Nightmare Fuel / Rogue One

You can hear it, can't you?

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"You seem unsettled."

—Darth Vader

As a Lower-Deck Episode of the Star Wars cinematic saga, Rogue One manages to show just how horrifying war in the galaxy can be, and that the destruction of the Death Star did not come easy.

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Unmarked spoilers abound. Beware!

Pre-Release

• As the title appears in the D23 teaser, after seeing the Death Star looming over a lush world, a multitude of increasingly frantic voices are heard...and are suddenly silenced.
• The second trailer really shows off the scale of the Death Star when it literally blocks out the sun and creates an artificial eclipse◊. Then we see it actually fire. And it only gets worse◊.
• While it's become a beloved icon of sci-fi culture due to its unforgettable tune, the marketing for this film was able to make The Imperial March genuinely ominous and threatening, similar to I've Got No Strings in the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers.
• The Russian poster for the movie. In the background, it shows an army of Stormtroopers and AT-ATs advancing over the sea on Scarif, and in the foreground, a lone Rebel soldier's helmet lying in the surf...
• The second international trailer gives shots of what appears to be the Death Star's superlaser firing... from the perspective of the planet being fired on.

Film

• Even if Jyn escapes, the first scene with Krennic flanked by stormtroopers showing up at Galen's farm may call to mind Hans Landa's first appearance in Inglourious Basterds. With the cherry on top that Krennic dangles the possibility of peaceful surrender in front of the Ersos, along with a comfortable Imperial life — as hostages, subjected to who-knows-what treatment should Galen's work progress too slowly or his reservations with mass murder become clear. Krennic's demeanor is almost too casual to come off as personal ire-laden Evil Gloating — because for the Empire this is business as usual. Tiny Jyn fleeing a host of adult stormtroopers, peeking out at them through a tiny crag in the rock and taking refuge down a dark narrow hole, is pure terror.
• The entire scene with Cassian and the informant, as the intensity of the situation just keeps going. The informant clearly wants to get the hell out of Dodge, going mad with the revelation that the Rebels are screwed once the Death Star is revealed, and is outright horrified when Cassian shoots down the stormtroopers that questioned them which attracts the attention of more. Cassian then assures the poor guy that things will be alright... before shooting him in the back in what is either a pragmatic solution to cover the Rebels or a mercy kill to spare the informant from whatever interrogation the Empire may have in store for him. Either way, it heavily cements the black vs. gray morality of the setting compared to the other films.
• This film illustrates that the Rebel Alliance — while largely well-intentioned — are not afraid to do morally questionable things to get the job done. Cassian calmly reassures an informant that they'll be able to escape despite the informant's inability to climb, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder before shooting him dead. We then have the true nature of Cassian's mission revealed when General Draven coldly informs him that despite Mon Mothma's assurances to Jyn this is not a rescue mission, and when Galen Erso is found Cassian's orders are not for extraction, but execution. While the Rebels are still the good guys, Good Is Not Nice.
• After the whole incident where Galen is killed, and while he's arguing with Jyn, he mentions that he's been fighting the Empire since he was six years old.
• Saw Gerrera has become a lone, paranoid and delusional rebel leader on Jedha. He unleashes Bor Gullet, an octopus-like creature that supposedly detects lies, on Bodhi Rook. Given his state when Cassian and Chirrut find him in the nearby cell, it did something pretty nasty to Bodhi's mind (he gets better, however). The novelization paints us a picture of exactly what Bor Gullet did... Suffice to say, it wasn't pretty.
• Unlike in A New Hope, where we only see the destruction of Alderaan on the Death Star's command bridge, we get to see it strike first-hand, at minimal power, and it is still horrifying. The superweapon's low power test shot on Jedha is something comparable to a planet-killing asteroid impact, as the superlaser literally rips the planet's crust open, sending debris erupting into orbit. And when it's fired upon Scarif, its full-scale meteor-like planetary annihilation, as everyone on Scarif's beaches — including Jyn, Cassian, and Krennic — is wiped away in a wall of light. The Death Star shooting at maximum power on a planet is no less frightening for the sheer genocide it causes, but at least doesn't make said planet's inhabitants see that part of their impending doom coming.
• The Death Star's terrifying debut has it block out the sun and cover Jedha in shadow. Whilst the heroes are meeting with Saw Gerrera on Jedha, Tarkin demands a test-firing of the Death Star. Krennic selects the planet's temple-city as the target. Despite the fact that the blast only being directed a city, it's still powerful enough to cause continent-shattering shockwaves and a destructive plume of ash, fire, and lightning that spirals into the atmosphere. All Krennic can say as he observes the cataclysm from the Death Star command bridge is that it's "beautiful".
  • Not to mention, that when the weapon is fired to destroy a planet in the film, we only ever see the beginning of a Death Star attack. And it's awesomely horrifying, especially the attack on Jedha, where we see a tsunami of sand, fire, ash, and massive chunks of rock completely dwarf the horizon. Yeah, that's only the beginning. As for the aftermath, if you thought the "Knightmare" scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was horrifying, then this would make it look like a teddy bear's picnic.
    K-2SO: There's a problem on the horizon... there is no horizon.
  • In addition to the above, there is just something very unnerving about seeing the Death Star facing downwards, making the already terrifying space station look even more menacing. Especially on Scarif, where we see it pointing down at Krennic like an accusing, baleful eye, and you know what's coming...
  • An issue of the current Star Wars run of comics, reveal the aftermath of the blast: The moon has been blown open down to nearly its core, with at least a fourth of the moon's mass thrown out in space. The remaining surface is barely habitable at the moment, but that won't last long. The Empire is desecrating the remains by strip-mining it, killing its natives simply for being there. The very Force itself around the moon is tainted, driving Force-sensitives that get too close to the blast zone mad.
  • Its entrance to the Battle of Scarif isn't immediate horror, like the arrival of Vader's Star Destroyer, smashing everything in its path, but it's a superb exercise in slow, dawning dread. We go from the ferocious starfighter battle above, where Raddus's bridge crew can only report "a massive object emerging from hyperspace". Cut to the Death Star, looming massive above the gorgeous clouds of Scarif while incredibly beautiful music plays.
  • As mentioned in Tear Jerker, news of the Death Star nearly fractures the Rebellion and convinces them to surrender despite Jyn's pleas. The Nightmare Fuel is this: the Death Star was intended to be a weapon so horrifically terrifying it would quell all resistance by merely existing. It almost worked, before its existence was ever made public.
• Jedha has had Damocles' sword hanging over it long before the giant battle station shows up — an Imperial Star Destroyer. Everyone knows those things are just as capable of razing a city to the ground no problem, and contrary to what the Death Star does to its target, a couple hours of merciless turbo laser bombardment might well be worse than an instant death you didn't even realize was coming for you. Imagine living under the looming shadow of a Destroyer for weeks, months or even years on end, never knowing when the Empire finally has everything it had come for and decides that You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
  • Even the damn thing leaving is scary in itself. When Tarkin orders a test, Krennic evacuated all Imperial personnel, and we watch as the various spacecraft all pull away. For some on the ground it may look like a dream come true, but the more wary might be wondering why they're getting the hell out of there.
  • Star Wars Rebels has explicitly established that the Empire always pulls its units out right before a major strike. Anyone familiar with the show knew what was about to happen the moment that Star Destroyer fired up its engines.
• Krennic, after being pushed out of his moment of glory by Tarkin, goes directly to Mustafar — covered with swirling ash clouds, cascades of lava, imposing cliff-side fortresses. There, Darth Vader dwells within a tank of bacta, in his hideous, burnt, limbless, un-armored form. Once dressed, Vader meets with Krennic, tears down his every complaint and Force-chokes him for his arrogance before retreating into his sanctum.
• The Death Troopers, everything that a Stormtrooper is not... And that makes them one of the most unsettling troops of the Empire. If the black armor and height didn’t sway people, the fact they can actually shoot and kill scores of Rebels upon entering the battlefield will. Even the sounds they make are creepy; the helmet encrypts their speech so only they can understand each other, rendering all of their vocals almost like electronic animals.
  • The visual guide mentions that, while human, every Death Trooper has undergone extensive physical alterations. You never see them without their helmets, so whatever these "alterations" entail is left to the imagination...
  • During the skirmish in the archive, one of them is sent plummeting several hundred feet to his death. His scream as he falls isn't remotely human.
• AT-ATs have always been intimidating, but in a "wow, cool" kind of way, especially since previously the heroes have always been flying in something that has at least a chance of fighting back. On Scarif, we get to see these looming monstrosities from the POV of the guys on the ground, and all they can do is run. Not even Baze's rocket launcher can do anything against them. Imagine firing your most powerful shot against one of those metal beasts, knocking it to one side for a few seconds, then watching in horror as the head focuses down on you, blaster cannons swiveling and drawing a bead on you, as the anonymous Imperial pilot decides you in particular are going to be his next kill.
  • What's worse is the walkers on Scarif aren't even AT-ATs. They're cargo haulers called AT-ACTs^* All Terrain Armored Cargo Transport. They're less heavily armed and armored than their siege variant and they still tear a bloody swathe through ground troops while being tough enough to withstand their attempts to destroy them. If it weren't for the Rebel Alliance's starfighters making it to Scarif's surface in time to save them with superior firepower, the troops on the ground very likely would've been annihilated.
  • AT-ATs have always been said to be a symbol of Imperial might, but now we really see just how terror-inducing even just a less armed variant of the damn things is as the moment one shows up, Rogue One scatters like terrified animals.
    Pao: Karabast! AT-AT!
• Even the AT-ST is given a nightmarish makeover: We only see one on Jedha, but its sheer presence is enough that it turns the tide of battle. All we see it do is lankly walk in the direction of the battle in an unsettling way, and gun down rebels and civilians indiscriminately.
• Krennic's last moments were absolutely hellish. Shot in the back, but not killed outright. The ones responsible simply walk away and leave him to die in agony and alone. And he's still alive just long enough to see the Death Star, the weapon he helped to build and hoped to command, in position to fire on the planet under the command of Tarkin, who after outgambitting Krennic at every turn now gets to kill Krennic (along with everyone else on the planet) with the very weapon they were feuding over.
  • Note that right before the superlaser hits the planet's surface, it takes out the top of the Citadel Tower — exactly where Krennic is as he looks up at his creation. Krennic was killed by a direct hit from the Death Star!
  • This is the last thing that Krennic sees before he dies.◊ (He's the blurry shape in the left foreground.) Oh, Crap! doesn't even begin to describe it. As mentioned above, this is the first(and so far only) time the Death Star was seen from the victim's Point of View: A massive eye, staring right at you before casting Judgement, and in this case it's effectively aimed at just one person.
• Grand Moff Tarkin has returned, and he's just as ruthless and trigger-happy as ever. He wipes out every Imperial soldier along with all the Rebels, destroys the information facility and devastates the entire planet for a chance at stopping the Rebels' scheme. And if he'd been just a few minutes earlier, it would have worked. The look on his face when he is told that Krennic happens to be on Scarif at the same time as the Rebels. How can it be that someone so stoic can reflect so much sadistic glee in just his eyes and a turn of his mouth? The worst part, he actually shows more restraint than Krennic. After all, Krennic wanted to fire the Death Star at full power against Jedha, until Tarkin talked him down...
• It looks like Raddus and what remains of his fleet will make it out alive and well... until the Star Destroyer Devastator, comes out of nowhere and rams straight into them. A few ships even crash into it. Right upon the Devastator's arrival, a medium transport crashes straight into it, a frigate is shot down after that and the Profundity (the Rebel flagship) is disabled soon enough. When we see the Rebel fleet again shortly after that, only the Profundity is still up, with debris all around it. The same fleet that put two Star Destroyers in their place on Scarif's orbit just now has been absolutely destroyed, and all the Rebels can do against this lone Star Destroyer is lay down and die. It feels like our heroes have been punished for their good deeds.
• Several Rebel troopers are desperately carrying the datapad with the Death Star's plans to the Tantive IV. The corridors go dark as the Imperials board, and several Rebel troopers are caught between two blast doors, one of which is jammed. Then, without quite knowing why, they look back the way they came, at the deep shadows and smoke behind them. For a few endless moments, there's absolutely nothing. Then, slowly, the unmistakable sound of incessant, nightmarish breathing becomes audible. Then Vader's blood-red lightsaber hisses to life...
• Which brings us to the main event. We know him. We've seen his atrocities, his malice, and his rage. But knowing that we've only seen him at the end of his life, fighting an old man and trying to turn his son. We've never truly seen Darth Vader absolutely let loose... until now. Crushing Rebels with the casualness of swatting a house fly is what he does. It was bad enough in A New Hope, which follows this movie chronologically — but Rogue One is a Lower-Deck Episode, so we see just how horrific he can be from the perspective of the Redshirt Army.
  • No shadow in the film is as deep as the one in which Vader lurks, and for a moment all the music dies down so the viewer can hear what the Rebels hear. Just the creaking of the jammed door, and the alarm wailing in the background. And then, you hear it....
  • At this point, the camera cuts back to the Rebels, as a look of dawning terror dawns on each and every one of them. For them, a monster beyond their worst nightmares has arrived, and they know that they're about to die.
    Rebel Officer: OPEN FIRE!!!
  • Vader starts to mow down his opponents effortlessly like a Force-sensitive Jason Voorhees. The ones not immediately struck down open fire and are variously crushed, slashed, stabbed, Force-choked, or shot by their own deflected blaster-fire. All they can do is scream for their compatriots on the other side of the door — and with the door jammed, they can only watch as Vader wordlessly kills them all. Never has the full, terrifying force that is Vader been captured as in this scene as he becomes an unstoppable specter of death. And this all takes place in one minute.
    Rebel Officer: [banging on the door] HELP US!
  • This whole scene is accompanied by an equally terrifying choir.
    • Even more terrifying — that choir is secretly The Imperial March
  • Not only is Vader silent, the violence is horribly effortless, with almost no movement above the shoulders while his victims are frantic. He almost looks bored, slaughtering his way through the Rebels at a methodical walking pace and calmly swinging his lightsaber like a walking stick. He lets them fire off a few shots when he could have easily just disarmed them all with the Force, (which he does later) as if to say there is really nothing the Rebels can do to stop him.
    • There's a reasonable argument that Vader was letting them shoot at him because it was an act of mercy. Vader isn't a sadist like Palpatine is, and would happily feed off the rage and thrill of battle anyway. Why not give the Rebel soldiers the psychological salve that they had the free will to at least try to shoot him?
    • Though it is admittedly a Legends source, this passage from Shadows of the Empire would support the above argument, as it shows Vader regarding the killing of foes through combat as being more honorable than other types of killing.
      Striking a man down with your blade was clean and honorable. Shooting him In the Back from the darkness of an alley and hurrying to blame it on another was something else altogether.
  • One of the poor Rebels is slammed up onto the ceiling by Vader — then he's rendered Half the Man He Used to Be by his lightsaber. All he can do is scream horribly as the two halves of his corpse drop onto the floor behind Vader. Even worse is that the killing blow from Vader is done with a casual backhand after Vader has passed the man, the kill little more than an afterthought. If you look in the background, all the other Rebels stop immediately in horror of what just happened.
  • One of said unfortunate Rebels who stopped has his gun immediately yanked out of his hands, leaving him powerless for what's about to happen. Now, whenever Vader chokes someone under normal circumstances, he squeezes his index and thumb together, as if he's pinching their windpipe. That unfortunate Rebel soldier? No, Vader doesn't do that. Vader straight up clenches his fist, crushing his windpipe◊. You can hear his terrified gurgling as he's thrown against the wall.
  • Of course, the last trapped Rebel, accepting his inevitable death, reaches through the gap in the door to hand off the plans Just in Time, leaving Darth Vader on the wrong side of the stuck door from the plans, right? Nope! Vader slices through the door (after impaling the last trapped Rebel) and continues tearing through the Rebels on the other side as the Rebel who grabbed the plans sprints away, half a breath ahead of the Dark Lord of the Sith and barely escaping with his life.
  • In From a Certain Point of View, we get some perspective from one of the Rebels who survived Vader's onslaught. He didn't even know this nightmarish figure cutting through his men was Vader, and only saw him as a "Death Angel". It's pretty clear that if he didn't die in the attack on the Tantive IV about an hour later, he'd be suffering long-term PTSD after this.
  • And there's the implication that Vader was holding the door closed with the Force, adding several levels of nightmare to the scene.

Novelization

• The descriptions of people dying in Jedha's destruction, as told from their point of view.
  Meggone felt the heat wash over her body but she felt no pain. She ignited in an incandescent burst of burning air, turned to ash and less than ash in an instant.
  At the age of ninety-three, she was not ready to die.
  [...]
  Larn and Pendra Sillu didn't see the emerald light or hear the thunder before they died. Pendra never left her father's arms.
  [...]
  When the storm front hit them, JN-093's armor protected her just long enough to make her death painful. In her last flicker of brain activity, she felt she'd failed her squad.

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