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19 things the new Star Wars Trailer is secretly telling us

19 things the new Star Wars Trailer is secretly telling us

19 things the new Star Wars Trailer is secretly telling us
20 October 2015

We've pulled apart the poster, we've watched (and rewatched) the new trailer and had a good chuckle at all the intense faces, but now it's time to get down to business.

What does the latest Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer tell us about the trajectory of the new film?

Brace yourself for heaps of speculation, dot-joining and a lot of good old fashioned guess work.

Feel free to add your own contributions in the comments below.


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Rey is a scavenger

Sure - if you've read the character bios on the Star Wars wiki page you'll probably already know this. 

The early scenes of the trailer show Rey (Daisy Ridley) hard at work scavenging scrap from a downed Star Destroyer. An unknown female voice asks Rey who she is, to which she replies "I'm no one..." - a defensive reply, but one that's also alluding to her lack of family history and inevitable search for "the truth".


Someone is looking for something

Rey does her scavenging on Jakku - the desert planet that's been featured in several of the trailers so far. 

In this scene (we're pretty sure that's an AT-AT foot in the foreground), we see a ship leaving the planet. Someone (we're thinking the unknown woman in the voice over), is looking for something amidst the ruins of the Empire's ships - something that Rey might stumble upon, kick starting her adventure.


The First Order amasses

These guys are the First Order. 

Inspired by the principles of the fallen Empire, they're looking to take on the Resistance for control of the galaxy - mirroring the old Empire vs Rebel Alliance stand off. 

That chap in black is almost certainly Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), whose gravely tones narrated the first trailer. 


Finn's escape

In hushed tones, Finn tells of how he was "raised to do one thing" - as part of the First Order Stormtrooper legions, one assumes that would be "kill the Resistance". And yet, he has "nothing to fight for".

But he can't - he bottles it, fleeing the Order. They shoot down his TIE fighter, leaving him dead as he crashes toward Jakku - where his path will cross with Rey.

This also introduces the notion that the First Order has some interest in Jakku - are they looking for something as well?


The new Death Star

We than have the introduction of the film's major nemesis - Kylo Ren standing on the bridge of a ship, viewing something that's firing a MASSIVE RED LASER.

We'll come back to this, but it's probably got something to do with the Death Star-like station that appears in the new poster. This is the First Order's key weapon, the threat they pose to the rest of the galaxy, and the target the Resistance is looking to destroy.

It's all a bit New Hope, isn't it?


Kylo Ren's mission

Ren (Adam Driver) states that "Nothing will stand in our way" - our either being directed to Snoke, the Supreme Leader, or to his crush, Darth Vader.

"I will finish what you started" seems to imply that Ren is actually talking to Vader - a figure that he obsesses over. Various details on his character suggest that Kylo is a member of the Knights of Ren - a Force-aware bunch of badasses that are out to kill the Jedi.

Kylo views Vader as a martyr figure, modelling himself on the old Sith knight. If he's trying to finish what Vader started, that might either be the destruction of the Jedi, or uniting the galaxy under one banner. Probs both.


The capture of Poe

Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) would appear to be captured by Kylo Ren, tortured in a scene not unlike that of Han being poked about by Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back

This could imply that Dameron is going to go on some sort of heroic rampage that doesn't work out - possibly leaving himself needing rescuing in the next film?

We're going out on a limb with that, but safe to say things will go dark for Dameron.


The power of the fully operational battle station

Remember that new Death Star thing we mentioned was on the poster? Well we get to see it in action for all of about three seconds - on a forest planet. 

Later on in the trailer we see the Resistance running around their ships on a wooden planet, fighting a bunch of TIE fighters and Stormtroopers. It could be that the First Order turns the tide of battle by unleashing the power of their massive battle station.


Han to the rescue

Han Solo will come to Jakku to rescue Rey and Finn.

But how does Solo know of Rey's existence? Why would he bother intervening with her life (assuming Finn arrives by accident).

Perhaps she's living a life similar to that of Luke Skywalker - a figure of great power who isn't aware of their past and so is kept "safe" by being isolated, only to have their destiny catch up with them in a bit of a hurry. 

When the First Order turns up on Jakku, Solo turns up to get Rey out of there and fill in the blanks on her backstory.


The Knights who say Ren

This bunch of badasses are the Knights of Ren, of whome Kylo is the apparent leader. 

They're not quite Sith, and they don't have full Force powers - but that chap at the back is holding something mighty huge that looks as painful as a Force Choke.


The battle

There's gunna be a massive battle. An in-atmosphere battle, rather than gnarly dogfight in space. 

Here we see the Stormtroopers amassing in the ruins of whatever their battle station might have blown up, waiting for the X-Wings to power across a lake in super-pretty style.

It feels pretty similar to the Empire's constant hunt for the Rebel Alliance, popping up to take down their secret basses on Hoth and Yavin 4.


Found you

Whether they're looking for Finn or for something else, the First Order turn up on Jakku and start blowing crap to high heaven - endangering Finn and Rey in the process.

As mentioned, this is where Han Solo will rock up to save the day.


The Solo home?

We're going full speculation mode here and suggesting that this is where Han Solo and Leia live - and where Han will take Finn and Rey after rescuing them to tell them more about the Force and Luke Skywalker etc.

Those flags could be the various nations of the Resistance, or just some nice drapes. 


Luke!

A previous trailer had this snippet as well - proof that Luke Skywalker has some part to play, despite not being in the poster nor starring in the trailers. 

All that vagueness lends weight to the idea that a large part of the film will be about a search for Luke, who's in hiding as one of the final living Jedi - with plenty of people out to kill him...


Femme Fatale

...including this chrome badass, Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones fame.

Is she on a mission to find Luke and tear off his other hand? Why is Luke so important that the First Order would send its main commander after him?

Dunno.


He dead

SOMEONE DIES! And that upsets Rey a LOT!

Could it be a friend? A father figure? A man she JUST FOUND OUT was her father?

IS LUKE REY'S FATHER AND HE GETS KILLED BY KYLO REN AND THAT CAUSES REY TO ACCEPT HER IDENTITY AS A JEDI, SEEING HER START A QUEST FOR VENGEANCE?

Again, dunno. 


Fooled ya

J J Abrams could be doing a LOT of referencing in his film - with this scene of "Hands up! Surprise, it's all okay" paralleling the same trick that Chewie pulled on Solo in the forest battle of Endor.

You know the one. He pops up out of an AT-ST and does his Chewie laugh. It was great. Either way - someone saves the day in unexpected fashion.


It's not Hoth...

...but could it be the base of operations for the First Order - the place that we saw all the Stormtroopers lined up under Snoke earlier? Is this the battle that sees Poe Dameron captured and handed over the Kylo Ren - tortured until he reveals the location of the Resistance?

Or is it that the new Death Star is actually so vast, it has it's own weather - appearing like a planet on its surface? That'd be cool, huh?


FIGHT!

Yep. There's gunna be a sweet lightsaber fight - with Finn armed with Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. 

So does that mean Finn is a Jedi? Could he be some to the Skywalkers? Is Finn going to get some training in order to take on Kylo Ren, or is he just seriously ballsy? 

Either way, this will be the point in the film where we transform into a six-year-old and squeal with glee.