Let's Gush About TRoS 4: Trailer 1 Analysis
HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO, HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO. The trailer was amazing. Weird that it was 'The Final Trailer', I thought we usually got two after the teaser. Oh well. I love it as a self-contained bit of Star Wars - great music, a good mix of different scenes on different planets from what appears to be every act of the film. I got a lot of the stuff I said I wanted in my previous post. There were shots in there from the previously unreleased D23 footage of the gang settling into the Falcon before take-off, and we got to see previous unseen characters like Rose Tico and Zorii Bliss. We got some Leia too but not new Leia, just the hug again. Obviously they're limited in the amount of Leia footage they have, and I'm still really impressed by how her look. I know logically this new Rey/Leia hug must be taken from alternate takes of the TFA Rey/Leia hug, but it's different enough that it isn't distracting at all or something I'm thinking about when watching it. Also, the new Leia material must be really hard to make, so fair enough to them reusing the hug from the teaser - it was after all the only reused footage in the trailer.
Not even a little glimpse of the Knights of Ren which is a surprise. I'm even more excited to see them now that an upcoming comic called The Rise of Kylo Ren has revealed that the Knights of Ren existed before Kylo and that young Ben Solo once encountered them while training with Luke Skywalker. That gives them a little more history as an organisation and means they aren't just other students of Luke's who turned against him. Just a little reference to their background and a few details about key members would go a long way. As for the other predictions from my previous post, we heard some new Luke lines even if we didn't see him, and we did get some glimpses of cool new planets. Sadly no Richard E. Grant but I'm sure the wait will be worth it.
One thing this trailer did for me that the TRoS promotion hadn't really done before is sell me on Episode IX being the last one. I mean, money exists, making Episode X, XI, and XII inevitable, but I now believe they're sincere in wanting TRoS to wrap up the Saga so far. In the shot of C-3PO with the wires coming out of his head, you can see a prequel battle droid in the background on the right. That big shot of the hero fleet has ships pulled from all corners of the series, including the fuckin Ghost. We got the Ghost in Rogue One too and it was basically just a background ship. Hopefully in TRoS we get a vocal cameo from Hera over the Falcon's comms or something. This whole film feels like a celebration of Star Wars as a whole, and if this is the last one (which it isn't) I'm happy with the amont of fanfare it's getting. That said, if we're drawing so heavily from the Saga's history, we obviously need Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi as ghosts. Hopefully that's Hayden as Anakin, the puppet from TLJ as Yoda, and CGI Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan (Ewan's getting a Disney+ show, I'm sure he won't be offended).
I'm glad there's a time jump between VIII and IX, not only so we now have a Sequel Trilogy status quo to fit future stories into but also so we can see the characters evolve and grow after countless off-screen adventures. Rey's training sequence in the forest is something I'm looking forward to, as well as seeing Daisy Ridley in something closer to full Jedi mode. We're still not sure if Rey's already a Jedi or if she'll become one by the end like Luke did in VI. It'd be a nice bit of continuity if the Jedi texts she took from Ahch-To helped her form a deeper understanding of the force, if for no other reason than I love macguffins that are also books. They're almost as good as macguffins that are also weapons. Also, Rey climbing around the wreckage of the Death Star mirrors her climbing around the wreckage of the Star Destroyer in her introduction scene and it's wonderful.
Poe's "We're not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them" as well as the shot of the fleet made of a mish mash of different ships from across the galaxy have given me an idea for how TRoS would wrap up a major Star Wars arc. Watching Return of the Jedi after seeing this trailer, specifically the scene where C-3PO tells the story of Star Wars to the ewoks around the campfire, makes me think Luke Skywalker is going to become a folktale for the galaxy that inspires ordinary people to band together against the First Order. If this really is the end of the Saga, maybe it ends with the light in ordinary people proving to be too much for the dark. It'd also be a hell of an ending of Luke's arc, to fully transcend into legend. Maybe there are statues of Luke on some planets or songs written about him. It'd be a fitting end to say despite all the wars, the galaxy is fundamentally a good place.
That's all I have right now. After marathoning the Saga recently, I can't wait to go into The Rise of Skywalker this December, put the fandom drama behind me, and enjoy this last adventure. Based on what we know so far (and that includes from leaks) I don't see how I could possibly dislike what JJ has put together here. JJ's one of my favourite film directors and Episode IX seems like exactly what I want from a Star War.
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