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 for any
00:05single movie to say and do everything a filmmaker wants to, incorporating every character, location,
00:11and event that means something to fans. And so, perhaps more than any other IP in history,
00:17Star Wars does a lot of its storytelling on the periphery, slyly revealing fascinating plot points
00:22in the background, whether through implication or clever visual signposting. So let's take a look
00:27at some of the best today, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 Greatest
00:31Unspoken Star Wars Movie Plot Points. The Real Reason for R2-D2's Disobedience
00:37The 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. Now, while at first glance
00:49there seems nothing more than R2-D2 being an amusingly independent-minded droid who wants to
00:54help his charge complete his mission, the much sadder truth is actually subtly explained in the
00:59prequels. You see, in Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin touches down on Mustafa with R2 in tow,
01:05he tells R2 to stay with the ship, except in this case, R2 obeys Anakin's request only for
01:11Anakin to subsequently become Darth Vader and never return to R2. This, in turn, seemingly caused R2 to
01:17develop some understandable abandonment issues. And so, in the events of the original trilogy,
01:22he's not about to sit still and wait around for a human who may or may not abandon him again.
01:28While we can technically put this down to George Lucas developing the plot point in retrospect in
01:32the prequels, it's still totally effective in explaining R2's distaste for compliance.
01:389. Jango Fett's Damaged Backpack
01:41Attack of the Clones
01:42One of the most memorable moments in Attack of the Clones is the absolutely savage death of
01:47Jango Fett, who is swiftly decapitated, helmet and all, by a lightsaber swiped from Mace Windu
01:52during the Battle of Genosis. Now, many fans have questioned over the years why Jango didn't use
01:57his jetpack to either fly away or outmaneuver Windu, but instead he just seemed to, well,
02:01just stand there and wait to be beheaded. Well, the answer is actually clear if you look a little
02:06closer at the scene. Because if you remember that, just a few moments before his brawl with Windu,
02:11Drango is trampled by a runaway reek. And if you keep an eye on Jango's back,
02:14sparks are emanating from his jetpack. And so, with a broken jetpack, Jango was unable to hastily
02:20flee from Windu or avoid his brutal demise. But it's a fun fact for you, the sparks weren't
02:25actually included in the theatrical release of the film. But after many fans complained about
02:30Jango just standing around waiting to die, Luke has added in these sparks to try and clarify things,
02:35and yet it still apparently mystifies a lot of people.
02:378. The Last Thing That Obi-Wan Sees Is Luke And Leia Reunited
02:41A New Hope If you call yourself even a casual Star Wars fan,
02:46the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi is basically seared into your mind. And yet, it's easy to miss a
02:51pivotal detail that's basically hiding in plain sight. Obi-Wan, of course, sacrifices himself
02:56during the lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, in turn allowing the heroes to escape the Death Star.
03:01But if you take a closer look at Obi-Wan and his final moments, you'll observe that he only lets
03:05his guard down after first seeing Luke and Leia making their escape. Obi-Wan even lets out a
03:11wry smile 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 earlier,
03:20finally reunited. And while it's no secret that George Lucas hadn't planned out that Luke and
03:25Leia were siblings at this point of shooting, and this really is more of a case of serendipity at
03:30play, it still works perfectly for the story that was ultimately told.
03:347. The Tragedy of Rats – The Phantom Menace
03:38And now we sing the ballad of poor Rats, an extremely minor character in The Phantom Menace
03:43who nevertheless has a low-key heartbreaking arc in the middle of this film. You see,
03:47Rats is a pod racing pilot glimpsed a few brief times during the movie's pod racing sequence,
03:52namely at his moment of death. In the second lap of the Bunta Eve classic, Rats can be seen letting
03:57out a scream as his pod crashes into a stalactite and explodes into a fireball which kills him instantly.
04:03Though the scene 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 race.
04:13In 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,
04:23who were in attendance for the race and presumably saw him die. Not so fun fact from the wider Star
04:28Wars universe, one of Rats' sons, Deland, went on to found the Rats Foundation and became a
04:33lobbyist to heighten the dangers of pod racing, successfully having it banned on many planets
04:37throughout the galaxy.
04:396. Why Darth Vader Stopped Boba Fett From Killing Chewie
04:42The Empire Strikes Back
04:44A question that's bugged fans ever since the release of The Empire Strikes Back is why Darth
04:49Vader stops Boba Fett from shooting Chewbacca in the film's climax as Han Solo is being encased
04:54in carbonite. You see, Fett goes to shoot Chewie, but Vader lifts up his hand and stops him from firing,
04:59a seemingly bizarre move that has seen fans perform Olympic-level mental gymnastics in an attempt to
05:04explain. Some assumed that Vader didn't want to risk an errant blaster shot ruining the carbonite,
05:09or perhaps he simply had a sense of humour about dealing with his prisoners. But 2020's canon comic
05:14Darth Vader No. 12 finally lends context to Vader's actions, revealing that he wanted to keep Luke's
05:20friends alive to demonstrate the carefully controlled power that he could exert over the rebels.
05:25It's certainly a better outcome than just trying to come up with a convoluted reasoning for why
05:28Vader might specifically want to keep Chewie alive, so it really is just a Machiavellian feat of
05:33psychological warfare on his behalf.
05:355. Dryden Vos' Decraniated Slaves
05:39Solo
05:39Now, Solo, a Star Wars story, may be awash in on-the-nose fan service, but it also offered up
05:45some more subdued world-building and plotting, such as providing a further glimpse at the decraniated,
05:50the android-looking individuals with half a head who are first briefly seen in Jedha in Rogue One.
05:56In Solo, we see that the villain Dryden Vos is using the decraniated as servants, and while that
06:01might seem harmless enough if they are indeed androids, the visual guide for Rogue One reveals
06:06that that definitely isn't the case. In fact, the decraniated are injured humans who were kidnapped
06:11and experimented on by fugitive surgeon Cornelius Evazan, who had a famous encounter with Luke and
06:17Obi-Wan in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope, before making a brief reappearance in Rogue One.
06:22We can infer from the decraniated's appearance that their heads were cut in half and replaced
06:27with robotic enhancements, in a procedure that was clearly not in any way consensual. This is
06:32easily one of the most horrific, unspoken aspects of Star Wars lore. I mean, after all,
06:37who expects to see a Cronenbergian body horror in a supposedly family-friendly sci-fi blockbuster
06:42franchise of all things. 4. 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 Wars
06:59series revealed this to be the result of lung damage inflicted upon him during a battle with
07:03Mace Windu, though this technically is not canon anymore. All the same, a small but intriguing
07:08character flourish is noticeable when he speaks with Palpatine's hologram, because he loudly clears
07:14his throat before connecting the call. Given that Grievous doesn't seem bothered about coughing in
07:18front of anyone else, we can infer that he basically wants to conceal his cough from Palpatine as much
07:23as possible, maybe through a fear of him looking air quotes weak in his presence. It speaks not only
07:28to Palpatine's fearsome standing, but more curiously Grievous' own insecurity about his cough and how it
07:34might present him to others, especially those in positions of authority above him.
07:383. Hera Syndulla took part in the Battle of Scarif, Rogue One
07:43Now, Easter 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 fans may have
07:57spotted the Ghost, the ship owned by Syndulla, one of the main characters from the Star Wars Rebels
08:02animated series. Between this and the fact that an announcer can be heard calling the name
08:06General Syndulla on Yavin 4 in one scene, the clear implication is that she took part in the Battle of
08:12Scarif. While we only got to see a few shots of the Ghost in action during the battle, it was simply
08:16neat enough to know that such a beloved Star Wars character was in the mix and helping out. At the
08:21time of Rogue One's release, this Easter egg was a bit of a double-edged sword, though, as it
08:25effectively left her fate hanging in the balance. Thankfully, though, Rebels' final episode ultimately
08:29revealed that she went on to fight in the Battle of Endor, confirming her survival at Scarif.
08:352. Darth Plagueis' ashes are stored outside of Palpatine's office. Revenge of the Sith
08:40You may or may not recall that outside of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's office sits two
08:45impractically large black vases which are placed either side of the door. To the casual observer,
08:50these vases would appear to be merely ornamental, though the 2012 reference book Star Wars Beware the
08:56Sith reveals that 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 ashen
09:06remains of Palpatine's own departed master, Darth Plagueis. That's certainly a bold move on Palpatine's
09:12part, and though Beware the Sith is technically now part of Star Wars' Legends continuity, like most
09:17Legends, lore fans are free to debate whether or not it is canon until explicitly stated within the new
09:22canon. Given that the spirit urns are also mentioned in 2017's Visual Encyclopedia book,
09:27which is now 100% canon, it seems unlikely that their status as Plagueis' final resting place
09:33will ever be directly contradicted in any new Star Wars media.
09:361. Obi-Wan taught Luke how to get the high ground
09:40Return of the Jedi
09:41This is one of those plot points that splits fans right down the middle. You see, during Darth Vader's
09:46battle with Luke in Return of the Jedi, you'll recall that Vader looks up at Luke, who is standing in
09:50an elevated position and says, Obi-Wan has taught you well. Well, looking at the movies today,
09:56it's hard not to view this as a nodding towards the event of Revenge of the Sith, where Obi-Wan
10:00gets the high ground against Anakin during their very fiery and fateful duel on Mustafa.
10:05While it's a simple fact that Return was of course made more than 20 years before Revenge,
10:09it's conceivable that George Lucas came up with this now meme-worthy high ground motif to lend
10:14greater importance to Vader's original comment. Sure, Vader could simply be talking about Luke's
10:19general combat 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 blatant
10:28revisionism, but it also fits perfectly.
10:31And there we go my friends, those were 10 of the greatest unspoken Star Wars movie plot points. I
10:35hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:38comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at
10:41RetroJWithAZero, or you can swing by LiveAndLet'sDice, where I do all of my streaming and
10:46Warhammer battle reports outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there.
10:49But before I go, I just want to say one thing, I'm not going to let this moment be unspoken,
10:53and that is that you, my friend, listening to this video should be kind to yourself, both mentally
10:56and physically, because you deserve all of the best things in life, and do not let anything or
11:01anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? You're a massive legend, and I want you to go out there
11:04and absolutely smash it today. I believe in you. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome,
11:09never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.