While "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" covers a lot of ground, not everything could be entirely fleshed out in the movie.
Director J.J. Abrams recently revealed that between 10-20 minutes of scenes were cut from the film's final edit. The official novelization, written by Alan Dean Foster, includes some bonus scenes, and it adds more layers to what we saw in theaters.
That valuable background includes an explanation for why R2-D2 wakes up at the end, as well as a brief history of the galactic government now in place 30 years after "Return of the Jedi" and the Resistance's relationship to political powers.
The novel also dives into the complexity of Kylo Ren's character. His uncertainty over killing his father is made clear, and it's also revealed that both Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke know how Darth Vader died.
Here are eight scenes from the novel that didn't appear in the movie:
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Poe Dameron's escape from Jakku
Poe's escape from Jakku after crash-landing on the desert planet with Finn is never shown in the movie, but the book offers a partial explanation for how Poe survived the crash and made it back to the Resistance base.
He loses consciousness as the TIE Fighter goes down and wakes up in time to stabilize the spacecraft before hitting the ground. He stumbles from the wreckage with a concussion and begins to wander in search of water and a new ship, continuing the search through the night.
In the morning, a scavenger on a speeder approaches and the two strike up a dialogue about wandering the desert. The scavenger thinks Poe's story about crashing on the planet is a humorous lie and agrees to take Poe to a town with another scavenger who might be able to assist. On their journey, a group of thieves approaches and Poe convinces the scavenger to let him take control of the speeder. With his expert piloting skills, Poe evades the thieves.
But that's as far as Poe's escape goes. How exactly Poe gets off Jakku still remains a mystery.
Chewbacca rips an arm off of Unkar Plutt at Maz Kanata's castle
Unkar Plutt is the creature Rey gives junk to in exchange for food rations on Jakku. Played by Simon Pegg, Plutt doesn't appear in the film again after Rey gets off of Jakku. But in the book, Rey has another interaction with Plutt at Maz Kanata's castle.
After Finn leaves the castle with the crew he's hoping to travel with, Rey hears the familiar voice of Unkar Plutt and he grabs her. Using a homing device in the Millennium Falcon, Plutt was able to track her to the castle. She tries to struggle out of his grasp and manages to hold her blaster to his face, but he grabs it from her hands.
Chewbacca notices what's happening and comes to Rey's rescue. Plutt isn't threatened by the wounded Wookie at first, but that's his mistake.
"Grabbing the thrusting arm, a roaring Chewbacca twisted and ripped it off at the shoulder, throwing the dismembered limb clear across the room. Looking down at himself, Plutt let out a scream of agony as his underlings hurriedly fell back.
The arm landed on a table where a group of four-armed, long-snouted Culisettos was gambling. With an annoyed huff, one of them picked up the amputated limb and absently tossed it aside, allowing the game to resume."
Leia tells Han Solo that she knew Snoke, Supreme Leader of the First Order, was after their son from the beginning
In an exchange between Leia and Han Solo, Leia reveals that she had been aware Supreme Leader Snoke was manipulating their son, Ben (now Kylo Ren), but kept it from Solo.
She explains her "many reasons" for keeping it a secret:
"'I was hoping that I was wrong, that it wasn’t true. I hoped I could sway him, turn him away from the dark side, without having to involve you.' A small smile appeared. 'You had— you have— wonderful qualities, Han, but patience and understanding were never among them. I was afraid that your reactions would only drive him farther to the dark side. I thought I could shield him from Snoke’s influence and you from what was happening.' Her voice dropped. 'It’s clear now that I was wrong. Whether your involvement would have made a difference, we’ll never know.'"
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