A Handy Guide to the Archaeology of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

One of the many things I liked about Rogue One was that it occasionally drew attention to things that weren't explained -just like real life. Overexplaining every McGuffin or expanded universe detail tends to drag one's suspension of disbelief down, like the endless political discussions in the prequels. Some of these unexplained shots were easter eggs for well-read Star Wars fans. For the rest of us casual but still excited fans, we can catch up with a rundown from Adrián Maldonado, who did the research so we could just enjoy the film, maybe even more next time.

While The Force Awakens had plenty of ruins, and featured one iconic artefact from the original trilogy, there was no real sense that history extended beyond the events of Episodes IV-VI. Yet with Rogue One, turn any stone and you’ll see the remnants of a past so deep that even its creators have only glimpsed it. The film also draws from the prehistory of George Lucas’ own writing, going back to his early journals from 1973. As if you needed another excuse to re-watch Rogue One, here is a handy guide to the archaeological items and motifs you may have missed. And do I really need to warn about spoilers? I’m surprised I haven’t spoiled anything already. Valar morghulis.

When I read "one iconic artefact from the original trilogy," I thought of Luke's lightsaber, while he meant Darth's helmet. (BTW, "artefact" is the British spelling.) Rogue One has a lot more archaeological items that become more intriguing as you read about them, at Almost Archeaology. -via Metafilter