- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."
- After three watches of "The Rise of Skywalker," Insider rounds up the best callbacks and details you may have overlooked and missed, including an iconic planet Kylo Ren visited at the film's start and a cameo from composer John Williams.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more.
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"is in theaters and it may leave you with some mixed feelings over Rey and its conclusion. But if you've been a "Star Wars" fan for over 40 years, you probably reveled in the callbacks to the two previous franchises, voice cameos, and the symmetry between the saga.
After three viewings, Insider rounded up some of the best "Star Wars" references you may only catch if you recently gave the entire Skywalker saga a rewatch.
"The Rise of Skywalker" ("TROS") is so referential to the "Star Wars" universe, that it's nearly impossible to round up every tiny nod to the films, TV series, and expanded lore before it. But here are the best ones we noticed.
Is there anything really good I missed? Email me at kacuna@insider.com.
Emperor Palpatine is referred to as a phantom in the movie's crawl.
The complete line reads, "Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren rages in search of the phantom Emperor, determined to destroy any threat to his power."
Not only does Palpatine seem like a ghost calling from a grave, but the line is also a nice little nod to the title of "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace." Palpatine was the unnamed "phantom menace" of the film.
A few references to other "Star Wars" titles are made in the opening crawl with the words "revenge" ("Revenge of the Jedi") and "hope" ("A New Hope").
The planet where Kylo Ren found the Sith wayfinder was Mustafar.
That wasn't said in the film. Instead, it's confirmed in the visual dictionary that was released as a companion for the sequel. Mustafar is the lava planet introduced in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," which houses Vader's fortress. If you played "Vader Immortal," the "Star Wars" virtual reality series released earlier this year, this may have been more clear.
Each wayfinder was located in one of the two Sith residences. It's only natural that Kylo would go to gather the wayfinder from the place associated with his grandfather.
Palpatine reveals Snoke is a clone. The Sith have always dabbled in cloning.
In "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," we learn that an old Jedi, who was exiled, ordered a clone army be made in secret for the Republic. It was authorized by none other than Chancellor Palpatine.
For whatever reason, the Jedi never questioned it and just accepted that they have a grand army. It was little surprise when they eventually turned on the Republic for Palpatine's eventual Empire. We're not surprised to see Palpatine dabbling in cloning again here with Snoke.
Emperor Palpatine tells Kylo Ren that the dark side leads to abilities others may consider unnatural.
We've heard this speech before almost word for word before.
"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural," Palpatine told a young Anakin Skywalker in "Revenge of the Sith."
While discussing the tale of Darth Plagueis the Wise, Palpatine tells Anakin that Plagueis was so knowledgeable of the dark side that he could prevent the deaths of those he cared about. Knowing that Plagueis was Palpatine's master, it's insinuated Palpatine also found a way to keep himself alive on his quest for immortality. In "Revenge of the Sith," he tells Anakin Plagueis "taught his apprentice everything he knew."
Chewbacca, Finn, and Poe are seen playing a familiar game of Dejarik on the Millennium Falcon.
The holographic battle game was first introduced in "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope."
In that film, C-3PO had warned that they should let the Wookiee win. Here, he's winning again, but Poe and Finn claim he's cheating.
Rey is seen reaching out to the Force with floating rocks surrounding her.
The scene is a near mirror of Luke's training on Dagobah with Yoda in "Episode V."
Rey trains with a combat remote like Luke and many padawans before her.
A version of the seeker droid was first seen in "A New Hope" as Luke trains on the Millennium Falcon. Younglings are seen using the ball-shaped droids in the prequel trilogy.
Rey's fighting style is similar to the Emperor.
In 2016, New York Times' best-selling author and chef J. Kenji López-Alt noticed a parallel between the way Rey used Luke's lightsaber the very first time in "The Force Awakens" and how Chancellor Palpatine used his lightsaber when it was unveiled in "Revenge of the Sith." Both characters fight with a stabbing motion as they hold the saber in both hands.
You can see Rey use this stabbing motion again while she's training with Luke's saber at the start of "TROS."
Luke training Leia in the Force didn't come out of nowhere.
Leia showed she was knowledgeable in the ways of the Force in "The Last Jedi" because Luke had been training her. And why wouldn't he? As the only members of the Skywalker family alive after "Return of the Jedi," it wouldn't make sense for Luke to selfishly keep that knowledge to himself. He would want it to be passed on to someone else who was Force-sensitive.
This was originally referenced in the original "Star Wars" expanded universe and again in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi — The Visual Dictionary."It reads:
"Skywalker's first student was to be his sister, Leia. However, she ultimately decided that the best path for her to serve the galaxy left no room for the extended isolation of Jedi training."
If you haven't read any "Star Wars" texts outside of the films, it was nice to finally see Leia's training acknowledged on screen. "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill, who plays Luke, told IGN George Lucas' original plan was to kill his character in "Episode IX" after he trained Leia.
Leia tells Rey to never "underestimate a droid."
If you do another watch of the Skywalker saga, it's incredible to see how many times R2-D2 has saved the day.
A few examples include the following:
"Episode I": R2-D2 brings the shield back up, saving everyone from the Trade Federation.
"Episode II": He saves Padmé from getting burned alive.
"Episode IV": R2-D2 gets a transmission from Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi
"Episode VI": He tosses Luke his lightsaber at just the right moment before he's forced into the Sarlacc pit.
You may even say he's the real hero of most of the saga.
Leia tells Rey near the film's start to never be afraid of who she is.
As we learn later in "The Rise of Skywalker," Leia apparently knew that Rey was a Palpatine. She was giving Rey advice for when she would eventually learn of her lineage.
Kylo Ren frustratingly puts one finger up to General Hux without saying anything.
If you thought this was very out of character for Kylo Ren, it was because it was more in character for Han Solo. Ben was channeling his father from the original trilogy. We've seen Han throw up his finger before in silence as a response without having anything to say.
When the group gets to the festival at the Forbidden Desert of Pasana, C-3PO says it takes place once every 42 years.
That's a nod to the age of the franchise. George Lucas' "A New Hope" debuted in 1977.
Lando Calrissian is the one to say "I've got a bad feeling about this" after he finds them in the desert.
Lando says the line when he sees some of the First Order on the horizon in the desert. The line has been said in every "Star Wars" movie by Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia, Han, and more. In the eighth film, BB-8 is the one to say the line even though you don't hear it in English.
You can watch a supercut of every time the line is uttered in the franchise here.
There's a good reason C-3PO can't translate the Sith language on the knife found in the desert.
If you were frustrated that C-3PO refused to translate the Sith text inscribed on the knife, you shouldn't be. He gave an insightful reason that explained why he was forbidden from translating it you may have missed.
C-3PO quickly says that years ago, a rule was put in place by the Senate that protocol droids couldn't translate the Sith language. C-3PO is about to say that Emperor Palpatine put the rule in place, but he gets cut off.
By "Revenge of the Sith," Palpatine pretty much had control of the Senate. Naturally, Palpatine wouldn't want any droids to be able to translate anything Sith-related, because he was the leader of the Sith and it could put his identity in jeopardy.
The new droid, D-O, is voiced by J.J. Abrams.
Abrams came up with the idea for BB-8 and if you stick around through the credits you'll see he lends his voice to the newest droid in the "Star Wars" universe.
Legendary "Star Wars" composer John Williams is credited as a character in the film.
If you stuck around for the credits, you would have noticed the familiar name. Williams is credited with playing a character named Oma Tres. Who was he? The bartender with the eye patch on Kijimi.
Vanity Fair pointed out it's an anagram of maestro. Quite fitting.
C-3PO has his mind wiped in order for the group to learn Sith text on the knife.
It's not the first time C-3PO had his mind wiped in the saga. At the end of "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," Bail Organa ordered a memory wipe on the droid when Leia and Luke were separated.
C-3PO was built by Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, and the goal was to keep the twins hidden from their father and not know about their parentage. C-3PO and R2-D2 went off with Captain Wedge Antilles.
Rey learns the Sith wayfinder she needs to find Emperor Palpatine is in an imperial vault on a moon in the Endor system.
In other words, the wayfinder was in the second Death Star, which was located in the Endor system in "Return of the Jedi."
If you're a big "Star Wars" fan, you may have realized that Rey was supposed to go on a similar journey in "The Force Awakens" originally. Abrams initially tossed around the idea of introducing Palpatine while working on "TFA." The official art book for the film included concept art of Rey's original character heading to the same Death Star to find a map to Luke Skywalker.
A Stormtrooper tells Poe, Finn, and Chewie to "Shut up, scum."
Throughout the franchise, anyone fighting in the rebellion against the Empire has often been referred to as "rebel scum."
The scene where Rey climbs into the Death Star feels like a direct parallel to when we first meet her in "The Force Awakens."
The two scenes of Rey climbing in "TFA" and "TROS" feel visually similar.
When Rey enters the Emperor's throne room, John Williams' score from "Episode VI" plays in the background.
Specifically, it's the music used when Luke takes Vader's helmet off.
The Emperor's throne room is inspired by concept art from the original "Star Wars" artist Ralph McQuarrie.
The "Art of Star Wars" author Phil Szostak shared side-by-side images of McQuarrie's 1981 sketches for Palpatine's throne room and the throne room seen in "The Rise of Skywalker."
Palpatine says the Princess of Alderaan ruined his plans for Ben Solo and Rey.
He's referring to Leia and her home planet of Alderaan. Vader made Leia watch her planet get destroyed.
Luke's Force ghost catches his lightsaber when Rey throws it and tells her that a "Jedi's weapon deserves more respect."
This seems to be a direct dig at the treatment of Luke in "The Last Jedi," which many fans have said appears to be out of character. At the start of "TLJ," Luke takes his lightsaber from Rey and carelessly tosses it over his shoulder before walking away from her.
Luke lifts his old X-Wing out of the water in the same way Yoda brings it out of the water in "Episode V."
The same John Williams score plays as the ship flies into the sky for Rey to pilot.
Rey finally gets to wear a Resistance helmet.
When we see Rey on Jakku in "TFA" eating one of her meal portions, she playfully puts on a Resistance helmet while sitting in the sand.
There was something immensely satisfying about seeing Rey pilot an X-Wing in "TROS" after simply dreaming of being a pilot.
When Ben tells his father he's sorry, Han tells him he knows.
It's a reference to one of Han's most iconic lines.
Before he was frozen in carbonite, Leia told Han she loved him. Han responded by simply saying, "I know."
The scene between the two was an exact echo of what happened in "The Force Awakens" because it was nothing more than a memory as Han pointed out. Ben kept reliving and playing it over in his mind.
Captain Wedge Antilles returns to come to the Resistance's aid in the final battle.
That really is Denis Lawson who reprises the character he first played in 1977's "A New Hope." Antilles was Luke Skywalker's friend and fellow X-Wing pilot. His character appeared in the book "Star Wars: Resistance Reborn," which serves as a lead up to "The Rise of Skywalker."
He's one of the few characters from the original trilogy to survive the Skywalker saga. One more fun fact you may not have realized is that he's Ewan McGregor's uncle. You can hear him reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi later in the film.
The Colossus, a Hammerhead Corvette, a U-Wing, and many more ships from the "Star Wars" franchise appear in the big showdown at the film's end.
This scene has been discussed a lot because it was teased in trailers for the film. If you want to see a full breakdown of the ships, we recommend looking at @AdmiralNick22's tweet collection from October identifying ship after ship. He references items from the main "Star Wars" saga, the animated series, and more.
Rey and Kylo Ren's Force bond isn't something new. It's been brought up before in the larger "Star Wars" universe.
A version of their bond has been seen in video game series "Knights of the Old Republic" where one character felt certain Force powers cast on another. In the expanded "Star Wars" universe, characters with Force bonds could sense the same emotions and feelings. The bond was not as visual as Ben Solo and Rey's where they could reach out and touch one another.
These bonds usually happened between Jedi Masters and apprentices and their strength was based on the strength of the person's Force sensitivity. Presumably, since Rey and Ben were very strong in the Force, Ben referred to them as a rare dyad in the Force because of their lineage, their Force bond was even stronger.
Emperor Palpatine tosses Ben Solo down a cavernous hole in the same way he was thrown down a pit in the Death Star by Solo's grandfather years ago.
Palpatine is still holding onto a grudge because his apprentice threw him over a ledge. What's an Emperor to do? He takes out revenge on Vader by throwing his grandson down a hole instead and telling him "so falls the last Skywalker" at the hands of a Palpatine.
The funny thing is that Palpatine's speech is probably lost on Ben. (It's definitely lost on Rey.) For all we know, Solo isn't even aware his grandfather did such a thing.
Rey hears a number of past Jedi speak to her in her most dire moment.
You may have caught a few of them, including Qui-Gon, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Mace Windu, but you may not have recognized them all. According to the film's credits, there were 10 "voices of Jedi past," other than Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, speaking to Rey in that scene by 11 actors.
Here's the full list from the credits we spied:
Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen)
Luminara Unduli (Olivia d'Abo)
Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein)
Aayla Secura (Jennifer Hale)
Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness)
Yoda (Frank Oz)
Adi Gallia (Angelique Perrin)
Kana Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson)
Some of these characters spoke to her before in her Force vision back in 2015's "The Force Awakens."
Rey bounces the Force lightning back toward the Emperor in the same way Mace Windu did in "Revenge of the Sith."
It's nearly the same way Mace Windu defeated Emperor Palpatine in "Episode III." Windu bounced his Force lightning right back at him to heavily disfigure him.
As celebrations kick off across the galaxy, two Ewoks look up at the sky to see a ship.
The Ewoks are also located on one of the moons of Endor. Fittingly, it makes sense they would be able to see something happening up in the sky.
A star destroyer is seen crashing on Rey's home planet of Jakku at the film's end.
It looks like it crashes near the one seen at the start of "TFA."
When Rey goes inside Luke's old home, she grabs a piece of metal and slides down the sand.
It's an echo of the start of "The Force Awakens" where she does something similar on Jakku.
When Rey gets to Tattooine, she sees the Jawas.
They're hanging out near their giant sandcrawler which was first seen in "A New Hope" when they were selling C-3PO and R2-D2 to Luke's uncle.
Rey's lightsaber appears to be made from part of her staff.
Look closely enough and it resembles the one end of her staff from "The Force Awakens," truly making it her own.
Rey heads to Luke's home planet of Tattooine at the film's end to put his and Leia's lightsabers to rest.
At the film's end, she looks out at the planet's two sons as Luke did before her.