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Who knew we were so attached to the Ewoks?
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00:00The Star Wars saga now spans three trilogies, several side movies, a handful of TV shows and dozens, if not
00:07hundreds, of novels and books.
00:08That's not to mention all the comic books and video games that have added their own depth to the universe.
00:13We've had every kind of tale in Star Wars by this point.
00:16The comedy, the romance, the action-adventure, even a zombie story.
00:19Yes, you heard that right.
00:20But if there's one theme that exists throughout all, it's tragedy.
00:23Betrayals, heartbreak, death and destruction are just common occurrences when you're dealing with powerful space wizards duking it out in
00:30a struggle of good versus evil.
00:32Needless to say, Star Wars has been filled with traumatic events.
00:35Time and again, we've seen our characters go through ordeals or witness things that would turn anyone into a quivering
00:41wreck.
00:41And as an audience, we've been left with our own scars.
00:44Due to the extensive nature of the Star Wars universe, we've narrowed this down just to events that have happened
00:49in the movies.
00:50Be warned, you're about to be triggered.
00:52I'm Cy for WhatCulture.com and these are the 10 most traumatic events in Star Wars.
00:58Number 10, the death of Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen.
01:01Many of the most tragic events in Star Wars were catalysts for significant events happening further down the line.
01:06The murder of Luke's guardians led to his decision to leave Tatooine, the destruction of the Death Star and the
01:12eventual overthrow of the Empire.
01:14It's true that Luke wanted to join the Rebel Alliance before his family's death, but the event triggered an early
01:19departure, leading him into the path of Han and Chewie.
01:22Meeting the smuggling duo in Mos Eisley was so integral to the story that half the offence to follow wouldn't
01:27have happened otherwise.
01:29For one, Leia wouldn't have been saved, leaving the Rebellion without its greatest leader.
01:33The death of Luke's Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen was certainly traumatic for the character, but it kind of got
01:38glossed over.
01:39Luke looks sad for a moment, but then John Williams comes in with his stirring Heroes theme, reminding the audience
01:45that everything would work out.
01:46What's more, Luke never grieves for his aunt and uncle, or even mentions them ever again.
01:52This guy had a weird way of processing trauma.
01:54Number 9, Romba trying to wake Nanta.
01:57Star Wars and irritating alien species go together like scum and villainy.
02:01In the prequels, fans had to sit through the ordeal that was Jar Jar Binks,
02:04but long before Porgs were even a blip on Disney's cash-grabbing radar, Ewoks were introduced into the Star Wars
02:10universe.
02:11They were essentially child-sized teddy bears who liked playing Tarzan and had a thing for cooking and eating humans
02:16alive.
02:17Yep, don't forget originally they were going to eat Luke and Company.
02:20No matter how you felt about them, the Ewoks played an important role in the final installment of the original
02:25trilogy.
02:26Untold, numbers of them died fighting alongside the rebels during the Battle of Endor.
02:30It was the death of one in particular that really hit home, though.
02:33When two Ewok warriors are sent flying from a blaster impact,
02:37one desperately tries to wake the other, only to realise his companion is dead.
02:41What makes things worse is that the Rebel Alliance totally manipulated these guys into going to war for them.
02:46The only reason the Ewoks got on side is because they thought C-3PO was a god.
02:50When you realise these guys only died in the name of religious fantasism, it becomes a little more troubling.
02:56Number 8, the destruction of Alderaan.
02:58The Empire did some pretty reprehensible shit, but committing planetary genocide was top of the list.
03:04Not only did they kill every last sentient being living on Alderaan,
03:07but they completely incinerated all of fauna and flora,
03:10leaving nothing but hunks of rock floating through space.
03:13Being environmentally conscious wasn't on the Empire's agenda for one second.
03:17Roughly two billion people died in the explosion, including Leia's adoptive parents.
03:21The instant deaths of so many caused such a disturbance
03:24that force-sensitive beings like Obi-Wan were physically shaken.
03:27Moff Tarkin, the foul, stinking commander of the Death Star, gave the order.
03:32He believed ruling through fear was the only way to dominate a populace.
03:36If you could inflict mass trauma to such degree that people were cowered into submission,
03:40then you were one step closer to ruling the galaxy.
03:42He ordered all the Imperial personnel aboard the Death Star to watch the destruction of Alderaan
03:47to remind them of the Empire's power.
03:49This had the effect of dissuading those who had been thinking of joining the Rebellion from doing so.
03:54Number seven, the loss of Rogue One.
03:57Rogue One was the darkest Star Wars movie we've ever seen.
04:01Sure, there was the wisecracking ex-imperial droid K-2SO,
04:04but the overall tone was pretty sinister.
04:07It was the first time the Rebel Alliance and its offshoots
04:09weren't painted merely as heroic freedom fighters.
04:12It was implied that Saw Gerrera's partisans weren't above committing terrorist-like activities
04:17to achieve their ends.
04:18Even Cassian Andor, the Alliance spy,
04:21had done some fairly nefarious stuff in his fight against Palpatine's regime.
04:25We saw him kill the Alliance informant Tivik
04:28when he feared he might be captured by the Stormtroopers.
04:31Yep, it's a much darker and much more nuanced side of Star Wars.
04:35Despite seeing the protagonists get up to some questionable behavior,
04:38we still sympathize with their struggle.
04:40Their fight against the Empire was justified,
04:42and the fact they were willing to commit the ultimate sacrifice for their cause
04:45made them tragic heroes.
04:47As Rogue One battled to retrieve the Death Star plans,
04:49it was clear they'd taken on a mission they would never return from.
04:53One by one, we saw them go down in a blaze of glory
04:55until the last moment when Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor
04:59were engulfed in a fiery blast from the Death Star.
05:02Number six, the death of Shmi Skywalker.
05:05How old you were when the prequels came out
05:07will have affected your Star Wars experience.
05:09For some, these movies might have been their first introduction
05:12to the Skywalker saga.
05:13If that was the case, then the fall of Anakin to the dark side
05:16would have played out like an unexpected tragedy.
05:18For those that already knew the fate of Anakin,
05:20they watched these movies with a bitter helplessness.
05:23We knew all too well what was in store for young Skywalker.
05:26He would succumb to fear, hate, anger, and finally suffering,
05:30ultimately leading him to the dark side
05:32and adopting the alias of Darth Vader.
05:35But regardless of how you watched this play out,
05:37it was a traumatic experience,
05:38not just for Anakin, but for the viewer.
05:40Either this was like watching your shining hero
05:43unexpectedly fall from grace,
05:44or it was akin to watching a train wreck
05:46play out before your eyes.
05:48Fans wondered what might trigger Anakin
05:50into taking his final step on the road to the dark side.
05:53When we saw Shmi near death
05:54after being bound and tortured by the Sand People,
05:57we knew this was the moment.
05:59Number five, Anakin underestimating the high ground.
06:03Despite the criticism thrown at the prequels,
06:06they still had many redeemable features,
06:07not least, Ewan McGregor in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
06:11McGregor adopted the cadence and nuances of Alec Guinness
06:14just enough to make fans appreciate the effort
06:16while still making the character his own.
06:18Although this was the story of Anakin,
06:20we sympathize with Obi-Wan just as much,
06:22if not more.
06:23He watched his child pupil become the greatest Jedi in the galaxy
06:26before rapidly descending into darkness.
06:29It was McGregor's acting chops
06:31and the rare bit of good dialogue
06:33that made his showdown with Anakin so impactful.
06:36Watching the duel in Revenge of the Sith
06:38was equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking.
06:40The lightsaber battle was one of the best put to screen,
06:43but it signified the end of the Jedi Order.
06:45We watched as Obi-Wan maimed his old friend,
06:48even as he espoused his love for him.
06:50Kenobi's anguish at watching his brother,
06:52consumed by hatred and flame,
06:54was almost too much to witness.
06:56Number four, Order 66.
06:58By the time of the Clone Wars,
07:00the Jedi Order was rampant with hypocrisy
07:01and narrow-minded conservatism.
07:04Even so, seeing them systematically executed
07:06during Order 66
07:08was a turf pill to swallow.
07:10In the days of the Empire,
07:11the Jedi had drifted into myth and legend,
07:13and the original trilogy only hinted
07:15at their previous power and prowess.
07:17With the prequels,
07:18we got to see them at the height of their pomp.
07:20We knew that ultimately,
07:21these films were leading to the downfall of the Republic
07:24and the rise of the Empire.
07:25For that to happen,
07:26it was inevitable that the Jedi would come to a tragic end.
07:30When the moment finally came, though,
07:32no amount of foreknowledge could have prepared us.
07:34Watching Jedi Masters with names that I can't pronounce,
07:37like Ki-Adi-Mundi,
07:39Aayla Secura,
07:40and Plo-Kloon,
07:41gunned down by the very clones they had led into battle,
07:44was a kick to the stomach.
07:45What's more,
07:46we saw the execution of Padawans and younglings
07:49as a legion of clones enveloped the Jedi Temple.
07:52Number three,
07:53the death of Qui-Gon Jinn.
07:54Qui-Gon Jinn was rare in that he was one of the few true Jedi
07:58in the entire Star Wars saga.
08:00He had an unorthodox way of doing things,
08:02often disagreeing with the Jedi Council
08:04and following his own instincts.
08:06He was aware that their dogmatic approach
08:08was causing many to lose a true connection with the Force.
08:11He was humble,
08:12confident,
08:13without arrogance,
08:14and wise enough to see Anakin as the Chosen One.
08:17Liam Neeson portrayed him as a protective and caring parental figure
08:20to both Obi-Wan and Anakin.
08:22He was an instant fan favourite,
08:24but of course,
08:25he got killed off.
08:27Although the Phantom Menace had its issues,
08:28the death of Qui-Gon was one of the most emotional scenes in the entire saga.
08:32This was a moment that shaped the young Obi-Wan's future.
08:35The dying wish of his master was for Anakin to be trained,
08:38a promise Obi-Wan tried to keep due to his devotion to Qui-Gon,
08:42but felt haunted by when Anakin turned to evil.
08:44This death no doubt had a marked effect on the young Anakin Skywalker also.
08:49He'd already gone through the trauma of leaving his mother to her enslavement,
08:53and now his only other parental figure was dead.
08:56Number two,
08:56the Youngling Massacre.
08:58By the time episode three came to a close,
09:00it was clear there was no hope of saving Anakin Skywalker from his fate.
09:04Up until this point,
09:05his past misdeeds could at least be explained.
09:08His slaughter of the Tusken Raiders was a reaction to the torture and death of his mother,
09:12even relieving Mace Windu of his hand and causing his death
09:14death was out of yearning to save Padme,
09:17and it was clear he regretted the move.
09:19When it came to killing helpless younglings, however,
09:22there was no longer any human emotion driving Anakin's actions.
09:25He was merely following the will of the dark side.
09:28They were helpless children who asked for protection,
09:30and for a brief moment it looked as though he might help them escape,
09:33until his lightsaber ignited.
09:35They were doomed to death,
09:37and Anakin was doomed to darkness.
09:39By this point,
09:40we'd already watched the clones gun down their Jedi commanders,
09:43Mace Windu had been brutally killed,
09:45and Anakin had sworn allegiance to Palpatine.
09:48How could it get worse?
09:49Child massacre.
09:51Number one,
09:52Luke drinking green milk.
09:54With all the atrocities committed by the Empire and the Sith,
09:57including the killing of innocent children and the destructions of entire planets,
10:00nothing was as traumatic as seeing the one-time hope for the galaxy,
10:04milk an alien sea cow,
10:06and chug down on its bodily fluids.
10:08It's fair to say the final trilogy did the dirty when it came to Luke's character arc.
10:13Once the most loved figure of the movies,
10:15he became a bitter old man who resembled little of the character we once knew.
10:19What Rian Johnson did to Luke was as egregious as what David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did to the
10:24entire Game of Thrones cast.
10:26The notion of subverting expectations was taken for a ride with this one.
10:30Seeing this character destroyed will leave a mark on long-time Star Wars fans for years to come,
10:35and the true severity of such trauma has not yet been fully realised.
10:39Luke's unsatisfactory death aside though,
10:41this scene alone would have been troubling regardless of how the story played out.
10:46Everyone from Rey to the audience,
10:47and even Mark Hamill himself,
10:49was blindsided and confused by this.
10:51We know Luke loved his blue milk back on his homeworld of Tatooine,
10:55but this just seemed perverse.
10:57What did you think of this list?
10:58Let us know in the comments below which Star Wars moment made you babble like a child the most.
11:03I've been Sy for WhatCulture, and have a good week.
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