Star Wars: A New Hope opened with Darth Vader confronting the ever-crafty Leia Organa about Death Star plans that were smuggled to the rebellion. Not knowing how the rebel spies found the data at the time, the scene was genuinely terrifying, given the context. However, thanks to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the opening scene of A New Hope has not only lost some of its tension but has become infinitely funnier.
The end of Rogue One sees Leia personally receiving the files that reveal the secret weakness of the Empire’s Death Star. However, the opening of A New Hope, which is set perhaps five minutes afterward, has Leia lying through her teeth about the files, her mission, and her association with the rebels. And the fact that she is doing it with all the Skywalker sass she could muster, that too to Darth Vader (formerly Anakin Skywalker), makes the scene infinitely more hilarious.
Vader having to deal with his own brand of sass probably gives a few Jedi Masters peace in the Force
Anakin Skywalker was notoriously known as the Jedi Knight who wasn’t that keen on following orders from his higher-ups. The fandom at large, especially the section that is familiar with The Clone Wars, is aware of how sarcastic Anankin can get when it comes to working around the rules that are given to him. However, to see that exact sort of attitude thrown back at him at the beginning of A New Hope adds a layer of hilarity to the entire situation.
The end of Rogue One and the beginning of New Hope also explain why Darth Vader is as mad as he is, as the Dark Lord saw the ship that Leia was on leave, as he was making his way to it, only to board and then be met with Senator Organa claiming that it was a diplomatic mission to Alderaan and that she doesn’t know anything about the plans that were delivered to her mere moments ago. Not to mention how frustrating it would be for Vader if he ever figured out that the plans were smuggled from under his nose by C3PO, the protocol droid that he built, and R2D2, his former astromech.
Anakin Skywalker might have joined the Empire, but he created the tools that brought it down
Luke and Leia were instrumental in bringing down The Empire, but Anakin Skywalker had more than his children fighting against Palpatine and the Sith. Along with his children, Skywalker was also responsible for building C3PO and keeping R2D2 in working condition. Further, Anakin would also train Ahsoka, who would be important in bringing the Empire down as well. Not to mention Anakin’s battalion leader, Captain Rex, would also lead the charge among the rebellious clones, working to bring the Empire down in urban centers of various planets.
All in all, the Empire might have been able to seduce Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side, but the Jedi Knight was the architect of its downfall in a myriad of different ways. While there were other factors that contributed to the fall of the Empire, Luke, Leia, R2D2, C3PO, Ahsoka, and Captian Rex were valuable members of the rebellion who were able to contribute significantly to key battles in the war against the Empire, and were successful in bringing it down with their combined, independent efforts.
Rogue One and Star Wars: A New Hope can be streamed on Disney+
