What Happens in Rogue One? – Part One
Jedi Jondee here on Toprawa,
Cast photo of Rogue One.
Rogue One is set for release on December 16th of next year, but still we can assemble some information. It was described in a tweet by the official Star Wars account, “A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans in ‘Star Wars’ anthology film, Rogue One.” Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement, “It goes into new territory, exploring the galactic struggle from a ground-war perspective while maintaining that essential Star Wars feel that fans have come to know. Gareth is such an innovative director and I’m so excited to be working with him and the extraordinary ensemble cast he’s selected for Rogue One.” Gareth Edwards said at Celebration, “The absence of the Jedi is omnipresent” and later, “It comes down to a group of individuals that don’t have magic powers… that have to bring hope to the galaxy.” The story of course is from John Knoll with a screenplay by Chris Weitz who recently wrote the screenplay for Cinderella. The cast photo was shown later and it was known for some time that Felicity Jones was one of the leads.
The Dark Triumvirate in Revenge of the Sith.
We get a peek into what is in Rogue One in the A New Hope opening crawl, “It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.” So it is the first victory of the Rebels and stealing the plans of the Death Star. Of course, we know that Princess Leia is taking the Death Star plans to Alderaan and we know that the Death Star was built in the area of Geonosis which we see at the end of Revenge of the Sith. What was the “first victory”? Who are the “Rebel spies” who fought in the battle or just stole the plans? Where was the “hidden base”?
The Rebels and the Death Star plans.
The answers might rest in the Expanded Universe which has been moved to the Legends category so take all of this with a grain of salt. It appeared in the radio dramatization of A New Hope written by Brian Daley in 1981 to explain how Leia got the Death Star Plans. Leia is at Ralltiir with relief supplies, medical and spare parts, but the world has been occupied by Imperials and have disbanded the High Council. At that time, a raid is made on the spaceport by Rebels. A Rebel spy manages to reach Leia and she hides him in a speeder before Darth Vader appears. He demands a search of her ship, but moves to the raid. Leia uses deception to flatter Tion and allow the ship to take off. On Alderaan, Leia’s father, Prestor (obviously an early name, not Bail) tells her about the Death Star plans. Lord Tion is there for dinner with Leia and Prestor, he boasts about the space station, and that Tarkin is sending out plans in a convoy. Leia lets slip she knows the name of the Death Star and Tion is accidentally killed by his blaster in the struggle. Prestor reports that the Rebels won the battle and will transmit the plans from Toprawa. He also says that Leia should contact Obi-Wan on Tatooine.
