies
10:09 with the word "Hope".
10:11 The hope that one day the sacrifices made to steal those plants would be worth it.
10:16 Well that day would come sooner than we may have thought, as the assault on the Death
10:20 Star would come shortly after the events of Rogue One concluded.
10:23 Which begs the question, was this New Hope really Luke, or was it what came of Rogue
10:28 One's first and last stand?
10:29 Well why can't it be both?
10:31 So that's our list, so let us know what you guys think down in the comments below.
10:34 Are you still loving Rogue One as much as you did back in 2016?
10:38 And has this list given you a kick to go and rewatch it?
10:41 I know it has for me.
10:42 While you're letting me know in the comments, could you please also give us a like, share,
10:44 subscribe and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single
10:48 day.
10:49 Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see