Rogue One fills in Star Wars' most frustrating plot hole

That exhaust port weakness all makes sense now

It’s a classic screenwriting trick - got a plot hole in your script? Write in some extra stuff that makes it seem like it was all intentional and well thought out all along.

For decades now, people have joked about the weakness in the Death Star that Luke exploited to save the day. How can it be that firing a single laser bolt down an exhaust vent can blow up an entire galactic superweapon? Why would the architect leave such a glaring error? Why would the exhaust vent be linked to the reactor core? Couldn’t they at least have put some sort of shield over it?

Rogue One came to the rescue this week, not only giving a reason for the weakness but making it a very important part of the plot and crucial event in Star Wars history.

*Mild-ish spoilers follow, click away now if you don’t want to know them*

Mads Mikkelsen seemed like a pretty big actor to cast just to play protagonist Jyn Erso’s dad Galen, but the character turned out to be quite the hero.

A gifted architect, he was forced to design and build the Death Star, knowing that, if he didn’t, someone else would. Galen was not going to give into the Imperials though, who were responsible for the death of his wife, and built a fatal flaw into the design of the Death Star.

It transpires that it is the plans for this intentional weak spot that Jyn and her allies attempt to steal.

So Galen set up Luke Skywalker’s fatal strike, right down to the X Wing-sized trenches on the Death Star’s surface.

Rogue One opens in cinemas today and is expected to rack up big box office sales. You can read our review of it here.