Long-awaited Force Ghosts, epic returns, and more times Star Wars delivered fans the goods.
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00:00 From jaw-dropping rematches that more than lived up to the hype, to the long-awaited
00:04 return of some of the galaxy's most cherished figures, Star Wars fans may not be able to
00:09 agree on most things when it pertains to this corner of space, but next to no one will argue
00:14 with the following moments all being instances of force-infused fan service done right.
00:19 Gareth here from WhatCulture's Star Wars, and here are 10 times Star Wars gave fans
00:24 exactly what they wanted.
00:26 10. The Rematch of the Century
00:28 Most of the attention was quite rightly focused on a certain rematch of the century coming into
00:33 Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yet instead of simply carting out the two former brothers-in-arms to
00:39 duke it out just the once, after spending nearly two decades away from the Star Wars spotlight,
00:44 Debra Chow and Kathleen Kennedy gifted fans with the sight of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen's
00:49 Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader crossing lightsabers on three separate and
00:55 wholly satisfying occasions. An Obi-Wan absolute mauling at the hands of the rage-fuelled Dark
01:00 Lord in Part 3 was eventually followed by a digitally de-aged bout of training between
01:05 Master and Padawan from before the Clone Wars in Part 5. And if that was not enough, the iconic
01:11 figures were given one last chance to truly let loose against one another in the series finale,
01:16 with Kenobi reverting back to a classic stance, Vader finally getting the high ground, and a
01:22 merging of Christensen and James Earl Jones' unmistakable voices, post-mask-smashing all
01:27 leaving fans needing a serious lie-down. 9. Han Solo completes the Kessel Run
01:32 Let's face it, Solo, a Star Wars story, will not go down in history as one of the most universally
01:38 beloved tales ever told in this galaxy far, far away. But that's not to say that every aspect of
01:43 this prequel feature can be deemed as a complete and utter failure upon a rewatch. In fact,
01:48 arguably one of the most mythical stories ever to tumble out of a much-loved character's mouth
01:52 was finally and brilliantly realised on the big screen in Ron Howard's Space Adventure.
01:57 After years of banging on about his trusty Millennium Falcon being the mighty ship that
02:01 was able to make the perilous, multiple black hole-boasting Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs,
02:06 Disney finally rewarded fans with the concrete evidence of the legendary Solo genuinely pulling
02:11 off this mesmerising feat within their 2018 outing. Thanks to an inspired shortcut, of course.
02:17 Sure, the origins of the titular icon's last name, among many other frustrating elements
02:21 within this dud of a flick, may not have excited the masses. But you'd be lying if you said you
02:26 weren't even a little bit thrilled by this sequence of Solo finally living up to his legend.
02:31 8. Ahsoka comes face-to-face with Vader Throughout the massively embraced Clone Wars
02:36 animated series, one character alone stood as the undoubted MVP of these prequel tales - Ahsoka
02:43 Tano. But with the fierce figure acting as Anakin Skywalker's Padawan in her time before
02:47 leaving the Jedi Order behind, fans were always somewhat curious as to what would have gone down
02:52 if the former Master and Apprentice crossed paths once again in the wake of the former's
02:56 tragic fall to the deck, said. Well, March 2016's Twilight of the Apprentice Rebels' hour-long
03:02 special finale to Season 2 finally provided Skyguy supporters with that exact scenario.
03:07 And boy, did it deliver on the emotional gut-punch front. Matching each other blow-for-blow during
03:12 their instantly immortalised showdown on Malachor, Tano's slashing of Vader's helmet stunningly
03:17 mirrors the moment Obi-Wan Kenobi does something similar to his one-time ally in the recent live
03:22 action series. And just like that emotionally charged beat, a flicker of the Skywalker within
03:28 is enough to fool Ahsoka into thinking there's still hope for her former master, as she confesses
03:33 that she won't leave him, not this time. It may have been something fans were fantasising about
03:37 for an age, but that still doesn't mean they were ready for Vader's attempts to murder another piece
03:42 of his past. 7. Maul vs. Kenobi One Last Time
03:46 What appeared to be a rather fatal conclusion for Darth Maul during his Duel of the Fates skirmish
03:51 with Obi-Wan Kenobi, merely provided the foundations for one of the most iconic
03:55 rivalries in the galaxy. Spending much of the Clone Wars obsessed with exacting revenge on
03:59 the Jedi Knight, after being revealed to have miraculously survived his chopping-in-half,
04:04 the pair's destinies appeared to be forever intertwined. That was, until Maul finally
04:09 tracked down his long-time adversary on Tatooine many years after the fall of the Jedi Order and
04:13 the Republic. Maul and Kenobi collide on the desert sands as the former becomes wise to the
04:18 reasons behind the latter's stay on the planet. Short, sweet, and deeply impactful, Kenobi aptly
04:24 cuts down his old enemy using Qui-Gon's old stance, brings a tear to your eye, but in another
04:30 rather poetic turn of events, the tortured Dathomirian then peacefully passes on in Kenobi's
04:35 arms, with the knowledge of Luke very much being the Chosen One tasked with avenging them both.
04:39 An appropriate ending fit for a horned icon.
04:42 6. The Return of Boba Fett From the second a certain
04:46 Beskar-sporting badass was accidentally sent flying into a Sarlacc pit, fans were already
04:51 banging the drum to see the return of the coolest bounty hunter in the galaxy. And while few were
04:55 expecting it to take a whopping near four decades to see him dust off that aforementioned dance with
05:01 death, the reality of Temura Morrison stepping back into the Fett saddle in Disney+'s The
05:05 Mandalorian after his turns as Jango and many a clone was enough to produce a smile from just
05:10 about every Star Wars fan in the galaxy. Now sure, his long-awaited spin-off may not have quite lived
05:15 up to the hype in the end, with the book of Boba Fett's finest moments arguably taking place without
05:20 a Boba in sight, but the presence of this now multi-layered and battle-hardened daimyo will
05:25 always be welcome on the big and small screen in future space-aged entries. So here's hoping
05:30 Morrison gets his wish of bringing the legend back to his badass ways, should he blast his way
05:34 back into the Mandalorian or other corners of this galaxy far, far away in the coming years.
05:39 Luke Skywalker In His Prime Few Star Wars moments will ever be able to
05:44 match the sheer level of surprise conjured up by Dave Filoni and the gang in the closing stages of
05:49 the second season of their Disney+ live-action bibi. Going to frankly absurd lengths to keep
05:54 this undoubtedly moving return a secret, even digitally rendering a graphic of Plo Koon's head
05:59 to lace on top of the performance to keep those behind the scenes from uncovering the shocking
06:04 truth, none other than Luke Bloody Skywalker was unleashed on a troop of dark troopers late in the
06:08 day. Combining balmy digital de-aging effects when utilising Mark Hamill himself, with the
06:14 performance of a very much present actor in the form of stand-in Max Lloyd-Jones. Fans not only
06:19 witnessed the surreal visual of the mythical figure recruiting Grogu to his new Jedi academy,
06:24 but they were also treated to a sequence depicting Luke in full flight with a lightsaber, as he
06:29 expertly dispatches the seemingly unstoppable superbot horde. Whether you're a fan of the
06:33 technology used to realise this stunning moment or not, it still no doubt brought a tear to your
06:38 eye seeing Luke Skywalker once again here to rescue you.
06:41 Darth Vader Finally Rages Where Luke Skywalker's eventual
06:45 brandishing of his green blade in the Mandalorian brought with it a sense of safe and secure
06:50 familiarity, the same most definitely could not be said for the moment which sees his paps unleash
06:55 his iconic red blade aboard a Rebel command ship in Rogue One. After years of clamouring to see a
07:00 version of the uncompromising and freakishly powerful Vader, they'd seen butcher many a
07:04 rogue Jedi and innocent civilian in everything from comic books to video game properties,
07:09 Gareth Edwards provided fans with the sort of display that leaves your jaw ricocheting off
07:13 your knees in an instant. Slicing and force choking his way through Rebel scum like frustrating gnats
07:19 at a barbecue, the entire sequence plays out like something out of a horror flick. As the freedom
07:24 fighters desperately sacrifice their lives in order to keep the vital Death Star schematics
07:28 out of his reach. It worked, but my God at a cost.
07:31 Han and Chewie Arrive On The Falcon From the second it became clear that Disney
07:36 were very much ready to reignite the Skywalker saga engines and set a brand new sequel trilogy
07:41 in motion, a mixture of anxiousness and gleeful anticipation made its presence felt across the
07:46 globe. But with each passing new trailer for J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens, fears were gradually
07:51 replaced with near unmatched hype. Yet one moment in particular was enough to send the entire
07:56 internet into meltdown, upon its dropping in the film's second official teaser. The closing shot
08:01 of Han Solo and bloody Chewbacca boarding their trusty Millennium Falcon all but confirmed the
08:07 incoming feature's record-smashing future box office figures. And the moment the sequence
08:11 actually go-downs within the film itself, only builds on this wholly moving tease. As Solo is
08:17 spotted taking in his old cockpit and reminding Rey his baby made the casserole in 12 parsecs.
08:22 It was like they'd never been gone at all.
08:24 The Yoda Puppet Returns The use of CGI to completely re-imagine a
08:29 certain wise old space wizard did not go down too well with every Star Wars fan around the time of
08:34 Attack of the Clones. But that still didn't stop George Lucas from doubling down on his digitally
08:38 rendered Yoda for his Revenge of the Sith follow-up, and even entirely lacing his CGI creation into the
08:44 Phantom Menace back in 2011. With Lucas wanting to depict the all-powerful Jedi very much strutting
08:49 his flipping stuff with a lightsaber over the course of the prequels, it's not hard to see why
08:54 he relied on his new favourite toy for the most part, instead of the once game-changing puppetry
08:58 work used to bring Yoda to life previously. However, sensing that audiences would likely
09:03 connect more with that Frank Oz-voiced and controlled entity than the rather soulless
09:07 digital variant, Rian Johnson made the inspired call to bring the legendary puppeteer back on
09:12 board when the time came for Yoda's Force Ghost to appear before Luke in The Last Jedi. The results
09:18 clicked and then some, giving The Last Jedi one of its finest exchanges in the process.
09:22 Qui-Gon Jinn's Force Ghost Despite quite happily lending his
09:27 vocal talents to the animated version of Master Qui-Gon Jinn over the course of the Clone Wars
09:31 series, fans had still been praying to one day see the live-action return of Liam Neeson's
09:36 mysterious Jedi Master. So after spending the majority of his titular series trying and failing
09:42 to commune with his fallen master, seeing Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan finally reunite with his
09:46 Phantom Menace co-star on the small screen was about as surreal as it was undeniably effective,
09:51 alluring folks into wanting to see more of the iconic duo in a second season.
09:56 And while it's still not clear as to how Jinn was able to ultimately complete his training in
10:00 the Force, to the point of being able to manifest himself physically after death,
10:04 Neeson's recent comments of not wanting anyone else to play the part, and only being too happy
10:09 to join back up with McGregor on screen, seem to suggest he could be open to sticking around
10:13 to show us should that potential second season be given the green lightsaber.
10:18 That's the end of our list! Know of any other times Star Wars gave fans exactly what they wanted?
10:22 Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below, and do not forget to like,
10:26 share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it! I have been Gareth from WhatCulture
10:30 Star Wars, thank you very much for clicking on this video today, may the Force be with you,
10:34 and hopefully I will see you very, very soon. Bye!