Posted in: Movies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


58 Things We Learned from Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary

Unless you've been living in the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim near Ahch-To, maybe you've noticed everyone discussing the latest entry into the Cosmic Conflict collection. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is dividing the internet like no other film in the saga; families are being ripped apart, decades-long friendships are being tested like never before, and it's all over a movie. Sure, fandoms take their passions super seriously, and perhaps Star Wars really is the biggest single collective franchise recognized across the galaxy. It's. Just. Crazy.

Much of the vitriol for the film seems to be around decisions made regarding characters and plot points (duh), some of which can be explained with the aid of the newly published book, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Visual Dictionary.

58 Things We Learned from Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary

Be aware, there may be things that contain spoilers if you HAVEN'T seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi. If you don't want to know, please find something else to read, just in case.

Written by Pablo Hidalgo, the visual dictionary is a gorgeous tome containing detailed photos and descriptions of characters, props, vehicles, and other notable information that wasn't revealed during the film. We thought maybe you'd like to know some of the more interesting things we picked up from it.

1.) The most up-to-date map of the known galaxy far far away, complete with Ahch-To's location, the route Luke took to get there, and the path of the Resistance fleet.

58 Things We Learned from Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary

2.) Confirmation that The Raddus, General Organa's flag ship, is named after the Mon Calamari Admiral Raddus from the Scariff offensive during the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Also, that Admiral Ackbar petitioned for the cruiser to carry Raddus's name. Also also, that the Raddus (like several real-world battleships) has two bridges — a primary command bridge on the upper surface, and a secondary "battle bridge" beneath its prow.

3.) Kaydel Connix (Billie Lourd) received a promotion to lieutenant for her "admirable service as an operations controller during the Starkiller crisis."

4.) Finn's (John Boyega) medical suit thing is actually filled with synthetic bacta, and is apparently "past its expiration date," explaining why it falls apart like it does.

5.) The tear in the red yoke of Finn's jacket (once Poe's jacket) was repaired by Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) while Finn recuperated.

6.) Finn still wears his Stromtrooper temperature control body-glove, AKA pants.

7.) General Leia's (Carrie Fisher) new hairstyle contains an Alderaanian mourning braid, theoretically for the loss of Han Solo at the end of The Force Awakens. There is also an entry for her space jewelry, noting that her cuff bracelet is "oro-weave," her large golden earrings are "aurodium," and her giant rings are signets.

58 Things We Learned from Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary

8.) Poe's specialty X-Wing is called the Black One. It's a customized T-70, complete with a temporary accelerator pod on the tail to allow the ship to hit sub-light speed.

9.) The necklace Poe wears is actually his mother's wedding ring. Shara Bey's ring was made from a brushed steel washer from old rebel tech. There is also a mention that Poe is "waiting to share it someday with the right partner."

58 Things We Learned from Star Wars: The Last Jedi Visual Dictionary

10.) The resistance MG-100 Starfortress bombers are relics from the Galactic Civil War, and have been repurposed in peaceful sections of the galaxy to be used for remote cargo drops, wildfire suppression, and deployment of mining explosives.

11.) The proton bombs used by the Cobalt and Crimson Squadrons have magnetic attraction plates. They are impelled from their racks by sequenced electromagnetic plates in the clips, so no, they're not being "dropped" in zero gravity.

12.) General Hux's (Domhnall Gleeson) first name is Armitage, and he's from the Hosnian system.

13.) Hux actually "quietly eliminated" his own father General Brendol Hux, a high-ranking officer in the First Order, in order to rise higher in power.

14.) Hux's flagship is called the Supremacy, and it often flies in formation with Snoke's ship.

15.) There is an entry for Hux's insulated officer's drinking cup, which "often contains Hux's favorite tea, bitter Tarine."

16.) Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) did NOT take Darth Vader's helmet with him when he changed quarters from his Finalizer ship to Snoke's flagship, Supremacy. Considering how important his grandfather's helmet was to him in TFA, this signals a big change.

17.) Kylo's tie fighter is a specialty prototype called The Silencer. It has a heavy laser cannon, shielded and armored cockpit, and a retractable ordnance bay in its wing joint.

18.) Apparently, the true scale of the First Order's military is "beyond the worst-case predictions" of General Organa. The Order has been amassing and hiding their fleet in the shadowy corners of uncharted space. It's probably safe to assume there are more large-scale never-before-seen surprises in store.

19.) The red lighting aboard dreadnought class ship the Fulminatrix is to help the gunnery crews' night vision as they switch back and forth between targeting scopes and visual scans of the surrounding regions.

20.) Snoke's ship The Supremacy is the only mega-class Star Destroyer in existence. The "giant wing" is 60 kilometers wide, and it remained hidden from the Resistance by masking its signature in the shade of high energy stars.

21.) Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is NOT a Sith.

22.) The form we see Snoke inhabit may not be his true self.  There is a mention that he disguises his actual appearance and projects his form. Or, it can also be taken that when he does Force project himself, he just makes himself bigger.

23.) Snoke's ring really IS etched with glyphs of Dwartii. (Back in the prequels, there is a statue in Senator Palpatine's quarters on Coruscant that has these glyphs on it.) And it's topped with a piece of obsidian from the mines below Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar.

24.) The giant windows in Snoke's chamber were designed and are operated by his purple-robed attendants. They come from the Unknown Region, and apparently are responsible for helping several of the Imperial holdouts survive the fall.

25.) The new red Praetorian Guard never leave Snoke's presence once added into his personal guard. The squad consists of eight guards, four sets of pairs each using the same weapon.

26.) The origins of the Praetorian Guards is still not really known, but the term has been in use in the universe since the 14th Emperor of Kitel Phard.

27.) Rose Tico (Kelly Maire Tran) and her sister Paige's necklaces are an ensign of the Otamok system, representing Hays Minor. We know it's made of Haysian smelt, which is highly conductive.

28.) Rose's decoder ring is an antique from the Galactic Civil War, and was once used to show support for the Rebellion in the corridors of the Imperial Senate.

29.) Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern) has known General Leia since they were teenagers. (Read the Princess Leia standalone novel and Bloodlines for more information on those years.) They served together in the Apprentice Legislature in the Imperial Senate.

30.) Holdo's space jewelry is symbolic of her home world Gatalenta. Her cuff bracelets trace local constellations, and her halo rings represent the planet's multiple suns. It's actually called an Osmium tiara.

31.) Luke's new home is located on Temple Island on Ahch-To, and is the origin point of the Jedi. Scholar Lor San Tekka helped Luke find it.

32.) The angry fishwife Caretakers are female Lanais. They live on the island and keep everything in repair while the males of the species called 'The Visitors' spend most of their lives at sea.

33.) The door of Luke's hut is actually a piece of his submerged X-Wing.

34.) Luke really did ask Leia to be the first student in his new Jedi Temple. She turned down the offer, however, deciding her family and future of the New Republic were too important, and that she could not devote herself to the extended isolation of the Jedi training method.

35.) Luke's been quietly collecting the remnants of Jedi artifacts, like the necklace we see hanging in his hovel. It's actually a Jedi crusader pendant; the crystal is from a fragmented defeated Sith's lightsaber.

36.) Luke puts on his Jedi robes for a specific reason, and it isn't to "rekindle the Order." He puts on the vestments to conduct what he sees as the "Final Jedi rite."

37.) The mosaic pool is an image of the Prime Jedi, the very first in the Order, in a state of meditation and balance.

38.) Rey's (Daisy Ridley) leather bracelet is to brace her staff on. (Maybe this was mentioned before, but I must've missed it.)

39.) Wookies need to consume 3,500-6,000 calories a day. Chewbacca is apparently fed up with the decades-old rations on the Falcon, and so looks to local wildlife to supplement his diet. Roast Porg feet are the tastiest part, or so the book says.

40.) Slowen Lo (Joseph Gordon Levitt), the tall Canto Bight alien who has the "you can't park your ship here," moment on the beach, is a well-known driftwood sculpture artist.

41.) The Canto Bight police force are also trained in hospitality, to keep the guests happy and docile.

42.) The Master Codebreaker really is a James Bond type. It's mentioned that "anyone who can crack his code is welcome to take over the mantle of Master Codebreaker," but so far no one has come close.

43.) The Fathiers can reach speeds of up to 75 kilometers per hour, and are bred specifically on Cantonica for racing.

44.) The kids from Canto Bight were abandoned by losing gamblers who could no longer afford to keep them. We even get their names, and a bit of how they know what's going on in other parts of the galaxy explained in the book.

45.) DJ (Benicio del Toro) doesn't actually have a name, "DJ" is short for the phrase "don't join," which can be found on the plate on his hat. It's his nickname and his life's motto, as he thinks larger causes "are for fools,"

46.)  Yes, that Serv-O-Droid S0-1P with the iron hands is the same model from Hardware Wars.

47.)  Captain Phasma's (Gwendoline Christie) chromium-plated armor is made from parts of the salvaged Imperial yacht used by Brendol Hux, Hux's dad. Specifically, they're from a Naboo yacht that Emperor Palpatine owned. Yeah. Probably the coolest piece of information from the book. It stands to reason that maybe it was Phasma who did Hux's dirty work and dispatched the elder Hux.

48.) Phasma comes from Parnassos, an untamed wild planet until the First Order came. She was raised by a tribe who lived in a mountain range, and this is why her chosen weapon is a tribal spear made of quicksilver.

49.) Phasma used an anti-armor acidic compound (kept in her utility belt) to dissolve the door of the Starkiller trash compactor to escape.

50.) Finn's defection is a closely guarded secret and has not been spread around the First Order's Stormtroopers, in an effort to suppress it inspiring others.

51.) The Executioner Troopers wear special helmets with a black stripe on them, and only their commanding officer knows the identifying serial numbers of the troopers.

52.) The location of planet Crait has been a closely guarded secret that only Leia and Holdo know, explaining a bit as to why Poe wasn't told the plan.

53.) Crait was once mined for its red crystalline compounds, and the blast doors on the cave complex were constructed to withstand big storms.

54.) Snowtroopers are dispatched to Crait because the salt heavy environment resembles the blinding whiteout conditions of a snow planet. Obviously their heating units are disabled for this mission.

55.) The new model walkers, AT-M6 (All-Terrain MegaCaliber Six) are fitted with specialty rotating knee joints, meaning these models are probably capable of climbing.

56.) The superlaser siege cannon is 200 meters long, and is "miniaturized" Death Star tech. The laser is powered by composite kyber crystal reactions. It even has defense turrets on its upper deck.

57.) The Crait skimmers are called V-4XD-D ski speeders, and are ultra-light low-altitude craft with reinforced windshields and open cockpits. Pilots call them 'tubs'. They've been outfitted with twin medium laser cannons.

58.) General Caluan Ematt has been with Leia and the resistance for a long time.  He is a veteran of the Galactic Civil War.

* * * * *

I cannot recommend this book enough if you are a Star Wars fan and specifically a Last Jedi fan.  The care and attention to detail is lovely, and obviously the information contained within is plentiful.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is currently in theaters, make sure you watch/read Bleeding Cool for reviews and more.


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Mary Anne ButlerAbout Mary Anne Butler

Bleeding Cool News Editor Mary Anne Butler (Mab, for short) has been part of the fast-paced world of journalism since she was 15, getting her start in album reviews and live concert coverage for a nationally published (print) music magazine. She eventually transitioned to online media, writing for such sites as UGO/IGN, ComicsOnline, Geek Magazine, Ace of Geeks, Aggressive Comix (where she is still Editor-in-Chief), and most recently Bleeding Cool. 

Over the past 10 years, she’s built a presence at conventions across the globe as a cosplayer (occasionally), photographer (constantly), panelist and moderator (mostly), and reporter (always). 

 Interviews, reviews, observations, breaking news, and objective reporting are the name of the game for the founder of Harkonnen Knife Fight, a Dune-themed band with an international presence. 

 Though she be but little, she is fierce. #MabTheProfessional
twitterfacebookinstagram
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.