The Star Wars universe is a pretty complex place, and it gets a little more complex with
every episode of Rebels, every tie-in comic and novel, and best of all, when a highly
continuity-dependent movie like Rogue One is released.
Every tenuous connection makes the experience a little richer, no matter how hard the director
tries to hide these things in the fabric of the film.
Here are a few Rogue One Easter eggs you didn't notice.
Oh, and if you haven't seen Rogue One yet, brace for impact: spoilers ahead!
Blue Harvest
What is it with young rebels and blue milk?
As a very young Jyn escapes her family's farm at the beginning of Rogue One, we see a glass
of blue milk perched on a countertop, not unlike the questionable beverage that young
Luke Skywalker had to endure in A New Hope.
The blue moo juice also reappears in Attack of the Clones.
Presumably, the junk comes from banthas, but no one is free from it, even on planets where
banthas aren't a native species.
Someone is importing this junk.
Forget about buildi ng a Death Star, just corner the blue milk market if you want to
conquer the galaxy.
Where there's a Whill…
Back when Star Wars was just a shadow of an idea in the curly head of George Lucas, it
was called Journal of the Whills.
The concept of an ancient race of aliens deeply connected to the Force has floated around
the Star Wars universe since the beginning, but nothing really definitive has been established
about them … except for that they absolutely have nothing to with Yoda's unknown species.
Lo and behold, the desert city of Jedha was actually home to the Temple of the Whills,
once guarded by the blind Chirrut Îmwe and freelance assassin Baze Malbus.
The bustling, mysterious city has super-deep ties to the whole Jedi thing, which is reinforced
by the fallen Jedi statues around the surface and the fact that it's absolutely full of
kyber crystals, used to make lightsabers.
Jedha … Jedi … it can't be a coincidence.
And now it's exploded.
The not-so-good Doctor
It's a cameo that's impossible to miss.
In the ill-fated city of Jedha, Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor bump into a really, really ugly
man and his walrus-faced pal.
Visitors to Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine will easily recognize the duo as Dr. Evazan
and Ponda Baba, who try to start trouble with Luke Skywalker and lose an arm to Obi-Wan's
saber for the trouble.
Apparently, Ponda Baba could easily escape a city going totally nuclear, but couldn't
keep his arms from falling off his body in a sleazy bar a few weeks later.
Tough break, buddy.
The worst job in the universe
Directing the as-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII would be a dream job for just about any
director, and as you probably know, Rian Johnson scored the gig after directing a few episodes
of Breaking Bad and writing the screenplay for Episode VIII.
But he also got the absolute worst gig in the galaxy: standing next to the deadly, planet-destroying,
railing-less laser shaft in the Death Star.
"I just want a railing.
You know, one railing, right here!"
"Yeah I know I've almost fallen over that thing so many times."
It's a cameo we wouldn't even know about if Johnson himself didn't tell us at 2016's Star
Wars Celebration in London.
So let us not forget that not only did Galen Erso built a vulnerable exhaust port into
the Death Star, but he subtly made these guys lives a living hell.
For the Rebellion.
Budget dejarik and cave monsters
There are a lot of scummy things going on in Saw Gerrera's ramshackle base, including,
but not limited to, watching weird holo-porn of dancing Twi'leks … which only reminds
us of Grandpa Itchy's dirty dalliances in the forbidden Star Wars Holiday Special.
"Oh, we are excited, aren't we?"
But amid the many props and baubles found in the base is a very bootleg version of dejarik,
the holographic chess game found aboard the Millennium Falcon.
This dollar store version uses actual, physical pieces and not the hi-tech, animated, holographic
stuff.
Which is what you get when you blow your whole hologram budget on dancing girls.
Also making an appearance in Gerrera's cave in especially Easter-eggy form are creatures
from director Gareth Edward's 2010 film Monsters and his 2014 film Godzilla.
The director told The Star Wars Show that it wasn't even him being cheeky; these were
slipped into Gerrera's cave by the crew.
Like father, like son
Like all good supervillains, Darth Vader has to have a sweet and scary base.
We've only ever really seen him hanging out on giant starships, but early concepts for
the character placed him in his very own Snake Mountain, by the name of Bast Castle, on the
beaches of an acid rain planet called , where real estate is probably cheaper than Detroit.
While Rogue One flips the script a bit, and thankfully, his base doesn't just look like
a giant version of his own helmet, because that design was stolen by the Legion of Doom.
Vader apparently chills on a fiery lava planet, which is presumably Mustafar, the very same
place he lost most of his body parts and caught on fire courtesy of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Because there's nothing like building a home on the shores of the lake where your humanity
and dignity drowned.
And of course, Vader has to take his cumbersome costume off occasionally, right?
We learn that in order to rejuvenate his half-robot body, he goes swimming in his own personal
bacta tank, extremely similar to the one we see Luke in, recovering from frostbite and
some serious wampa wounds.
Though a sassy wampa-slap is a lot less serious than, you know, losing all your limbs.
The Rebels connection
Early intel for Rogue One was adamant about the film having nothing to do with the ongoing
animated series, Rebels, but now that seems like a bit of misdirection, for a few reasons.
First, it looks a lot like the Rebels ship Ghost is spotted among the fighters during
the film's final battle, indicated by the unique pattern of lights on the rear of the
ship.
There aren't too many ships' butts that look like a surprised clown, but the Ghost is one
of them.
Second, the name "General Syndulla" is mentioned, and unless "Syndulla" is the "Jones" or "Smith"
of the galaxy, that would have to be Hera Syndulla, the captain of the Ghost.
Some viewers have also speculated on the use of the name "Blacksaber" as one of the Empire's
projects, mentioned as Jyn is searching the archives and just before she lands on the
file she's searching for, "Stardust."
While there are a lot of sabers in the universe, the darksaber is an ancient Jedi artifact
once stolen by the Mandalorians and then wielded by Darth Maul, and yes, it has a black blade.
"Blacksaber" could refer to just about anything, though, from Darth Vader's towering, hellish
home, to an undisclosed death weapon, to Grand Moff Tarkin's favorite pie recipe.
Time will tell.
Blasting womp rats
Luke Skywalker, even though he'd one day become a noble Jedi, was a jerk of a kid.
To quash his boredom on Tatooine, he'd hop into his T-16 Skyhopper and fly around blasting
womp rats.
Apparently, his love of fun is shared by Stormtroopers, too, since two helmet-heads can be heard on
Scarif idly chattering about how the old T-15 models were getting phased out.
Do Stormtroopers go on joyrides, or is it just an endless nightmare of anxiety until
a rebel blows you up or a slightly perturbed Darth Vader crunches your windpipe?
We hope it's the former.
Red Five
The Rebel Alliance existed long before a shaggy-haired farmboy-turned-Jedi came along to save it.
While Luke was out collecting moisture in the desert and whining about not going to
Tosche Station, a real rebel soldier was flying around in an X-wing with the callsign Red
Five … until he exploded during the attack on Scarif.
A little while later, Luke would take the same callsign during the Battle of Yavin,
destroying the first Death Star.
Since, you know, no one was using it anymore.
But he wasn't the only hotshot pilot, and he wasn't even the boss.
The head of the Red Squadron, Garven Dreis, survived the attack on Scarif and went on
to attack the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin.
Original actor Drewe Henley came back to play the role, at least via some amazing CGI work,
since Henley was 76 at the time, and passed away 10 months before the film reached theaters.
He can consider himself in some pretty solid, posthumous company.
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