It was hard to contain the joy that spectators felt after walking out Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when it premiered in 2016 – especially after that that ending. The movie was an undoubted game changer for Star warsand the sight of Darth Vader’s hall-carnage felt like the crowning achievement. It’s amazing, of course, and it belongs Rogue One right at that time. Ten years later, it remains one of the franchise’s finest hours, but it’s also impossible to ignore how that hallway scene affected not only the galaxy far, far away, but the fandom as well. From how stories are created to fan expectations, unfortunately the overall impact of the Vader hall scene has not been as positive as expected.
Darth Vader’s hall scene is not about him
The corridor view is undoubtedly one of the coolest things about it Rogue One, and a true Darth Vader moment. The way he casually walks into that hall, lets his mechanical breathing fill the room, and flicks on his spotlight with great timing shows how much of a drama queen he really is, and it’s all to the benefit of the scene, really. It even started a franchise movement. But, all that going on so hard, some fans forget (or ignore?) that the scene isn’t really about; it’s about the rebels.
The purpose of the film is to tell the story of how the rebels obtained the Death Star plans, using the Rogue One team to show how much the Rebellion had to sacrifice to achieve that small, initial victory. Vader’s role is to contain the dark contrast between the Empire and the Rebellion’s abilities.in that sense, and that’s what the meat of the passage is about: even after all that, the Empire still has a literal Sith Lord to do what the entire army and navy could not do.
The moment was truly crucial Rogue One‘ story. It is meant to emphasize the constant sense of urgency inherent in being a rebelbecause they are always much closer to the issue than the victory, no matter how much they sacrifice and how right the cause. It’s also something we all knew Vader could do, but never had saw; such a moment could not fit in the Original Trilogy, for example. Unfortunately, what some viewers took away from the scene was quite the opposite.
Some fans believe that Star Wars should be like the hallway scene all the time
It didn’t take long for Vader’s hall view to be twisted, however, with certain parts of the fandom seeing him as something completely different than expected. The argument that it symbolizes what Star Wars could and should have been repeated ever since.: grittier and more mature (actually means “violent”).
Almost all subsequent franchise releases have been divisiveregardless of the reason or whether they match those expectations. Vader was brought back in Obi-Wan Kenobijust as vicious and even more important, but it has been neglected. The Acolyte they appealed to the excuses of the Prequel Trilogy and had an equally terrible villain with The Stranger (Mani Jacinto), but, then, he fell into conversation. even Andordirect prequel to Rogue One and the most refined and realistic work in Star Wars, was not enough – there was no Vader.
None of these are perfect, of course, but the fact remains that after that hallway scene, a Star Wars fanboy was robbed of his right to simply be fun by a communicator. Some saw it as a vehicle for their worst ideas while ignoring what the scene really meansand with their volume high enough to influence other parts of the fandom to agree with them. None of that is the fault of the scene, of course, but it is time to face these things properly.
Vader’s ‘Rogue One’ Hall Scene is part of his character’s tragedy
As Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) great says in Andor Season 2, ignoring the truth means being “vulnerable to the whims of whatever monster screams the loudest.” The truth here is that Star Wars is in worse shape now than it was before Rogue One – not because of the quality of his products, but because he influenced those who screamed loud. Instead of taking risks and showing personality, it now feels like the franchise is trying to draw as little attention as possible, to avoid this ongoing backlash.
It’s hard, because Star Wars is such a big sandbox, it doesn’t make sense to focus only on what you want to see and ignore the rest. What has become clear in the ten years since Rogue One it’s that people don’t really want “gritty, real, and grown-up” stories. they want killing, one-liners and unnecessary displays of strength for its own sake. They saw the form of Vader’s hall scene and liked it, while ignoring all the meaning and substance behind it.
Again, that perspective belongs in Rogue Oneand it fits Vader’s overall character, but, even through that lens, he’s still misunderstood. People see that and think Vader is a badass, but he really isn’t; it’s just super strong and easy to handle. Considering what we know about him from the Prequels and the Original Trilogy, he’s pretty poor. His hall view isn’t in a vacuum, so it shouldn’t be seen that way, either. Before we get more of that, we should really understand all that it means.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story available to stream on Disney+.