What does 'The Rise of Skywalker' even mean? We've got some theories.
With our first look at the teaser for 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' arriving online yesterday evening, we've now had some time to play through it again and again.
While there's not much information with regards to plot, you can tell that there's a lot going on with JJ Abrams' return to the franchise that looks markedly different from 'The Last Jedi'. For one, you've got Kylo Ren rebuilding his helmet, what appears to be a new droid with BB-8, and it even looks like she rebuilt her lightsaber.
So, what does it all mean? We've done a complete breakdown on the teaser, with plenty of theories thrown in on top as well.
Take a look.
So, the trailer opens with Rey taking a deep breath as Luke Skywalker's Force ghost explains how "we've passed on all we know," and that "a thousand generations live in you now." At the end of 'The Last Jedi', there was a brief glimpse of the ancient Jedi texts hidden on the Millennium Falcon that Rey had taken from Ahch-To.
This means that she now has, as Skywalker says, a thousand generations of knowledge of the Jedi Order at her disposal. They've literally thought her everything they know.
What's that coming over the hill, is it a TIE Silencer? So, it's just about anyone's guess what planet they're on here. It could be Jakku. It could be Tatooine. It could even be what's left of Jedha, the desert moon from 'Rogue One'. Our guess? Most likely it's Jakku, as it feels symmetrical with 'The Force Awakens'.
In 'A New Hope', the story began over Tatooine and in 'Return of the Jedi', the story began on - you guessed it - Tatooine. With 'The Force Awakens', the story began on Jakku and it makes sense that 'The Rise of Skywalker' would begin here as well.
"But this is your fight." As we know, 'The Last Jedi' ended with Luke Skywalker sacrificing himself in order to hold off Kylo Ren in order to give the Resistance time to escape Crait and survive.
In that one, selfless act, Luke Skywalker became the Jedi Master we all knew him to be - because he used the Force for knowledge and defence, not attacking Kylo Ren. People giving out yards about the ending of 'The Last Jedi' need to actually look at what they were getting agitated over it because it made sense in the grand scheme of things.
We've gone off topic. Moving on.
That's definitely Kylo Ren's gloved-up hands and that's for sure his TIE Silencer trying to run Rey over. As she literally backflips over him, there's another point here to be made about 'The Last Jedi'.
She's doing the same thing that Luke Skywalker did on Crait - using the Force for defence, not offence. That's the Jedi way, after all. Using it for attack, to hurt people physically and mentally, that's the Dark Side.
Want to know how granular we're getting with this? Based on the engine configuration from this shot right here, that looks like an A-Wing variant. That's right. We can identify a starfighter just by looking at its engines.
Theory time. Our guess is that the First Order has another Starkiller Base in the works, and this is the final assault on it. Why do you say that, you ask? Well, for one, look at the background - it's red, just like Starkiller Base was after firing its laser at the Hosnian System in 'The Force Awakens'.
Not only that, the symmetry - which is something 'Star Wars' as a franchise has always been about - is too obvious to ignore. 'Return of the Jedi' had a second Death Star, so why wouldn't 'The Rise of Skywalker' have a second Starkiller Base?
Kylo Ren is reassembling his helmet after he smashed it up good in 'The Last Jedi'. Now, those who deeply hated 'The Last Jedi' feel like this is a pointed reference to their efforts to have it scrubbed from the 'Star Wars' franchise.
Our guess? It's more about Kylo Ren wanting to ensure that he would be feared by all, and his own face reminds him of murdering his father, Han Solo, and his failure to defeat Rey. The mask covers his shame, and also asserts himself as Supreme Leader Snoke called it ridiculous. Now that he's Supreme Leader, he can do what he likes.
Finn and Poe Dameron appeared to be stranded in Leitrim. That also looks like Rey's fighting stick with Finn.
BB-8 has a pal, and his name apparently is D-0. The panel at Star Wars Celebration didn't reveal much, except for the fact that there was a lot of merchandise being shown off for D-0. Expect to see a lot of remote-controlled D-0s on sale for Christmas.
Lando Calrissian, back in action on the Millennium Falcon, complete with cape and his trademark shout, is just a joy to see. Given that they've put him in the trailer and he was also on that poster we reported on a couple of weeks back, Calrissian must have a larger role than we first thought.
It makes sense, given how the last time we saw him, he had been made a General in the Rebel Alliance and actually led the starfighter assault on the second Death Star. What he's been up to in the intervening years is anybody's guess, but it's great to see the character back.
That skiff thing Poe Dameron and Finn are on with C3P0 is very, very reminiscent of 'Return of the Jedi', and again, just speaks to the symmetry they're going for in 'The Rise of Skywalker'.
That's definitely an A-Wing fighter going down and what appears to be a Star Destroyer alongside it. Why are A-Wings so prominent? Well, for one thing, they were first introduced in 'Return of the Jedi' and became something of a fan favourite.
Given how this is the third in the sequel trilogy, it's that word again - symmetry - that has the A-Wings prominently shown throughout the trailer. Also, they look cool as shit so why not have them everywhere? Anyone play 'X-Wing Alliance' back in the day?
At the end of 'A New Hope', Han and Luke were presented with medals by Princess Leia for their help in destroying the Death Star. That medal? Right here. The medal is known in universe as the Medal of Bravery.
"We'll always be with you..."
There's no doubt that this moment with Rey and General Leia is going to have people bawling their eyes out in the cinema, and why shouldn't it? After all, she is literally the main character of 'A New Hope' and has been in all six movies since then.
According to JJ Abrams, they had enough footage left over from both 'The Force Awakens' and 'The Last Jedi' to be able to craft scenes and story around it. More pointedly, Lucasfilm confirmed that they wouldn't use CGI to recreate Carrie Fisher on screen, which is good because Grand Moff Tarkin just looked... odd in 'Rogue One'.
"No one's ever really gone."
So, in case you didn't already identify it, that laugh was none other than Emperor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, also known as Senator Sheev Palpatine, also known as the Sith Lord, also known as DEW IT.
'Return of the Jedi' ended with Darth Vader turning on the Emperor and throwing him down an open shaft in order to save his son, Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader caught the blast of energy that came up when he died and the Force lightning that he was firing out before he died, mortally wounding Vader in the process.
Now, in the Expanded Universe - which is now no longer considered canon - the Emperor's ghost survived and transferred itself into a younger clone. Not only that, the Emperor - right before he died - sent a psychic message to one of his top assassins and ordered her to kill Luke Skywalker at any cost.
Why are we bringing this up, you ask? To point out that the Emperor, for hardcore 'Star Wars' fans, was never really gone. Now, let's talk about the wreckage they're looking at. Our guess is that this is actually Endor.
At the end of 'Return of the Jedi', we saw the second Death Star explode in orbit over Endor and then, that was it. The wreckage obviously had to go somewhere, and given how 'The Rise of Skywalker' is set 30-odd years after 'Return of the Jedi', it makes sense that the debris would eventually fall to Endor and turn it into a scrapyard.
It's also the final resting place of the Emperor, so our guess is that they're looking for something on the Death Star that he possessed, something that Kylo Ren probably wants as well.
And there you have it. Not sure about the title, but that's a pretty damn inspiring teaser nonetheless. 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' lands in Irish cinemas on December 19th and we'll have plenty more to talk about in the months to come before then.