Rogue One [Official Info] Vanee (aka Hooded Man or Not Plagueis Not Snoke Not Palpatine) in Rogue One

Well it doesn't necessarily have to be black. Could be any colour, even white. With the bright light framing the subject it would appear black to the camera.

 

It is not confirmed that Mads is a member of the Imperial military. All we know is that he is Jyn's father, and that he might be a Death Star scientist.

 

I don't know. I find it hard to believe a scientist/designer/architect would be reporting directly to the Emperor. I feel if that is the Emperor in the tank then the hooded guy has to be either Vader, a Grand Vizier, or an Emperor's hand. No one else would get so close to him in what we could assume to be a time of relative weakness for him.

 

Fair enough. Though perhaps...Mads is indeed some kind of "Hand of the Emperor." We just don't know yet. I just find it interesting that Mads wasn't in the trailer, given how much of a star he is. So I tend to lean towards that guy being him.

A smart reporter, or a twitter-fu ninja, needs to innocently ask him: "Were you in the Rogue One trailer?" or "Why weren't you in the Rogue One trailer?" and see what he says...

 

Well that's if it is the emperor, or even a tank, either of which may not be true.

 

Black robes don't look scientist-esque either.

 

I know. Which is why I stressed that he only might be a scientist...That hasn't been confirmed yet.

 

That's a fair point though with the recent reveals around Mikkelsen's role I'm pretty sure he will indeed play a scientist. MSW was spot-on about a lot of TFA-stuff as well.

Another possibility that came to my mind just now: Tarkin? I don't think he'd wear robes either, but he's gotta be somewhere in the movie.

My main guess however remains Vader in hooded robe.

 

I agree, it would appear that even in the GFFA the robes of scientists and/or archeologists are white:

 

Those are basically lab-coats. And there's no hood of course.

 

I'll admit that I was intrigued by the possibility of Snoke based on a YouTube video that put forth the idea that he was either a willing or unwilling ally or hostage of Palpatine's during this time frame. Dave Filoni - in regards to The Clone Wars and Rebels - had alluded to the idea that Palpatine was kidnapping Force sensitive children (in those respective shows) and somehow utilizing their ability to strengthen his own capacity to see the future. So I even liked the notion that maybe Snoke was tied to that in some form and maybe he was held by Palpatine as a powerful individual that Palpatine consulted with to see the future, in a Minority Report sort of way. That was all wild speculation that has now been shot down. But I have to say I think it's stupid that Pablo shot down the idea of Snoke being in the film, because half the fun is speculation. Even if it turns out that the person in the black robe is one of the heroes posing as a villain, and Bail Organa is in the bacta tank/carbonite getting rescued, and all these theories are way off the mark, speculation is still where a lot of the fun comes from before release.

The robes do scream "Dark Sider" to me. Because I'm not aware of any non-Force user military personnel having hooded attire. If it's an Inquisitor, then I'm guessing he's the last one. Tarkin's comment in ANH seems to suggest Vader is the last of the Force users in his mind, so it could be an Inquisitor that dies in the film. But, considering there will be no Jedi, I feel like having an Inquisitor might be an odd choice, when they already have Vader and the Emperor. Introducing another Force user when there's no potential for a lightsaber fight seems curious. Yet an Inquisitor could also be presented as an unstoppable force to a non-Force user that they somehow overcome and defeat in the end anyway. Which would actually be a novel idea, IMO.

There are Imperial Guards, yet I'm not sure whether they are guarding whomever/whatever is in the carbonite/bacta, or if they are escorting the hooded figure. I can't imagine that Palpatine is in the bacta tank/carbonite. The Rebels don't score their first victory until right before ANH/in this movie itself. And so there's the potential that Palpatine could be injured there, but he's fine by the time of ANH and disbands the Senate almost immediately thereafter. So unless this is from a closing scene in the film where Palpatine has been injured, and then we see him recovered, with him disbanding the Senate in response (in ANH) allowing for the destruction of Alderaan, then I can't imagine he's the one in the tank (but it's possible). However, Mon Mothma's dialogue suggests that the test was imminent anyway.

Otherwise the presence of the guards would suggest to me that he's the one kneeling, which just seems horribly out of character, unless they did go the whole Snoke is retroactively the master mind route, but nothing suggests that Snoke or Palpatine knew each other personally, and Pablo shot down the notion that Snoke has anything to do with this movie. And I can't imagine anyone to which Palpatine would kneel, not even in mockery.

It's not Vader kneeling. Vader has never been flanked by Royal Guards as his entourage (thus I doubt he's in the tank), but then again, if this is on Coruscant, then maybe things are different and he does have guards in his entourage, but that's speculation. To my knowledge, he's never been shown to have Imperial Guards associated with him.

With how much they've been trying to call back to ANH (where Palpatine was mentioned but never seen or heard). I figure Vader will be the big bad guy that these military types report to.

So my two best educated guesses are either

1. This is Vader's entrance where a subordinate villain is interrupting a bacta treatment of Vader's to report an issue (and might be killed for it). Kind of like how Vader was interrupted in his meditation chamber in ESB (though I feel like seeing Vader in a bacta tank would be seeing the character in a very vulnerable situation, which would infuriate him, I'd think. Basically meaning the hooded figure is an expendable character for the scene, or maybe the last of the Inquisitors.

2. The hooded figure is a hero in disguise as a villain. To what end? I have no idea. I only consider that a possibility by process of elimination. It's not Vader. Palpatine doesn't seem like the kneeling type. Introduction of an Inquisitor when there are no Jedi seems like an odd choice, since it might beg for a lightsaber fight that isn't going to happen. And none of the military types have even been shown to use hoods. So maybe it's a new type of Imperial figure like one of the Emperor's advisers, or maybe it's a hero utilizing the hood as part of the disguise.

 

Or.....it's Ezra!!

 

Yeah. Perhaps Snoke is like one of those clairvoyants from Minority Report. And everything Palpatine had foreseen was with the aid of these beings, hooked up to some monstrous machine.

 

Does anyone have a shot of Mads from behind....especially a short video or gif, so we see his gait? That could probably help in figuring out if it's him or not.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the hooded figure is Vader. We know he doesn't wear a hood, but it wouldn't be the first time trailers have showed us one thing, while the movie itself has shown us something slightly different. For example, watch the first teaser for TFA: Kylo Ren is stalking Rey and Finn through the woods (though we don't see them), and it looks like he has his mask and hood on when he activates his lightsaber. Yet, in the movie, when he confronts them, he doesn't have either his mask/helmet or hood on. They could make the hooded figure look like someone else just to save the surprise that it is Vader during the actual film.

 

I think we all just need to slow down and take a breath and relax. We have had multiple theories presented throughout the pages of this thread, and honestly, none of them are that crazy. Let's consider a few things:

• Darth Vader: Detractors insist that the hooded figure is not Vader because the figure is wearing a hood. My response: so? Just because we have never seen Vader wearing a hood in previous media doesn't mean he can't wear one. Would it look silly? Not necessarily, but it is something different we've never seen before, so for most of us it would be jarring. But who's to say Vader is wearing his iconic suit in this scene? Maybe he has a different suit on. Again, just because we've never seen a different suit doesn't entirely rule that option out. There's also the possibility that the hood itself was created specifically for the shot in the trailer, and that it may not even appear in the final film. Lastly, if the item is bacta tank, perhaps Vader is resting inside it.
• Bacta Tank. Detractors insist that the tube in this shot can't be a bacta tank because it's visually different than the one seen in ESB. Just like the variety of our own real world medical equipment and technology, there very well may be a large variety and different types of bacta tanks in the galaxy.
• Hologram: the bright tube in this shot could potentially be a hologram device, and the hooded figure is preparing to use it to communicate to the Emperor, or someone else of importance.
• Energy or Power Core: the bright tube in this shot may not be a bacta tank, but perhaps some sort of energy core or technology that is vital to the operations of the Death Star
• Emperor's Hand/Secret Apprentice/Inquisitor/etc. I'm not a fan of this idea at all, as in my mind it really should just be Vader and Sidious hanging out during this time period, despite what is shown in Rebels and what previously appeared in the EU. Nonetheless, it's not something entirely out of the realm of possibility.
• Sate Pestage, or a similar character of Imperial importance.
• Mads Mikkelsen's character: Purportedly the father of the heroine of this film, and a Death Star scientist of some sort, it could make some sense that this figure his him, reporting to the Emperor, who's either offscreen in this shot, or perhaps a hologram. There are no visible confirmed shots of Mikkelsen in the trailer.
• Ben Mendelsohn: As an ISB officer, Grand Admiral, or other Imperial individual of importance in this film, it could be that this hooded figure is Mendelsohn reporting to the Emperor, who's either offscreen in this shot or perhaps a hologram.
• Snoke: I am completely against the idea of including Snoke (in any shape or form, even if named Plagueis, or something else) in this film. I don't want the hooded figure to be Snoke, I don't want a hologram of Snoke, I don't want Snoke in a bacta tank, and I don't want Snoke to be one of the Imperial Royal Guards. I think essentially retconning Snoke into this time period is a very weak, unoriginal, and unnecessary story telling tactic that could potentially undermine the significance of Sidious and Vader. However, I do recognize that including him in this film could be a remote possibility, despite what Hidalgo has stated on Twitter, so I don't think it's something we can take off the table just yet, even if I'm completely opposed to the idea.
• Sidious: The hooded figure could also be Palpatine himself, perhaps visiting Vader in a bacta tank, or an energy core of the Death Star.
• Undercover character: Jyn Erso, or perhaps one of the other "good guys" could be infiltrating a sensitive area of an Imperial base, ship, or Death Star. It could also be a potential traitor that is a part of the team.

I feel that the points above essentially summarize the main ideas we have thus far proposed throughout these pages, and as I mentioned, I don't find any of them to be that far fetched to be actually true.

What we do know is that the area is a sensitive one, as indicated by the presence of the Imperial Royal Guards. This could indicate Sidious' presence (either offscreen in the room, the bacta tank, a hologram, or the hooded figure), or it is an area that is extremely important to the Emperor (sensitive technology, Death Star power core, Force relics, Vader in a bacta tank, etc).

 

Which is basically what Cronal was as "Blackhole" in Legends. Using his Darksight along with complete control over the holonet, he could see every important event occurring and then see every possible future outcome and then inform the Emperor so he could make the best decisions for his empire.

I really don't understand the people who want Snoke to be Darth Plagueis, a character that is heavily linked to midichloreans, when a new character based on the old EU Cronal would be so much more intriguing.

 

Darth Plagueis...now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Maybe whatever is left of Plagueis is inside the cylinder and is now some kind of oracle Palpatine consults in this scene?

 

Palpatine: Smokey cylinder on the floor, how many midichloreans do I have in my jaw?

Left foot of Plagueis: 1874 you back stabbing whore!

 

Mara Jade, perhaps?

I don't know why she'd be kneeling in front of a bacta tank, though.

 

This is Mads from behind:

 

What an unbelievable revalation! It must be him. Lol.

 

ok... this is hilarious I must admit... reluctantly. the only reason why i'm liking it, it is just to funny.

 

In the latest podcast, MSW said that Vader was the one in the tank and that we're going to see him being rebuilt. It was from the same person that gave them a look at the new Vader suit, so sounds like that could be the way it is going.

They had a good follow up point though, who is it going to end up being in the tank then? Are we going to get Hayden back, or are we going to end up with a third Anakin actor?

 

Apologies in advance for any perceived pedantry, but that's not exactly what MSW said. Jason Ward at MSW said that they heard a rumor that it was Vader in the tank. Just clarifying that now, as these sorts of things have a way of becoming truth if repeated often. In other words, MSW's level of certainty on this one is lower than the certainty expressed above.