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Breaking Down The New Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trailer


Last night marked the premiere of the first full trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and nearly 24 hours later, the buzz is still louder than a rathtar and a rancor in a screaming match. We here at Epicstream aren’t immune to the hype, either, so we decided to breakdown some of the key moments from the trailer. Check them out below: 

  1. Behold: The Gorilla Walkers

    Remember how breathtaking the AT-ATs were the first time you saw them in The Empire Strikes Back? Well, the First Order’s new Gorilla Walkers absolutely put them to shame. These vehicles, officially known as AT-M6s (All Terrain MegaCaliber Six), are far more stable than their clunky predecessors, and they’ll certainly spell trouble for the Resistance.

  2. Did Kylo Ren Get On Snoke’s Bad Side?

    In this scene, we see Kylo Ren in what is likely Snoke’s throne room (as evidenced by the Praetorian Guards whose feet you can see in the background). However, that begs the question as to why Kylo Ren is there with his lightsaber on the ground. The fact that his trusty weapon is at his feet could be a sign that he’s being reprimanded by Snoke, possibly for his failure to defeat the inexperienced Rey in The Force Awakens.

  3. We’re Going To Spend A Lot Of Time On Ahch-To

    In this past April’s teaser trailer, every scene featuring Rey took place on Ahch-To – the island where Luke has remained in seclusion since he was betrayed by Kylo Ren. In the new trailer, it looks to be more of the same, save for Rey’s encounter with Snoke, and possibly Kylo Ren (it’s not entirely clear where that scene takes place). That being said, it’s safe to say much of The Last Jedi will take place on Ahch-To as Rey undergoes her training under Luke’s apprehensive/watchful eye. In fact, for all we know, Luke way not even leave the island at all during the course of the film. 

  4. There’s Going To Be A Passing Of The Torch

    Despite the fact that we see Luke accept the lightsaber that Rey has presumably been holding in her outstretched hand since December 2015, director Rian Johnson confirmed that it’s now Rey’s lightsaber. That means it’s highly unlikely that he simply allows Rey to borrow it while she’s training. Instead, expect him to give it up at some point in the film.

  5. Rey’s Remarkable Power

    As Rey is taking part in what appears to be a training exercise, we see a massive crack form in the rocky surface of Ahch-To, which causes Luke to display a genuine look of concern. He likens her strength to that of his former pupil, Kylo Ren, and notes that he didn’t fear such strength when he saw it then, but he does now.

  6. What REALLY Happened Between Luke And Kylo Ren?

    Right now, all we know is that Luke attempted to restore the Jedi Order, and that Ben Solo – who had been corrupted by Snoke – betrayed his uncle and left everything he built in ruins. Perhaps that’s all there really is to it, or perhaps there’s more than meets the eye. In any case, we’ll likely see a full flashback to help fill in any applicable gaps.

  7. Kylo Being Kylo

    In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren was presented as a petulant man-child with a severe inferiority complex. In the new trailer, when we see him shed his mask, it seems as though we’re witnessing an evolution of the character. However, as we then quickly see, he’s still prone to throwing temper tantrums, so perhaps his evolution comes a bit later…

  8. Shedding His Past

    Although we don’t get a word of dialogue from Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa, her fate appears to be all but certain. We cut between images of Leia looking forlornly into the distance and Kylo Ren preparing to fire upon a ship (possibly the ship Leia’s aboard), with an ominous voiceover about how one must shed his past by killing it.

  9. Obligatory Porg Shot

    If you have children, your house is probably already filled with Porg merchandise. It’s hard to say what kind of relationship the Porgs have with Chewbacca, as it was previously speculated that he eats one in the film. However, it seems unlikely that everyone’s favorite Wookiee would keep his snack on the Millennium Falcon dashboard.

  10. Mo’ Poe, Fa Sho’

    Oscar Isaacs is a phenomenal actor, so to see him so painfully underutilized in The Force Awakens was a major letdown. Thankfully, it looks like we’ll be seeing him a lot more in The Last Jedi, and hopefully we’ll actually get to experience some intergalactic dogfights with Poe as our POV character, as teased in this scene.

  11. Phasma’s Revenge

    Another example of wasted potential from The Force Awakens, Captain Phasma looks like she’ll finally get her moment in the spotlight when she seeks retribution on Finn, who unceremoniously threw her down a garbage shoot off-screen in TFA. This has the potential to be an absolutely explosive battle, and anything less than that can only summed up as a disappointment.

  12. The Mysterious Crystal Foxes

    No one seems to know what to make of these icy crystal fox-like creatures. In any case, they certainly look interesting.

  13. Does Rey Get Her Own Dagobah Moment?

    In this scene, Rey emerges from the water to find herself face to face with Luke in what looks like a dark, foggy cave. Seeing this immediately evokes memories of Luke’s vision on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back, and it will be interesting to see if Rey has a similar experience during her own training.

  14. The Battle On Crait

    When Rian Johnson first revealed the name of this new, pale-surfaced planet, he also noted that it would be home to a key sequence in the film. From what we see here, it looks as though a massive battle will ensue, and one can’t help but wonder if it will end up being something akin to the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back.

  15. Snoke, In The Flesh

    This is it – our first look at Snoke in live-action as opposed to still shots or holograms. He looks positively terrifying, though it’s unclear whether his disfigured appearance is the result of a battle or due to his connection to the dark side. Perhaps we’ll find out more in The Last Jedi.

  16. The Corruption Of Rey?

    In this scene, Snoke has Rey in one heck of a predicament, and the smart money’s on him trying to turn her to the dark side. He shouts about her fulfilling her destiny, which harkens back to the words both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine said incessantly to Luke in the Original Trilogy. Speaking of which, one can’t help but wonder where Luke is at this point.

  17. An Unholy Alliance

    Just before the trailer comes to a close, we see a flustered Rey express her desire for someone to help her “find her place in all this.” The camera then cuts to Kylo Ren, who extends his hand as though he’s going to be her guiding light on her journey. Because of how trailers are cut, it’s hard to know what to make of this scene, so whether or not Rey is aligning with the enemy largely depends on the additional context we’re missing. 

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