Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered back in December and it has given us the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga and gave the chance for Rey to keep the name going.
The movie had an epic twist when it brought back Palpatine as the mastermind behind the First Order and named Rey her granddaughter. Not only did it bring back the greatest mastermind in all of Star Wars, but it also included tons of Easter eggs that were references to the other movies.
J.J. Abrams put some real thought and effort into the conclusion as he tried to tie up as many loose ends as he could. Here are the top ten Easter Eggs the Sandcrawler found in the movie.
- The Fight on Mustafar
This is our first glimpse of Kylo Ren for this new movie. He and his troopers are rampaging through the forest of Mustafar. He’s slaying Vader Cultists, who remained on the planet after Vader had built his castle.
The red-tinted lava planet is also where Vader and Obi-Wan had their epic battle. It’s where Vader became disfigured and confirmed in his fate as the man in the suit. Kylo Ren was there in search of the Sith Wayfinder, his map to Palpatine.
- Palpatine’s Speech
Palpatine’s Speech to Kylo Ren when he finally finds him on Exegol is similar to the one he gives his grandfather, Anakin, back in Revenge of the Sith when he told him about Darth Plagueis the wise.
“The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural”
This proves that Palpatine knew what he was talking about when he told Anakin the story. He was able to preserve himself through the dark side even after falling down the shaft by sending his consciousness to already prepared clone bodies.
It looks like he is the greatest mastermind of all time.
- Dejarik
The famous holographic game that was first featured in Episode IV when R2D2 plays Chewbacca aboard the Millennium Falcon. It is seen again is Episode VII and also again in Episode IX when Chewbacca plays Finn and Poe. Chewbacca is, of course, beating both of them. Smart for Finn and Poe, I’m sure they don’t want to lose an arm.
- The Festival on Pasaana
The open-air festival on Pasaana occurs once every 42 years, as C-3PO stated. Well, 42 years ago Star Wars premiered for the first time in 1977. This is a direct reference to the beginning of the franchise itself.
Although the Pasaanan locals may not know that the series premiered 42 years ago, it is a thing to celebrate indeed. The next time that you watch The Rise of Skywalker and get to the celebration, you’ll know that the planet’s celebration is celebrating Star Wars: A New Hope, the beginning of it all.
Although the Pasaanan locals may not know that the series premiered 42 years ago, it is a thing to celebrate indeed. The next time that you watch The Rise of Skywalker and get to the celebration, you’ll know that the planet’s celebration is celebrating Star Wars: A New Hope, the beginning of it all.
- Force Healing
This is a concept that was first seen in live-action in The Mandalorian. The child force heals Greef Karga from his wounds from those dragon like creatures. Did the Star Wars team intentionally do this only weeks before The Rise of Skywalker came out?
Most likely. They wanted to give us an idea of this power and not make it some random force ability Rey possesses. This isn’t entirely new as it’s been seen in the Expanded Universe, but for the casual viewer, the child may have given them their first introduction.
- J.J. Abrams Cameo
One of the most beloved new characters introduced in The Rise of Skywalker is D-O, voiced by J.J. himself. A forgotten about droid that belonged to Oschi, the Sith loyalist that had the dagger they needed to find the Sith Wayfinder in the old Death Star.
This new friend is able to speak english to and can translate for other droids. A helpful component to the team. A new little green friend.
- “I Know”
Han Solo is no stranger to emotional scenes. He’s in a few throughout the Star Wars franchise and he does an excellent job of making the audience feel something.
One of his most famous lines, his response to Leia telling him she loves him right before he gets frozen in The Empire Strikes Back, “I love you” is seen again in the final film. This emotional scene is one of the most memorable in all of Star Wars.
- Heavy Lifting
This movie featured a remake of a very famous scene from Episode V when Master Yoda levitated Luke’s sucked X-Wing out of the swamp. An incredible moment in that film was featured in The Rise of Skywalker when Luke lifts his old X-Wing up for Rey.
Luke was able to step up and do the same favor Yoda did for him all those years ago. This was an extremely powerful moment, as Rey began finding her identity and pursued her destiny to stop the Emperor.
- Chewbacca Gets a Medal
This is something that Star Wars fans have joked about since Episode IV released. Chewbacca did just as much fighting as the other guys, but he didn’t get a medal like Luke and Han. Rather heartbreaking for poor Chewbacca who had lived through two major wars at that point.
He finally gets his medal when Maz Kantana gives it to him at the end of The Rise of Skywalker and his third major war. He had lost a lot of friends and family in those wars and he finally got the recognition he deserved.
- The Skywalker Homestead
Rey takes a pilgrimage to Luke’s childhood home. The Empire had torched most of it, but Rey is able to visit what the sand hasn’t filled in. There she pays her respects to the Skywalker family and buries their lightsabers there.
Just like poetry, it rhymes. “Of course it ends where it began. On a desert planet with two suns.” – Maul
Bonus Mentions
- John Williams Cameo
One of the most famous composer’s John Williams gets a cameo in this film. He had composed all 9 Star Wars films and had announced his retirement after completing The Rise of Skywalker. Williams is the bartender with an eye-patch on Kajimi, where our heroes find Babu-Frik, the alien that can help retrieve the code from C-3PO to translate.
- Finn Gets His Name From A New Hope
This may not be related to The Rise of Skywalker, but Finn’s original name FN-2187 comes directly from A New Hope. Princess Leia, after being captured by Vader was kept in cell block 2187. The Empire likes its numbers and order.
The numbers 2187 originally came from Lucas being inspired back in film school. It came from an Abstract short by Arthur Lipsett. It looks like those numbers will live on. Shout out to J.J. for that cool connection.
Thank you for reading. Let us know what other Easter Eggs you may have found in the film. May the force be with you.
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Easter eggs are stuff that’s more hidden than most of those examples; things like the code to Batman’s cell being 91839 (the publish date of the first detective comics) in the animated Justice League. 🙂 Most of those are either nice nods or shameless pandering to alienated fans depending upon how cynical you want to be.
Force healing isn’t as new as you think either. 😉 The meditation chamber scene in Empire Strikes Back… The movie cut that scene short, but the book makes it clear that Vader was meditating trying to heal his physical injuries. They started to heal but he’d keep thinking of his past, and the healing would undo itself.
Mentioning Darth Plagueis was Lucas trying to justify the pandering as he pandered (lol) IMO. He should kiss the ground that James Luceno walks on for scripting the novel. It was a masterful piece of retcon and disaster recovery for the franchise. Probably one of the best Star Wars novels out there too.
Me, I explain the whole inconsistent mess via the great conspiracy
https://silkcordsblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/the-great-star-wars-conspiracy/