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00:00As well as all of the X-Wings, TIE Fighters and Jedi, if there's one thing Star Wars has become
00:05well known for over its 45-year tenure, it is the vast number of plot twists. These revelations,
00:11with the large ones tending to appear in the films, are frequent in every corner of this
00:15space opera, from comic books and novels to TV shows and, of course, video games.
00:20And we're here to talk about the biggest and the best today, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:25and these are the 10 biggest plot twists in Star Wars history.
00:3010. Boba Fett Escaped the Sarlacc Pit
00:32From his initial introduction in the Star Wars Holiday Special, Boba Fett has enjoyed a cult
00:37following of fans, which was only heightened once the bounty hunter appeared on the big screen
00:41in The Empire Strikes Back. However, Fett would not get the send-off that many fans wanted for
00:46the character, after he gets accidentally thrown into the Sarlacc Pit in Episode 6. On the 2004
00:52special edition DVD of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas laments Fett's death, saying that,
00:57In the case of Boba Fett's death, had I known he was going to turn into such a popular character,
01:01I probably would have made it a little more exciting. Despite his limited screen time and
01:05his undignified death, Fett quickly became a fan-favourite character, with many clamouring
01:11to see more of the bounty hunter. Several decades later, viewers were delighted to see the bounty hunter
01:16make a triumphant return in the second season of The Mandalorian, after his embarrassing defeat
01:21at the hands of a blind hand solo. Though his spin-off show, The Book of Boba Fett,
01:25which detailed how Boba survived his Sarlacc encounter, didn't exactly satisfy everybody,
01:30Star Wars fans are excited to see where Lucasfilm takes the original Mandalorian next.
01:359. Darth Maul Survived
01:37One of the many things that Star Wars The Clone Wars did right was its villains,
01:41particularly the Sith assassin Darth Maul. Although the character had been soundly defeated by
01:46Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of The Phantom Menace, Maul made a surprise return in the Clone
01:52Wars episode Witches of the Mist, and would go on to create a brutal rivalry with Kenobi throughout
01:57the remainder of the show. Speaking to Rebel Force Radio, The Clone Wars director Dave Filoni
02:02reflected on revisiting the Zabrak warrior and his role in the show, saying that
02:06definitely one of the hardest things we've had to do on the show was resurrect Darth Maul.
02:11We kind of took baby steps into this, we brought Boba Fett back into the show,
02:14we were very careful about how we did that, and we brought Chewbacca into the show,
02:18so we were able to practice getting these types of characters that people know right.
02:22To me, the exciting part about bringing Darth Maul back to the show is now you don't know what
02:27happens to him. Though Maul's death was later seen in Star Wars Rebels, his return in the Clone Wars
02:32was every bit as surprising as it was exciting for fans of the show.
02:368. Kylo Ren is a Solo
02:39When it was first announced that the House of Maus would be making a new Star Wars trilogy in 2012,
02:44fans were ecstatic that they would be seeing their favourite characters return.
02:48This excitement was amplified when a trailer for The Force Awakens was released in 2014,
02:53in which a Dark Jedi, later revealed to be Kylo Ren, dominated the discourse amongst fans.
02:58Eventually, it was announced that Adam Driver will be playing that role,
03:01though Ren's true identity was kept a secret up until the film's arrival to cinemas in 2015,
03:06where he was presented to be the son of Han Solo and Leia.
03:10As the picture progresses, Kylo's dark bond with his heritage and parentage is continually strained,
03:16reaching the heartbreaking climax of Ren murdering his own father in an effort to honour his grandfather,
03:21Darth Vader. Speaking at a post-screening Q&A session at the Writers Guild of America,
03:25director J.J. Abrams spoke about the decision to kill Han Solo, and this is what he had to say.
03:31Star Wars had the greatest villain in cinema history, so how you bring a new villain into
03:35that world is a very tricky thing. We knew we needed to do something bold. The only reason
03:40why Kylo Ren has any hope of being a worthy successor is because we lose one of the most beloved
03:45characters.
03:457. Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi
03:48Easily one of the most contentious films in the Star Wars saga is 2017's The Last Jedi,
03:55with director Rian Johnson choosing to take the franchise in a bold direction. And it's fair to
03:59say that the film divided the fanbase particularly over the portrayal of Luke Skywalker. Following on
04:05from The Force Awakens, which had Luke desert his friends and their cause, The Last Jedi had to answer
04:10the reasoning behind Skywalker's disappearance. Eventually, it came to light that the Jedi Master
04:14had felt a sharp darkness in his nephew Ben Solo and had seen the pain and suffering he would
04:19inflict on the galaxy. In a brief moment of instinct, Luke ignited his lightsaber before
04:24realizing what he was doing. Skywalker was left with shame, and had inadvertently created Kylo Ren
04:29in an instinctive attempt to prevent his creation. Johnson's take on Luke saw Star Wars fans erupt into
04:35debate as to whether or not the director's answer was fitting for the character. Many saw this answer
04:40as a blatant character assassination of Luke Skywalker, whilst others enjoyed Johnson's take
04:45on the character, as it gave the Jedi a new emotional battle to overcome. Although the debate
04:50still rages on, this twist is undoubtedly one of the biggest the space opera has to offer.
04:556. Emperor Palpatine Lives
04:57By the conclusion of Return of the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker fulfills his prophecy by extinguishing Darth
05:03Vader and killing his master, Darth Sidious. However, in the final chapter in the Star Wars saga,
05:092019's The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine is resurrected for our heroes to overcome.
05:13In a 2019 interview with Collider, J.J. Abrams opened up about the decision to bring Palpatine
05:18back into the frame. As the filmmaker explained, you just look at what he talks about, who he is,
05:24how important he is, what the story is. Strangely, his absence entirely from the third trilogy would
05:29actually be conspicuous. It would be very weird. Although Palpatine was heavily used during the
05:33marketing of The Rise of Skywalker, the reveal that the Sith Lord had survived his ordeal on the
05:38second Death Star was absolutely shocking. Though that did not mean it was for the right reasons.
05:43As many fans were quick to point out, Palpatine surviving past the end of Return of the Jedi
05:47does a disservice to Anakin Skywalker's chosen one prophecy, particularly as Palpatine was finally
05:53defeated by Rey in the final moments of The Rise of Skywalker. Whether or not Palpatine's return was
05:58the best thing for the sequel trilogy, it was undoubtedly a huge surprise seeing the Sith Lord again.
06:035. Rey is a nobody
06:05For as controversial as The Last Jedi is, one aspect that more and more fans seem to be agreeing on
06:11is Rey's lineage. After the release of The Force Awakens, fans were quick to speculate on who Rey's
06:16parents were. After waiting two agonizing years for the next installment of the sequel trilogy,
06:21The Last Jedi confronted fans with the big twist that Rey was a nobody. During a 2018 podcast
06:26interview with Empire, Rian Johnson justified the reveal that Rey was a nobody. As Johnson put it,
06:32for me, if Rey had gotten the answer that she's related to so-and-so, that would have been the
06:36easiest thing she can hear. The hardest thing to hear is, nope, this is not going to define you,
06:41and in fact Kylo is going to use this to try and undercut your confidence so that you'll feel you
06:45have to lean on him for your identity, and you're going to have to make the choice to find your
06:49own
06:49identity in this story. Though Rey's heritage was later retconned in The Rise of Skywalker,
06:54the initial reveal in The Last Jedi was one of the most impactful plot twists in Disney's Star Wars sequels.
07:004. Princess Leia is a Skywalker
07:03One of the biggest revelations the original trilogy brought to Star Wars was the heritage
07:07of Princess Leia. As Luke leaves Dagobah to rescue his friends on Bespin, Obi-Wan worries for the
07:12young Skywalker's fate, though Yoda hints at another hope. By reassuring Kenobi, there is another.
07:18By Return of the Jedi, the Jedi Grandmaster reveals to Luke that he has a sibling, and that sibling
07:23was Leia. In the year 2000, the producer of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Gary Kurtz,
07:28stated that Leia was not always meant to be a Skywalker, with Return of the Jedi initially
07:33having a very different ending. He said,
07:35The story was quite a bit more poignant, and the ending was the coronation of Leia as the queen
07:39of what was left of her people to take over the royal symbol. That meant that she was then isolated
07:44from all of the rest, and Luke went off by himself. It was basically a kind of bittersweet ending.
07:49She's not his sister that dropped in to wrap up everything neatly.
07:52With this reveal, Lucas had inadvertently opened a can of worms for the Star Wars franchise,
07:57such as whether or not Leia could be trained as a Jedi, as well as her unfortunate kiss with her
08:01brother on Hoth. Even so, Leia being a Skywalker certainly came as a major shock to fans.
08:073. You Are Darth Revan
08:09What is widely regarded as the best Star Wars game, and say it with me kids, of all time,
08:15Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic's story and gameplay would go on to lay the foundations
08:19of what a great role-playing game could and should be. Right from the beginning,
08:23the player is informed of the dangers of the Sith Lord Darth Malak, and what threat they pose to the
08:28galaxy, as well as learning about the Dark Jedi and his empire throughout the game's playtime.
08:33Now, a detail that is constantly brought up is that Malak had betrayed his master Darth Revan,
08:37and had taken the title of Dark Lord of the Sith for himself after Revan's death. However,
08:42during the player battle with Malak, it's finally revealed that you are Revan, and that the Jedi had
08:47taken your body and wiped your mind after Malak's betrayal. Given the nature of a role-playing game,
08:52the player is then free to decide what to do with this information. The player could choose to
08:56eventually obliterate the Republic's fleet and retake their title as Dark Lord of the Sith,
09:00or vanquish Malak and destroy the Starforge. No matter what decision the player makes,
09:05the reveal that you are Darth Revan most certainly shaped how the rest of the game was played,
09:09as well as what a good Star Wars twist could be.
09:122. Order 66
09:14Even though everyone knew that Chancellor Palpatine would emerge from the prequel trilogy as the
09:18tyrannical Emperor, viewers did not know how he would do so. During A New Hope,
09:23Obi-Wan Kenobi briefly mentions the Clone Wars and the Twilight of the Republic to a starry-eyed
09:28Luke Skywalker, and so fans came to know that the downfall of the Jedi was intrinsically linked
09:32to the conflict. So, by the release of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars fans were keen to see the
09:37Clone Wars and Palpatine's plan to overthrow galactic democracy unfold. What came as a twist was that the
09:43clones the Jedi were fighting alongside were instrumental in the Sith Grand Plan,
09:47and the destruction of the Jedi Order. Keen-eyed viewers certainly could have worked out Palpatine's
09:52scheme, considering that Attack of the Clones indicates that the clone donor, Jango Fett,
09:56was hired by Darth Tyrannus, the apprentice of Darth Sidious, in order to create an army for the Jedi.
10:02Although the reveal that Chancellor Palpatine was Darth Sidious was not necessarily a shock to the
10:06audience, it was still very much a major plot twist in the story of Star Wars, and is one of
10:10the
10:10most important plot points in the saga, considering it set in motion the story of the original trilogy.
10:151. Darth Vader is Luke's Father
10:18Arguably the biggest plot twist in cinema history, the reveal that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's
10:24father shook the foundations of the burgeoning franchise to its core, whilst also cementing
10:29Star Wars' place in popular culture. The twist was so shocking that both George Lucas and the
10:34Empire Strikes Back director agreed to keep the plot point completely hidden from everyone,
10:39including virtually every member of the film's cast and crew. In order to keep that reveal a secret,
10:44a false page was put into the script, which would have seen Darth Vader declaring that Obi-Wan
10:49had killed Luke's father. However, the twist was quietly revealed to Mark Hamill during the
10:54shooting of the scene to ensure the actor could elicit an appropriate reaction to the revelation.
10:58In a 2017 interview with Graham Norton, Hamill stated that the director handed me a piece of
11:03paper and said, I am your father. I was shocked. I said, is this true? Oh my gosh, Dad Vader?
11:09Luckily, the revelation was kept a secret right up until The Empire Strikes Back's release in 1980,
11:14and so by the end of the film, the cast were just as stunned as audiences all over the world
11:19were.
11:20And there we go, my friends. Those were the 10 biggest plot twists in Star Wars history. I hope
11:24that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comment section
11:27below. As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ,
11:31but the O is a zero, or you can swing by Instagram, where it's the same handle,
11:35RetroJ, but the O is a zero. Hope to see you over there. But before I go, I just want
11:40to say one
11:40thing, and this won't come as a surprise plot twist to many because I end all of my videos in
11:44this way, and that is with a big dose of positivity for you listening at home. I hope that you're
11:49treating yourself well with love and respect, my friend, because you deserve all of the best things
11:53in life, alright? And do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise. You are a massive ledge,
11:59and I want you to go out there and utterly smash it today. I believe in you. As always,
12:03I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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