Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer analysis
By Richard Lynch
A new Star Wars trailer means it’s time for new wild theories. Who’s flying the Millennium Falcon, Where’s Snoke and is Kylo Ren getting a new mask? At a glance there isn’t much going on in this first trailer for The Last Jedi, but tons of small hidden details could hint at what’s to come. Everything that follows is speculation and should be taken with a grain of salt.
In a nice nod to Luke’s training in Empire, this first image shows Rey’s ever growing skill with the Force. It’s also worth noting that in this and every other shot with Rey in it, she is wearing the exact same outfit she had at the end of Force Awakens, possibly suggesting that very little time has passed.
A brief glimpse of Leia looking at a star map. Following the events of TFA, the Republic is shattered leaving nobody but Leia’s resistance to fight back against the First Order.
This might be the first time we’ve seen physical books in a Star Wars film. Perhaps these came from Luke’s Jedi order before it fell apart.
This could be the most interesting image in the trailer. An old beat up book bearing the symbol of the Jedi Order on it. There are so many possibilities as to what this could be, but I’m betting that it is none other than the Journal of the Whills. For those of you who don’t know, the Journal is one of the oldest pieces of Star Wars lore dating back to the original title of the first film, Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars, obviously, this was changed but the notion of the journal stuck around. In legends, the Journal of the Whills contained a record of galactic history that included the stories told in each of the films. In the current canon, the Journal has only been referenced once in Aftermath: Empires End. In that brief section, we get a short poem that hints at the idea of gray Jedi who follow neither the light nor dark side, indicating that it may be more like a religious text. If this turns out to be right, it could suggest tons about Luke’s mentality and what may be coming.
This shot seems to mirror the first moments of the battle of hot as speeders race toward giant walkers in the distance. The speeders look kind of like they are cobbled together from old B-Wings, possibly showing how slim resources are for the resistance.
Another angle of the same sequence, this shot reminds me of Mad Max: Fury Road and it gives us a better look at the planet which I’m guess is Jakku. We likely haven’t seen the last of Rey’s home.
Fortunately for Finn, it looks like medicine has advanced beyond the fully immersive bacta tanks in the original trilogy.
It looks like Poe’s black X-Wing gets destroyed, also are those A-Wings on the edges?
Maybe it’s just the reflection, but Kylo Ren’s eyes are starting to look pretty red, a telltale sign of the dark side.
This looks like a continuation of Rey’s vision from Maz’s castle. I expect will learn more about what happened to the Jedi he was training.
A space battle over a potentially new planet, we get a blurry look at what seems to be the new A-Wing and some new frigates. I think these might be Star Hawks, ships that were first introduced during the Aftermath trilogy and participated in the Battle of Jakku.
And that’s it for today. We’ll likely be seeing more trailers and other media in the coming months but it’s going to be a long wait until December 15th.
