Rogue One writer defends Galen Erso's actions
Gary Whitta took to Twitter to answer a few questions about the film and how it fits into the Star Wars universe
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One of the most interesting aspects of the first of the Star Wars anthology films, Rogue One, is how much it muddies the waters morally with its heroes' actions and perspectives; especially when so much of the franchise in the past has focused on characters stuck between the diametric choice between good and evil.
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) must struggle with the less-than-savoury actions he committed for the good of the Rebel Alliance, while Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) carries the dark baggage of having defected from the Empire.
Most conflicted of all, surely, is Mads Mikkelsen's Galen Erso: the brilliant, kind-hearted scientist who still ends up aiding the Empire in constructing the Death Star; though he's able to leave behind one last act of defiance by creating the fatal flaw in the Death Star's constructions which leads to the climax of its destruction in A New Hope.
It's natural for fans to question his actions and what drove them, which is perhaps why Galen became such a recurring topic during a Twitter Q&A hosted by one of Rogue One's screenwriters, Gary Whitta.
"He was always a pacifist," Whitta tweeted. "His act of defiance in sabotaging DS-1 makes him a Rebel for sure. He risked his life to do it. In the writing it was always intended as an act of defiance and also a way to unmake what he was forced to help make."
"That's the real tragedy," Whitta also wrote, in reference to the idea his work was originally intended to be used for free energy on developing planets. "All of Galen’s genius and good intentions corrupted in the purpose of something truly horrific."
Whitta also shared a few interesting revelations in his Twitter chat, including the fact actual nerf herders - as in, "scruffy-looking nerf herder" - appeared in the original Rogue One script.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is out in cinemas now.
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