1) "THERE HAS BEEN AN AWAKENING. HAVE YOU FELT IT?"
The concept of the very first teaser should not remain lost to us, now that we've had three more trailers and a TV spot. THE FORCE AWAKENS -- its the title of the movie, for crying out loud. It should go without saying that the concept "awakening" likely of extreme importance to the story. Similar to A New Hope, I think that we can expect a story in which there is an ongoing war that sees the tides change with an influx of Force-users. It would not surprise me to see Luke enter the film in this fashion. Consider the voice-over from the teaser, which we learned to be the voice of Supreme Leader Snoke: he speaks of "awakening," but then says "the dark side... and the light." Note how when he says "and the light" with a slight sound of dismay. This idea of the light side of the Force again interrupting the schemes of the dark side is, I believe, likely. Not only does it make for a great story, but it would also provide a nice mirror image of the original trilogy.
We see Finn lament that he had a purpose that he no longer believes in, and so he has nothing to fight for. We see Rey state that she is "no one," a something that she likely believes but will discover to be untrue. Han's statement, "Chewie, we're home." Luke's lines in the second trailer, "you have that power, too" is part statement and part exhortation. It would not surprise me to see a sort of anti-hero type of reluctance, either from Luke or from one of the new characters. Luke, after all, was opposed to going with Obi-Wan until the death of Owen and Beru changed his mind. Han also had an aversion to being a part of the Alliance's activities, as well as his own skepticism of the Force.
Awakening is a theme I expect to play out in numerous ways in the story.
2) WHO EXACTLY IS KYLO REN?
Speculation flies all the way from an apprentice of Luke's that went bad, to a child of Han/Leia's, and all the way to Luke Skywalker himself. First and most importantly: no, it isn't Luke. We see Ren, apparently with his mask off in the main trailer and it is clearly Adam Driver's long hair from the Vanity Fair shoot:
At this point, I think that the most plausible theories for Ren are as follows:
- A child of Han and Leia's.
- A child of Luke and ?????.
- An apprentice of Luke's that didn't stay on the straight and narrow. (which has happened in the Expanded Universe)
- Rey's twin or cousin?
- He is entirely unconnected to the Skywalker family, and has his own specific backstory.
Also important to the Kylo Ren discussion is the so-called "Knights of Ren," presumably depicted in this moment from the main trailer, surrounded by a field of dead people:
These questions are pertinent, as JJ Abrams specifically referred to Ren as a more complex character than the average villain. Specifically, Abrams has said that Ren is not a Sith. Another thing I might expect is that Ren is not overly controllable and might be prone to ignore his obligations to the First Order to pursue his own goals. There is also the slim possibility that Ren and the Knights are not exactly a part of the First Order. This would be a nice creative twist, wouldn't it?
However, there's little to no way to figure Kylo Ren out from the information that is available, so this is one of the mysteries that we'll have to wait until Dec. 18th to solve.
3) WHO IS CAPTAIN PHASMA?
This is where I think there could be some interesting possibilities. Phasma is being established as a person of significance to the story throughout the trailers and promotional efforts. It seems that Phasma would be the kind of person who would have some form of purpose that she is driven to achieve.
And intentional or not, I really like the visual connection to Dark Troopers that Phasma evokes.
4) ARE POE DAMERON AND FINN THE CHARACTERS THAT THEY APPEAR TO BE?
Take a look at how Finn looks at Dameron here:
After Poe has passed on Finn gives him quite a glare, doesn't he? Does Finn wonder about him? Has Poe slighted Finn in some way? Does Finn know something that others do not? At this point, Dameron seems to be a straightforward Wedge Antilles type character, but we also know that things in Star Wars have a habit of not being what they seem. Does Poe's run-in with Kylo Ren effect him in some way?
OR... is Finn not who he seems. A double agent? Someone who knows more than he lets on?
I have questions and these darn Lucasfilm people are making me wait 'till Dec. 18th!
(PS> Dear Lucasfilm/Disney... I'd happily be part of a test audience for this. Let me know!)
5) BOBA FETT IS VERY MUCH AMONG THE LIVING AND MAY BE COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU.
First of all, two Mandalorian symbols that Fett uses appear in this image. This shot has appeared in every Trailer/TV Spot to premiere since the main trailer debuted a couple of weeks ago. The first is the Mandalorian skull logo from Fett's uniform.
Second, the newest trailer for the new Battlefront game implies that Fett is a playable hero. More importantly, we see Fett almost fall into the Sarlacc Pit. As Fett avoids the Sarlacc, he says...
"That won't happen again."
Third, the Star Wars book Aftermath, a release that is about bridging the gap between ROTJ and TFA, discusses Jawas on Tatooine that have a set of Mandalorian armor... and a unknown character who says it belongs to him.
Why this makes sense: It happened before. One of the features of the expanded universe area of Star Wars is that Fett did survive the Sarlacc pit… and ultimately was bestowed the title of Mandalore (the leader of the Mandalorian warriors). While Disney/Lucasfilm is insisting that it has cleaned its desks of Expanded Universe material to make way for the new trilogy, it is extremely difficult to think that everything will simply be gone (later points on this list make it blatantly obvious that the expanded universe hasn't quite been deleted from canon). I don't know if Fett would make an appearance in TFA (although, that would be incredible), but I do think its highly likely to see him in the future.
This is where I got the idea that the group of armor wearing warriors around Kylo Ren might be connected to the Mandalorians in some way. The blatantly obvious presence of a Mandalorian logo in the trailer is either there to throw us off the track or to wet our appetites for things to come.
6) MORE FAMILIAR FACES WILL RETURN THAN HAVE BEEN IMPLIED.
Tim Rose, the actor/puppeteer who played several characters (most famously Admiral Ackbar), said that he was in the new film as Ackbar, something that had been rumored and was essentially confirmed by the presence of the Ackbar mask in the behind the scenes reel from Comic-Con. (There was also a Nien Nunb mask, too!).
Rose also said, "You can expect a smorgasbord of people you love." Other veiled statements made in relation to returning characters have been similarly cryptic, such as Billy Dee Williams, who said, "I have a feeling I'm going to show up. There's nothing I can really discuss about it at this stage." Though it isn't likely to see Williams appear as Lando in the new film, there is nothing that indicates he wouldn't appear in VIII or IX. His statement would seem to imply that he knows something that he can't say yet.
Many characters can logically continue to exist in this universe, just as they did in the expanded universe. Mon Mothma, Crix Nadine, Ackbar, Nien Nunb, Wedge Antilles, Yoda/Anakin/Obi-Wan (as Force Ghosts), Boba Fett, and Lando Calrissian are all candidates to be involved. There are also many other minor characters, as well as characters that were created for or flourished in other media, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Dash Rendar, or Kyle Katarn. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me to see characters from the prequel trilogy -- and that's very great, so long as it makes sense.
7) SULLUST?
Nien Nunb is from Sullust.
Nien Nunb is apparently in this film.
Sullust is figuring prominently in the new Star Wars Battlefront game.
Sullust is a rocky planet with volcanic activity.
Hmmm. This looks like it could be Sullust, doesn't it, with the rocky terrain and fire:
The moral of this story is that trailers/promo materials are giving us an intentionally limited view of what is going on. We are only seeing a handful of spaces so far, with very little to go on as far as worlds and locations. We know that there is an ice planet, presumably containing the Starkiller Base. We have Jakku, the desert planet. We also have the green planet with lakes with what seems to be Maz Kanata's pirate castle, but it still wouldn't surprise me to see Yavin IV appear at some point. We know from experience that Star Wars has a habit of being in multiple places with multiple plot elements going on at once. Today I spent some time in the toy isle at my local Walmart, studying all the various Force Awakens toys... there were action figures for characters we haven't seen yet. Vehicle sets with speeder bikes and walkers that we haven't seen yet. We have seen relevant info from the trailer, but certainly nowhere near the scope of what will be in the final film... and that's OK: I don't want to know that much about the film before I even see it.
8) FLAMETHROWER STORMTROOPERS ARE AWESOME.
There was no other point to this outside of saying out how great the character design looks so far... and kudos to Abrams and crew for building real sets with real people as much as possible.
... and flame throwing Storm Troopers are great. :)
9) THAT LIGHTSABER... AND THE SEEN UNSEEN.
Several people and organizations seem to think, as I do, that there is a point to seeing the blue-bladed lightsaber... its being handed to Leia in the one trailer, and is being being wielded by Finn in another.
Last time we saw Anakin's lightsaber, it was when Luke lost it on Bespin. In case you forgot...
SO. Why the emphasis on the lightsaber? All indication is that Kylo Ren is obsessed with Vader, so scoring a major piece of Anakin/Vader's early years would be a big score for the obsessed Ren. But we have many reasons to believe that the lightsaber is significant. Star Wars is built on the seen unseen. Vader is really Luke's father. Obi-Wan enters the Force's equivalent of the afterlife, which was implied but not known until Episode V. The little green guy driving Luke crazy was really Yoda, one of the most powerful Jedi to ever live. Leia was really Luke's sister. Etc.
What is the significance of Anakin's lightsaber?
- Is it a holocron - a treasure trove of Force knowledge?
- Is there something special about the crystal in it?
- Is it broken? Is Luke the only person able to make it work, now?
- Is it a Lord of the Rings-esque object that has been embodied by some dark side energy or being?
- Is Ren just an obsessed Vader groupie that wants something of his idol's?
By the way, speaking of the incident on Cloud City where Luke loses his hand and lightsaber, you might want to notice something about the D23 teaser poster. Look at the lower right hand corner of the poster:
We've seen those red lights before... BACK WHEN LUKE LOST HIS LIGHTSABER..
With film franchises of this level, I tend to err on the side of intent. I think the usage of lights from the carbon freezing chamber steps in Cloud City is intentional. They're trying to subliminally tell us something, or might even be sneaking a hint that we might end up back at Cloud City in some capacity. They could also be foreshadowing something about this story. We know that Luke chose to face Vader before he was ready (and got beat up pretty bad in the process). Is it possible that the fight between Finn and Ren that we're seeing is a similar scenario, with Finn trying to fight Ren long before he should?
9) THRAWN TRILOGY AND OTHER EXPANDED UNIVERSE STORIES: STILL CANON?
There were many questions at the reveal of Kylo Ren's cross-guard lightsaber. But Lucasfilm themselves answered some of them by pointing out that such a saber has been seen before in the Star Wars Universe. In Heir to the Empire, which is the start of the Thrawn trilogy, Luke encounters a lightsaber with a cross-guard that he determines was only able to be assembled using the Force. But don't think the interesting tidbits end here.
The Thrawn Trilogy also has a story about Anakin's lightsaber being recovered from Bespin. It appears towards the end of The Last Command when Joruus C'Baoth, an insane clone of a Jedi master, reveals that he has made an evil clone of Luke using the hand he lost in the Duel at Cloud City. This cloned version of Luke wields Anakin's lightsaber. The battle ends with Mara Jade killing the clone "Luuke" and the insane C'Baoth. Oh, and remember the teaser poster and its usage of the steps at Cloud City? Guess what else it is reminiscent of: the steps from the illustration of Luke fighting with Joruus C'Baoth:
There seem to be some threads pulling together out of the Thrawn events. We know for sure that the new trilogy is not the Thrawn trilogy, but we have a cross-guard lightsaber and the return of Anakin's lightsaber. Also, the Thrawn trilogy features a running plot element between the New Republic and a gang of smuggler's that are generally in an alliance with them against Thrawn's forces. Could we be seeing a similar thing happening with Maz Kanata and the reported haven of pirates and smugglers?
As Disney/Lucasfilm materials have been published, like books and comics that fit into their own storyline of TFA, some of what we know from the EU has not been nixed. Mon Mothma does end up as a leader of a New Republic. There does seem to be a Imperial Remnant type scenario. There is an implication that Fett is alive. There is an implication about the existence of Thrawn. Luke does seem to be taking steps to establish a New Jedi Order.
What must be emphasized is that Abrams and company have gone out of their way to place some very specific information for us to see. Something as specific as the cross-guard lightsaber reference in Heir to the Empire (which Lucasfilm pointed out themselves) and the inclusion of the lighting scheme from Cloud City are not simply nostalgic nods. This is one of the parts of Star Wars that makes it so good: the reference and continuing story... the saga that is Star Wars.
10) Is it possible this isn't Luke????
Random speculation, nothing more. Especially with someone as clever as Abrams, I never take what is obvious as the only answer... only the likeliest answer. It is likely that this is Luke, but it is not a guarantee.
'Till Dec. 18th.
