STAR WARS Fans Are Theorizing That Krennic Was in the Original Trilogy All Along... Kinda — GeekTyrant

Geek Tyrant

5 days ago

Leave it to Star Wars fans to find meaning in an empty chair.
A new fan theory making the rounds suggests that Rogue One villain Director Orson Krennic may have been quietly in the original trilogy this whole time.
The theory hinges on a single shot from 1977's A New Hope , specifically during the infamous Death Star conference room scene where Vader force-chokes Admiral Motti and asserts his dominance over the room. One thing that stands out is an unoccupied seat at the table.
On April 29, Reddit user OkuroIshimoto posted a still of the scene to the Star Wars subreddit with the caption: 'Hearing a lot of headcanons that this seat was Krennic's. Any other theories?'
It didn't take long for the comments to roll in. One user responded: 'I could be wrong, but I think I remember one of the From a Certain Point of View stories describing how Admiral Motti (or Tagge) glanced over at Krennic's empty seat in the briefing. Presumably, the author of that short story intended for this empty seat to be the one they meant.'
Another chimed in to confirm: 'God damn, yes, this should be the top comment lmao. It isn't a fan theory, it's confirmed in a canon book as being his seat. It was Tagge though that looked over at Krennic's empty seat.'
Some fans embraced the idea instantly. 'I like the headcanon that it was for Krennic! Never thought of that but it makes sense. He died the day before, right??'
'I'd never heard this before, but I like it. RIP Krennic. Perhaps when there's ever a 'Very Special Edition' there will be a black band draped over the chair in memory of the fallen director.'
Others were more skeptical, arguing the empty chair was likely a practical decision made by the crew while blocking the scene. One user joked:
'Honestly, yeah, the visual of Vader just sitting in a chair with a bunch of rank-and-file guys really doesn't work. He only looks intimidating if he's standing up and striding around with his cloak swooshing behind him.'
Still, there's some interesting connective tissue here. In canon, the Death Star briefing takes place not long after the events of Rogue One , which ends with the Battle of Scarif and the destruction of Krennic along with much of the Empire's project leadership. It's not a stretch to imagine that the seat was originally his.
And now that Ben Mendelsohn has returned as Krennic in Andor Season 2 on Disney+, fans are once again appreciating just how integral and underrated his role is in the saga.
Even if it's just a chair, the idea that Krennic's presence lingers in A New Hope adds another layer to the Empire's crumbling bureaucracy, and to his legacy as the man who built the Death Star, only to be destroyed by it.
So was that empty seat his? Canon might suggest yes. But even if it wasn't, Star Wars fans have never needed much to keep a theory alive. Just give them an empty chair.