Christmas came early this year for “Star Wars” fans as series side story, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” hit theaters on Dec. 16. “Rogue One” filled the gap between “Star Wars” series episodes III and IV that originally left viewers with quite a few unanswered questions.

In “Star Wars Episode IV,” the Imperial Army’s "planet killer," also known at the Death Star, is blown up by the Rebel Alliance using a fatal flaw overlooked during the construction of the massive and deadly weapon. The destruction of the Death Star ultimately led to the future of the galaxy being saved. However, with the conclusion of “Episode IV,” viewers were left with key pieces of the big picture missing, such as how the rebels obtained the knowledge of the Death Star’s flaw and who was the mastermind behind it.

While “Episode IV” failed to go into detail in regards to the obtainment of the Death Star’s flaw, 39 years later, “Rogue One” told the well-anticipated story. “Rogue One” was filmed in such a creative and well thought out way that the missing bits of information from “Episode IV” fell together seamlessly.

“Rogue One’s” side story tied into “Episode IV” directly as it ended with Darth Vader and the imperials entering a rebel ship, which is precisely how “Episode IV” began. While the consistency in events meshed together accurately, there were some minor flaws related to the history of the “Star Wars” saga.

Darth Vader enters the rebel ship alone and slashes the rebel troops in his way in the ending of “Rogue One,” but in the beginning of “Episode IV,” storm troopers are the first to enter the rebel ship, followed by Darth Vader after the troops are killed. While the inconsistency is a minor detail relative to the movie as a whole, it is a slipup that will surely be noted by many moviegoers.

In a more positive light, “Star Wars” amped up its technological game with the use of computer generated images to render in Imperial General Grand Moff Tarkin who was played by the late actor Peter Crushing in previous episodes. Since “Rogue One” followed a young Princess Leia, her character was also rendered because Carrie Fisher had aged over the years since she last played the part of a young Leia.

While some fans have expressed their disapproval in the unrealism of including CGI in “Rogue One,” it managed to keep the appearance of the characters consistent and showed viewers what “Star Wars” is capable of presenting in regards to graphics.

Disney successfully blended “Rogue One” with “Episode IV” with the exception of a few minor inconsistencies which can be overlooked in analyzing the movie as a whole. “Rogue One” was a valuable and fitting addition to the “Star Wars” series. The film aids fans in making sense of large gaps in information from the previous film and, with the recent passing of Carrie Fisher, celebrates the life of the inspiring Princess Leia. 

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