A raging topic on the web ever since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out has been the changes that the film underwent. There were several key images that we’d seen in early trailers that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film, and some of them seemed to imply that things got majorly switched around for the standalone Star Wars flick. One key sequence which seemed to get the biggest adjustment was the film’s final act on the beaches of Scarif.

Now, thanks to some newly-released photos from director Gareth Edwards (via /Film), we see further confirmation that things were once going to be very, very different.

While three of the photos below seemingly just show us some more of the production of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first one gives us a glimpse at a scenario we didn’t see at all in the theatrical cut. Join me after the photos to discuss what’s notable about that first photo.

Here’s what’s interesting about that first photo, featuring Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna):

1. It takes place after the main siege on Scarif beach, as we see dead soldiers on the ground
2. Baze Malbus also survived the battle
3. Not only do they have the Death Star plans, as we’ve seen footage of them running along the beach with Jyn clutching the hard drive that contains them, but they appear to be bagging it and preparing to physically take it someplace off of Scarif
4. We know they eventually get those plans in the hands of the Rebellion, so this begs the question: Were they, or other members of Rogue One meant to survive? One of the bolder moves made in the film was the decision to kill off everyone who went on that mission

Editor John Gilroy, while shedding light on some of what was added and re-shot for Rogue One during the film’s extensive overhaul, was recently quite tight-lipped about what changed in the film’s final act during a chat with Yahoo! Movies:

“…I don’t want to go into too much detail about what had been there before, but it was different.”

There’s so much curiosity regarding how Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was originally going to end. Here’s hoping we’ll find out one day!

SOURCE: /Film