Darth Plagueis was right there all along.
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00:00Star Wars is such a gargantuan franchise at this point that it's basically impossible
00:05for any single movie to say and do everything a filmmaker wants to, incorporating every
00:10character, location and event that means something to fans. And so, perhaps more than any other
00:16IP in history, Star Wars does a lot of its storytelling on the periphery, slyly revealing
00:21fascinating plot points in the background, whether through implication or clever visual
00:25signposting.
00:26So, let's take a look at some of the best today, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:30and these are the 10 Greatest Unspoken Star Wars Movie Plot Points.
00:34The Real Reason For R2-D2's Disobedience – The Empire Strikes Back
00:38You'll probably remember that, in The Empire Strikes Back, R2-D2 demonstrates a habit of
00:43disobeying Luke Skywalker's orders to stay put and remain with the ship. While at first
00:48glance this seems nothing more than R2-D2 being an amusingly independent-minded droid
00:53who wants to help his charge complete his mission, the much sadder truth is actually
00:57subtly explained in the prequels. You see, in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin touches
01:02down on Mustafar with R2 in tow, he tells R2 to stay with the ship. Except, in this
01:08case, R2 obeys Anakin's request, only for Anakin to subsequently become Darth Vader
01:13and never return to R2. This, in turn, seemingly caused R2 to develop some understandable abandonment
01:20issues, and so in the events of the original trilogy, he's not about to sit still and
01:24wait around for a human who may or may not abandon him again. While we can technically
01:29put this down to George Lucas developing the plot point in retrospect in the prequels,
01:33it's still totally effective in explaining R2's distaste for compliance.
01:38Jango Fett's Damaged Backpack – Attack of the Clones
01:42One of the most memorable moments in Attack of the Clones is the absolutely savage death
01:47of Jango Fett, who is swiftly decapitated, helmet and all, by a lightsaber swipe from
01:51Mace Windu during the Battle of Geonosis. Many fans have questioned over the years why
01:56Jango didn't use his jetpack to either fly away or outmaneuver Windu, but instead he
02:01just seemed to stand there and wait to be beheaded. The answer is clear if you look
02:06a little closer at the scene, because if you remember that, just a few moments before his
02:09brawl with Windu, Drango is trampled by a runaway Reek, and if you keep an eye on Jango's
02:14jetpack, sparks are emanating from his jetpack, and so with a broken jetpack, Jango was unable
02:20to hastily flee from Windu or avoid his brutal demise. But it's a fun fact for you, the
02:24sparks weren't actually included in the theatrical release of the film, but after
02:28many fans complained about Jango just standing around waiting to die, Lucas added in these
02:33sparks to try and clarify things, and yet it still apparently mystifies a lot of people.
02:378. The Last Thing Obi-Wan Sees Is Luke and Leia Reunited – A New Hope
02:43If you call yourself even a casual Star Wars fan, the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi is basically
02:48seared into your mind, and yet it's easy to miss a pivotal detail that's basically
02:53hiding in plain sight. Obi-Wan, of course, sacrifices himself during the lightsaber duel
02:57with Darth Vader, in turn allowing the heroes to escape the Death Star. But if you take
03:02a closer look at Obi-Wan in his final moments, you'll observe that he only lets his guard
03:06down after first seeing Luke and Leia making their escape. Obi-Wan even lets out a wry
03:11smile in the seconds before Vader ends him, meaning the last thing that he sees before
03:15laying down his life is Luke and Leia, the twins that he separated at birth 19 years
03:20earlier, finally reunited. And while it's no secret that George Lucas hadn't planned
03:25out that Luke and Leia were siblings at this point of shooting, and this really is more
03:29of a case of serendipity at play, it still works perfectly for the story that was ultimately
03:33told.
03:347. The Tragedy of Rats – The Phantom Menace And now we sing the ballad of poor rats, an
03:41extremely minor character in The Phantom Menace who nevertheless has a low-key, heartbreaking
03:45arc in the middle of this film. You see, Rats is a pod racing pilot glimpsed a few brief
03:50times during the movie's pod racing sequence, namely at his moment of death. In the second
03:54lap of the Bunta Eve classic, Rats can be seen letting out a scream as his pod crashes
03:59into a stalactite and explodes into a fireball which kills him instantly. Now though the
04:04scene swiftly moves on and the audience isn't invited to actively think about Rats ever
04:08again, keep your eyes peeled when Qui-Gon Jinn talks to Watto about Anakin after the
04:13race.
04:14In the background, a couple of tiny alien creatures can be seen walking around mournfully,
04:18and one of the film's deleted scenes reveals these characters to be Rats' wife and children,
04:22who were in attendance for the race and presumably saw him die. Not-so-fun fact from the wider
04:28Star Wars universe, one of Rats' sons, Deland, went on to found the Rats Foundation and became
04:33a lobbyist to heighten the dangers of pod racing, successfully having it banned on many
04:37planets throughout the galaxy.
04:39Number 6. Why Darth Vader Stopped Boba Fett From Killing Chewie – The Empire Strikes
04:44Back
04:45Now a question that's bugged fans ever since the release of The Empire Strikes Back is
04:48why Darth Vader stops Boba Fett from shooting Chewbacca in the film's climax as Han Solo
04:53is being encased in carbonite. You see, Fett goes to shoot Chewie, but Vader lifts up his
04:57hand and stops him from firing, a seemingly bizarre move that has seen fans perform Olympic-level
05:02mental gymnastics in an attempt to explain. Some assumed that Vader didn't want to risk
05:07an errant blaster shot ruining the carbonite, or perhaps he simply had a sense of humour
05:11about dealing with his prisoners. But 2020's canon comic Darth Vader Number 12 finally
05:16lends context to Vader's actions, revealing that he wanted to keep Luke's friends alive
05:21to demonstrate the carefully controlled power that he could exert over the Rebels. It's
05:25certainly a better outcome than just trying to come up with a convoluted reasoning for
05:28why Vader might specifically want to keep Chewie alive, so it really is just a Machiavellian
05:32feat of psychological warfare on his behalf.
05:35Number 5. Dryden Vos' Decraniated Slaves – Solo
05:40Now Solo, a Star Wars story, may be awash in on-the-nose fan service, but it also offered
05:45up some more subdued world-building and plotting, such as providing a further glimpse at the
05:49Decraniated, the android-looking individuals with half a head who are first briefly seen
05:54in Jedha in Rogue One. In Solo, we see that the villain Dryden Vos is using the Decraniated
06:00as servants, and while that might seem harmless enough if they are indeed androids, the visual
06:05guide for Rogue One reveals that that definitely isn't the case. In fact, the Decraniated
06:09are injured humans who were kidnapped and experimented on by fugitive surgeon Cornelius
06:14Evazan, who had a famous encounter with Luke and Obi-Wan in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A
06:19New Hope, before making a brief reappearance in Rogue One. We can infer from the Decraniated's
06:24appearance that their heads were cut in half and replaced with robotic enhancements, in
06:29a procedure that was clearly not in any way consensual. This is easily one of the most
06:33horrific, unspoken aspects of Star Wars lore. After all, who expects to see a Cronenbergian
06:39body horror in a supposedly family-friendly sci-fi blockbuster franchise, of all things?
06:434. General Grievous Hides His Cough From Palpatine – Revenge of the Sith
06:48Beyond being a four-armed cyborg, the most distinctive thing about Revenge of the Sith
06:53Separatist Commander General Grievous is his distinctive asthmatic cough. The 2003 Clone
06:59Wars series revealed this to be the result of lung damage inflicted upon him during a
07:03battle with Mace Windu, though this technically is not canon anymore. All the same, a small
07:08but intriguing character flourish is noticeable when he speaks with Palpatine's hologram,
07:13because he loudly clears his throat before connecting the call. Given that Grievous doesn't
07:17seem bothered about coughing in front of anyone else, we can infer that he basically wants
07:21to conceal his cough from Palpatine as much as possible, maybe through a fear of him looking
07:25air quotes weak in his presence. It speaks not only to Palpatine's fearsome standing,
07:30but more curiously Grievous' own insecurity about his cough and how it might present him
07:35to others, especially those in positions of authority above him.
07:383. Hera Syndulla Took Part In The Battle Of Scarif – Rogue One
07:43Easter eggs are nothing new to the world of Star Wars, though sometimes a reference that
07:47might seem throwaway to casual fans actually has far more intriguing implications for the
07:52die-hard set. Case in point, during Rogue One's climactic battle on Scarif, keen-eyed
07:57fans may have spotted the Ghost, the ship owned by Syndulla, one of the main characters
08:01from the Star Wars Rebels animated series. Between this and the fact that an announcer
08:05can be heard calling the name General Syndulla on Yavin 4 in one scene, the clear implication
08:10is that she took part in the Battle of Scarif. While we only got to see a few shots of the
08:14Ghost in action during the battle, it was simply neat enough to know that such a beloved
08:18Star Wars character was in the mix and helping out. At the time of Rogue One's release,
08:22this easter egg was a bit of a double-edged sword though, as it effectively left her fate
08:26hanging in the balance. Thankfully though, Rebels' final episode ultimately revealed
08:30that she went on to fight in the Battle of Endor, confirming her survival at Scarif.
08:342. Darth Plagueis' ashes are stored outside of Palpatine's office – Revenge of the
08:40Sith You may or may not recall that outside of
08:43Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's office sits two impractically large black vases which
08:48are placed either side of the door. To the casual observer, these vases would appear
08:51to be merely ornamental, though the 2012 reference book Star Wars Beware the Sith reveals
08:56that these vases are actually spirit urns. Canonically, these urns have been used to
09:01store important items, and in this case, Beware the Sith reveals one of them to contain the
09:05ashen remains of Palpatine's own departed master, Darth Plagueis. That's certainly
09:10a bold move on Palpatine's part, and though Beware the Sith is technically now part of
09:14Star Wars' Legends continuity, like most Legends, lore fans are free to debate whether
09:19or not it is canon until explicitly stated within the new canon. Given that the spirit
09:24urns are also mentioned in 2017's Visual Encyclopedia book, which is now 100% canon,
09:29it seems unlikely that their status as Plagueis' final resting place will ever be directly
09:34contradicted in any new Star Wars media. 1. Obi-Wan taught Luke how to get the high
09:39ground – Return of the Jedi This is one of those plot points that splits
09:43fans right down the middle. During Darth Vader's battle with Luke in Return of the Jedi, you'll
09:48recall that Vader looks up at Luke, who is standing in an elevated position, and says,
09:52Obi-Wan has taught you well. Well, looking at the movies today, it's hard not to view
09:56this as a nodding towards the event of Revenge of the Sith, where Obi-Wan gets the high ground
10:01against Anakin during their very fiery and fateful duel on Mustafar. While it's a simple
10:06fact that Return was of course made more than 20 years before Revenge, it's conceivable
10:10that George Lucas came up with this now meme-worthy high ground motif to lend greater importance
10:15to Vader's original comment. Sure, Vader could simply be talking about Luke's general
10:19combat aptitude as a result of training with Obi-Wan, but it makes all the sense in the
10:23world that Obi-Wan would teach Luke to get the high ground against an opponent. It's
10:27blatant revisionism, but it also fits perfectly.
10:30And there we go my friends, those were 10 of the greatest unspoken Star Wars movie plot
10:34points. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about
10:37it down in the comment section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over
10:40on Twitter at RetroJ with a zero, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do
10:45all of my streaming and Warhammer Battle Reports outside of work, and it'd be great
10:48to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing, I'm not going
10:51to let this moment be unspoken, and that is if you my friend listening to this video should
10:55be kind to yourself, both mentally and physically, because you deserve all of the best things
10:59in life, and do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? You're
11:03a massive legend, I want you to go out there and absolutely smash it today, I believe in
11:07ya. As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll
11:11speak to you soon, bye.