Breaking Down The Rise Of Skywalker Teaser Trailer

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The trailer beings with Rey attempting to slow her breathing on a desert planet. We hear a voice over from Luke Skywalker. He begins, "We’ve passed on all we know." WE. Plural.

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Rey fixed a thing.

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In this distance, we hear the familiar screech of a TIE based vehicle approaching Rey. As it nears, we cut to the cockpit. Two hands, clad in black gloves, grip the controls. We're clearly meant to think this is Kylo Ren, but I suspect it's typical teaser trailer misdirection.

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We see the vehicle is a TIE Silencer, but it bears red markings which have been typically been used to designate "elite" or "ace" pilots in the Star Wars universe.

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Rey engages the attacking ship with a maneuver that has a distinct "Wire fu" vibe. At this point, the visuals of the trailer are more than half over. The bulk of the trailer is this one introductory shot.

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We see what appears to be an A-Wing approaching a city on an unknown planet.

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Kylo Ren runs some poor chap through. The victim appears to be holding some sort of club-like melee weapon.

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Someone with weird monkey hands repairs the helmet Kylo smashed in The Last Jedi. I can't help but think this is one director throwing a little shade at the other.

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And with this shot, the teaser trailer firmly plants me in its pocket. I am pwned. Well done, Disney. You win this round!

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We see what appears to be a chase sequence. There are moisture vaporator-like structures on either side of the shot which appear to frame the linear route. I really hope this wasn't done as a writing convenience to constrain the action which appears to be a taking place in an otherwise wide open environment. It would be the movie equivalent of invisible walls in video games.

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J...J...Jump trooper?

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The trailer is cut to make us believe that the "chasees" are Poe, Finn, and C-3PO on a vehicle that looks like it could have once been owned by Hondo Ohnaka.

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These frames blink past in an instant. An A-Wing is shown flying inverted. The pilot was clearly trained by Maverick (Top Gun style). It is trailing smoke. Is this the same A-Wing from the earlier shot? It appears to go down in flames as it narrowly misses what appears to be an OT-era Star Destroyer..

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A female character ponders one of the medals from the Yavin Ceremony at the end of Episode IV.

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Yeah, I got choked up too.

We once again hear a voice over from Luke. He says, "We'll always be with you."

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This appears to be a tranquil scene in a pastoral setting, yet the expression on the heroes is somewhat apprehensive. We'll soon see why.

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It immediately cuts to show the wreckage of a Death Star. The super laser dish is clearly visible. Is this the first or second Death Star? I've seen it assumed that this is the second Death Star, but I'm not sure we can tell. This feels more like the Yavin system. We hear one more bit of narration from Luke. He says, "No one is ever really gone." This sounds like an optimistic statement, but every coin has two sides. We're about to get a gut punch.

The single greatest moment of the trailer comes as it cuts to black. After a brief silence, Palptine's sinister laugh rings out.