The Myth That Rogue One Shattered

00:51:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7usTcVYZRo

Summary

TLDRThis video analyzes 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,' focusing on its themes, historical influences, and character development. It discusses how the Cold War and the fear of nuclear weapons influenced George Lucas’s creation of the Death Star as a symbol of power. The film is positioned as a war movie, focusing on moral ambiguity and complex characters. Unlike previous entries in the Star Wars franchise, 'Rogue One' emphasizes hope, collective action, and the struggles of ordinary people in wartime, moving away from the typical Jedi-centric narrative. The video ultimately highlights how the sacrifices made by the characters reflect the broader themes of resistance and faith in the hope for a better future.

Takeaways

  • 🌌 'Rogue One' draws inspiration from Cold War nuclear fears.
  • 💔 The Death Star symbolizes the psychological weight of power.
  • 🛡️ Hope is portrayed as an intangible force against tyranny.
  • ⚔️ The film emphasizes moral ambiguity and flawed heroes.
  • 🌍 Collective action becomes paramount in the struggle for freedom.
  • 🌱 Jyn Erso's character illustrates personal sacrifice for a greater cause.
  • 📖 Historical events influence the story's themes and narrative.
  • 🌟 The absence of Jedi highlights a more grounded exploration of faith.
  • ⚖️ The film portrays the complexities of rebellion and authority.
  • 📽️ Rogue One is less mythological, offering a war movie perspective.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    An opening quote introduces the video, which may contain spoilers and disturbing imagery. George Lucas's experiences growing up during the Cold War, including the fear of nuclear war and the influence of nuclear weapons on peace, are discussed. His childhood memories shaped the narrative of the Star Wars saga, particularly the creation of the Death Star as a metaphor for the nuclear threat.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The narrative connects the Death Star's destructive power to the cultural fears of the Cold War. Lucas used historical events like the Cuban Missile Crisis to frame the Star Wars storyline, emphasizing the importance of trusting in the Force and the possibility of hope amidst darkness. Star Wars was a response to contemporary threats and a mythological exploration of good vs. evil.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Reagan's missile defense initiative is compared to the themes of Star Wars, suggesting a misguided belief in weaponry. Lucas's focus was on the moral strength of nonviolent actions represented by the Force, opposing the reliance on nuclear arsenals. By the end of the Original Trilogy, the emphasis is on laying down weapons and seeking hope beyond destructiveness.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Lucas's intention to create a mythology is emphasized, promoting a deeper trust in something beyond political power. As the Cold War progressed, movements aimed at reducing nuclear stockpiles gained strength, yet pop culture narratives like Star Wars perpetuated the threat through imagery of additional Death Stars, delving into what these symbols represent.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The story of Rogue One begins with John Knoll's pitch to tell the deeper story of the Death Star and the sacrifices required for hope. Jyn Erso emerges as the central character, representing a new perspective on the rebels tasked with stealing the Death Star plans, paralleling histories of resistance and survival.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Gareth Edwards took the helm of Rogue One, blending themes of war and technology while grounding the narrative in the human experience. The absence of traditional heroism in this setting presents a more realistic portrayal of wartime ethics and the complexities behind characters on both sides of the conflict.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Edwards's direction aids in crafting a documentary-like aesthetic, aligning real-life parallels with the fictional universe. This shift in representation reflects on the struggles of various factions, reframing rebel characters who breach the conventional heroism displayed in earlier Star Wars films.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Rogue One's narrative and themes emphasize individuals' resolve to fight systemic oppression while exploring moral ambiguity. The characters’ experiences blur the lines of good versus evil, resonating with historical struggles against authoritarian regimes and their psychological tactics.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    As the film progresses, the gravity of the characters' choices weighs heavily, illustrating the challenging dynamics of trust amidst oppressive regimes. The emphasis on compliance becomes a struggle against the facades of control exerted by the Empire and reflects the larger geopolitical issues seen in real life.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:51:31

    The climax highlights the paradox of individual versus collective action, where the characters fight against overwhelming odds, reflecting on the themes of sacrifice and hope intertwined with the nature of rebellion. As sacrifices mount, the film suggests that despite the grim realities of war, the hope generated by collective action is invaluable.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What inspired the creation of the Death Star?

    The Death Star was inspired by the fears of nuclear weapons during the Cold War, reflecting the power and psychological weight of mutually assured destruction.

  • How did George Lucas's background influence Star Wars?

    Lucas's experiences during the Cold War, including the fear of nuclear war, shaped the mythological motifs in Star Wars, particularly in the portrayal of the Death Star.

  • What is the main theme of 'Rogue One'?

    The film emphasizes the power of hope and collective action in the face of oppression, challenging the notion of individual heroism.

  • How does 'Rogue One' differ from previous Star Wars films?

    It lacks the traditional Jedi focus and moral binaries, presenting a darker, more grounded perspective on war and rebellion.

  • What role does hope play in 'Rogue One'?

    Hope is portrayed as an intangible yet powerful force that motivates the characters to fight against tyranny.

  • What historical events influenced 'Rogue One'?

    The film draws from historical events, especially World War II and the Vietnam War, to highlight themes of resistance and sacrifice.

  • Why is there no direct mention of the Force in 'Rogue One'?

    The absence of Jedi and the Force emphasizes a more realistic portrayal of struggle and faith in collective action.

  • What is the significance of Jyn Erso’s character?

    Jyn represents the struggle for agency and the importance of personal sacrifice for a greater cause.

  • How does the film address themes of authority and rebellion?

    'Rogue One' showcases a complex portrayal of the Rebellion, highlighting the moral struggles and the harsh realities of fighting against an oppressive regime.

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  • 00:00:00
    - That's no moon. It's a space station.
  • 00:00:04
    - ArTorr videos are made possible  by contributions on Patreon.
  • 00:00:08
    This video contains disturbing images  presented in an educational context.
  • 00:00:12
    This video also contains spoilers  for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
  • 00:00:49
    - George Lucas remembers the Cold War.
  • 00:00:56
    He remembers proxy conflicts around the  globe, from the Korean War to Vietnam.
  • 00:01:01
    He probably remembers the duck-and-cover  drills he had to take in school.
  • 00:01:05
    He remembers the threat of communist espionage;  or at least the movies made about it.
  • 00:01:10
    And he remembers that which was  impossible for so many to unremember:
  • 00:01:15
    the fear of all-out nuclear war.  Mutually-assured destruction.
  • 00:01:20
    Death from above.
  • 00:01:26
    Did he fear it himself? Maybe not.
  • 00:01:29
    But like so many of his generation,  Lucas grew up in a world that had been
  • 00:01:33
    utterly reshaped by the bombs dropped on  Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
  • 00:01:40
    Not only the most destructive  weapons in the history of the world,
  • 00:01:43
    but the most effective psychological weapons too.
  • 00:01:46
    The fear of nuclear force alone played a  vital role in securing peace in Western
  • 00:01:51
    Europe after World War II, and it was a  fear that America alone could inflict.
  • 00:01:56
    For about 4 years anyway.
  • 00:01:59
    In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully  exploded its first atomic bomb. Soon after,
  • 00:02:05
    the United Kingdom, France, and  the People's Republic of China
  • 00:02:08
    followed with their own successful weapon tests.
  • 00:02:11
    The gun that once only America could point at  the world could now be pointed back at them.
  • 00:02:16
    A reality that would grow terrifyingly  apparent for all Americans by the Cuban
  • 00:02:21
    Missile Crisis of 1962, where the presence  of Soviet-deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba
  • 00:02:26
    led to a tense confrontation between the two  world powers and their respective leaders:
  • 00:02:31
    President John F Kennedy and  First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev.
  • 00:02:35
    "Cease the delivery of weapons  to Cuba, or we will cease them."
  • 00:02:39
    "Oh yeah America? Deactivate the missiles you  have deployed in Turkey, and then we can talk."
  • 00:02:45
    In the end, America withdrew  its naval blockade of Cuba,
  • 00:02:48
    and the USSR its nuclear  weapons. Armageddon was averted.
  • 00:02:52
    Even still, the legacy of the crisis lived  on in the American mind. A fear that,
  • 00:02:58
    in the words of "Star Wars and  Politics" essayist Nick Desolage,
  • 00:03:01
    "people had almost no influence  over the fate of the world..."
  • 00:03:10
    From these nuclear fears, the Death Star  was born. An intergalactic superweapon
  • 00:03:15
    capable of destroying entire planets,  in the hands of a tyrannical Empire.
  • 00:03:20
    Just as George Lucas drew  inspiration from westerns,
  • 00:03:23
    samurai movies, and mythology, Star  Wars was also inspired by history.
  • 00:03:29
    The dog fighting of World War II; the asymmetrical  warfare of Vietnam; and the nuclear weapons
  • 00:03:35
    that defined the Cold War. An era that, in  itself, was too ongoing to even be history.
  • 00:03:42
    It's by no mistake that the first  on-screen victim of the Death Star
  • 00:03:45
    was a world visually reminiscent of  Earth. Star Wars may very well have
  • 00:03:49
    been a silly space opera, but that  didn't mean it couldn't be relevant.
  • 00:03:53
    - I consciously set about to recreate myths  and the, and the classic mythological,
  • 00:04:01
    uh, motifs. Uh, and I wanted to use those  motifs to deal with issues that existed today.
  • 00:04:14
    - That even in a world engulfed in nuclear  tensions and imperialist aspirations,
  • 00:04:19
    there was still hope for a better tomorrow.
  • 00:04:22
    Some, such as President Ronald Reagan,
  • 00:04:24
    might have interpreted that hope  in the building of more weapons.
  • 00:04:28
    His strategic defense initiative,  announced in 1983, called for a
  • 00:04:32
    missile defense system that could  destroy nuclear weapons from space.
  • 00:04:35
    Critics argued it recklessly flew in  the face of established nuclear policy
  • 00:04:39
    and would reignite an arms race. Some  even called it the "Star Wars" program;
  • 00:04:44
    a name with pop culture cache that Reagan  would wield to glorify his endeavors.
  • 00:04:49
    But Star Wars was not about wielding  weapons, building thermonuclear bombs,
  • 00:04:53
    or beating your opponent with  even deadlier technological force.
  • 00:04:57
    It was about turning the technology off, destroying the nukes,
  • 00:05:03
    and by the end of the Original Trilogy,  learning to lay the weapon down.
  • 00:05:09
    Of course Lucas was no politician--  and barely a historian.
  • 00:05:14
    The idea that any first world power would  just give up the nuclear arsenal for the
  • 00:05:18
    sake of humanity was a childish one,  but not a serious suggestion either.
  • 00:05:23
    At its heart, Star Wars was a mythology;  designed to assert the value of trusting
  • 00:05:29
    in something deeper and more powerful than any  weapon. The Force. A mystical energy field that,
  • 00:05:35
    of course, bound the universe together, but  also represented a steady conviction in moral,
  • 00:05:40
    selfless, and at times, nonviolent action.
  • 00:05:44
    In a wider sense, it represented faith.
  • 00:05:47
    Whether or not that meant anything to  the audiences of 1977, what the force
  • 00:05:51
    allowed Luke Skywalker and his rebel  allies to accomplish certainly did.
  • 00:05:56
    For a brief, magical moment, they were allowed  to forget the gun pointed at their heads...
  • 00:06:03
    In time, we'd all forget. By the  decades following the Cold War,
  • 00:06:07
    anti-nuclear movements like Nuclear  Freeze helped reduce weapon stockpiles
  • 00:06:11
    and established treaties banning  nuclear weapon testing around the world.
  • 00:06:15
    The genie never went back in the bottle,
  • 00:06:17
    but the age of nuclear fear,  relatively speaking, was over.
  • 00:06:21
    Some of those who were children during the Cuban  Missile Crisis, or even just the duck-and-cover
  • 00:06:25
    drills, grew up to make films about the threat  of nuclear apocalypse. So much so, it practically
  • 00:06:30
    became a trope, normalizing, or even fantasizing,  the idea of nuclear threat for newer generations.
  • 00:06:37
    Arguably, even Star Wars did this  by building another Death Star.
  • 00:06:41
    The real world significance of  Lucas's mythological super weapon
  • 00:06:44
    got lost in pop culture and buried by time...
  • 00:06:53
    Until... they dug it back up...
  • 00:06:58
    Almost 40 years after Lucas first introduced  the world to the Star Wars galaxy, a pitch
  • 00:07:03
    for a new kind of Star Wars story passed through  the company halls of Lucasfilm, recently acquired
  • 00:07:08
    by Walt Disney Pictures. And surprisingly,  it didn't come from a writer or a producer.
  • 00:07:14
    It came from Visual Effects Supervisor  John Knoll, who may have been too young
  • 00:07:17
    to experience nuclear fear in the same way  Lucas did, but not duck-and-cover drills at
  • 00:07:22
    school. Or even how he felt reading the words of  the Star Wars opening crawl for the first time.
  • 00:07:27
    In 2013, he'd present his pitch to  Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy
  • 00:07:31
    and Senior Vice President of development  Kiri Hart as a seven-page story treatment.
  • 00:07:36
    It was called...
  • 00:07:38
    Star Wars: Destroyer of Worlds.
  • 00:07:43
    A World War II-inspired heist film about the Rebel  spies that stole the secret plans to the Death
  • 00:07:48
    Star. Something like Mission Impossible meets  The Hunt for Red October, but with Rebel pilots,
  • 00:07:53
    a double agent, two very tall aliens, and  a battle-hardened captain named Jyn Erso.
  • 00:07:59
    Many things would change about The Destroyer of  Worlds over its months-long pre-production period,
  • 00:08:04
    but Jyn would change the least.  She was the heart of this story.
  • 00:08:08
    One that sought a new perspective on  the most iconic superweapon in cinema.
  • 00:08:13
    After a months-long search, Knoll and Lucasfilm  would find that perspective in Gareth Edwards.
  • 00:08:19
    As the writer, director, cinematographer,  and one-man VFX crew of Monsters,
  • 00:08:24
    his directorial debut in 2010, Edwards was  no stranger to intensely visual filmmaking.
  • 00:08:30
    His sense of scale, already signature to his work,
  • 00:08:33
    was ultimately rooted in grounding things  from the most terrifying perspective possible.
  • 00:08:38
    But Edwards had also worked as a digital artist  on the BBC docu-drama about the Hiroshima bombing,
  • 00:08:43
    and-- at the time Lucasfilm hired him-- was  nearing the end of post-production on 2014's
  • 00:08:48
    Godzilla. A story about the monstrous  repercussions of abusing atomic power.
  • 00:08:54
    If anyone could put the nuclear fear  back in the Death Star, it was Edwards.
  • 00:08:58
    - When it came to this super weapon metaphor  of the Death Star, which is really like,
  • 00:09:02
    nuclear bomb, right? Oppenheimer-- like  who's Oppenheimer, right? Who's the
  • 00:09:06
    Oppenheimer? Especially because we couldn't  have Tarkin necessarily the way we wanted.
  • 00:09:10
    So it felt like the designer of the Death  Star was someone that should be in our movie,
  • 00:09:14
    or could be in our movie. And then he  became the dad, and-- and that felt right.
  • 00:09:20
    - Though Edwards and his team were essentially  making a prequel to the original Star Wars,
  • 00:09:24
    they never had to play by the  same rules as George Lucas's saga.
  • 00:09:28
    Something that screenwriter Gary Whitta would
  • 00:09:29
    take and run with right from the  start of breaking Knoll's story.
  • 00:09:33
    Destroyer of Worlds begins without an  opening crawl, and instead with a flashback.
  • 00:09:37
    Told from the perspective of ordinary  people in the Star Wars galaxy,
  • 00:09:41
    it's the first Star Wars movie without Jedi  and without direct evidence of the Force.
  • 00:09:45
    There isn't a single wipe or  fade cut in the entire film.
  • 00:09:49
    And where the parentage of other Star Wars heroes  is typically shrouded in mystery, Felicity Jones's
  • 00:09:54
    Jyn Erso knows who her father is... - Whatever I do,
  • 00:09:59
    I do it to protect you. - And condemns who her father is.
  • 00:10:07
    Most crucially, Destroyer of  Worlds defies the thematic
  • 00:10:10
    clarity of Star Wars iconography and  the moral binary it often presents.
  • 00:10:15
    The hero is not a plucky, aspiring  adventurer dressed in white, but a
  • 00:10:19
    grime-covered, world-weary survivor  with an impressive criminal record.
  • 00:10:23
    - Possession of unsanctioned weapons,  forgery of Imperial documents,
  • 00:10:27
    aggrivated assault, escaping  custody, resisting arrest...
  • 00:10:31
    - Rebel Captain Cassian Andor, played by Diego  Luna, is not some altruistic rebel Robin Hood,
  • 00:10:37
    but someone willing to put the Rebellion  above everything... even his own soul.
  • 00:10:47
    His co-pilot is not the familiar protocol droid  or astromech, but a reprogrammed Imperial security
  • 00:10:53
    droid: K-2SO, played by Alan Tudyk. - Doesn't sound so bad to me.
  • 00:11:01
    - The most heroic act this early in the  film is carried out by, of all people,
  • 00:11:06
    an Imperial pilot: Riz Ahmed's Bohdi Rook.
  • 00:11:09
    Conversely, the Rebels he meets-- the first we see  in the film-- are all alien or wearing helmets;
  • 00:11:16
    unlike the Rebels of the original  Star Wars, who were not just human,
  • 00:11:19
    but were immediately sympathetic to  the audience because of their humanity.
  • 00:11:24
    These are the Partisans, an extremist  Rebel cell led by Forest Whitaker's Saw
  • 00:11:28
    Gerrera. Someone who was trained by Anakin  Skywalker, encased in a suit of armor like
  • 00:11:34
    Darth Vader, and equipped with a breathing  apparatus that sounds just as familiar...
  • 00:11:41
    At just about every turn, Destroyer of  Worlds blurs the line between good and evil,
  • 00:11:46
    portraying a version of the Stars universe  that is less mythological and more in-line
  • 00:11:50
    with what production coordinator  Neil Lamont called a "docu-war film."
  • 00:11:54
    Down to its DNA, this was a war  movie. Like The Guns of Navarone,
  • 00:11:58
    Where Eagles Dare, or even The Dirty Dozen.
  • 00:12:01
    The film's intro was inspired  by Inglorious Basterds,
  • 00:12:04
    while Saw was reimagined as a Colonel  Kurtz-type character from Apocalypse Now.
  • 00:12:09
    Director of photography Greg Frasier,  fresh off of Zero Dark Thirty,
  • 00:12:12
    opted for a more improvised shooting style than  the franchise's traditionally composed imagery,
  • 00:12:17
    combining handheld camera work with  360° sets to achieve a more neutral,
  • 00:12:21
    ground-level perspective of the Star  Wars universe; almost like a documentary.
  • 00:12:26
    The soft focus and lower contrast of every  frame amplifies moral ambiguity, where
  • 00:12:31
    the difference between right and wrong either  never comes into focus, or is lost in the gray.
  • 00:12:36
    There's something noticeably different  about the way the characters move
  • 00:12:39
    through the frame or even just the way  they breathe. As if there's an extra
  • 00:12:43
    layer of humanity now weighing down on them  in this ultra-realistic Star Wars setting.
  • 00:12:48
    No actor ever hams it up for the  camera nor leans into cartoonish
  • 00:12:51
    villainy. These are people; every  bit as complicated as you and me.
  • 00:12:57
    - Any idea where he's been all that time? - I like to think he's dead. Makes
  • 00:13:02
    things easier. - Easier than what?
  • 00:13:04
    That he's been a tool of the Imperial war machine? - I've never had the luxury of political opinions.
  • 00:13:09
    - Of course injecting realism into a franchise  lauded for sci-fi worldbuilding had inherent
  • 00:13:15
    appeal. But Edwards and Whitta's  intentions ran deeper than curiosity.
  • 00:13:19
    In bringing Star Wars "down to earth,"  It also brought Star Wars closer to
  • 00:13:23
    its historical influences, and  thus to the realities of war.
  • 00:13:28
    The Imperial garrison on Jedha  becomes a colonialist occupying force,
  • 00:13:32
    extracting the raw natural resource of Kyber.
  • 00:13:35
    The armored tanks rolling through the  streets evoke a Nazi-occupied Paris in 1940,
  • 00:13:40
    while the officers and generals  commanding these forces are cut
  • 00:13:43
    from the same cloth as the Nazi and  fascist commanders of World War II.
  • 00:13:48
    Meanwhile Rebels become unkempt guerilla  terrorists-- at least, in the eyes of the Empire.
  • 00:13:54
    The bouts of street warfare seen early on  evoke the fighting between IDF and Hamas
  • 00:13:59
    forces in the 2014 Gaza War, which occurred  at the time of the film's development.
  • 00:14:04
    And Saw Gerrera lives up to a little bit of his  namesake in Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.
  • 00:14:11
    There's no righteous path to victory, no  morally-convenient acts of resistance,
  • 00:14:16
    and no consensus on even the validity of  these ideas. Especially among the Rebellion.
  • 00:14:21
    - Galen Erso is vital to the  Empire's weapons program. Forget
  • 00:14:24
    what you heard in there. There will be no  extraction. You find him-- you kill him.
  • 00:14:30
    - These characters are made  to feel the boot of living
  • 00:14:33
    under an oppressive Empire. And through  Edward's direction, the audience does too.
  • 00:14:39
    Optimism is in short supply. Trust, even less so.
  • 00:14:43
    For the consequences of misplacing your  trust could get you shot in the back.
  • 00:14:48
    - Why does she get a blaster and I don't? - What?
  • 00:14:52
    - I know how to use it. - That's not the point...
  • 00:14:56
    Where'd you get it? - I found it.
  • 00:14:58
    - I find that answer vague and unconvincing. - Trust goes both ways.
  • 00:15:03
    - While a single act of bravery, no matter  how courageous could cost you your life.
  • 00:15:10
    - What's wrong with him? - I brought the message I'm the pilot.
  • 00:15:14
    - If your aim is long-term survival, there's  only one logical course of action: compliance.
  • 00:15:21
    Do as the Empire says, stay out of  trouble, and find enough scratch to get by.
  • 00:15:26
    If setting up a meeting between Saw Gerrera  and the Rebellion achieves that for Jyn,
  • 00:15:30
    then that's all that truly matters. It's not  much of a life but it beats living in a cave.
  • 00:15:35
    The boot isn't so bad.
  • 00:15:37
    - You can stand to see the
  • 00:15:39
    Imperial flag reign across the Galaxy. - It's not a problem if you don't look up.
  • 00:15:45
    - But that's where Jyn is wrong.
  • 00:15:48
    This isn't a life at all, and it never  will be. The power to negotiate her level
  • 00:15:53
    of agency with her oppressors is-- as  it is for everyone-- not even limited,
  • 00:15:59
    but nonexistent. A complete illusion.
  • 00:16:03
    One that will soon be shattered.
  • 00:16:06
    - If you are watching this then perhaps there's  a chance to save the Alliance. Perhaps there's a
  • 00:16:13
    chance to explain myself, and though I don't  dare hope for too much, a chance for Jyn.
  • 00:16:18
    - When the Death Star is complete, it  will yield the same psychological power
  • 00:16:23
    as the atomic bomb in the years  following Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  • 00:16:27
    A gun pointed at the world, capable  of inducing as much fear as firepower.
  • 00:16:33
    It will realize the fears of our Cold War,
  • 00:16:35
    and absolve whatever democratic power  remains within their Imperial Senate.
  • 00:16:40
    Rule not by force, but by the fear of force.
  • 00:16:47
    What Jyn and the Rebels do have is that  which is so insignificant to the Empire,
  • 00:16:52
    massive and indomitable in its scope,  that they couldn't possibly think to
  • 00:16:56
    notice. A resource they can't mine, can't  exploit, and can't hold at gunpoint.
  • 00:17:02
    Hope.
  • 00:17:03
    - It's just so hard not to think of you...  think of where you are... my stardust.
  • 00:17:12
    - Hope that compelled Galen  Erso not to take his life,
  • 00:17:17
    but to push through pain and suffering  and anguish to give the Galaxy a chance.
  • 00:17:23
    A wager on faith in the daughter  he raised that she too will push
  • 00:17:28
    through inevitable torment to save  the Galaxy from eternal oppression.
  • 00:17:32
    A sacrifice that will cost  everything ,but will save everyone.
  • 00:17:37
    That's all she has.
  • 00:17:40
    Not something you can pick up and fire, and  not a mystical energy field. Not a knight in
  • 00:17:45
    shining armor, and much less a Jedi Knight.  Only that which she cannot see nor touch.
  • 00:17:52
    No one else is coming.
  • 00:17:54
    The institutional safeguards  against corruption, greed,
  • 00:17:57
    and the consolidation of power  already failed a long time ago.
  • 00:18:03
    All that remains is yourself.
  • 00:18:34
    - Get us out of here!
  • 00:18:47
    - Come on!
  • 00:19:05
    - Oh. It's beautiful.
  • 00:19:21
    - Destroyer of Worlds would go by many  names over the course of its production.
  • 00:19:26
    Gary Whitta would suggest titles  like Shadow of the Death Star or
  • 00:19:30
    Star Wars Rebellion while breaking the story.
  • 00:19:32
    On set, the movie went by  the code name "Los Alamos,"
  • 00:19:35
    referencing the site where J. Robert  Oppenheimer built the atomic bomb.
  • 00:19:40
    But when the script reached  writer Chris Weitz in early 2015,
  • 00:19:43
    it had a name that would last longer than most.
  • 00:19:46
    Star Wars: The Dark Times. A title that  may have not reflected the mission to
  • 00:19:50
    steal the Death Star plans, but did reflect  the grounded story that Edwards was crafting.
  • 00:19:56
    In a galaxy of broken trust, how did the  normal person find the strength to survive?
  • 00:20:01
    This was one of many questions  Weitz wanted to answer when
  • 00:20:04
    Edwards and Lucasfilm hired him to  write the first screenplay-- along
  • 00:20:08
    with how Lucasfilm could simplify  the story to reign-in the budget.
  • 00:20:11
    Very quickly, he would find that all his dilemmas  could be solved by the same answer: Jedha.
  • 00:20:26
    In Whitta's story, Jyn began her  journey on the planet of Ord Mantell,
  • 00:20:30
    looking for an arms dealer that would take her  to Saw Gerrera, who was on a moon named Yared.
  • 00:20:35
    Eliminating a whole planet from the script,  Death Star style, would save development time
  • 00:20:39
    and money. And thus the story of both planets  were combined into a single new planet. Jedha.
  • 00:20:45
    A cold desert world where  the Jedi themselves are gone,
  • 00:20:48
    but conviction in the faith they  stood for, The Force, is not.
  • 00:20:52
    Stripped of the mystical power seen  so often in the rest of the Saga,
  • 00:20:56
    the Force now serves the same  purpose faith would serve us.
  • 00:21:00
    Lending a sense of meaning to the  plight of the common man or woman.
  • 00:21:04
    A candle in the darkness, where  the adage "there are no atheists in
  • 00:21:08
    foxholes," resonates with the armed insurgents  making violent skirmishes against the Empire.
  • 00:21:13
    - Is he a Jedi? - There are no
  • 00:21:16
    Jedi here anymore. Only dreamers like this fool.
  • 00:21:19
    - Chirrut Imwe, a blind Zatoichi-inspired  nomad played by Donnie Yen was Weitz's
  • 00:21:25
    way of confronting the characters-- and  the audience-- with the value of faith.
  • 00:21:30
    As Jyn struggles to earn Cassian's trust,  Chirrut places his in Jyn seemingly on a whim,
  • 00:21:36
    viewing her as something of a "Chosen One" to  his religious order, the Guardians of the Whills.
  • 00:21:41
    - The strongest stars have hearts of Kyber.
  • 00:21:44
    - Conversely, while Jyn  questions the value of hope,
  • 00:21:49
    Chirrut fully embraces the will of the  force. Essentially, the will of God.
  • 00:21:54
    Both resources that can  neither be seen nor touched,
  • 00:21:57
    rejected at every turn by  our most agnostic characters.
  • 00:22:00
    - We give her your name and hope  that gets us a meeting with Saw.
  • 00:22:04
    - Hope? - Yeah.
  • 00:22:07
    - I'm beginning to think the force  and I have different priorities.
  • 00:22:11
    - Especially Jiang Wen's Baze Malbus, the  C-3PO to Chirrut's R2-D2. Or vice versa.
  • 00:22:18
    - The Force did protect me. - I protected you!
  • 00:22:21
    - This is the challenge of  the Dark Times's second act.
  • 00:22:25
    The challenge of faith itself. Is it even real?
  • 00:22:29
    - How could a candle in the darkness ever  compare to the power of a thousand suns?
  • 00:22:35
    If the "Force" Chirrut blindly puts his faith in  has no tangible evidence or utility in the fight,
  • 00:22:41
    how much more valuable are the ramblings  of a thief One who's no doubt desperate
  • 00:22:46
    to redeem the one and only connection she  has left in the galaxy after Saw Gerrera?
  • 00:22:51
    - Where's the message? - It was a hologram.
  • 00:22:54
    - You have that message right? - You don't believe me.
  • 00:22:59
    - I'm not the one you gotta convince.
  • 00:23:02
    - Of Cassian, The Dark Times also asks similar
  • 00:23:06
    questions. Not about the religion he  places his faith in, but the cause:
  • 00:23:11
    the Rebellion. And whether or not his  faith in it would be better placed in Jyn.
  • 00:23:16
    - Tell him my orders still stand. We  have no idea what he's building for
  • 00:23:20
    the Empire. We have to kill Galen  Ersa while we have the chance.
  • 00:23:24
    - The tension at play doesn't  just make for more interesting
  • 00:23:27
    character dynamics. It underscores  the difficulty of nurturing a belief
  • 00:23:31
    in anything to begin with. The strain of  authoritarianism on collective action.
  • 00:23:37
    - What autocrats and authoritarians want the  most is for citizens to be uninformed and to
  • 00:23:44
    control critical thinking, appeal to humans  worst traits, and offer lies and opaqueness.
  • 00:23:50
    They do not look out to improve the lives of  others and they fear so much humans desires
  • 00:23:56
    to join together to express their views  and preferences and demand accountability.
  • 00:24:01
    Out of that fear emerges repression as a  way to control the flow of information,
  • 00:24:06
    and to ensure that there is a hyper asymmetry  of information. And if they can get away,
  • 00:24:11
    opt to be opaque rather than transparent.
  • 00:24:15
    - How much farther? - I don't know,
  • 00:24:18
    I'm not sure, I never really come this way!
  • 00:24:22
    - While our characters drown  in their uncertainties,
  • 00:24:26
    a feeling exasperated by  Eadu-- clouded with rain, fog,
  • 00:24:30
    and darkness-- the Empire unleashes firing  squads on their most dissenting elements.
  • 00:24:35
    For as long as they can pit people  and movements against each other,
  • 00:24:39
    the Empire will accumulate even more control.
  • 00:24:42
    If they can pit people against the  truth, even better. It will only
  • 00:24:46
    further enshrine the Emperor as the  sole voice of reason in the galaxy.
  • 00:24:50
    The only "force" anyone should believe in.
  • 00:24:53
    - There is no Death Star. The  Senate has been informed that
  • 00:24:58
    Jedha was destroyed in a mining disaster.
  • 00:25:00
    - Some might believe otherwise. That  the Emperor's authority is brittle.
  • 00:25:06
    Some men, like Director Orson Krennic,
  • 00:25:08
    played by Ben Mendelsohn, might have the  ambition to rival Palpatines's eminence.
  • 00:25:14
    But the story Edwards's team was building  challenged this notion as well, and again,
  • 00:25:19
    hearkened to real world dictatorships.
  • 00:25:22
    To Krennic, the Death Star never matters  for its firepower, psychological power,
  • 00:25:27
    or how it'll be used at all. Only how it will  advance his career and standing with the Emperor.
  • 00:25:33
    A goal that, by design of the Empire, is shared  by each and every bureaucrat moving up the ranks.
  • 00:25:38
    Including Grand Moff Tarkin, played by a robot.
  • 00:25:42
    Tarkin not only threatens to snatch supervision  of the Death Star from Krennic, but wisely
  • 00:25:47
    withholds the intel that allows him to continue  calling Krennic's authority into question.
  • 00:25:51
    - I'm afraid the recent security  breaches have laid bare your
  • 00:25:54
    inadequacies as a military director. - The breaches have been filled.
  • 00:25:58
    - You think this pilot acted  alone? He was dispatched from
  • 00:26:02
    the installation on Eadu. - We'll see about this.
  • 00:26:06
    - By the time Krennic confronts Darth  Vader, the Emperor's personal enforcer,
  • 00:26:10
    Krennic's sense of control  or authority is still intact.
  • 00:26:14
    But by the end of their encounter, Vader shatters  this too. This is not how the Empire works.
  • 00:26:21
    - Be careful not to choke on  your aspirations Director.
  • 00:26:28
    - Authoritarian regimes may actively  inflate internal rivalry in government
  • 00:26:34
    processes to prevent complex policy actions  from being coordinated from the bottom up.
  • 00:26:39
    As the system grows more fragmented, the  autocrat becomes the only actor powerful
  • 00:26:44
    enough to cut through turf wars  and strategic bargaining to direct
  • 00:26:48
    ambitious policy initiatives from the top down.
  • 00:26:51
    - In this way, the bureaucracy of  the Empire keeps men like Krennic
  • 00:26:55
    from ever obstructing its competitive  design; always seeking the Emperor's
  • 00:26:59
    approval rather than dismantling the very  system that pits director against Moff;
  • 00:27:04
    and much further down the social  ladder, spy against thief.
  • 00:27:08
    - I'm coming with you. - No. Your father's message.
  • 00:27:11
    We can't risk it. You're the messenger. - That's ridiculous, we all got the
  • 00:27:15
    message. Everyone here knows it. - One blast to the reactor module
  • 00:27:18
    and the whole system goes down-- - Get to work fixing your comms!
  • 00:27:22
    - If Jyn can't rally the support to rescue her  father, then maybe she can lead by example.
  • 00:27:28
    Where she previously resisted all attempts to  connect with anyone or anything beyond herself,
  • 00:27:33
    Jyn now charts a path of her own through Eadu.  Both to recover her relationship with her father,
  • 00:27:38
    and to get that much closer to destroying  the weapon that first spawned their rift.
  • 00:27:43
    - Get back down there and  find us a ride out of here.
  • 00:27:46
    - What are you doing? - You heard me.
  • 00:27:48
    - You said we came up here just to have a look. - I'm here. I'm looking. Go!
  • 00:27:52
    - Cassian too is devoted to a mission of his own,  but there's nothing noble about his intentions.
  • 00:27:57
    From a distance, he sees Galen Erso: the Death  Star scientist and creator of nightmares to come.
  • 00:28:04
    But through the scope of his rifle, Cassian  sees something... different. Something familiar.
  • 00:28:11
    Something we can't see, but understand perfectly--
  • 00:28:19
    as a crisis of faith.
  • 00:28:23
    That maybe his cause is not a candle in the  darkness, but a loaded gun, ordered to carry
  • 00:28:28
    out something he knows is wrong. The myth that  shattered for Jyn slowly shatters for Cassian.
  • 00:28:35
    And all the same, there's  nothing he can do about it.
  • 00:28:41
    - Jyn. No!
  • 00:28:45
    - Fear divides, encourages distrust,
  • 00:28:48
    and pushes two armed factions ever closer to  war. All the while, the fight for individual
  • 00:28:55
    freedom that Cassian first enlisted for  gets lost in the flames and fog on Eadu.
  • 00:29:01
    This is war. And unlike the one we see in  Lucas's fairytale, faith has no place in it.
  • 00:29:08
    The grim reality that Edwards,  Whitta and Weitz were so keen to
  • 00:29:11
    capture about the Star Wars galaxy  is brought closer than ever before.
  • 00:29:16
    And as ever... it's not fair.
  • 00:29:25
    - I have so much to tell you...
  • 00:29:34
    - Jyn believed in her father,  and she was right to do so.
  • 00:29:38
    Even still, that belief wasn't strong  enough to stop the Empire from taking him
  • 00:29:42
    away. From stealing all their time, and all  the memories they could have made together.
  • 00:29:48
    In many ways, there was nothing they could  have done. There was never a chance at all.
  • 00:29:54
    Why suppose that's any different now?
  • 00:29:57
    - Risk everything based on what? - What chance do we have?
  • 00:30:00
    - "Death Star," this is nonsense! - Because maybe, there's always a chance.
  • 00:30:06
    - What chance do we have? The  question is what choice! Run,
  • 00:30:12
    hide, plead for mercy, scatter your forces!
  • 00:30:15
    You give way to an enemy this evil with this much
  • 00:30:18
    power and you condemn the galaxy  to an eternity of submission.
  • 00:30:20
    - Democracy was never bulletproof. Something  that the senators present on Yavin 4,
  • 00:30:26
    unable to reach consensus and disillusioned by  19 years of Imperial lies, perfectly illustrate.
  • 00:30:32
    That even in the face of impending  doom, liberal arrogance prevents them
  • 00:30:36
    from accepting that the Empire will  soon abandon democracy altogether.
  • 00:30:42
    But people on the other hand? There's  something about people that defies expectation.
  • 00:30:48
    People that, when joined together,  could be capable of moving mountains.
  • 00:30:54
    That might be worth believing  in... if not giving a shot.
  • 00:30:58
    - And every time I walked away  from something I wanted to forget,
  • 00:31:03
    I told myself it was for a  cause that I believed in.
  • 00:31:07
    Without that, we're lost. Everything  we've done would have been for nothing.
  • 00:31:14
    I couldn't face myself if I gave up now.
  • 00:31:16
    - They may not have the Force-- not with  its magical powers anyway. But what does
  • 00:31:22
    flow between them speaks to an idea present  in Lucas's original draft of Star Wars;
  • 00:31:27
    exactly where Weitz got The Whills from.
  • 00:31:30
    The Force of Others. The  original name for the Force,
  • 00:31:34
    suggesting that a Jedi's power came from  their connection to the people around them.
  • 00:31:38
    Even in his mythology, Lucas was championing  the power of collective action. Now in its more
  • 00:31:44
    grounded iteration, it is the galaxy's only hope.
  • 00:31:48
    - May the Force be with us.
  • 00:31:52
    - There's one more thing of note that emerged from Weitz's draft.
  • 00:31:55
    Or rather, something that emerged after it.
  • 00:31:58
    Dozens of names, if not more, had been  thrown out during the pre-production
  • 00:32:02
    period of the first Star War spin-off. The  Dark Times had its gritty, honest appeal.
  • 00:32:07
    - That's an impounded Imperial  ship! What's your call sign pilot?
  • 00:32:11
    - But by the start of production, Edwards  and Lucasfilm elected for something shorter,
  • 00:32:16
    more hopeful, and more faithful  to the spirit of the film...
  • 00:32:20
    - Rogue....
  • 00:32:23
    Rogue One! - Rogue One?!
  • 00:32:25
    There is no Rogue One! - Well there is now!
  • 00:32:29
    ["Rogue One Theme" Plays]
  • 00:32:38
    - Rogue One kicked off its globe- trotting production on August 8th, 2015.
  • 00:32:43
    Over the next 6 months, the crew would  travel from Iceland, to Wadi Rum in Jordan,
  • 00:32:47
    the Masada Fortification in  Israel, the London Underground,
  • 00:32:51
    and the islands of the Maldives, where  the final act of Rogue One was filmed.
  • 00:32:55
    The Battle of Scarif.
  • 00:32:57
    - This shuttle should be equipped with an access  code that'll allows us through. Assuming the
  • 00:33:01
    Empire hasn't logged it as overdue. - And if they have?
  • 00:33:05
    - Then they shut the gate. Then we're  all annihilated in the cold dark vacuum
  • 00:33:09
    of space... - Lovely.
  • 00:33:11
    - Ever since his story treatment,
  • 00:33:13
    John Knoll wanted to see things that he  had never seen before in a Star Wars film.
  • 00:33:17
    On Scarif, Edwards and his crew would deliver.
  • 00:33:20
    The film's final battleground would be  shot in broad daylight on a tropical beach;
  • 00:33:24
    an uncommon theater for sci-fi warfare.
  • 00:33:26
    It both evoked the World War II battlegrounds  in the Pacific or luscious jungles of Vietnam,
  • 00:33:31
    and conveyed a renewed clarity of purpose for Jyn  and her allies, after the uncertainty of Eadu.
  • 00:33:37
    Thousands of designs new, old, and iterated  upon would finally converge on one multi-planed
  • 00:33:43
    battle directly inspired by the multiple  planes of action in Return of the Jedi.
  • 00:33:47
    But different outcomes and versions  of the battle would also emerge from
  • 00:33:50
    filming. Both out of a desire for  wiggle-room in the editing stage,
  • 00:33:54
    and because of what happened after Lucasfilm  saw Edwards's first cut of the film.
  • 00:33:59
    Sometime after the end of  principal filming in February 2016,
  • 00:34:03
    Lucasfilm reached out to the man who would  become Rogue One's fourth-credited writer.
  • 00:34:07
    Scribe of Michael Clayton and The  Bourne Ultimatum, Tony Gilroy.
  • 00:34:11
    His task, along with his brother's--  editor John Gilroy-- in so many words
  • 00:34:16
    was to "fix Rogue One." A process that  involved five weeks of re-shoots and
  • 00:34:20
    enough script touch-ups to score Gilroy  a screenwriting credit in the final film.
  • 00:34:25
    He streamlined the plot, reworked  the mechanics of the final battle,
  • 00:34:28
    and added in scenes that redefined  characters in subtle, but meaningful ways.
  • 00:34:33
    Nowhere was this more apparent  than with Cassian Andor.
  • 00:34:36
    The double agent in Knoll's original  story treatment? That was Cassian.
  • 00:34:40
    His decision to back Jyn before the final  battle was originally a moment of redemption,
  • 00:34:44
    rescinding his Imperial loyalty  to go after the Death Star plans.
  • 00:34:48
    Instead, Gilroy wanted to emphasize  the toll of the Rebellion on Cassian,
  • 00:34:52
    amplifying his ideological conflict with Jyn Erso.
  • 00:34:56
    He even wrote a new introduction scene  for Cassian at the start of the film.
  • 00:35:00
    Something about Andor compelled Gilroy.  Something that stirred a lot of thought,
  • 00:35:04
    but also engaged even more directly with the  historical and political nuances of the film.
  • 00:35:11
    - Are we blind?! Deploy the garrison!
  • 00:35:18
    - Though rumors circulated that Edwards's  original cut was a mess and that Gilroy was
  • 00:35:23
    the savior of Rogue One, Edwards would  be the first to acknowledge that this
  • 00:35:26
    wasn't true-- and was always contrary to  how he wanted Rogue One to be assembled.
  • 00:35:31
    Since the beginning, Rogue One was a relay race.
  • 00:35:34
    Each writer passed the baton off to  the next writer to expand the story.
  • 00:35:38
    Each artist passed off their art to  the next artist, who would then iterate
  • 00:35:41
    and iterate until an all black C-3PO  became a new Imperial Security Droid.
  • 00:35:46
    Even composer Michael Giacchino had  to take up the reigns of writing the
  • 00:35:49
    score after Alexandre Desplat dropped out  for a scheduling conflict. Giacchino then
  • 00:35:54
    miraculously wrote his score in a single month.
  • 00:35:57
    It may have not been part of the plan,  but it was nonetheless fitting that
  • 00:36:00
    Rogue One reached its completion  how it began in its inception:
  • 00:36:04
    as a widely collaborative endeavor,  touched by as many hands, and expressed
  • 00:36:08
    in as many voices as possible, but always  under the oversight of Gareth Edwards,
  • 00:36:13
    who was present all the way to  the very last scene of re-shoots.
  • 00:36:16
    There was no other way Rogue One would succeed.
  • 00:36:19
    - If we can make it to the ground, we'll  take the next chance. And the next.
  • 00:36:25
    On and on until we win...  or the chances are spent.
  • 00:36:29
    - It aligned perfectly with what  Rogue One themselves were about
  • 00:36:33
    to embark upon on Scarif: uncertain  odds, the possibility of failure,
  • 00:36:37
    but also windows of opportunity that  could only be afforded by mutual help.
  • 00:36:42
    At every turn of the final battle, Edwards and  Gilroy are keen to reiterate these very obstacles.
  • 00:36:47
    - You're only way out of here. - We will make it no more than 33%
  • 00:36:51
    of the way before we are killed. - This isn't working K!
  • 00:36:53
    - Right hand! - They've
  • 00:36:54
    closed the shield gate. - What does that mean? We're trapped?
  • 00:36:58
    - Every inconvenience; every force in  the universe feels like it's working
  • 00:37:04
    against these characters. As if the Death  Star plans are not meant to be stolen,
  • 00:37:08
    like the nuclear genie that  never went back in the bottle.
  • 00:37:12
    Rogue One shows a stubborn refusal  to accept the odds all the same.
  • 00:37:16
    All traces of doubt and distrust were  left behind on Yavin. And before long,
  • 00:37:20
    the Rebellion itself learns  to leave it behind too.
  • 00:37:23
    Their greatest challenge now is no longer  what it will take to believe in Rogue One,
  • 00:37:28
    but how in the world the Rebellion's collective  forces can finally and fully come together:
  • 00:37:34
    in the Citadel, on the beach, and in orbit.
  • 00:37:37
    - What's going on down there Lieutenant? - Unknown sir. We can't reach them. All
  • 00:37:42
    rebel frequencies are blocked!
  • 00:37:44
    - Where the Empire has never been more  successful than when they could divide
  • 00:37:47
    people with fear, the key to stealing the plans to
  • 00:37:50
    the ultimate terror weapon is embodied  in the mechanics of the final battle.
  • 00:37:54
    Every switch, plug, misaligned antenna and climb  is set up for the sake of restoring communication.
  • 00:38:01
    - We just have to get a signal strong  enough to get through to them and let
  • 00:38:04
    them know that we're trapped down here. I  can patch us in over here, the landing pad,
  • 00:38:08
    but you have to get on the radio, get one of  the guys out there to find a master switch.
  • 00:38:12
    - If people are free to link  arms, fear can be overcome.
  • 00:38:18
    But as Edwards and Gilroy have reminded us,  time and time again, the Death Star plans are
  • 00:38:25
    not meant... - K!
  • 00:38:26
    -- to be stolen. - Goodbye.
  • 00:38:30
    - There was no version of Rogue  One where K-2 survived. Not in
  • 00:38:34
    The Dark Times, and not in Destroyer of Worlds.
  • 00:38:37
    Someone had to die, and the droid-- never keen to  do as he was told-- was not long for this Galaxy.
  • 00:38:43
    But sometimes, unspoken ideas also  pass from one person to the next.
  • 00:38:48
    An idea so cruel for Star Wars,  Whitta and Edwards hesitated to put
  • 00:38:52
    it in their first run of the story,  convinced that Disney would say no.
  • 00:38:56
    But when Weitz wrote his draft, he'd have the same  exact instinct. And this time, he would act on it.
  • 00:39:03
    This was not a story where  the main characters survive.
  • 00:39:06
    Rogue One is a story where the main characters...
  • 00:39:09
    perish.
  • 00:39:16
    Our Rebels believe in hope, but are  they willing to die for it? Are they
  • 00:39:20
    willing to put all worldly ties  aside even if it doesn't pay off?
  • 00:39:24
    - I'm going!
  • 00:39:26
    - As the prospect of sacrifice moves  beyond its mythical connotations,
  • 00:39:31
    where it is often met with reward,  sacrifice now becomes real and lethal.
  • 00:39:36
    The tone of the battle shifts. The skies and  beaches gray with smoke and laser scorches. The
  • 00:39:42
    deaths of Rebel soldiers we've followed across the  battle take an unglamorous and destructive turn.
  • 00:39:50
    Having faith used to be hard. Now...
  • 00:39:53
    - It just hurts. - Cassian!
  • 00:39:56
    If Rogue One is to restore communication,  it's going to take a miracle.
  • 00:40:00
    The kind you read of World War II  veterans who felt they survived
  • 00:40:04
    the battles they did because  God was watching over them.
  • 00:40:07
    The miraculous conditions that allowed  for the evacuation of 330,000 French
  • 00:40:12
    and British soldiers from Dunkirk in World War II.
  • 00:40:15
    Every once in a while in war, something happens to  make one re-evaluate their place in the universe.
  • 00:40:21
    In Baze Malbus, Chirrut is about  to inspire the same wonder.
  • 00:40:26
    - I'm one with the Force, the Force is with me. - Chirrut!
  • 00:40:30
    - I'm one with the Force, the Force is with me.  I'm one with the Force, the Force is with me.
  • 00:40:34
    - Maybe the Force is real, cloaking  Chirrut in a protective field. Maybe not,
  • 00:40:40
    and he's just unfathomably lucky.
  • 00:40:43
    But the courage that inspires anyone,
  • 00:40:45
    blind or not, to brave overwhelming  danger, is not found in the Force.
  • 00:40:52
    It's found in something  greater than anyone's self.
  • 00:40:56
    The Force of Others.
  • 00:41:00
    - Through the Force, you will always find me...
  • 00:41:04
    - At the closing of Rogue One's last few windows,
  • 00:41:08
    Gareth Edwards demonstrates  the full power of belief.
  • 00:41:12
    It's not a mystical energy field, nor is  it something you can pick up and fire.
  • 00:41:16
    It can't rewind time, nor prevent impending doom.
  • 00:41:20
    But it will push you to extraordinary  lengths, and it will never--
  • 00:41:26
    --run out.
  • 00:41:41
    ["Your Father Would Be Proud" plays]
  • 00:41:54
    No one is coming to save you.
  • 00:41:57
    These days of darkness have no prescribed  ending, and could very well stretch on forever.
  • 00:42:03
    Corruption, greed, and the consolidation of  power could threaten to rip everything apart,
  • 00:42:09
    and no knight in shining  armor could ever come along.
  • 00:42:12
    Life is not a myth.
  • 00:42:19
    But for all these reasons, and all  we've witnessed Rogue One overcome,
  • 00:42:23
    the power to reshape the world is  in your hands. All of our hands.
  • 00:42:30
    Joined together, there's genuinely  nothing they can't accomplish.
  • 00:42:34
    It won't be a pretty process,  fraught, as it was for Rogue One,
  • 00:42:38
    with no short amount of fear,  distrust, and uncertainty;
  • 00:42:42
    the forces of oppression always  at work to divide more and more
  • 00:42:46
    like-minded people against each  other and their own morals.
  • 00:42:51
    But there is a way forward. A candle in the  darkness, and it's kept alight by the collective
  • 00:42:57
    action of those who believe in something  deeper and more powerful than any weapon.
  • 00:43:02
    It might be God, but it could just be people.
  • 00:43:07
    And for the first time in Jyn's  life, that's not such a bad thing.
  • 00:43:12
    - You think anybody's listening? - I do. Someone's out there.
  • 00:43:21
    - For Orson Krennic, who put his own ego above  the livelihood of an entire galaxy and its future,
  • 00:43:27
    the full repercussions of a life lived in service  of oppressive power now stare down on him.
  • 00:43:34
    Galen Erso's revenge resigning  him to a painful, lonely death.
  • 00:43:40
    The blast that kills him circles one final time on
  • 00:43:43
    the ambiguity with which Edwards  wanted Rogue One to be crafted.
  • 00:43:47
    The blast will also kill  Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor.
  • 00:43:52
    Two characters that, in another life, may  very well have had some romantic future.
  • 00:43:57
    But like Galen, Jyn will never get  to know Cassian, what he survived,
  • 00:44:02
    what he's lost, and how he once  stood in her exact same shoes.
  • 00:44:06
    A tragedy that is far more compelling  than a final kiss ever could be.
  • 00:44:11
    Their final moments spent in each  other's embrace are then an act of
  • 00:44:15
    defiance. No longer will they let fear  divide them from the people they love.
  • 00:44:20
    They can only hope the Rebellion has learned to  do the same, never again forsaking the importance
  • 00:44:25
    of helping one another, regardless of  what evil forces step in their path.
  • 00:44:31
    They can only hope that they will be as  willing to stare doomsday in the eye,
  • 00:44:36
    forbid that day ever arrives.
  • 00:44:39
    Because however terrifying  death from above could be--
  • 00:44:43
    -- they'd brave it all again, knowing  exactly how it would all come to an end.
  • 00:45:00
    From a distance, it's hard not to  feel like tyranny triumphed on Scarif.
  • 00:45:06
    That the rare sacrifices  of heroes have already been
  • 00:45:09
    erased and will soon be forgotten, never  having the chance to pass into legend.
  • 00:45:14
    At best, they'll be a footnote  in an opening crawl. At worst,
  • 00:45:18
    they'll be overshadowed by something  far more meaningless or controversial.
  • 00:45:22
    But to those who've learned to read between  the lines of history, as Edwards, Whitta,
  • 00:45:27
    Weitz and Gilroy did with our own history, the  outcome is always more nuanced and complicated
  • 00:45:32
    than it will seem to those who either mystify  the past, or devise ways to weaponize it,
  • 00:45:38
    twisting and defacing its truth  to secure power in the present.
  • 00:45:42
    The Empire will call Scarif  a victory. But for the rest
  • 00:45:45
    of the Galaxy, the Myth to come will  be written in the blood of Rogue One.
  • 00:45:50
    They'll never know what they  sacrificed, but that's not the point.
  • 00:45:55
    A war has just begun. And the  fatal flaw in the Empire's vast
  • 00:46:00
    and indomitable apparatus  has just been exposed. If--
  • 00:46:06
    --you can believe it.
  • 00:46:11
    ["Never Mess With Sunday" by Yppah plays]
  • 00:47:05
    Hey everyone welcome to the end of yet another  ArTorr video. Congratulations on getting here and
  • 00:47:10
    thank you so much for watching the whole thing.  It really means a lot. Um, I worked really hard
  • 00:47:15
    on this video and in fact I made the conscious  decision about halfway through the editing process
  • 00:47:20
    that when this would go up on YouTube, I would  not be monetizing it. Um I made that decision
  • 00:47:25
    for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one  being, um, I just don't love having to deal
  • 00:47:30
    with copyright issues every-- with every single  video. Um, it gets really annoying and uh, a bit
  • 00:47:37
    of a headache to try and find all the creative  workarounds or make the appeals that I have to do
  • 00:47:42
    just to get the video seen and monetized in the  way that I want it to. Usually it's worthwhile,
  • 00:47:47
    but for this one I decided-- don't want to deal  with that. So the video has gone up demonetized
  • 00:47:51
    and with that, hopefully no ads on it. Hopefully  that has made for a pleasant video experience.
  • 00:47:55
    And who knows I might do this again with future  videos. But that really depends entirely on how
  • 00:48:01
    many of you are supporting me on Patreon, because  this video was made possible entirely because of
  • 00:48:06
    contributions on Patreon from awesome members like  Davie Karczewski, Gearless Mo[ta], Matt Hansen,
  • 00:48:12
    Michael OrionCC701, and The Art of Interactive  Entertainment. Thank you so much y'all. If you
  • 00:48:19
    join today for just $2 a month, you get access  to a whole slew of behind-the-scenes goodies
  • 00:48:23
    and bonus content, including a monthly podcast, a  monthly newsletter, and a weekly vlog from yours
  • 00:48:30
    truly. Most of all, uh, you support the dreams  of a small creator-- that would be me-- and
  • 00:48:36
    uh you help support each and every new video that  comes out. Uh, normally at the end of these videos
  • 00:48:42
    I beat around the bush about what the next thing  is, "oh you know it could be a video game--" I'm
  • 00:48:47
    just going to tell you straight up because I've  already announced what the next video is. Y'all,
  • 00:48:51
    the next video is about Andor. We're going-- we're  going to Andor Town on the next ArTorr video. Um,
  • 00:48:58
    it won't be out soon. I mean, not in the next  two months anyway. But my goal is to get it out
  • 00:49:03
    to you this summer-- uh, sometime this summer  hopefully. Sooner than later is always the,
  • 00:49:07
    the-- the hope. And then after that I'll also just  say this too, uh, for all the viewers out there
  • 00:49:12
    who are patiently waiting for me to talk about a  video game again on the channel. Um, after Andor
  • 00:49:17
    I'm doing a video on Ghost of Tsushima. So that's  hype as well. I'm working on both of those kind of
  • 00:49:22
    in tandem right now. I also want to shout out, uh,  my good friend Arken the Amerikan who just put out
  • 00:49:27
    a new video a lot like this one called Thus Always  To Tyrants: The Politics of the Star Wars Original
  • 00:49:33
    Trilogy. Uh, if you know about Arken, uh, and  you watch my videos it's probably because you saw
  • 00:49:38
    his video from a couple years ago called, uh, How  Liberty Dies: The Politics of Star Wars. He is an
  • 00:49:44
    awesome guy, very talented creator, and I've seen  a little bit of his new video, and it's awesome.
  • 00:49:48
    It's really rad, I-- I can tell you if you enjoyed  watching this you're going to enjoy that video. If
  • 00:49:53
    any of you are over here from Arken's video, yo,  you rock. Thank you. And if you're here and you
  • 00:49:58
    haven't watched Arken's video yet, go over there  and watch it. Um, he deserves all the kudos. And
  • 00:50:03
    yeah man, uh, go check it out. The link to his  channel and his video is in the description below.
  • 00:50:08
    Couple more things before I get out of here. Uh,  I'm going to do something I don't usually tell
  • 00:50:12
    y'all to do and that's subscribe. We're a little  over 70,000 subscribers right now on the channel
  • 00:50:17
    and uh we're inching ever closer to 100K. That is  my goal for this year, to hit 100,000 subscribers.
  • 00:50:22
    Don't know if it can happen but right now wishful  thinking is taking me very far. So please hit
  • 00:50:27
    subscribe. And if you're already subscribed,  hit the like button. It's the easiest thing you
  • 00:50:30
    can do to get this video out into the algorithm,  other than just clicking on it and watching it,
  • 00:50:34
    which you've already done, so thank you for doing  that. Uh, other than that you can follow me on
  • 00:50:38
    uh, social media @ParkesHarman on Instagram and  BlueSky and now on Twitch: twitch.tv/parkesharman.
  • 00:50:45
    Yeah that's pretty much everything, uh I'll be at  uh, C2E2 in Chicago here in a couple of weekends.
  • 00:50:50
    I think that's like April 13th or so. So if you're  in the area, uh, find me, say hello, I'd uh love
  • 00:50:55
    to uh, uh say hi back. And, uh, yeah I'm about  to move actually as well. That's a random thing.
  • 00:51:01
    So this is the last kind of Outro you'll see  from this location. Um, yeah so wish me luck on
  • 00:51:06
    that. Thank you all for watching one last time and  I'll see you on the next video. Bye-bye everybody!
Tags
  • Rogue One
  • Star Wars
  • Death Star
  • George Lucas
  • Cold War
  • Nuclear Fear
  • Imperialism
  • Hope
  • Collective Action
  • War