he original Star Wars takes on a whole new meaning with the release of this once untold story.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Of all the Disney Star Wars movies, Rogue One is perhaps the most beloved.
00:04This proved that you can do a side story and still have it be hugely meaningful to the
00:08overall narrative. Critics loved it, the fans loved it, and it's still heavily talked about
00:13today. So, in honour of how much it changed the game, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com,
00:18and this is Star Wars Rogue One – 10 Ways It Changed A New Hope.
00:2210. The boarding of the Tantive IV
00:25Most obviously, the iconic opening scene that kicked off the Star Wars saga nearly 50 years
00:30ago takes on a whole new meaning after Rogue One, given how the events of this movie had
00:35literally just taken place. Probably just a few hours to a day at most before this scene,
00:41Jyn Erso and co. had just given their lives in a successful effort to steal
00:45and transmit the Death Star plants, which were now in the custody of Princess Leia.
00:49As a result, the entire scene is now even more urgent than it already was.
00:53Leia's cover story of being on a diplomatic mission sounds even more like a last-minute lie,
00:58as she obviously did not have much time to prepare for Darth Vader's arrival.
01:02Speaking of Vader as well, it appears that he is far angrier in this scene than previously thought.
01:07He does come off as more reserved in comparison to the slaughter he committed in the final minutes
01:11of Rogue One, but that makes sense, as he appears to have gotten most of his initial anger out of
01:16his system. In addition, 3PO's line of, there'll be no escape for the princess this time, suddenly
01:22fits in with everything much better, considering we now know he was referring to what had transpired
01:27only several hours beforehand. One of the most glaring literal plot holes that bothered Star
01:34Wars fans for decades is how the Empire, the ultimate military force in the galaxy,
01:39could allow such a potentially devastating flaw in their supposedly all-powerful superweapon.
01:44Rogue One, of course, filled us in on that, as it turned out that the flaw in the Death Star
01:49was not naïve oversight on the part of the Empire, but rather sabotage of the main reactor
01:54by Galen Erso, a traitor with the Empire's trust. So, it was not incompetence on the part of the
01:59Empire, it was someone on the inside setting them up to fail right under their noses. Now,
02:04they come off as a much more believable threat in regards to battle strategy given this information.
02:10Also, as an added bonus, the Empire's decision to build a second Death Star in Return of the Jedi
02:15makes a lot more sense, since they knew that the only reason the first one failed was because of
02:20the aforementioned sabotage. The berate, Darth Vader's behaviour and musings. Despite his
02:25relatively restrained nature in the opening scene, Darth Vader still appears to be very
02:29high-strung throughout the duration of A New Hope. Granted, he's not going on an absolute
02:34madman rampage like he did at the end of Rogue One as, again, that likely served as a way for
02:38him to vent, but he still has absolutely no problem choking a rebel to death with minimal
02:43effort. While it's not always overt, it now very much seems that Vader is almost running
02:49on an adrenaline high after the events of Rogue One. This is apparent by the aforementioned
02:53choking of a man to death during the interrogation, his merciless killing of Obi-Wan which was
02:57preceded by self-indulgent gloating, and his haste in taking to his fighter to put a stop to the
03:03assault on the Death Star himself. At this point, Vader is absolutely furious that the Rebel
03:07Alliance got the best of him and managed to escape with the plans in the first place, and as such is
03:11determined to not let such a defeat befall him again. In addition, certain quotes and reflections
03:16the Sith Lord has throughout the film now seem to feel much more at home, most notably his line
03:21similar to that of C-3PO's in which he proclaims to an Imperial officer that there'll be no one to
03:26stop us this time. We now know that he was referring to what had just taken place on Scarif.
03:317. R2-D2's Secrecy Throughout the early goings of A New Hope,
03:35R2-D2 is something of a painfully stubborn little spy, not sharing his mission of delivering the
03:40Death Star plans with even his closest companion, 3PO. In addition, he tricks Luke into turning off
03:45his projector to keep him from seeing Leia's message, as well as sneaking off in the middle
03:49of the night to search for Obi-Wan and complete his objective. All of this, of course, is much
03:54to the frustration of 3PO and Luke. However, given the events of Rogue One, R2's behaviour now feels
04:00much more logical, especially from his perspective. Given the countless number of Rebels who had just
04:05died in the effort to steal these plans, plus the ones who were slaughtered like fish in a barrel
04:09by Darth Vader while trying to get them to Leia, it's understandable that he would rather nobody
04:14know that he was now their custodian. And that means nobody. Rewatching A New Hope with this
04:19in mind makes R2's behaviour come off as smart strategy, as opposed to just obnoxious stubbornness.
04:246. Tarkin's Arrogance In Not Evacuating
04:28Another point of criticism for A New Hope has been Grand Moff Tarkin's brash arrogance during
04:32the assault on the Death Star. Many have deemed this as foolish overconfidence, but Rogue One
04:37told us that this was far from the truth. Was he overconfident? Well, arguably, but it was far
04:43from foolish. In fact, had it not been for Galen Erso's actions, he would have been absolutely
04:48justified in his refusal to evacuate the base. As stated before, the Death Star's only weakness at
04:53this point was the result of an inside job, something Tarkin was completely unaware of
04:57and could not have planned for. The only two Imperial officers who knew of the sabotage
05:01were Galen himself and Director Krennic, both of whom perished during the events of Rogue One
05:06before the information could get back to Tarkin himself. Moreover, Tarkin's attitude towards the
05:10Death Star in Rogue One tells us a lot as well. The sheer amount of pride that the Grand Moff had,
05:15which we only had gotten a glimpse of in A New Hope while he made an example of Alderaan,
05:20for instance, was now on display in full force. The Death Star was so destructive that Tarkin
05:25had both Jedha and Skara fired upon on the station's weakest setting, and yet it still
05:30caused cataclysmic devastation. The Death Star created something of a god complex for Tarkin,
05:36and he refused to entertain the idea that it could be destroyed. And given what we saw in
05:40Rogue One, who can honestly blame him? Throughout their appearance in A New Hope,
05:46the Rebel Alliance seems willing to take the fight directly to the Empire, no matter what the cost.
05:51However, the first two acts of Rogue One tell a very different story. In fact, many were disillusioned
05:56with the cause, disgusted with themselves and some of the heinous orders that they'd had to
06:00carry out, and were beginning to feel the apparent hopelessness of fighting the Empire. In short,
06:05they were just about ready to give up, and it was the sacrifice of Rogue One that caused their
06:10change of heart. The Rebels' original motivation of simply wanting to restore freedom to the galaxy
06:15is all well and good, however now knowing that they were doing what they did to honour those
06:19who gave their lives just to give them a fighting chance makes their drive and determination mean
06:24so much more. Which brings us nicely to number four, the size of the Death Star Assault Team.
06:30Continuing from the last point, the Rebels having such a small team for the famous assault on the
06:34Death Star now seems much more fitting, given the fact that a sizeable portion of their forces had
06:39just been wiped out during the Battle of Scarif. During said battle, we see an absolute fleet of
06:44X and Y wings, most of which would be destroyed while Rogue One fought below to retrieve the
06:49Death Star plans. So when it came time to attack the Death Star directly, 30 one-man fighters were
06:54all that the Rebellion had left to spare for the battle that would decide the very fate of them
06:59and their cause. Worse yet, all but three ships, the Millennium Falcon excluded, would meet their
07:04bitter end over the course of this assault. The attack on the Death Star truly was an all-or-nothing
07:10gamble for the Rebels, sending what small amount of men they had left in a last-ditch effort to
07:15get the job done. The job not being merely win the war against the Empire, but simply to survive
07:20another day.
07:21Number three, the Stormtrooper's inability to hit targets. For years, the Stormtrooper's apparent
07:26ineptitude when it came to firefights had been the subject of mockery and ridicule amongst fans.
07:32This, of course, goes all the way back to A New Hope, in which the Imperial soldiers were
07:36completely unable to hit the film's protagonists with their blasters, despite them having perfectly
07:41clear shots throughout the movie and our heroes being sitting ducks at times. So, what gives?
07:46Well, in Rogue One, despite his blindness, Donnie Yen's character is able to not only effectively
07:51dodge each blast that came his way, but walk through a chaotic battlefield without so much
07:56as being graced, all the while proclaiming, I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.
08:02He is only finally hit and killed after making it across the firefight unscathed and flipping
08:06the switch that would help make the Rebel's mission a success. His dying words are,
08:10I fulfilled my destiny. Provided this was the intention, this information kinda changes
08:16everything. This tells us that, when the Force is involved, not even the most highly trained
08:20soldiers in the galaxy can keep something from their purpose. So, how did Luke Skywalker and
08:25company manage to remain unshot for so long? Well, it's because they hadn't fulfilled their
08:30destiny yet, and the Force was going to help make sure they did.
08:33Number two, the destruction of the Death Star. Because of the information given to us in Rogue
08:37One, the ultimate destruction of the original Death Star in A New Hope retroactively becomes
08:41one of the most emotional moments in all of Star Wars, if it wasn't already. Rogue One gave the
08:46mission everything, up to and including their lives, just for a chance. A chance, and nothing
08:52more. A chance that maybe what they did could help the Rebellion succeed. They clung to the last bit
08:58of hope there was all the way to the bitter end, just to buy a little more time for everyone else,
09:03and it paid off. It was because of the bravery and selfishness of Rogue One that Luke Skywalker
09:08was even given the chance to go on his iconic mission. So, the Death Star's destruction was
09:13not only Luke's moment of triumph, but also, and arguably more so in a way, that of Rogue One.
09:18The last will and testament of those previously unsung heroes was what made the Rebellion's
09:22finest hour a possibility. The Force truly was with Rogue One, and you can bet that somewhere
09:27they were smiling when the Empire's ultimate weapon, the one they had given their lives to
09:32went up in flames.
09:35When the original Star Wars film was rebranded as A New Hope four years after its initial release,
09:40everyone assumed that this was referring to Luke Skywalker. And how could they not,
09:44given the content of the film? However, after Rogue One, the title takes on a whole other
09:49meaning. Throughout Rogue One, we are constantly reminded that Rebellions are built on hope. They
09:53drive this point to the viewer over and over again. The team do what they do in the name of
10:00hope, and this culminates in Leia's last line that closes the film in which she receives the
10:04stolen Death Star plans. When the Rebel who gave her the transmission asks what had been delivered,
10:08she replies simply with the word hope. The hope that one day the sacrifices made to steal those
10:14plans would be worth it. Well, that day would come sooner than we may have thought, as the
10:19assault on the Death Star would come shortly after the events of Rogue One concluded.
10:23Which begs the question, was this new hope really Luke, or was it what came of Rogue One's first
10:28and last stand? Well, why can't it be both?