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. And so, perhaps more than
00:15 any other IP in history, Star Wars does a lot of its storytelling on the periphery,
00:20 slyly revealing fascinating plot points in the background, whether through implication
00:24 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. While at first
00:48 glance this seems nothing more than R2-D2 being an amusingly independent-minded droid
00:53 who wants to help his charge complete his mission, the much sadder truth is actually
00:57 subtly explained in the prequels. You see, in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin touches
01:02 down on Mustafar with R2 in tow, he tells R2 to stay with the ship, except in this case,
01:08 R2 obeys Anakin's request, only for Anakin to subsequently become Darth Vader and never
01:13 return to R2. This, in turn, seemingly caused R2 to develop some understandable abandonment
01:20 issues, and so in the events of the original trilogy, he's not about to sit still and
01:24 wait around for a human who may or may not abandon him again. While we can technically
01:29 put this down to George Lucas developing the plot point in retrospect in the prequels,
01:33 it's still totally effective in explaining R2's distaste for compliance.
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
01:47 of Jango Fett, who is swiftly decapitated, helmet and all, by a lightsaber swipe from
01:51 Mace Windu during the Battle of Geonosis. Many fans have questioned over the years why
01:56 Jango didn't use his jetpack to either fly away or outmanoeuvre Windu, but instead he
02:01 just seemed to stand there and wait to be beheaded. The answer is actually clear if
02:05 you look a little closer at the scene, because if you remember that, just a few moments before
02:09 his brawl with Windu, Drango is trampled by a runaway Reek, and if you keep an eye on
02:14 Jango's back, sparks are emanating from his jetpack. And so, with a broken jetpack,
02:19 Jango was unable to hastily flee from Windu or avoid his brutal 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. But, after many fans complained about Jango just standing around
02:31 waiting to die, Lucas added in these sparks to try and clarify things. And yet, it still
02:35 apparently mystifies a lot of people.
02:38 The Last Thing Obi-Wan Sees Is Luke and Leia Reunited - 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. And yet, it's easy to miss a pivotal detail that's basically
02:53 hiding in plain sight. Obi-Wan, of course, sacrifices himself during the lightsaber duel
02:57 with Darth Vader, in turn allowing the heroes to escape the Death Star. But if you take
03:02 a closer look at Obi-Wan in his final moments, you'll observe that he only lets his guard
03:06 down after first seeing Luke and Leia making their escape. Obi-Wan even lets out a wry
03:11 smile in the seconds before Vader ends him. Meaning the last thing that he sees before
03:15 laying down his life is Luke and Leia, the twins that he separated at birth 19 years
03:20 earlier, finally reunited.
03:22 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.
03:35 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
03:43 who nevertheless has a low-key, heartbreaking arc in the middle of this film. You see, Rats
03:47 is a pod racing pilot glimpsed a few brief times during the movie's pod racing sequence,
03:52 namely at his moment of death. In the second lap of the Bunta Eve classic, Rats can be
03:57 seen letting out a scream as his pod crashes into a stalactite and explodes into a fireball
04:02 which kills him instantly. Though the scene swiftly moves on and the audience isn't
04:06 invited to actively think about Rats ever again, keep your eyes peeled when Qui-Gon
04:10 Jinn talks to Watto about Anakin after the race.
04:14 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
04:36 having it banned on many planets throughout the galaxy.
04:39 Why Darth Vader Stopped Boba Fett From Killing Chewie - The Empire Strikes Back
04:44 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. You see, Fett goes to shoot Chewie, but Vader lifts up his
04:57 hand and stops him from firing, a seemingly bizarre move that has seen fans perform Olympic-level
05:02 mental gymnastics in an attempt to explain. Some assumed that Vader didn't want to risk
05:07 an errant blaster shot ruining the carbonite, or perhaps he simply had a sense of humour
05:11 about dealing with his prisoners.
05:13 But 2020's canon comic Darth Vader #12 finally lends context to Vader's actions, revealing
05:19 that he wanted to keep Luke's friends alive to demonstrate the carefully controlled power
05:23 that he could exert over the Rebels. It's certainly a better outcome than just trying
05:26 to come up with a convoluted reasoning for why Vader might specifically want to keep
05:30 Chewie alive, so it really is just a Machiavellian feat of psychological warfare on his behalf.
05:35 5. 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
05:45 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. In fact, the Decraniated are injured
06:10 humans who were kidnapped and experimented on by fugitive surgeon Cornelius Everson,
06:15 who had a famous encounter with Luke and Obi-Wan in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope, before
06:20 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. After all, who
06:37 expects to see a Cronenbergian body horror in a supposedly family-friendly sci-fi blockbuster
06:42 franchise of all things?
06:43 4. 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. The 2003 Clone
06:59 Wars series revealed this to be the result of lung damage inflicted upon him during a
07:03 battle with Mace Windu, though this technically is not canon anymore. All the same, a small
07:08 but intriguing character flourish is noticeable when he speaks with Palpatine's hologram,
07:13 because he loudly clears his throat before connecting the call. Given that Grievous doesn't
07:17 seem bothered about coughing in front of anyone else, we can infer that he basically wants
07:21 to conceal his cough from Palpatine as much as possible, maybe through a fear of him looking
07:25 air quotes "weak" in his presence. It speaks not only to Palpatine's fearsome
07:29 standing, but more curiously Grievous' own insecurity about his cough and how it might
07:34 present him to others, especially those in positions of authority above him.
07:38 3. 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
07:52 die-hard set. Case in point, during Rogue One's climactic battle on Scarif, keen-eyed
07:57 fans may have spotted the Ghost, the ship owned by Syndulla, one of the main characters
08:01 from the Star Wars Rebels animated series. Between this and the fact that an announcer
08:05 can be heard calling the name General Syndulla on Yavin 4 in one scene, the clear implication
08:10 is that she took part in the Battle of Scarif. While we only got to see a few shots of the
08:14 Ghost in action during the battle, it was simply neat enough to know that such a beloved
08:18 Star Wars character was in the mix and helping out. At the time of Rogue One's release,
08:22 this Easter egg was a bit of a double-edged sword, though, as it effectively left her
08:26 fate hanging in the balance. Thankfully, though, Rebels' final episode ultimately revealed
08:30 that she went on to fight in the Battle of Endor, confirming her survival at Scarif.
08:34 2. Darth Plagueis' Ashes Are Stored Outside Of Palpatine's Office - Revenge Of The Sith
08:39 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. To the
08:49 casual observer, these vases would appear to be merely ornamental, though the 2012 reference
08:54 book Star Wars Beware The Sith reveals that these vases are actually spirit urns. Canonically,
09:00 these urns have been used to store important items, and in this case, Beware The Sith reveals
09:04 one of them to contain the ashen remains of Palpatine's own departed master, Darth Plagueis.
09:10 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. Given that the
09:23 spirit urns are also mentioned in 2017's Visual Encyclopedia book, which is now 100% canon,
09:29 it seems unlikely that their status as Plagueis' final resting place will ever be directly
09:34 contradicted in any new Star Wars media.
09:36 At number 1, Obi-Wan Taught Luke How To Get The High Ground - Return Of The Jedi
09:42 Now this is one of those plot points that splits fans right down the middle. You see,
09:45 during Darth Vader's battle with Luke in Return Of The Jedi, you'll recall that Vader
09:49 looks up at Luke who is standing in an elevated position and says "Obi-Wan has taught you
09:53 well". Well, looking at the movies today, it's hard not to view this as a nodding
09:57 towards the event of Revenge Of The Sith, where Obi-Wan gets the high ground against
10:01 Anakin during their very fiery and fateful duel on Mustafar. While it's a simple fact
10:06 that Return was of course made more than 20 years before Revenge, it's conceivable that
10:10 George Lucas came up with this now meme-worthy high ground motif to lend greater importance
10:15 to Vader's original comment. Sure, Vader could simply be talking about Luke's general
10:19 combat aptitude as a result of training with Obi-Wan, but it makes all the sense in the
10:23 world that Obi-Wan would teach Luke to get the high ground against an opponent. It's
10:27 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. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about
10:37 it down in the comments section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow
10:40 me over on Twitter @RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Live & Let's Dice where I do all
10:45 of my streaming and Warhammer Battle Reports outside of work, and it'd be great to see
10:48 you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing, I'm not going to let this
10:52 moment be unspoken, and that is that you my friend listening to this video should be kind
10:55 to yourself both mentally and physically, because you deserve all of the best things in life
10:59 and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? You're a massive
11:03 legend and I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today, I believe in ya.
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.