The final scene ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerseemingly references an obscure deleted scene from 1977’sStar Wars. The finale of the modern canon’s sequel trilogy features many references, large and small, to the rest of theStar Warsfranchise, from previous saga movies to major storylines from the originalLegends continuity. While the majority of these references are quite overt, one of the last callbacks in the film seems surprisingly subtle.
The Rise of Skywalkerends with Rey traveling to the Lars homestead on Tatooine and burying the lightsabers of Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa. After this, an old woman approaches her and asks who she is, to which Rey responds “Rey Skywalker.” While Rey’s adoption of theSkywalker familyname is the focus of the scene, the old woman herself is seemingly a reference to an obscure moment in theStar Warsfranchise.
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A New Hope’s Deleted Scene Featured An Old Woman On Tatooine Too…
The old woman inThe Rise of Skywalkervaguely resembles another unnamed Tatooine local seen in a deleted scene inA New Hope. The firstStar Warsfilm almost had an extended opening with Luke Skywalker being introduced far earlier than he is in the final cut. Upon witnessing the brief battle between the Tantive IV and Devastator, Luke rushes to Anchorhead in his landspeeder, coming dangerously close to hitting an elderly woman, who yells at him for his reckless driving.
Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia’s extended opening scenes were fully fleshed out in theStar Warsradio drama.
This brief moment, along with other elements ofA New Hope’sextended opening, may have been cut from the film, but they were canonized in other properties, such as theA New Hopenovel and comic adaptations.While possibly coincidental, it is easy to see the similarities between the two unnamed Tatooine localsinA New HopeandThe Rise of Skywalker. The final sequel film does, after all, include a multitude of callbacks and parallels to otherStar Warsproperties.
Rise Of Skywalker Really Did Play With A Lot Of Easter Eggs
Like its predecessors in the sequel trilogy,The Rise of Skywalkerborrows heavily from the plots of the original trilogy films – particularlyReturn of the Jedi. Fittingly, the movie appears to be significantly inspired by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’sDark Empirecomics from the original Legends continuity. This indicates thatThe Rise of Skywalker’s filmmakers were willing to referenceStar Warsmaterial that the average viewer might not be familiar with, such as a deleted scene fromA New Hope.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
