Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer Analysis / Reaction
Our first look at Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released last Friday, April 12th!! Here in this article, I will offer a look into the trailer and my thoughts on it. SPOILER: I thought it was wizard! So here we go!
Even before we get any visuals, we hear Rey breathing in the darkness, which heavily reminded me of Solo’s beginning, where we heard Han breathing before the first shot of the film. Our first shot is of Rey on either Jakku, Jedha, or another planet (those are my three guesses). Hearing Luke’s voice say, “We’ve passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now.” WHOA. Going to be honest, I got hyped when I heard that because now that means the future of the Jedi all rest on Rey’s shoulders and are now within her through the Force, possibly. That’s honestly nerve-wracking, but so wizard, and will continue her arc of fulfilling the restart of the Jedi in The Last Jedi. Another seemingly Solo-inspired shot is when she pulls her lightsaber out and then it closes in on it, much like Solo when it’s close up on his blaster, so there’s cinematic poetry there. Then we see the TPM tagline, “Every Generation has a Legend,” which is just amazing. Next, we see a TIE Fighter with gloves gripping the controls, probably Kylo, with Rey running away from it and then backflipping over it!!! Dude, when she flipped, I flipped, that moment was so AWESOME!! It’s possibly a training sequence since whoever’s in the TIE, probably Kylo, is not firing at her, so they might be training and working together in whatever adventures those might entail in ROS.
Moving past the desert, we see an A-Wing fly by a few canyons near a city on a new planet, possibly Black Spire Outpost, as I’ve heard some conjecture. We then see Kylo Ren taking down a soldier like the boss he is alongside his soldiers, using the side of the saber and one of the cross guards to slam him down rather than cutting him up regularly, all on a red backdrop which looks beautiful! Furthermore, we see Kylo’s mask being reforged, which is symbolic since he wants to emulate Vader. We then see quick cuts of Finn and Poe in their desert garb on the same planet Rey was on, then we see BB-8 and D-O, two droids who will seem to become friends because, well, it’s BB-8, he’s a lovable droid! We then see the smooth smuggler Lando Calrissian piloting the Falcon alongside Chewbacca, just like old times. Next is a chase scene with jump troopers going after Poe, Finn, and the gang, then an A-Wing spiraling out of control with a possible Venator sighting in the background? This is followed by a hand, possibly Leia’s, touching Han’s medal that he won from ANH from the victory over the first Death Star. Afterwards, seeing Leia and Rey hug is so emotional since Carrie is no longer with us, so any footage of her in ROS will be sorely emotional. The last shot we see is of the ST Trio with D-O, BB8, and 3PO, oddly no R2, on plains overlooking a sea where the remains of the second Death Star are shown, most likely on Endor’s Moon. Luke’s voice says, “We’ll always be with you. No one’s ever really gone.” And then we hear that laugh: Emperor Sheev Palpatine’s laugh. My jaw dropped at that moment while also dropping even more at the title reveal “The Rise of Skywalker.” So what are my thoughts?
Simply put, that was a great trailer. Didn’t really show us much, just teased us, as teaser trailers are supposed to do. I’ll get two things out of the way right here. Palpatine is not coming back in the flesh or as a clone. I think Abrams and Terrio are better than that and that would not only cheapen/invalidate Anakin’s sacrifice in ROTJ aboard the second Death Star, I think it would also be immensely stupid to resurrect Palpatine, for lack of a better term. However, I do think there is no doubt that that he will show up in a flashback or that he binds his spirit to an object because it is canonically possible for Sith to preserve their consciousness after death, but they can only achieve it via binding their spirit to an object, such as The Presence in Rebels binding her spirit via a Holocron and Momin binding his spirit via his mask.
As for the title, “The Rise of Skywalker”, I don’t think it confirms that Rey is a Skywalker, but that she will adopt the name Skywalker and pass on its legacy post-IX, that it’ll be a term for a new Jedi Order. It could also be referring to Kylo Ren in some way since he’s a Skywalker technically, so it could be referring to his rise in some way, either as the Supreme Leader of the First Order or his rise as an actual Skywalker in some way, probably by finishing what his grandfather, Vader, started.
In any case, I am pumped for the final installment in the Sequel Trilogy and the possible end of the Skywalker Saga, which is cool to think about. Here is the video link to the trailer if you want to rewatch it again for your own analysis or to add any thoughts of your own in here.