Late last night, the final trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ was released online as tickets go on sale across the world today. Some elements we’d seen before, but it also had some tantalising new parts which will have the internet rumour mills spinning until the premiere. We break down the trailer taking in the new information.
The trailer opens on a heavily wooded planet. It’s hard to say which one though. Some are suggesting it could be Yavin 4, the location of the Rebel base in ‘A New Hope’. Another possibility is the forest moon of Endor, last seen in ‘Return Of The Jedi’, which would be fitting, as these were the locations of the destructions of the two Death Stars. It could also, of course, be a new planet entirely, but the helmet Ray drops does bear some resemblance to the Rebel helmets from the Battle Of Yavin…
This cuts across to Rey leaping her way through a destroyed Imperial… something… It could be a starship. It might be the remains of the Death Star. Here we get our first voiceover, which seems to be Finn saying “It’s an instinct. A feeling. The Force brought us together.”
Next, we come to Lando Calrissian, apparently briefing The Resistance fighters, whilst the voiceover says “We’re not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them.”
We soon come to a shot of Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico, however, it is the not Rose, but the people behind her that caught our eye. The woman is Lieutenant Connix, played by the daughter of Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd. The man is former hobbit Dominic Monaghan, but we don’t yet know much more about him.
Nice “hero shot” featuring Finn, Poe and Chewy stood by Poe’s X-Wing. They appear to be on the same forest planet we saw earlier.
Next, we see Rey on top of a crashed Imperial structure. We have seen this in previous trailers before. It could be a Star Destroyer, although that gun we see sticking out of the top looks distinctly Death Star-like…
It’s Rey vs Kylo once again. Rey seems to be a little lost “People keep telling me they know me. No one does,” she says in the voiceover, with Kylo responding “but I do…” This conflict within Rey and her connection to Kylo has been something that has been played with across the last two movies. Remember the film’s title, and there is only one person with a Skywalker connection (that we know of) at the moment, and that is Ben/Kylo. Could we be seeing a switch coming?
We are now back in space, and see a lovely shot of a floating iceberg/asteroid of some kind, with a string of TIE Fighters heading towards it. There seems to be some sort of base on the left-hand side, so is this the new home of the First Order or just a staging ground?
Cut to a shot of an impressive throne room. This seems to be the throne of Emperor Palpatine, who we know will be returning, in some form, in the new film. This is solidified by Palpatine’s voiceover say “Long have I waited…” followed by…
…this somewhat spine-tingling shot of a Star Destroying rising from the sea. “And now, your coming together is your undoing,” concludes Palpatine. How, and in what form the Emperor returns is unclear. Is he a force ghost? Is he a clone? Is he something else entirely?
Next is one of our favourite shots from the trailer. That is obviously the Falcon in the middle, however, eagle-eyed fans of ‘Star Wars Rebels’ might have also squealed a little seeing this too. Just to the right of the Falcon would seem to be the Rebels ship The Ghost. Could we finally be seeing some of the Rebels in live-action? Other notable ships fans seem to have spotted in there include ‘The Mandalorian’s Razor Crest, and Shadow Caster, also from ‘Rebels’.
The next interesting shot we come to is of our beloved C-3PO, and it seems it might be the end for our metal friend… or at least a major change. That little guy working on 3PO’s noggin is Anzellan Droidsmith Babu Frik. As to what he is actually doing is not clear… It does seem to have something to do with 3PO’s memory though, as he comments he is “taking one last look at my friends…” Could this be it for C-3PO as we know him?
Next, we have a few quick shots of the gang battling down a corridor, followed by Rey hugging Leia, created using shots saved from Carrie Fisher’s appearance in the previous movies. This is followed by our heroes on a skiff, some sort of exploding yellow power, Lando behind the wheel of the Falcon again, and the return of the Y-Wing. “Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi… Your destiny,” comments Luke in the voiceover.
Not entirely sure where they are for this shot, but it looks like they are riding across a Star Destroyer on the backs of the horse-like Orbaks! Why are they on Orbaks and not speeders? Are they in space? That’s a little weird… we need answers!
Another tingly shot… Rey and Kylo in one of the Emperor’s old throne rooms. He had them on the Death Stars, Super-class Star Destroyers and a few other places, so it is hard to say which one this is. Although, we have seen that Star Destroyer rise from the ocean in an earlier shot, so maybe there… Or maybe it is from one of the Death Stars.
Another intriguing shot! Rey and Kylo seem to be working together to destroy some sort of figure… or maybe it is just a plinth, as that bit flying off the top appears to be Vader’s helmet.
So, yes… It does look like they are in space riding Orbaks into battle against a heck of a lot of Star Destroyers! Interesting… I’m so confused!
Rey looking very small facing an (apparently!) very tall shrouded figure, we presume is Palpatine, given the laugh behind it. Is he on some kind of mechanical stilts? Some sort of suit which has kept him alive, much like his former apprentice?
Final shot. Rey, half in light, half in darkness. That’s a visually forboding image if ever I saw one! The voiceover is Luke saying “the Force will be with you”, giving the final word to Leia – “Always.” No, it’s okay, I think I have something in my eye, that’s why they’re watering…
Tickets for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ are available now, and the film is released on Thursday, 19th December 2019.
