Frame by frame, follow along as we break down the new trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
It’s safe to say ‘Star Wars’ fans are amongst the most obsessive in all of pop culture and that’s certainly not a bad thing. If not for those loyal fans, how would ‘Star Wars’ survive past the prequels?
I’m only kidding but the fact is with every little bit of footage that we get from ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, everybody — myself included — tries to figure out what exactly is happening and what clues are in that video that could hold the secrets to what’s about to unfold when the film drops in December.
Of course there are a million of these out there so why not one more!
So we’re going to break down the latest ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ trailer frame by frame to see what we see and offer up a few guesses as to what may be happening in this two and a half minute long clip.
0:04: The trailer begins with Kylo Ren looking out a giant window into what appears to be a manufacturing center for the First Order. What’s being built is unclear but he seems to be overseeing it’s construction. That’s when we hear a booming, ominous voiceover that we believe belongs to Supreme Leader Snoke.
“When I found you, I saw raw, untamed power and beyond that something truly special.”
~ Supreme Leader Snoke
0:06: We see a group of AT-AT Walkers trudging forward in a desert wasteland with Kylo Ren’s command ship flying overhead.
0:16: We then see Kylo Ren leading a group of Storm Troopers before it appears he’s kneeling before Supreme Leader Snoke with his mask and helmet still on as he picks up his lightsaber.
0:23: The scene quickly cuts to Rey turning on her own lightsaber on Ahch-To — the planet where she found Luke Skywalker at the end of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.
0:38: We then cut back to Rey handing the lightsaber she received back to Luke — it’s the one that he lost after battling Darth Vader on Cloud City in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ when his hand was cut off. It’s the lightsaber that once belonged to his father, Anakin Skywalker before he turned into Darth Vader. We also hear another voiceover belonging to Rey this time.
“Something inside me has always been there. Then I was awake and I need help” ~ Rey
0:48: Over these next few seconds, we see Rey exploring the planet, which is where the first Jedi temple was built. An educated guess would be that Rey is undergoing training from Luke, similar to what he endured after meeting Yoda for the first time. Unfortunately for Rey, her control of the Force frightens even Luke as she shatters the ground beneath her while focusing during one exercise.
0:53: Luke voices over his fears about Rey’s power, seemingly conveying the same feeling he had once upon a time while training his nephew, Kylo Ren.
“I’ve seen this raw strength only once before. It didn’t scare me enough then…it does now.” ~ Luke Skywalker
0:55: We see Luke’s bionic hand burst up through a pile of rubble before he stares out at a structure on fire while standing next to R2-D2. This appears to be the same scene from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ when we see Luke put his hand on R2. This burning building seems to be the training center where Luke was teaching the next generation of Jedi’s when Kylo turned against him and destroyed everything and everyone inside.
1:03: The look on Rey’s face would seem to indicate that perhaps Luke has decided against training her after all. Maybe seeing the power she possesses has scared him enough to say that he can no longer teach her to become a Jedi. That could also be the source from the first trailer where Luke says that it’s time for the Jedi to end. This could be his way to destroy the bloodline once and for all and stop the Jedi from coming into power or then watching it be corrupted to the dark side like what happened with Kylo Ren.
1:06: We cut back to Kylo Ren in his helmet and then without it as he has a voiceover.
“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you’re meant to be.” ~ Kylo Ren
Kylo smashes his helmet into the wall, maybe signifying that he’s no longer trying to live up to the mantle that his grandfather created as Darth Vader. In ‘The Force Awakens’, Rey read Kylo’s mind and reminded him that he was scared that he would never live up to Darth Vader’s legacy. Now it seems that Kylo is becoming his own man and shedding the mask that made him in the first film in the new trilogy.
1:11: We see Kylo in his TIE Fighter launching an attack on a Resistance cruiser. Once again, he’s no longer wearing his helmet so this would seem to be a little later in the movie during a crucial battle scene.
1:16: The first appearance of General Leia in this new trailer and it’s an ominous scene because it appears that Kylo Ren is attacking the lead ship in this armada with his mother on board. Kylo Ren already killed his father — is this him attacking and trying to get rid of his mother as well? Kylo has tears in his eyes as he twitches on the trigger but this seems like a bit of a mislead to me considering that would be a monumental turning point in the film and not something they’d give away in the trailer. If this is Kylo attacking Leia’s ship, something tells me she’ll be saved by another member of the Resistance…maybe it’s time for Poe Dameron to come to the rescue.
1:30: The Millennium Falcon out racing a group of TIE fighters with Chewbacca doing the driving and a Porg playing co-pilot. Expect to see Porg’s everywhere by Christmas time as the latest stuffed animal in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.
1:35: We see another attack on the armada and that’s when we see Poe for the first time with his voiceover.
“We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn that will burn the First Order down” ~ Poe Dameron
1:40: A confrontation between Finn and his former commander Captain Phasma. We were promised that Captain Phasma would not only return but she would play a bigger role this time around. It seems that she’s going to battle the former Storm Trooper turned Resistance fighter.
1:48: Another voiceover from Luke in what appears to be his training of Rey.
“This is not going to go the way you think” ~ Luke Skywalker
1:53: It looks like Finn has been captured by the First Order and he’s being taken in for questioning.
1:59: Another voiceover from Supreme Leader Snoke and we also get the first look at him in the flesh. Remember, he only appeared as a hologram in ‘The Force Awakens’.
“Fulfill your destiny” ~ Supreme Leader Snoke
Snoke says those words and then a second later we see a tortured Rey hanging in the air, screaming for mercy. Perhaps she’s been turned over to the First Order as well and Snoke is attempting to turn her to the Dark Side just like the Emperor did once upon a time to Luke Skywalker before he ultimately refused.
2:07: We get a final voiceover from Rey
“I need someone to show me my place in all this” ~ Rey
In this moment, it looks like Rey is speaking to Kylo Ren, who closes the trailer with his hand outstretched as if to invite her to join him. If you look at the background, however, Rey is clearly not in the same place as Kylo Ren between these two scenes. You’ll also notice the scar on Kylo’s face is different in this moment than it is in the other parts of the trailer where it appears he has some sort of biomechanical closure on the wound.
Kylo in this scene may be another piece of the training that Rey is doing with Luke — remember Yoda forced him to face down with a vision of Darth Vader in that cave in the Degobah system. Now there is a chance that Rey does turn to Kylo Ren if Luke actually rejects her after starting and then stopping her training to become a Jedi. My best guess would be this — Rey trains with Luke but he’s frightened by her power and rejects her from any further teachings to become a Jedi. She leaves the planet in anger and ends up in the clutches of Kylo Ren and Snoke, who attempt to turn her. Sensing that Rey is in great pain and grave danger, Luke leaves the planet and goes out to save her from the First Order. This film could potentially end with Luke Skywalker being cut down much like Obi-Wan Kenobi was in the first ‘Star Wars’ movie.
Of course that’s just an estimated guess but we’ll all find out on December 15 when ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ lands in theaters nationwide!
