Updated June 9, 2021 67.3K votes 13.1K voters 817.7K views
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Vote up the theories that totally blew your mind, man.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget exactly what made the Star Wars movies so special in the first place. Aside from the pure spectacle of it all, and all those wonderful droids, one of the greatest aspects of the saga was the intense mystery and curiosity that it evoked in fans. What happened to Luke’s father? Who was Darth Vader? Where did Obi-Wan’s body disappear to? Will Chewbacca ever find true love? These questions and more kept fans theorizing and arguing for years (sometimes coming up with some really awful stuff), until the (often less-than-satisfactory) answers were revealed in subsequent films. Although the fans were temporarily pleased to gain the much-desired knowledge, it also helped to take some of the sheen off the beloved franchise.
This is a major part of why audiences have responded so positively to the new generation of Star Wars films, including The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Finally, the Star Wars universe once again has more questions than answers surrounding it, and the fans are much better off for it. Who are Rey’s parents? Why did Luke Skywalker go into hiding? What’s the deal with Snoke? Why is Kylo Ren so sad and angry all the time? Seriously, what is the deal with Chewie's love life? The answers to these questions (and more) will undoubtedly be answered in future films, but for now, the fans are experiencing the thrill and excitement of wild, rampant speculation. But the truth, as they say, is out there. Pretty sure that's the wrong franchise, but whatever, nerds.
One of the breakout stars of Rogue One was K2SO, the pleasant-yet-sinister droid voiced by Alan Tudyk. K2SO was formerly an Imperial droid, but was reprogrammed to serve the Rebellion. The ending of Rogue One, however, ensured that the Empire now had a pretty good idea of which type of droid played a role in the Rebellion’s victory.
This would likely lead to the Empire shutting down production of that line of droids, due to their susceptibility to hacking. We never see any similar droids in the "later" films, which means K2SO probably doomed his droid line to obsolescence. You know, since Rogue One really needed to be sadder. Shout out to Reddit user u/garrusnogarrus for supplying this theory.
If the in-film canon and Expanded Universe (now Legends) of Star Wars have proven anything, it’s that R2-D2 and C-3PO are around for basically every important event in the galaxy's history. That’s what makes it so confusing when Obi-Wan appears to not recognize the droids when he encounters them in A New Hope. Or does he?
The crafty old Jedi responds to Luke saying R2 belongs to him with, “I don’t seem to remember ever owning a droid,” which is technically true, because Obi-Wan never did “own” R2 or C-3PO. Furthermore, Obi-Wan makes a comment that suggests he’s more than aware of R2’s impressive capabilities. Pointed out by Reddit user u/sjogerst, Obi-Wan casually mentions that R2-D2, "should be able to interpret the entire Imperial network," when he plugs him into the docking bay control room. That's an insane thing to assume about a random astromech droid if you had never met him before.
So, why then did Obi-Wan never tell Luke the story of R2-D2 and C-3PO? Maybe he’s just saving Luke from having to listen to the story of the prequels. Honestly, it would probably have turned Luke off the whole "Jedi" thing altogether and sent him back to the moisture farm.
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Darth Vader Learned A Terrible Truth During His Battle With Luke
Some of the best new theories regarding Star Wars aren’t directly related to The Force Awakens or Rogue One, but are simply inspired by the new focus the series is getting. For example, a new theory from Reddit user u/REdd06 explains how Darth Vader was so easily overpowered by his then sort-of wimpy son, Luke, at the climax of Return of the Jedi.
Luke had recently learned that Leia was his sister, something that was obviously weighing on his mind as he battled Vader. It’s hard to imagine that a powerful Force-user like Darth Vader wouldn’t have picked up this thought from Luke, a revelation that had to hit him like a ton of bricks. Not only did Vader learn he had a daughter, he also would have realized that he had already tortured her and blew up her home planet. That would be enough to distract anyone, let alone Anakin Skywalker. That dude was always sort of a whiny tool.
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Chirrut Imwe Shows Why Storm Troopers Have Bad Aim
People love to laugh at Storm Troopers (at least the outer space kind). For an elite military force from an evil, galaxy-spanning empire, the Storm Troopers are ridiculously incompetent. They go down easily, and they can’t seem to hit anything on their way down. Their fancy, high-tech blasters might as well shoot glitter. Troopers are great at incinerating Luke’s foster parents, but somehow fail to hit a single protagonist throughout the entire series.
Thankfully, Rogue One’s Chirrut Imwe may have finally explained why this is. As explained by Reddit user u/drewgarr, Imwe makes a bold stand against an onslaught of blaster fire at the climax of the film, walking through it unharmed while chanting about the Force. He avoids getting hit until he accomplishes his goal, while his partner Baze Malbus gets shot pretty much immediately afterwards. Imwe was Force-sensitive, while Malbus was not.
Therefore, the Force may provide a shield of sorts that is particularly good at deflecting blaster bolts. This would explain why Storm Troopers can’t seem to hit Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, and other Force-sensitive individuals throughout the series.
Han Solo was a loner who had to be cajoled into joining the rebel cause, but his furry co-pilot Chewbacca may be a different story. After all, it is Chewbacca who Obi-Wan first approaches in the Cantina when seeking a ride to Alderaan. Chewbacca is seen fighting alongside Yoda in Revenge of the Sith, and there’s a good chance he was actually an agent of the Rebellion all along, unbeknownst to Han. This theory has been kicking around the Internet for years. People just love that Wookie.
It’s even easier to believe (and perhaps more plausible) that R2-D2 was a secret agent as well. The droid conveniently happens to be around for everything of importance, and Leia entrusts him with an incredibly precious mission. Also, R2 seems, like, aggressively upgraded for an astromech droid. You don't need that kind of hardware if you're basically a glorified GPS.
One of the coolest reveals in Rogue One was that Darth Vader lived in a sweet, Mordor-esque castle on Mustafar, the planet where he lost his legs and most of his skin in a duel with Obi-Wan. While this goes a long way towards reminding us of what a badass Vader is, it may also hint at where Kylo Ren is heading after the events of The Force Awakens.
Ren is obsessed with his grandfather’s legacy, and a fan theory by Reddit user u/Animation_Bat posits that it makes sense that the mopey giant would hole up in Vader's former abode. The fact that the heavy metal castle fits perfectly with Kylo Ren’s gothic sensibilities is just icing on the cake.
