Greetings Star Wars fans! It’s been one heck of a week for rumors about Rogue One. We already covered the rumor about the delays and why we think it isn’t a big deal. Now today, I want to talk about other aspects of Rogue One, in particular the ending and possible cameo rumors that have emerged. Possible spoilers are ahead, so continue at your own risk!

As pointed out by one of my new favorite blogs, StormTrooperLarry, there was a tidbit in the Hollywood Reporter article that many people overlooked. That is the fact that the end of Rogue One will take place 10 minutes before A New Hope. From the article:

“This is the closest thing to a prequel ever,” a source tells THR. “This takes place just before A New Hope and leads up to the 10 minutes before that classic film begins. You have to match the tone!”

So this is just “a source” and we should be careful about that. However, I’m talking about it because Chris Seekell essentially confirmed yesterday on the live podcast of StarWarsUnderworld that he had heard the same thing from other sources. Given this sort of corroboration, and the fact that this is a very reasonable thing for them to do, this seems like a likely scenario.

But what would this mean exactly? Well, if we look at the beginning of A New Hope (ANH), we know that the story begins with Princess (and Senator) Leia Organa in the Rebel Blockade runner fleeing from Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer with the plans to the Death Star. To me, the scenario that makes the most sense is for these two to connect with the handing off of the plans to Leia.

While everyone and their brother has chimed in on the latest rumors about Rogue One, Variety film reporter Justin Kroll has followed up with the following tweet:

Sources say reshoots are expected on ROGUE 1; nothing to worry about, most of the shoot will involve the cameo of a very important character — Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) May 31, 2016

So given the scenario that makes the most sense to me, the one that links the end of Rogue One to 10 minutes before the beginning of ANH, is the one where we see Leia receiving the plans. In order for this to work, we won’t be able to see her face, unless they use some old footage, or some sort of CGI. I would only assume that the Lucasfilm archive has some old unused footage of Leia in her signature buns.

As for the rumor of Han Solo that many have considered, this seems less likely. Why? Because putting Han in this story would be a bit contrived. It would put a character in a story line where it doesn’t make a lot of sense, and would seem forced. Leia makes sense because we already know that she is exactly where the story after Rogue One goes. Moreover, somehow this scene of the hand-off of the plans would work if it showed her from the back of her head. One of the premises of the Han rumor is that Alden Ehrenreich, who was hired to play Han in the next anthology film would be the cameo. However he is hired to play Han much earlier and is much younger. So putting a cameo of Han with a different actor in a scene that takes place like a day before (in universe) we see him played by Harrison Ford doesn’t make sense.

Han would work, however, in some sort of a flashback. Still, my money is on Leia. It would also tie with the growing use of Leia in other media, such as her cameo in Rebels, and her new book “Bloodline”.

The other tantalizing bit that I have speculated on in the past is the role of Mads Mikkelsen, and the character that he is playing. I have actually proposed that he could be playing a young Lor San Tekka. Under that theory, Lor San Tekka is a pseudonym, much like “Ben” Kenobi, because he is hiding out from the Empire. After all, he may have helped give away the plans to the Death Star to his daughter Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones’ character). This theory would explain why Lor San Tekka is such a trusted old ally to the Resistance, and why he knows Leia as “royalty” (how he described her at the beginning of TFA). That and the resemblance we’ve pointed out before:

So what do you think the cameo will be? Leave your comments below. Time will tell how this actually pans out, and speculation is half the fun.

Follow me on twitter and stay tuned to @spoiledbluemilk for updates MWF