Hi, I'm Erik Voss, and finally we have a Star Wars Last Jedi trailer! Nothing in
this world can revert me back to a widdle boy like Star Wars can. Not even
director Rian Johnson's initial warnings to avoid watching the trailer could keep
me away. Clean? I don't wanna be clean! By the way, he totally changed his mind
and give us the all-clear, so we good. There are a ton of new details from this
trailer, many of them super missable, and I don't think everything is what it
seems to be here. So I'm gonna break it all down, and if any of my speculation
and guesswork ends up being accurate - possible spoilers ahead. Let's get started.
'When I found you... I saw... raw, untamed power!"
Okay, so with John Williams' classic orchestral harp, we open on Kylo
Ren overseeing First Order construction. Now if you look closely in that hangar,
you can see some original Empire AT-AT walkers. That gives us a sense of scale
of this place. It is massive. Now I think there's a very good chance this place is
The Supremacy - the new mega class star destroyer and flagship of Supreme Leader
Snoke. It's wingspan is 60 kilometers. Just for reference, The Inflictor, the
massive Star Destroyer that we saw crash-landed on Jakku in The Force
Awakens was only 1.6 kilometers long. So The Supremacy is the largest Star
Destroyer in any Star Wars movie. We actually get a different look at it
later on. We also hear the voice of Snoke, played by Andy Serkis. "When I found you, I saw raw, untamed power!"
Now despite Rian Johnson's initial concerns, it seems like this trailer was
edited in such a way to misdirect us, and I think that's what could be happening
here. Now it seems like Snoke is talking to Kylo here, but it's also possible he's
talking to Rey. In The Force Awakens novelization, when Rey battled with Kylo
and considered killing him off, Snoke reached out to her and tried to recruit her. So,
raw, untamed power definitely seems to describe Rey in that moment. Okay next up
we get these awesome shots from this battle on Crait with new First Order
walkers advancing. Once again, they used an original empire AT-AT for scale here.
Notice how much larger these new walkers look by comparison. It was actually said
that the First Order would be using these now smaller, old models as Scouts.
These new walkers were actually nicknamed gorilla walkers and now we see
why - their front legs are fortified and curled inward, resembling how a gorilla
walks on its knuckles. Also, these new added shin card shields look like
they're there to cut any toe cables that would be used to trip them up, showing
that they have learned from the Empire's past mistakes in the Battle of Hoth. And
I love this detail of the red clumps of dirt being kicked up here, it just makes
this battle feel more grounded and authentic, like we're seeing tanks move
dirt as they shove through. The planet of Crait is covered with white salt atop
red soil. We actually saw those resistance fighters in the teaser
dragging up that dirt as well. And yeah, that is Kylo Ren's upsilon class command
shuttle from The Force Awakens leading the charge up there. And before I move on,
there's this overhead shot of Kylo leading these First Order troops. Based
on the red streaks and the lava rock there, this could be Crait, or that cavern
with red crystals that we end up seeing later in the trailer. And it could just
be a coincidence, but the framing of this shot reminded me of Anakin leading the
way into the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the Sith.
Of course Kylo's connection to his grandfather is definitely a key motivator
to his character, so it's possible this was intentional. Anyway, let's move on.
"And beyond that... something truly special."
Okay, some interesting shots here. First there's this shot of Kylo in his
helmet picking up his lightsaber in this red room. Now it's kind of hard to tell, but
there are red elite Praetorian guards in the background. They're kind of doing
that Tobias Funke camouflage move. Now, these guys are similar to the red
imperial guards that accompany the Emperor, but these Praetorian guards do
Snoke's bidding. There are eight of them in total and they're supposed to be more
active, badass melee fighters. Actually, behind-the-scenes footage showed Adam
Driver sparring with stunt guys, and I think there's a good chance we'll see
Kylo having to fight these Praetorian guards, maybe as a form of punishment
from Snoke for his failures in The Force Awakens. But then when the trailer moves
onto this vibrant blue shot of Rey, I love the color contrast this creates.
When you reverse the order of these frames, it's like Rey and Kylo are back
in a duel, with Rey's blue lightsaber against Kylo's red lightsaber. This red
vs. blue contrast is a common motif seen in The Force Awakens, Luke and Vader in
Empire, Obi-wan and Vader in A New Hope, and of course, Pokemon. Let's move on.
"Something... inside me has always been there. But now it's awake. And I need help."
Okay, so this section brings us back to Luke's island on Ahch-To, the moment after the
ending of The Force Awakens. Now a few subtle details I liked here: look closely
at Luke's cybernetic hand. It still has the blast damage from when he was shot
in the hand on Jabba's barge in Return of the Jedi. Also listen to the
music in this section. This is a modified version of the Imperial March. Actually
several of John Williams' Star Wars themes are mixed in here, and I'll point
out others as they come along. Now Rey's voice over in this section is also
interesting. "Something inside me has always been there. But now it's awake." Now Rey is probably referring to that force vision she
experienced in the preceding film, fittingly titled The Force Awakens. So,
I'm expecting The Last Jedi to revisit the imagery of that vision and
give new meaning to it. But I have more on that later. Then in this shot, Rey hikes
to this ancient, rotting stump. Now in the past we've speculated that Luke could be
living inside an old hollowed-out Force Tree, perhaps the literal roots of
the first Jedi Temple. We also get some more shots of Rey's lightsaber training,
including this badass stop, inches away from the boulder. This reminds me of that
moment in The Matrix when Neo hit a breakthrough, stopping his fist inches
away from Orpheus's face. You see, this is what it looks like when a raw trainee
gains control. That's why I've never actually hit anyone - total control. Don't
hit me! Moving on.
"I've seen this raw strength only once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now."
This new section shifts focus from Rey's training to Luke's fear of what that
training could lead to. The intensity of her focus cracks the ground she's
sitting on, leading to Luke saying this" "I've seen this raw strength only once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now." So Luke is
referring to his past tutelage of Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, who turned on him and
burned down his attempt to restart the Jedi Order. We actually see more of that
memory here, with Luke actually being there for that attack, crawling out of
the rubble. This fire could actually be what burned away the synthetic skin from
Luke's cybernetic hand. And I think that the reason Luke was in this fire was to
retrieve those ancient books that we saw in the teaser, which remember looked a
little burned and smoke damaged. I talked about how those could be the old
journals of the Wills, the spiritual texts describing the old ways of the
force. I also like how Luke's fear in this moment echoes the warning from Yoda
in Empire Strikes Back. "I'm not afraid. You will be." It wasn't
just Vader and the emperor that Yoda was wary of, it was the fear that your
student could one day use the skills you give them to do others harm. Now before I
move on check out that circular symbol on the ground behind Luke. It's not
totally clear what this is, but to me on the left side of that circle, looks like
it could be a tree. Actually looking on the right side, maybe there are two trees
there, one with a darker trunk and lighter branches, and the other with a
lighter trunk and darker branches. This is kind of like the circular yin and
yang symbol, but in this case representing the dual sides of the Force.
If this Force Tree stump is indeed the site of the first Jedi Temple, maybe this
symbol is a marker left behind to indicate the location,s spiritual
significance. Let me know what you think. Let's move on.
"Let the past die."
"Kill it...
If you have to."
"That's the only way to become what you were meant to be."
This section of the trailer shifts to Kylo, with the music in the section being
Williams's Kylo Theme from The Force Awakens.
He smashes his helmet, leaving it in the shattered pieces that we saw in the
teaser. Now, it's significant to see him do this. That helmet was Kylo's link to
his grandfather. He built it and wore it to more closely resemble Vader. Perhaps
he's smashing it now after learning the truth about Vader - that in the end he
went soft and destroyed the Emperor. I'm thinking this could be something Snoke
told Kylo in order to manipulate him into further distancing himself from his
family ties. Listen to Kylo's voice over here:
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. It's the only way to become what you were meant to be."
He targets his mother, Leia, on the bridge, and he clearly doubts that killing the past is something that will
actually help him. We know from The Force Awakens novelization that murdering his
father Han Solo didn't necessarily give him the increased strength that he hoped
it would. So maybe that doubt will prevent him from doing the same to his
mother. And notice Kylo's dark, band-aid sealant on his face scar. I suppose that
means his wounds from The Force Awakens are still fresh, and that maybe this space
battle might be happening early in the film. But let's zoom and enhance on this
space battle. Kylo's fighter is a TIE silencer, and the way he pilots it
reminds me a lot of Anakin's piloting in the opening of Revenge of the Sith. Now
in this battle it looks like the First Order dreadnoughts are attacking the
resistance fleet, but if you look closely these blasts aren't getting through the
dome shield that surrounds the ships. On the right is an escort frigate which
looks like the Rebel Nebulon B from Empire, and Leia looks like she's on a
Mon Calamari flagship called the Raddus. Now the Raddus was named after Admiral
Raddus, the Mon Calamari who led the rebel fleet in the Battle of Scarif to
retrieve the Death Star plans which we saw in Rogue One, and if you look really
closely in the background, this massive Star Destroyer looks like it actually
has a wing on the left side as well. And I'm pretty sure this is The Supremacy
that I mentioned earlier. Meanwhile on this bridge behind Leia are a few cameos.
There are these Mon Calamari flight officers, many of whom appeared in The
Force Awakens, and some of you suggested that this resistance officer looks like
Gareth Edwards, director of Rogue One. Now, Edwards is supposed to get a cameo in
Episode 8 to return the favor of him putting Last Jedi director Rian Johnson
in Rogue One. Remember, he was a Death Star operator.
Alright, let's move on.
"We are spark... that'll light the fire... that'll burn the First Order down."
Okay, this section moves on to these supporting characters: Poe Dameron, Finn,
Captain Phasma, and Chewie. Chewie appears to have taken the wheel of the Falcon in
this movie. Here we see the Falcon evading TIE fighters in this interesting
cavern lined with red crystals. I'm thinking this could be somewhere on Crait,
with those crystals being the same color as the soil, or it could be a whole new
planet, we'll see. Joining Chewie in the cockpit is this little cash grab by Disney,
because every major property has to have some Baby Groot or BB-8 to add an
extra billion to the box office. Like, I don't care, I love this thing. This is a
porg. They're the winged creatures native to Ahch-To. Filmmakers actually got the
idea for them after seeing puffins, which are cute goofy, little birds that hop
around the island of Skellig Michael, where the Ahch-To scenes were shot.
These porgs were created with a mix of CGI and puppetry, and notice how they
gave them these sharp little teeth. So, I'm sure we'll see them adorably bite
someone. Next, we see more of what looks like a resistance retreat. I think Poe and
the others are inside Mon Calamari escape pods.
But notice Poe's tone here. "We are the spark that'll light the fire that'll burn the First Order down." Now, judging by his expression, it seems like the
resistance might have just suffered some big setback, so I'm thinking this is part
of that First Order assault that we saw in the resistance hangar in the teaser.
Also, notice this huge blast that takes out an entire resistance cruiser. Now if
you pause at the right moment, you see the source of that blast. Again, that is The
Supremacy. It is massive and powerful enough to take out an entire large ship
in one go. Now there's another quick cameo behind Poe here - this woman is
Lieutenant Connix, you may remember her from The Force Awakens. She's played by
Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher's real-life daughter. I was also interested in this
shot of Poe's x-wing as it takes off. Looks like he strapped on an additional
booster to the back, leaving this exhaust trail. We also get this awesome collision
between Finn and Captain Phasma. Notice how Finn is dressed as a First Order
officer, we know he's going on an undercover mission with resistance
engineer Rose to infiltrate the First Order ranks. But I'm guessing that
one of those First Order officers will recognize him and blow his cover. Someone
with a personal grudge after getting left behind in a trash compactor on
Starkiller base. Captain Phasma redeeming her literal throwaway role in The Force
Awakens - the weapon she's using looks like a force pike, which were carried by
the Emperor's Red Guard, but this is actually a new weapon from Phasma's
home world which will be described in her book. Meanwhile, Finn is using that
First Order Z6 riot control baton, which you may remember FN-2199 using
it against him in The Force Awakens. Yes, it does appear
to fold out differently here, but maybe those just an alternate option that
9s didn't use before. Anyway I just love the look of this shot, with the
flames of the chaos, behind them and Finn's face all reflecting off Phasma's
armor. I actually think this location looks a lot like the possible Supremacy
interior that we saw before, so maybe, like all giant enemy ships in star wars
movies, The Supremacy isn't long for this galaxy. Let's move on.
"This is not going to go... the way you think. Fulfill your destiny."
Okay, here we see this shot of Luke knocked down in the rain, which is a
little similar to the imagery in Rey's force vision, with Kylo and the Knights
of Ren. So this may be part of a memory where he's talking to Kylo, warning him
that his turn to the dark side won't go the way he thinks.
Also on Crait there are these crystal fox creatures, running into the resistance
base probably retreating from those gorilla walkers. Alright, screw the porgs, I
want one of these badasses. The look of their ears looks like it could be
inspired by the ancient Egyptian Ibizan hounds. And then there's this shot
of Rey diving under the water, and notice this huge skull. Now it could be whatever
killed that thing is a sea creature Rey will now have to face. It's kind of a
Star Wars tradition for every movie to include some over-the-top alien creature,
so I'm just excited to see what The Last Jedi brings. And after more shots of this
awesome battle on Crait, we get the most interesting shot of this trailer: a
close-up of Supreme Leader Snoke. Oh, man. This render looks fantastic - his wrinkled
skin and misshapen head just look super lifelike! But a big reason for that I
think is notice how his lower face is covered. As we saw with the CGI for
Tarkin in Rogue One, animating the movement of the lips and the jaw in an
authentic way is really difficult for even the best artists to pull off. So you
know, just show Snoke in super-tight, extreme close-ups from the nose up and
you'll be as golden as Snoke's robes. Which... yeah.
They're gold. What's the deal with that? Now Snoke appears to be torturing Rey
here, suspending her body and causing her to shake violently. And notice what he says: "Fulfill your destiny!"
This is exactly what Emperor Palpatine said to Luke before torturing him with
sith lightning in Return of the Jedi. "Fulfill your destiny!" I think the takeaway
here is that Rey, after being rejected by Luke, will seek to continue her training
and learn the truth about her origin, even if it means turning to the dark side. When
really, Snoke would only want to use her for her raw, untamed power. Let's move on
to this final section.
"I need someone... to show me my place in all this."
Okay, as I mentioned before, this trailer has clearly been edited to misdirect us.
I think this final exchange is another example of it. While I do think it's
possible that Rey reaches out to the dark side in search of answers and
training, I don't think that's what's happening here.
I just don't think these shots of Rey are from the same scene. There's three pieces
of evidence that I noticed: first, the lighting and color. Yes, both kylo and Rey
have the same fiery color tone on their faces, but the lighting is different.
Rey looks like she's much closer to the light source casting a harsher shadow on
the right side of her face. Meanwhile the light on Kylo's face is
more evenly spread, suggesting that the light source is further away. Secondly,
look at the background. Rey's location appears to be relatively stable, while
Kylo is surrounded by smoke and embers. Wherever he is, it's currently on fire. I
actually think the shot of Rey is taken from the campfire scene that we saw in
the behind the scenes footage, and her saying I need someone to show me my
place in all this is her last ditch plea to Luke to train her. And then finally,
listen to her audio again. "--to show me my place, in all this." To me, that echo doesn't sound
natural, almost like it was added with an audio filter in post-production to make
it sound like Rey was in an interior location, further trying to pull off this
illusion that she and Kylo are facing each other. I don't know, this just
reminds me a lot of the way that Rogue One trailer ended, remember when they
made it look like Jyn Erso had gone to the dark side. "What will you become?" You
can't always trust Star Wars trailers, people. Like this could all be left on
the cutting room floor by December. Which do you think is more likely in The Last
Jedi, Rey turning to the dark side or Kylo coming back to the light? And which
supporting character do you think will steal this movie? Captain Phasma, the porg,
Snoke, or maybe one of the new characters we didn't see in this trailer, like Rose,
or Vice Admiral Holdo, or Benicio Del Toro's character. Comment down below ,and
tweet your thoughts to me @eavoss or follow new rockstars on Twitter for
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