Star Wars: The Best Plot Twist From Every Movie, Ranked
Ever since Darth Vader told Luke Skywalker, “I am your father,” the Star Wars saga has been renowned for its use of mind-blowing plot twists. Some subsequent twists have risked ripping off the classic rug-pull from The Empire Strikes Back, but others have brought more effective and original surprises to the table.
Every movie in the Star Wars saga — also referred to as the Skywalker saga — has at least one major plot twist, harking back to the episodic storytelling of the old spacefaring serials that inspired George Lucas to create a galaxy far, far away in the first place.
11 Chewie’s Fake-Out Death (The Rise Of Skywalker)
There are two big plot twists in The Rise of Skywalker: “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” and Chewbacca’s fake-out death. The second one is the best by default because it actually makes sense — but it doesn’t really work.
Rey tries to stop the Imperial transport taking Chewie away with the Force, but accidentally shoots out some lightning that blows it up. She thinks she’s killed Chewie and has to live with that guilt, but J.J. Abrams reveals instantly that Chewie isn’t really dead and he was on the other transport, so all the suspense is gone.
10 Sifo-Dyas Commissioned The Clone Army (Attack Of The Clones)
When Obi-Wan finds a planet missing from the Jedi Archives, he travels there and finds a giant cloning facility creating an army for the Republic. He’s surprised to learn that the army was commissioned by a dead Jedi named Sifo-Dyas.
Although the mysteries of Kamino’s cloning operations are intriguing, Sifo-Dyas had never been previously mentioned and the plot point ended up being left unresolved.
9 Kylo Ren Is Han And Leia’s Son (The Force Awakens)
Midway through The Force Awakens, it’s revealed that the mysterious new villain Kylo Ren is the biological son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. Like a lot of the things in this movie, the twist is derivative of earlier Star Wars media — particularly, The Empire Strikes Back’s “I am your father” twist.
The twist isn’t delivered with nearly the same impact. It comes up in conversation in a really on-the-nose way when Kylo is talking to a 30-foot hologram of Snoke.
8 Qi’ra Betrays Han (Solo)
The twist ending of Solo: A Star Wars Story, in which Qi’ra betrays Han, is pretty predictable. But it gave the movie a surprisingly somber ending that hints at why Han is so reluctant to accept his feelings for Leia in the original trilogy.
The cameo appearance by Darth Maul is cool, too. It’s a shame audiences never got to see Maul’s relationship with Qi’ra and his role in Han’s backstory fleshed out in a sequel.
7 Padmé Is The Real Queen (The Phantom Menace)
On paper, Padmé has a really fascinating role in The Phantom Menace. She’s the queen of Naboo, but often disguises herself as a handmaiden and allows a decoy to take her place as monarch.
Unfortunately, the execution is kind of confusing. Still, Padmé being the real queen created a fun dynamic with Qui-Gon, who does a bunch of things behind the queen’s back without realizing the queen has been at his side the whole time.
6 Luke’s Force Projection (The Last Jedi)
During the Battle of Crait at the end of The Last Jedi, the First Order has cornered the Resistance in an old base and its arsenal of weapons is about to blow them to kingdom come. And then, Luke Skywalker does exactly what he said he wouldn’t do: walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order.
By the time a vengeful Kylo Ren realizes his uncle isn’t really there and he’s just a Force projection, the Resistance has managed to escape and will be able to fight another day.
5 Ben Kenobi Allows Vader To Strike Him Down (Star Wars)
Moviegoers were first introduced to lightsaber combat when Ben Kenobi arrived on the Death Star and faced off with his fallen apprentice Darth Vader for a fateful rematch.
Kenobi doesn’t just lose the fight; he allows Vader to strike him down. Having passed on the torch to Luke and mastered the ability to return from the grave as a ghost, he doesn’t mind losing to his former padawan this time.
4 All The Heroes Die (Rogue One)
Obi-Wan’s death is shocking, but it’s nowhere near as shocking as that of the entire cast of Rogue One. After the spin-off introduced a bunch of exciting new characters who could’ve been given their own sequels and solo movies, it surprisingly killed them all off in the big finale.
The Rebels manage to successfully get the Death Star plans up to Leia on Tantive IV, but it turns out to be their last act as the Empire uses the semi-functional battle station to decimate the warzone.
3 Vader’s Redemption (Return Of The Jedi)
When Darth Vader was introduced as a faceless symbol of pure evil in the original Star Wars movie, no fans ever expected that they would feel sorry for the ruthless Sith Lord.
But, lo and behold, in Return of the Jedi, he’s revealed to be under the spell of puppetmaster Emperor Palpatine. When the Emperor tries to kill his son, Vader decides that’s the last straw and throws his manipulative overlord into the Death Star’s reactor core. He dies from his injuries, but he saved Luke, defeated the Empire, and effectively achieved redemption.
2 The Great Jedi Purge (Revenge Of The Sith)
Fans went into the prequel trilogy knowing that something really bad would happen to the Jedi because only Obi-Wan and Yoda remained of the order in the original trilogy, but the fact that Palpatine used the Jedi’s own clone troopers to massacre them was completely unexpected.
Apparently, the Great Jedi Purge sequence in Revenge of the Sith was originally even darker and more violent and Lucas had to cut it down. The final piece is still pretty harrowing.
1 “No, Luke, I Am Your Father.” (The Empire Strikes Back)
Darth Vader’s revelation that he’s Luke Skywalker’s father isn’t just the greatest plot twist in the Star Wars saga; it might just be the greatest plot twist in movie history.
The twist ending of The Empire Strikes Back beautifully set the stage for the next movie, Return of the Jedi, to conclude the saga with Vader’s redemption.