The Ending Of Rogue One Explained

When you saw the title of this article, you probably thought to yourself, "The ending of Rogue One explained? What's to explain? That the movie's ending meant I should leave the theater? And that I should probably just fire up my copy of A New Hope?" Those are all good and valid questions, though you could probably ease up on the sass there, friend. Despite the movie's very straightforward ending, there's still some wisdom to be gleaned from the end of Rogue One. Allow us to break it down. Oh, and just in case you were somehow confused when you clicked on this: massive spoilers ahead...

When Rogue One was revealed to take place between Episodes III and IV and would star a whole bunch of characters we'd never heard of, fans figured there was a pretty good chance none of the principal cast would live to see the closing credits. And, well, that's exactly what happened. After all, with dashing, charismatic heroes like Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Andor, you'd think they'd show up to a Rebel meeting when Luke and Han are around, right? Well ... not if they're exploded into bits on the beaches of Scarif. Still, if you gotta go, better there than on Hoth.

Despite appealing to fans of all ages since the late '70s, the Star Wars franchise has definitely had an undeniably kid-friendly bent. Obi-Wan Kenobi's death was mystical and bloodless, George Lucas built an empire from the sale of toys and lunchboxes, and there are a whole lot of Muppets running around these things. The prequels made that reality even harder to deny, with the inescapable suckitude of Jar Jar Binks as exhibits A through Z.

But Rogue One is only the second Star Wars film to earn a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, the only other one being Revenge of the Sith, which featured the pretty violent transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. While Vader's downfall was far from kid-friendly, Episode III still managed to keep things relatively sanitary, featuring off-camera killings and several dismemberments with little blood.

Rogue One, on the other hand, puts the "wars" back in Star Wars. The film's action scenes and themes are violent, and realistic ... well, as realistic as you can get when lasers and robots are everywhere. And because literally every main character you meet and come to care about from the film's start goes off to that big moisture farm in the sky, it's safe to say that Rogue One embraced the large contingent of adult fans who've grown up with the franchise, as well as those who've just recently decided to see what all the fuss has been about all these decades. Don't be surprised to see Star Wars movies go even darker in the future.

While we're on the subject of more adult themes, let's talk a little about Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, the blind Force-user and gun-wielding nutjob that Jyn and Cassian meet on Jedha. It's clear from the outset that the pair are inseparable. Thick as thieves! BFFs! In love! Wait, what?

Now, look. No one in the movie ever explicitly states that these two characters are more than friends, so this is pretty speculative. But when Baze holds the dying Chirrut in his arms on the beach of Scarif, it seems pretty clear that there's a very, very deep bond between these two. So deep that Baze goes ahead and decides to go on a suicide run, taking out as many Stormtroopers as he can before being blown to bits himself, now that Chirrut is dead.

Before you dismiss or embrace this idea, pay attention to what the film's director, Gareth Edwards, had to say when asked by Yahoo Movies:

"I don't mind people reading into [Chirrut and Baze's relationship,]" he said. "I think that's all good. Who knows? You'd have to speak to them."

Considering that everybody from Rogue One is one with the Force, we may never know the answer for sure.

The identity of Rey's parents was one of the biggest mysteries posed by 2015's The Force Awakens. When Felicity Jones was announced as the lead in Rogue One, more than a few fans saw her similar features to Rey and decided that she must be the mystery mother who dropped the girl off on Jakku and abandoned her to a life of dealing with Simon Pegg in a fat suit. But since Jyn didn't mention having any kids and we saw her die at the end of the film, it's safe to say that Jyn and Rey probably don't share a family tree.

Meanwhile, fans also started noticing some similarities between Agent Kallus — the Imperial agent who's started to go rogue on the animated Star Wars Rebels series — and General Draven, played by Alistair Petrie. Could Draven be who Kallus becomes? Could Draven just be a bogus name, meant to throw the Empire — and fans — off the scent? Director Gareth Edwards denied it all, according to Entertainment Weekly, but still — it seemed plausible. Alas, it was not to be. Draven's just ... some guy we've never met. Oh, well.

While it may be disappointing that General Draven wasn't revealed to be an older Agent Kallus, there are still lots of ways for Star Wars: Rebels to tie into the events of Rogue One, which takes place at some point in the show's not-too-distant-future. Rogue One introduced a whole bunch of new Imperial bad guys for our heroes in Rebels to encounter. From the sandtroopers, to the AT-ACT (All Terrain Armored Cargo Transport) walker, to the TIE Striker, there are going to be lots of opportunities for Ezra, Sabine, and the rest of the crew of the Ghost to meet and destroy these new enemy types introduced during the movie's final act. Not only that, but we only got an inkling of the backstory between Galen Erso and Bodhi Rook, the pilot he entrusted with his message for Saw Gerrera and Jyn. It's entirely possible that Rebels could fill in even more of those missing details that weren't explained by the film's ending. So maybe we haven't seen the last of Chirrut and Baze after all!

The appearance of Maz Kanata in The Force Awakens gave fans their first glimpse at Force users who weren't Jedis or Sith Lords in a Star Wars movie. Rogue One continues that tradition with Chirrut, whose trust in the Force made him a deadly fighter despite being blind. It seems like a good bet that Chirrut's passing doesn't mean we've seen the last of Force users from outside the conflict between Sith Lords and Jedi. In fact, since Disney is looking to expand its reach beyond the main Saga films in any way it can, we'll probably see a whole bunch of non-Jedi Force Warriors before too long.

Finally, while Rogue One wasn't a perfect movie, it was still a whole hell of a lot of fun. And more than anything, it proved that you can make a good prequel. Of course, now that we know that, get ready for more prequels than you can shake a lightsaber at.