With the release of the new trailer last night, you either fall into three categories:
A) I’m not watching.
B) I can’t believe what I just saw.
C) I don’t care about Star Wars. (you are lame)
So for those in category B….this is for you.
Ok, I will admit, I’ve seen this trailer more than ten times. There are so many questions and so much to unpack. I’ve already had several conversations with many who have watched it. As my cousin told me, “I think Disney loved all the different theories and made the trailer to both enhance and debunk at the same time which just left you even more confused and anticipating even more”?That is true. There are other things that some of us here at ScreenFish have discussed as well.
So let’s get to it, and in the end, I’ll give you my theory:
“When I found you, I saw RAW untamed power…and beyond that…something truly special”
–Snoke
I believe that this beginning will bring us the flashback of Kylo turning to Snoke and the Dark Side. We know from the first film that Snoke calls him back to finish his training. Kylo was already powerful enough to send Luke into hiding (more on that later), so the real question is what will it look like to finish his training? Snoke is ancient so there is something to him that we haven’t seen in films and just maybe he will share that with Kylo. This part finishes with, again, what I believe is the flashback of Kylo receiving his now famous lightsaber from Snoke.
The next set of scenes bring us to the island where Rey gives Luke his lightsaber. Luke doesn’t seem to be happy to have it. It is possible that Luke either doesn’t want her there or wasn’t ready for her yet. Anyway, I believe that most of these scenes are the process of Rey getting her crystal for her lightsaber, which appears to be more white than light blue (or just a very light blue).
Rey is discovering that her whole life she’s known something has been there, and now it’s awake (a nod to the first film). As we see this montage, we realize just how powerful she is.
“I’ve seen this raw strength only once before. I didn’t scare me enough then, it does now”
-Luke
I believe Luke is referring to Kylo and, at this point, we get a glimpse of why I believe Luke was in hiding. It was fear. Luke knows he isn’t powerful enough to take on both Kylo and Snoke. If Snoke is truly ancient, then the clues to defeating him are in the temple. It also explains why he wasn’t happy to see Rey because he’s not ready. He hasn’t found the answers and now he must train someone but, likely, that fear creeps back in. In Rey, he sees his failure of Kylo and thinks that things are happening all over again. Luke is terrified.
From there we get the typical montage of action scenes, some Porg, exciting confrontations, and a heart-wrenching left-to-the-imagination scene featuring Kylo and General Leia.
But it’s the ending that has the Star Wars community going crazy.
“Fullfill your Destiny!”
-Snoke
Is he talking to Kylo…or is he speaking to Rey? I believe based on the next scene it was definitely Rey, but what was he doing to her? Is that a simple death grip, or is the rumor of Snoke’s ability to feed off of force wielders to gain strength true and he feels the force within her was awakened to feed him? If you look carefully in the background of the photo below, you can see that Snoke has Rey. But what is he doing to her?
And then…finally…the moment of shock, anger, confusion, sadness, and what the?
“I need someone to show me my place in all this”
-Rey
Those words, followed by Kylo and then his hands extended, have sent a shock wave. What does it mean? Well, here’s what I think. I believe it’s safe to assume that this trailer leads us to believe that Luke abandons her after he sees how much raw power she possesses. Luke is so terrified and has convinced himself that she will turn also that he leaves her, forcing her to return before she is ready.
I believe that Kylo couldn’t go through with killing his mother and that Snoke eventually does. I believe that no one force wielder can bring balance to the force; rather, it has to be a combination of dark and light. Kylo isn’t fully dark; there is light in him. Rey and Kylo will bring about the true balance together. Kylo will realize that Snoke was leading him astray and the above scene is a combination of Rey joining him and Kylo leaving Snoke.
Snoke is ancient and I think a) Anakin turning and b) Order 66 shifted the balance so much that it awoke him. He stayed hidden, gaining strength while the Empire went from its beginning until its ultimate end. I believe in order to bring true balance back, Kylo needed to turn to give way to the Force awakening in Rey. Combined, Rey and Kylo bring about the embodiment of the Force and will defeat Snoke in Episode IX together. Where Luke factors in to this equation, however, is the biggest question. Does he come back after he feels that Leia is gone? Maybe he has a renewed hope when he sees Kylo and Rey together, not embracing the dark side or the light side, but embracing the balance knowing both are truly needed.
What say you? If you made it this far, you’ve watched the trailer, so what do you think?
