Star Wars: 5 Things We Need to Know After Rogue One

We’ve seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, multiple times. We’ve started reading the novelization, the official Art Book, and the official Visual Guide. We even talked with many of the cast and crew who worked to bring the film to life.

But we have questions.

One of the things Star Wars does so much better than any other franchise in the world is tell entire, intriguing stories with a single line. What are the Clone Wars?! Does Yoda mean Leia is a Jedi, too? What the heck is a Nerf? Okay, maybe not that last one, but still. The world of Star Wars has the potential to open up even further with every word uttered – it’s how the “Star Wars Story” line of standalone films came to be in the first place! VFX Supervisor John Knoll was watching Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and saw taht opening crawl and thought, “why don’t we tell that story?”

Rogue One is no exception to this, giving us plenty of questions to ask, characters to fall in love with, and new clues to obsess over. Here are the five biggest.

SPOILERS, obviously.

What else did the Empire use Kyber crystals for?

As we can see on Jedha, the Empire is continuing to mine, steal, and otherwise acquire all manner and size of Kyber crystals. As it’s explained in the Rogue One novel Catalyst, the Death Star uses extremely large (and even more rare) Kybers to power its superweapon – so what do they need all those other ones for? There have previously been mentions in various Legends (non-canon books, comics, etc. produced before Disney purchased Lucasfilm) stories of Kyber crystals powering other weapons, but it’s unclear how much of that will make it to canon.

What is clear is their immense potential to focus energy for good and evil, and it would be surprising if Rogue One is the last we hear of Kyber crystals being used for more than lightsabers.

What did Galen Erso do to flip Bodhi Rook?

If there’s one relationship that did not get enough (or, um, any) screentime, it’s the one between Bodhi Rook and Galen Erso. All we know about the pair is that Galen told Bodhi of the Empire’s superweapon, and it made Bodhi eventually turn against the Empire and go seek out the Rebel Alliance. So what did Galen say? How did their relationship form? How did Bodhi, an Imperial pilot, manage to defect in the first place? Why did he feel he owed Galen so personally? There’s definitely a story to be told here.

Runner Up relationship: Cassian and K-2SO! How did he free Kaytoo?

How did Saw Gerrera Lose His Legs (and other questions)?

Oh, Saw Gerrera. Honestly, we had a feeling he’d be a quick one-scene-and-out character, so the fact he got at least a handful was a pleasant surprise – but there’s definitely a lot to Saw we didn’t get to discover. There’s his missing legs, for instance, something that appears in his first footage on Star Wars Rebels, in episodes airing early January, he still had just a few years before this. There’s his need for a respirator/oxygen. There’s the way he abandoned Jyn Erso a good 8-10 years earlier, and how he came to Jedha, and why he’s so willing to use extreme violence for his cause…

Basically, there are a lot more Saw Gerrera stories to tell. His guest appearance on Rebels is a great start, but we hope that’s not the end for the Clone War veteran.

What other Star Wars Rebels characters survived?

Thanks to an appearance and an intercom call, we know that Chopper the diminutive and grumpy droid and Hera Syndulla – now a general (as was confirmed by showrunner Dave Filoni) of the Star Wars Rebels crew survives the nascent Rebellion at least to the Battle of Scarif, when the Death Star plans are stolen. The Ghost was seen flying in that Battle, and Filoni says that’s a story he’d like to tell, presumably in the last season of Rebels. But who else survived?

Let’s be honest, Kanan and Ezra have two options: death or exile. They’re Jedi, and they cannot be involved with the Rebel Alliance even at the point that Rogue One takes place – Mon Mothma would have to know about them by that point, and she clearly did not. Bail Organa, who knows them, did not mention them when he was asked to find his Jedi friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi). It’s not looking good for the Jedi.

Sabine and Zeb, however, absolutely could have survived and could still be active at that point. Then again, the whole Rebels crew is up against an incredibly difficult foe in Grand Admiral Thrawn so who knows which ones will even survive this season, let alone all the way to the Battle of Scarif?

Who exactly are the Guardians of the Whills?

The most intriguing aspect of Rogue One, and the story that’s most dying to be told, is that of the Guardians of the Whills. All we know about Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, and their sect from the film is that they used to guard the Kyber Temple (apparently they didn’t do too great a job, since the Empire seized it. ooo buuuurn). They believed strongly in the Force as its protectors, but couldn’t actually wield it themselves the way Jedi and Sith could.

Does this mean there are several other sects of Force worshippers out there? Were the Guardians appointed by, or directly connected to, the Jedi? Is the Church of the Force related to the Guardians of the Whills? What the heck are the Whills exactly, anyway?

Yeah, we need Star Wars Rebels episodes, a comic book series, and a trilogy of novels on these characters and their entire group as soon as possible.