Rouge One is set to reveal a lot of new
and exciting ships, Storm Troopers, and more to the Star Wars universe
including the U-Wing, TIE Striker, Death Troopers, and Shore Troopers
But one concern I have with their introductions and really any new introduction
into the Galactic Civil War time line is the fact that we haven't seen or heard about them until now
Fortunately, I think the Lucas Film Story Group and the film makers share my concerns
because based on information we know so far, it looks like they're addressing exactly those points
Now, is it the end of the world if a future film introduces a new TIE variant that we've never seen?
No, it's not
There were countless TIE fighters from the old legends universe that were never seen in the films
But, when I think about the Battle of Endor specifically
That was meant to be an all or nothing attack from the Rebellion
where they threw everything they had at the Empire
Conversely, the Empire wanted to destroy the Rebels once and for all
So it makes sense that both sides would be using all the resources they had at their disposal
So when I see the TIE defender appear in Star Wars Battlefront
I have two thoughts run through my head
First is joy at actually seeing an on screen canon appearance
But, second, where was it at the Battle of Endor?
It's meant to be for the elite of the elite Imperial pilots
It should be present
So when I see the TIE Striker, and the U-Wing, and the Death Troopers
After getting over how cool they all are
The massive nerd in me wants to try to justify their absence in other films
So, in this video I'll be talking about those new elements from Rogue One
And why we don't see them anywhere else in the original trilogy
Before I get started let me say that technically all of these ships and new troops
could easily be retconned into any of the films,
for example: a short story
places Imperial Interdictors
at the Battle of Endor to keep rebel ships
from entering hyperspace.
We don't see them in the films, but they were there.
A single line in a canon story can place TIE Defenders in the space battle
and Death Troopers on the ground.
But until that happens, here's my best speculation.
First up: the U-Wing.
Why didn't we see it in the Battle of Yavin,
or stationed anywhere on Hoth, or helping to destroy the second Death Star?
Well, its primary job is that of a troop transport.
It has fighting capabilities and can fly out of atmosphere
but it's more comparable to the Low Altitude Assault Transport from the Clone Wars.
It looks like it's meant to deliver troops to battle and provide support, not dogfight.
So that removes it from needing to appear in A New Hope.
What about Echo Base and The Empire Strikes Back?
That was meant to be a secret base.
Once discovered, it was abandoned immediately.
No need to deliver troops there either.
Finally, the Battle of Endor.
Again, it wouldn't fare so well in a space battle, but there were boots on the ground.
So they could have theoretically been useful.
But the ground strike team arrived secretly, before the battle began.
And they used the stolen Imperial shuttle Tydirium.
The need for secrecy makes the U-Wing irrelevant.
So to me, the U-Wing is perfectly fine existing without having to play a part in any of the other films.
I do think it would be cool to see it used in Rebels or other content,
it probably would have fit very well into Battlefront: Twilight Company.
But as things stand right now, the nerd in me is satisfied.
Next, let's stick with the ships and talk about the TIE Striker.
This one is even easier to rationalize.
It was built primarily for use in atmosphere, similar to the snowspeeder.
So immediately that removes it from the battles of Yavin and Endor.
It probably would've been useful on Hoth, but maybe they simply weren't built for such extreme climates.
But also, they simply weren't necessary during the fight.
We do know that they could operate in space
but why use them when you have plenty of TIEs made specifically for dogfighting.
How about the AT-ACT?
I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
Their primary purpose is the delivery of cargo.
It's the All Terrain Armored Cargo Transport.
We've never really seen the Imperial industrial machine in other films
so there'd be no reason to see one of these in the originals.
Moving on to infantry, let's talk hover tanks and their pilots.
We know we're gonna see these on Jedha so I do think they would have fit well on Tatooine somewhere.
But there weren't insurgencies breaking out in Mos Eisley.
Saw Gerrera is on Jedha, and hover tanks would offer some heavy firepower in return.
Outside of Tatooine I can't think of any other planet where a hover tank would be appropriate or useful.
Not Hoth, when you have the AT-ATs
I couldn't see them being very effective on the ground at Endor either, so that solves that.
How about Shoretroopers? This is probably the easiest one of all.
They're Baywatch troopers, meant for I guess beach environments. This one is weird to me.
I think they look cool and all, but I'm not sure why they even need to exist in the first place.
Why not just use Sandtroopers?
I would say that Shoretroopers look a little better suited to the warm climate
but then why wouldn't the troopers on Tatooine be similarly outfitted?
Anyway, there aren't any other beach planets in the original trilogy, so Shoretroopers wouldn't appear.
Finally, let's talk Death troopers. This is the one I'll have to speculate the most on.
They have been described as stormtroopers that can actually hit their targets.
They're elite troopers and part of Imperial intelligence.
These guys definitely sound like they could've been useful during the Battle of Endor, so why weren't they there?
I'm kind of banking on Rogue One answering this, but I'll throw out a couple of ideas.
Maybe they were just too expensive and time consuming to train.
The Imperial strategy seems to be "quantity over quality"
TIE Fighters are cheap and expendable, as are stormtroopers.
Maybe the Empire trained a few Death troopers, decided it wasn't worth it and stopped.
And by the time of the Battle of Endor all the ones they had trained had been killed.
Maybe they're all on the Death Star when it explodes.
But then we should have seen some of them during Episode IV.
Maybe the squad we see serving Krennic are the only Death troopers in the galaxy.
Maybe they were an experimental unit he oversaw and the idea will die with Krennic,
assuming he does die in the film, which is a pretty safe bet.
Again, as I wrap this up, this is me at my most nit-picky.
When it really comes down to it, I'm just gonna sit back and hopefully enjoy the film for what it is -
a new and different look at the Star Wars universe.
All these small details really don't matter in the end, but this is a channel
built around obsessing over the small details, so I thought this would be a fun topic to explore.
If these things are never explained away, it shouldn't affect our enjoyment of good storytelling.
What do you guys think?
Do you have your own rationalizations for all the new things Rogue One will introduce
or do you think I'm insane for caring this much?
Let me know in the comments and if you haven't already, please like this video
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As always, thank you for watching and may the force be with you.