Rogue One: A Star Wars Story served as a live-action prequel film to the original Star Wars trilogy while adding insight into the events that propelled George Lucas' film series. The 2016 movie, directed by Gareth Edwards, led right into the events of 1977's Star Wars, the title that launched the groundbreaking franchise. Aside from introducing a handful of new heroic figures, Rogue One also featured several notable characters that would become major players down the line. So what exactly happened next for those vital members of the plot?
Rogue One followed Jyn Erso, the daughter of a research scientist named Galen that the Empire forced to build a superweapon known as the Death Star. After a message was revealed regarding a vulnerability purposely built within the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance recruited Jyn to find her father. After his death, Jyn orchestrated a plan to steal the Death Star schematics. Jyn and a team consisting of Cassian Andor, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, Bodhi Rook, and K-2SO then formed the "Rogue One" squadron and embarked on the mission.
Jyn and Cassian infiltrated the Imperial base on Scarif as the rest of the team engaged in a ground battle. Upon acquiring the Death Star plans, the pair began running out of time. Much of the squad was already killed in the battle, but not before alerting the Rebels of their actions. Jyn successfully transmitted the Death Star plans to a Rebel command ship before the superweapon destroyed the base. While the primary protagonists perished, they became heroes among the galaxy for restoring hope in the Rebel Alliance's fight against the Empire. Some characters featured in Rogue One went on to attain more prominent arcs in the Star Wars continuity. Here's what came next for the most notable figures in canon.
Darth Vader
Following the battle on the planet Scarif, Darth Vader arrived with his Star Destroyer at the site of the Rebel Alliance's fleet of ships. He boarded the command ship searching for the stolen Death Star plans, striking down any Rebels in his path. One of the men managed to copy the data onto a disk delivered to Princess Leia Organa before she fled on another vessel. The conclusion of Rogue One led directly to the events of 1977's Star Wars, revealing that Vader intercepted Leia's ship. By then, she transferred the Death Star plans inside R2-D2 and sent the droid to Tatooine to search for Obi-Wan Kenobi. After his own son, Luke Skywalker, destroyed the Death Star, Vader remained a key figure in the Galactic Civil War. He became motivated to pull his son to the dark side of the Force while working alongside Emperor Palpatine to construct the second Death Star. During a brief duel, Palpatine threatened to kill Luke, but Vader sacrificed himself to save his son. This officially redeemed the Dark Lord of the Sith, allowing him to regain his former appearance as Anakin when shown as a Force ghost.
Grand Moff Tarkin
Aside from Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, Wilhuff was another major antagonist in Lucas' first Star Wars installment. As the commander of the Death Star, Tarkin was the one who ordered the destruction of the Scarif base, which ended up killing Jyn, Cassian, and his own colleague, Orson Krennic, among many others. When the events of the original trilogy picked up shortly from where Rogue One ended, Tarkin and Vader were put in charge of eliminating the Rebel Alliance. Upon failing to find the location of the Rebel's base, Tarkin punished Leia by destroying her home planet, Alderaan. Due to his arrogance and failure in believing the Death Star was in danger, Tarkin was killed when Luke blew up the space station.
Bail Organa
Bail Organa made a brief appearance in Rogue One as a member of the Galactic Senate that attended a Rebel Alliance meeting on Yavin 4. When the group was tasked with finding Obi-Wan, Bail instantly realized that his adopted daughter, Leia, was the perfect person for the job. The figure then returned to Alderaan as he awaited the next step in Leia's mission. Unfortunately, Bail and his wife, Breha, were on the planet when it was destroyed by orders from Tarkin. Leia tried to claim that the Rebel base was on Dantooine, but he targeted a location that would undoubtedly mean a lot to her.
Mon Mothma
As the Rebel Alliance co-founder and leader, Mon Mothma recruited Jyn to rescue Galen Erso to learn more about the Death Star. She didn't sanction the mission on Scarif to steal the Death Star plans, but Jyn, Cassian, and their crew formed the Rogue One Squadron to carry through with the initiative. When Bail was killed, Mothma became the Rebels' sole leader, steering the forces throughout the Galactic Civil War. After the fall of the Empire, Mothma was elected as the first Chancellor of the New Republic. Upon demilitarizing the New Republic, political factions found opportunities to weaken the galactic authority further. Mothma eventually retired after falling ill, but her legacy was tarnished with the First Order's formation in light of the New Republic's unpreparedness.
Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa appeared in Rogue One's closing scene, acquiring the Death Star plans from a Rebel soldier. When she boarded a fleeing ship, she mentioned the new hope it would bring the Rebellion. Her journey would pick up moments later in the original movie when she was captured by Darth Vader. The Rebel agent managed to ruin the Empire's plans by helping destroy the Death Star. Leia remained a vital member in the fight against the Empire alongside Han Solo and her twin brother, Luke Skywalker. By the time Leia appeared in the sequel trilogy, the figure was the General of the Resistance, a new rebellious force formed to fight the First Order. The enemy organization, however, consisted of her son, Ben Solo, who transformed into Kylo Ren when he joined the dark side. After experiencing Han and Luke's deaths, Leia held her position as the leader while mentoring Rey. On her deathbed in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Leia used the Force to reach out to her son, pushing him to eventually reclaim his identity as Ben.
R2-D2 & C-3PO
The two beloved droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, made brief appearances in the scene at the end of Rogue One when Leia was about to pass over the Death Star plans. Following the prequel, the pair crash-landed on Tatooine before Leia's message for help was seen by Obi-Wan and Luke. While R2-D2 served as Luke's droid for much of his heroic journey, C-3PO also stuck around as a key resource for the Rebels. The pair assisted in the rescue of Luke, Han, and Chewbacca on Jabba the Hutt's sail barge before joining the strike team on Endor. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, C-3PO was reunited with R2 on the Resistance base after the droid put himself in low-power mode following Luke's disappearance. The droids continued serving as vital members of the Resistance throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Whereas C-3PO translated a message revealing the location of Palpatine's fleet, R2 became Poe Dameron's X-wing droid in the climactic battle ending the Skywalker saga.