It sucks when conventions show exclusive footage and choose not to share it with the public. Then you end up either having to find a pirated version taken at the screening or rely on descriptions of it from news outlets. So when Disney chose initially not to share the D23 footage for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we reported on it with a description of what occurred. However, it looks like Disney has decided it’s time for the world to see what’s happening, and boy, does it look amazing:
Obviously, the biggest draw is that final shot of Rey wearing a dark robe and wielding a red double lightsaber like Darth Maul, which could point to Rey ultimately being swayed towards the darkness. And while that is very cool, there are some other interesting shots of note as well. Rey, Finn and Poe all come across a city together, though we don’t know where or why. We see a C3P0, though it may not be THE C3P0, with red eyes which is a strange sight. Then there’s the Death Star like blast onto a surface of a planet, followed by Rey swinging her lightsaber at a tree and hitting a drone of some kind. Then, of course, there’s Rey and Kylo Ren’s big fight on the remains of the Death Star with the ocean raging around them as Emperor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious says “Your journey nears its end.”
One has to wonder if there is going to be another trailer in the near future, since this feels very much like the first solid trailer we’ve gotten that gives as a concrete picture of the plot. Rey and the crew head towards the old Death Star and are met there by Kylo. Rey will have to, in some way, go up against Darth Sidious and likely, if only for a moment, be turned. Additionally, the Rey we see with the red lightsaber could be a play on the mirror scene from The Last Jedi, wherein this is an alternate version of Rey more inclined to darkness than light. And if you listen very closely, you can hear the iconic breathing of Darth Vader, a.k.a Anakin Skywalker, so could his spirit be hanging around there as well?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres in theaters on December 20, 2019.