Julio is a Senior Author for Collider. He studied History and International Relations at university, but found his calling in cultural journalism. When he isn’t writing, Julio also teaches English at a nearby school. He has lived in São Paulo most of his life, where he covers CCXP and other big events. Having loved movies, music, and TV from an early age, he prides himself in knowing every minute detail about the things he loves. When he is older, he dreams of owning a movie theater in a small countryside town.
It was hard to contain the excitement viewers felt after walking out of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when it first premiered in 2016 — especially after that ending. The movie was an undeniable game changer for Star Wars, and Darth Vader’s hallway carnage scene felt like the crowning achievement. It’s incredible, indeed, and it belongs in Rogue One right at that moment. Ten years later, it remains one of the franchise’s finest hours, but it’s also impossible to ignore how that hallway scene impacted not just the galaxy far, far away, but the fandom, too. From how stories are conceived to fan expectations, the overall effect of Vader’s hallway scene has unfortunately not been as positive as one might expect.
Darth Vader’s Hallway Scene Isn’t About Him
It’s undeniable that the hallway scene is one of the coolest things about Rogue One, and a top Darth Vader moment. The way he casually walks into that hallway, lets his mechanical breath fill the room, and ignites his lightsaber with perfect timing highlights how much of a drama queen he really is, and it’s all for the benefit of the scene, really. It even started a franchise trend. However, all that goes so hard, some fans forget (or ignore?) that the scene’s not really about him; it’s about the rebels.
The purpose of the movie is to tell the story of how the rebels got the Death Star plans, using the Rogue One team to illustrate how much the Rebellion had to sacrifice to achieve that small, preliminary victory. Vader’s role is to embody the abysmal difference between the Empire and the Rebellion’s capabilities, in that sense, and that’s what the hallway carnage is all about: even after all that, the Empire still has a literal Sith Lord to do what its whole army and navy couldn’t.
The moment really was vital to Rogue One‘s story. It’s supposed to highlight the constant sense of urgency inherent to being a rebel, because they are always much closer to defeat than to victory, regardless of how much they sacrifice and how righteous their cause is. It’s also something that we all knew Vader could do, but never actually saw; such a moment could never fit within the Original Trilogy, for example. Unfortunately, what some viewers took away from the scene was a distinctly opposite impression.
Some Fans Think Star Wars Should Be Like The Hallway Scene All the Time
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Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures</figure>
It didn’t take long for Vader’s hallway scene to have its meaning twisted, however, with certain parts of the fandom seeing in it as something completely different than intended. The argument that it symbolizes what Star Wars could and should be has been repeated ever since: grittier and more adult (really meaning “violent”).
Pretty much every franchise release after that has been divisive, regardless of purpose or whether they fit within these expectations. Vader was brought back in Obi-Wan Kenobi, just as vicious and even more important, but it was overlooked. The Acolyte appealed to Prequel Trilogy apologists and featured an equally awesome villain with The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), but, then, it fell to discourse. Even Andor, a direct prequel to Rogue One and the grittiest and most realistic work in Star Wars, wasn’t enough — there was no Vader.
None of those are perfect, of course, but the fact remains that, after that hallway scene, fanboy discourse robbed Star Wars of its right to simply be fun. Some people saw it as an outlet for their worst opinions while ignoring what the scene really means, and with their sheer volume were loud enough to influence other parts of the fandom to agree with them. None of that is the scene’s own fault, of course, but it’s time these things were properly faced.
Vader’s ‘Rogue One’ Hallway Scene Is Part of His Character’s Tragedy
Image via Lucasfilm- Image via Lucasfilm
- Image via Lucasfilm
- Image via LucasFilm
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Image via Lucasfilm
Image via Lucasfilm
Image via Lucasfilm
Image via LucasFilm
Image via Lucasfilm- Image via Lucasfilm
- Image via Lucasfilm
- Image via Lucasfilm
- Image via LucasFilm
- Image via Lucasfilm
Image via Lucasfilm
Image via Lucasfilm
Image via Lucasfilm
Image via LucasFilm
Image via LucasfilmAs Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) brilliantly says in Andor Season 2, ignoring the truth means becoming “vulnerable to the appetite 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 its products, but because it let itself be affected by those screaming loudly. Instead of taking risks and showing off personality, it now feels like the franchise is trying to draw as little attention as possible, to avoid this continuous backlash.
It’s a pity, because Star Wars is such a big sandbox, it makes no sense to focus only on what you want to see and disregard the rest. What has become clear in the ten years since Rogue One is that people don’t actually want “gritty, realistic, and adult” stories, they want killing, one-liners and gratuitous demonstrations of strength for its own sake. They saw the form of Vader’s hallway scene and loved it, while ignoring all the meaning and substance behind it.
Again, that scene belongs in Rogue One, and it fits with Vader’s overall character, but, even through that lens, it’s still misunderstood. People see that and think Vader is a badass, but he really isn’t; he’s just super strong and easily manipulated. Considering all we know about him from the Prequels and the Original Trilogy, he is actually quite pitiful. His hallway scene doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so it shouldn’t be viewed that way, either. Before we get more of that, we should really understand everything it really means.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is available to stream on Disney+.
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