The Rise of Skywalker Breakdown
Disney released a new teaser for The Rise of Skywalker, the last installment of the modern Star Wars Trilogy and there is a lot to unpack here. Let's get into it!
Promises
This trailer is full of promise and I really want them to deliver.
We start with a montage of all the past films with scenes of Luke, Han, and everyone. We also have Luke Skywalker's voice telling Rey they "passed on all they know". Even though we know when he said that in The Last Jedi, it feels more like they are having a meta-conversation with us, the fans, in preparation for the future of Star Wars. If you have been following all the news, you know that this movie will be the last to feature all the legacy characters. The next trilogy will be completely different. The opening scenes promise this will be the bookend to a 9 movie run that started in 1977.
The first 8 Films
Even though we get snapshots from all 8 movies, they seem to be showing more Return of the Jedi scenes. There are several parallels with this movie and the third movie of the original trilogy.
They are both the end of a trilogy
Emperor Palpatine being featured in both
Return focuses on Anakin Skywalker coming back to the light, could Rise focus on Kylo Ren doing the same?
Palpatine's voice over also talks about the journey being close to the end, harkening back to his speech to Luke Skywalker about striking him down and completing his path to the dark side.
What does all of this mean? Is Palpatine a force ghost who is going to try and take Rey over and push her to the dark side like that last "Sith Rey" shot at the end of this trailer? It is hard to tell but here is what we know.
What we Know
We know that Snoke had an apprentice somewhere in canon but we don't know anything about them. That person could be an avatar for Palpatine's force ghost. We saw Yoda do some Asguardian flexing in The Last Jedi when he threw some lighting at that tree. Why couldn't Palpatine take someone over? Throughout the prequels, Palpatine showed us that he is extremely patient and political with his actions and motives. We watched him slowly break down Anakin Skywalker and turn him to the dark side and we saw him convince Luke Skywalker that he "knew how to beat death". That is why I think we are going to get a shadowy figure appear who, at first, looks like Palpatine, but who ends up being a new character.
When a Jedi dies, they turn into Force Ghost and they can come back to give guidance, advice, and apparently more. We don't even realize the extent of what they can do like I mentioned earlier with Yoda Odenson's light show. But what happens to Sith when they die? I don't know and I think this film will tell us how when they explain why they have been teasing all this Palpatine stuff.
Darth Rey Twist
What a crazy way to end the teaser! After everyone started doing concept art for what Sith Rey would look like after The Last Jedi, it was awesome that they decided to pay us some fan service and tease that she was going to turn dark. My first thought was FINALLY, they gave Rey a melee style weapon. I always thought that, based on her staff when we first met Rey, her light saber should reflect the fighting style she shows us when she rescued BB-8. My next thought was this is for sure a Dagobah Cave scenario. Whom ever "Palpatine" is will give her an ultimatum and she will have to go through the same trial Luke Skywalker did on Dagobah. The imagery is awesome and I cannot wait to understand the context. In the teasers for The Force Awakens, they teased us with that scene with Finn holding a lightsaber, implying he is going to be the next jedi. What a great end to spark conversations and speculation for the next couple months. What do you guys think? Leave a comment below.
Nate Johnson is a graphic designer and comic enthusiast. He met ComicTom and the ComicTom101 team when he offered a different kind of Comic Karma in the way of a new website (read that story here). He works on the ComicTom101 website, manages it, as well anything else online that has to do with the brand. You can learn more about Nate on his website at www.natemadeit.com or you can follow him on instagram @nthnjohnson.