Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Skywalker saga and featured numerous Easter eggs that connected it to the rest of the Star Wars franchise, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. With Palpatine returning from the dead to menace the galaxy once more, Rey completes her Jedi training, finally learns of her true heritage, and manages to awaken the good side of Ben Solo in time for a final battle on the Sith world of Exegol. The film cements Palpatine as the saga’s ultimate villain, retroactively making him the mastermind of the entire saga’s conflict, which the film supplemented with its connections to Clone Wars and Rebels.
The Rise of Skywalker features numerous callbacks and references to the previous two trilogies, as well as a noticeable amount of inspiration from the Star Wars Legends continuity. Like the Dark Empire comics of the ‘90s, The Rise of Skywalker has Palpatine return from the dead by transferring his consciousness into cloned bodies. The two stories also feature a hidden backup portion of the Empire that Palpatine unleashes on the galaxy, complete with new superweapons and troops. By referencing Legends material, the film honored parts of the Star Wars franchise that existed outside of the current continuity, acknowledging the iconic yet bygone era.
Outside of the live-action films, some of the most popular Star Wars content has been the work of Dave Filoni. Famous for his work on the second iteration of The Clone Wars and its sequel series, Rebels, Filoni filled the gaps between films and trilogies, adding new and exciting lore to the canon universe, as well as creating fan-favorite characters like Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. JJ Abrams is quite vocal about his appreciation for Filoni’s work, especially The Clone Wars, so it’s not surprising that he took time to reference two of his shows in the final Skywalker saga film.
Exegol References Malachor
One of the most dramatic story arcs in Star Wars Rebels was its two-part season 2 finale. Traveling to the ancient Sith world of Malachor, Ezra Bridger and his companions discover a massive Sith Temple. The temple’s imposing structure resembles that of Palpatine’s fortress on Exegol in The Rise of Skywalker. Similarly, the Sith Wayfinders used to reach Exegol are inspired by Sith Holocrons, Legends-era items that made their canon debut in Rebels. Finally, the ancient Sith language that C-3PO translates on Kijimi was first used in canon in The Clone Wars by Palpatine and Dooku, before showing up again in Rebels season 2 finale on Malachor.
A Separatist Droid On Kijimi
Another Clone Wars reference can be found on Kijimi. When C-3PO is having himself modified by Babu Frik, an old Separatist Alliance B1 Battle Droid is visible in the background of Frik’s workshop. During The Clone Wars, B1 Battle Droids could be found throughout the galaxy, fighting to subjugate worlds under Separatist corporate rule. Although individually, the droids were comically inept soldiers, they were deadly enough to kill the elite Clone Troopers and Jedi when they fought in great enough numbers. All Separatist droids were ordered to shut down at the end of the war, but it’s not surprising to see one in a droid workshop decades later.
The Citizens' Fleet
The Resistance was far outnumbered and outgunned during the climactic Battle of Exegol. The First Order and Palpatine’s Sith Eternal forces combined to form the Final Order, which included a fleet of Star Destroyers with planet-destroying weapons. Lando Calrissian evened the odds, however, by rallying a massive fleet of civilian and recovered military craft, giving the free people of the galaxy a chance to fight back at Sith oppression. Among the many ships in the Citizens’ Fleet were at least three Clone Wars-era ships. Venator-class Star Destroyers, once the proud warships of heroic Jedi and Clones, joins the battle along with Pelta-class support ships. Also present was The Crucible, a Jedi ship and the location where Jedi younglings assembled their lightsabers for over a thousand years.
Several Rebels ships appeared in the Citizens’ fleet as well. The Ghost, which the ensemble cast of Rebels lived aboard, was the most prominent of these. This implies that at least some of the heroes of Rebels were still alive and able to continue the fight against evil. A YT-2400 freighter, made famous by Dash Rendar’s Outrider in Legends, also appears in the fleet. This ship appeared prominently in an episode of Rebels as the Sato's Hammer, the mobile headquarters of Iron Squadron. Finally, the Shadow Caster, the vessel of bounty hunter Ketsu Onyo, can be seen in the fleet, indicating that an older Onyo likely took up arms against the Sith.
Voices Of The Jedi
In her final battle against her grandfather, Palpatine, Rey is supported by the Force ghosts of all past Jedi, allowing her to stand against the legendary Sith Lord. As the Jedi lend their support, numerous voices are heard, creating numerous voice-only cameos to the delight of longtime fans. While most of these voices are film actors reprising their roles, some are from Clone Wars and Rebels, acknowledging them as being just as legitimate as live-action films. Among the voices are Jennifer Hale as Aayla Secura, a Jedi from The Clone Wars who died during Order 66. Luminara Unduli, voiced by Olivia D'Abo, can also be heard. Luminara survived Order 66, but was captured and executed by the Empire, who used her body to lure other Jedi survivors into a trap, as shown in Rebels.
Kanan Jarrus, one of the protagonists of Rebels, is audible in the sequence as well, voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. Jarrus was a padawan Order 66 survivor who became a Jedi after the order fell. He later sacrificed himself to save the rest of the Ghost crew, and tragically never lived to raise his son, Jacen. One of the most notable voices, however, is that of Ahsoka Tano, played by Ashley Eckstein. Ahsoka was a fan-favorite character from both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, though unlike every other Jedi in the scene, her ultimate fate is still unknown by the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, potentially making her the only living Jedi to support Rey.