# Final scene in Star Wars-- Chewbacca giving commands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713 "2016-09-24T07:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/1 "2016-09-24T07:32:12Z")
This is something I noticed a long time ago, but which my husband insists is me reading too much into coincidence. In the “awards” scene in the big hall in _Star Wars_, where all the people in the rebel militia are in formation, and Luke, Han and Chewbacca walk down the aisle to Princess Leia to receive awards (which Chewie most unfairly doesn’t receive, but that’s another thread), Chewbacca roars three times, the first time with a close-up on his face. Each time he does, something happens. The first time he roars, the rebel troops make a quarter turn, so they go from facing the aisle to facing Leia; the second time, Luke, Han and Chewbacca have just turned around to face the crowd, then Chewie roars, and the crowds breaks out into applause. The third time, the credits immediately begin to roll, so we don’t know what, if anything, the rebels might have done. I say the roars were commands to the troops. Aside from the fact that there are no other apparent commands or signals, Chewbacca doesn’t have any reason to just randomly roar. Also, if he’s not getting a medal himself, being there to command the troops explains his presence. Or am I reading too much into it? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/2 "2016-09-24T09:29:23Z")
…the version without music might be more enlightening. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Tj-GZJhfBmI/maxresdefault.jpg "Star Wars Minus Williams - Throne Room") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI) Or not. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/3 "2016-09-24T11:55:56Z")
Yes! I have noticed this as well. When watching this scene I like to tell people that I can understand the Wookiee language, and I say what Chewbacca is telling everyone to do, including the last roar where he says “Roll credits!” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/4 "2016-09-24T12:48:42Z")
Here’s the subtitled version [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgvzD6s790) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/5 "2016-09-24T16:21:54Z")
It always felt to me like he was issuing a command too. I assumed he did it because he was the only one who could be loud enough without a microphone 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/6 "2016-09-24T21:59:59Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the version without music might be more enlightening. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI) > > Or not. 😃 The random coughing cracks me up for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/7 "2016-09-24T22:40:39Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the version without music might be more enlightening. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI) > > Or not. 😃 Wow, that was rather surreal, its amazing how different it seems without music! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/8 "2016-09-24T22:50:04Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > It always felt to me like he was issuing a command too. I assumed he did it because he was the only one who could be loud enough without a microphone 🙂 Also, if he’s there to give commands, it explains his presence in the procession even though he doesn’t get (read: he was robbed of) a medal. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/9 "2016-09-27T00:16:09Z")
The old EU canon had Chewie getting his medal later, due to Leia being too short to place it on him ceremonially. As for issuing commands… you tell the wookiee he’s not in charge. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/10 "2016-09-27T00:19:08Z")
I like this theory. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/11 "2016-09-27T00:20:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > The old EU canon had Chewie getting his medal later, due to Leia being too short to place it on him ceremonially. > > As for issuing commands… you tell the wookiee he’s not in charge. No, you do it. I heard wookies were fond of pulling people’s arms out of their sockets. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/12 "2016-09-27T00:46:29Z")
It’s all part of R2-D2’s plan to be in charge of the Rebellion… he doesn’t have any arms to pull out of their sockets. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/13 "2016-09-28T16:03:57Z")
Chewie gets his medal in [Star Wars Revisited](https://swrevisited.wordpress.com/anhr-change-list/) (celebration, item 4, at bottom of page). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/14 "2016-09-28T16:09:27Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > It always felt to me like he was issuing a command too. I assumed he did it because he was the only one who could be loud enough without a microphone 🙂 They don’t have PA systems in the [del]future[/del] past? Did they have a real orchestra playing on the Yavin moon for the ceremony? or was it really like the link in person? [cough] ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/15 "2016-09-28T16:24:10Z")
It was on TV the other night, I caught the tail end of it, so I turned the sub-titles on (DirectTV). They had all three Chewie utterances as “argh”. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/16 "2016-09-28T17:12:24Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > It was on TV the other night, I caught the tail end of it, so I turned the sub-titles on (DirectTV). They had all three Chewie utterances as “argh”. I think your subtitles are set to “Pirate” Try 'English" 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/17 "2016-09-29T12:22:42Z")
Okay, the three of them enter this huge hall, through the grand door guarded with guards, and step down the ceremonial stairs to the floor, walk straight to the front stage with curtains, past hundreds of people… _wait, back it up a bit._ Right behind the great door, maybe five feet back is a block wall. With vines growing on it, no less. The grand door doesn’t lead to like, a grand hallway or anteroom or something? They have to step in from the side? Is it like the Pope’s door, opening only once a century? Rather a letdown. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/18 "2016-09-29T13:58:08Z")
I never noticed the timing of Chewie’s roars until after I joined the military. The first time I saw the movie after I was in the military it became obvious that Chewie was giving commands. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/19 "2016-09-29T14:04:44Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > I never noticed the timing of Chewie’s roars until after I joined the military. The first time I saw the movie after I was in the military it became obvious that Chewie was giving commands. Now that you mention it, that’s what made me think of it as well. It never occurred to me until I’d been in the military. DH has been in the military as well-- he’s even actually served in combat, though, and he doesn’t see it. Maybe he’s just giving me a hard time. I’ll have to ask him again. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713/20 "2016-09-29T16:02:01Z")
Of course this discussion ignores why the Rebellion took the time and effort to have an award ceremony with their entire military and leadership in attendance on a base they now the Empire knows the location of and can arrive at any moment 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/final-scene-in-star-wars-chewbacca-giving-commands/766713.md?page=2)