'The Last Jedi' full trailer revealed: What it all means

Who is saying what to whom? What does it all mean? We've got you covered.
 By 
Chris Taylor
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

You've probably watched the Last Jedi trailer a good half-dozen times already since it dropped Monday night.

You have questions. That's good! So do we. Not surprisingly, the trailer seems tailor-made to provoke them, and we're not going to get all of them answered until the movie arrives on December 15.

Here we've collected our insta-analysis on the hottest two minutes of Star Wars to drop all year -- under headings based on the entire dialogue of the trailer.


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Snoke: 'When I found you, I saw raw, untamed power!'

Supreme Leader Snoke, whom we only saw via giant hologram in The Force Awakens, appears to be talking about Kylo Ren here -- unless he's talking about Rey.

He did indeed "find" Han Solo and Leia Organa's son, in the sense that he groomed the kid for the Dark Side. But maybe ... maybe he literally found Rey.

So what did he see in this yet uncertain character? Not just "raw, untamed power," but "beyond that ... something truly special."

Given that we've mostly seen adolescent temper tantrums and vicious patricide from Kylo Ren so far, we're curious to see how much of Snoke's positive viewpoint on the kid will be borne out by the film. Or is this just another case of a mediocre white male being promoted beyond his competence?

Rey: 'Something inside me has always been there ... then I was awake ... and I need help.'

Via Giphy

It seems The Last Jedi will delve further into this notion that Rey is someone special -- not necessarily in her ancestry, but within herself. She has, to use a common Star Wars trope, a destiny.

Luke: 'I've seen this raw strength only once before.'

Via Giphy

The flashback scene is one we've seen in flashback before: Luke's mysterious Jedi training school, burning to the ground. What we haven't seen is how Luke escaped the slaughter; according to that quick shot of his robot hand, he was under the wreckage.

The "raw strength" in that case may have been Kylo Ren's, or even Snoke's. "It didn't scare me enough then," says Luke, suggesting that the destruction of the school was an inside job. "It does now."

Ah, but which now? Is he afraid of Rey's raw strength? Is that why he's reluctant to train her?

Kylo Ren: 'Let the past die. Kill it. If you have to.'

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

We see Kylo in his personal TIE fighter, with some sort of bizarre Dark Side Band Aid on his face. He's about to press a button and reluctantly destroy something. The scene is intercut with Leia, her face frozen.

Would Kylo kill both his parents? Is he trying to convince himself by saying "it's the only way to become what you were meant to be" in his next line?

Certainly he was pretty reluctant about killing Han, so this dialogue would check out in that context -- and it would be one way for Leia to exit the story.

But nah, we're calling it: It's a misdirect. It seems most likely Kylo is talking to Rey here, trying to convince her to turn to the Dark Side.

Porg: [Battle cry]

Via Giphy

This is the first time we've heard Porgs speak -- and if these puffin-like creatures keep yelling like that around the Millennium Falcon cockpit, we wouldn't be surprised if they turn out to be food for Chewbacca.

Poe: 'We are the spark that will light the fire that'll burn the First Order down.'

The usual kind of heroic statement from dashing X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron comes next, over a series of images of the Resistance battling the First Order.

They include Finn in Imperial spy gear doing battle with his former boss, Captain Phasma. John Boyega took to Twitter immediately after the trailer dropped to tease the match-up:

Luke: 'This is not going to go the way you think.'

To whom is Skywalker talking from his position on the ground? Is it possible that Kylo Ren and/or Snoke have come to his planet to smoke him and Rey out of their cozy Jedi training montage?

Perhaps more importantly, what exactly is this new Artic fox-style creature?

Via Giphy

Snoke: 'Fulfill your destiny.'

Via Giphy

This looks an awful lot like Rey being Force-tortured by Snoke, much as she was Force-tortured by Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. When is this kid going to catch a break?

Rey: 'I need someone to show me my place in all this.'

Via Giphy

The mic drop of the trailer: Rey makes a statement about how lost and confused she feels, then Kylo Ren -- now without his weird Dark Side Band-Aid! -- reaches out a hand in apparent friendship.

We're guessing this scene, like a lot in the trailer, is not all it appears to be. That hand could be what leads her to Snoke's torture chamber!

On the other hand, fans have suspected for some time that the long story arc of Kylo Ren over the sequel trilogy is that he will turn towards the light, while Rey will be tempted by the Dark Side in much the same way Luke was.

This moment seems like a confirmation of that theory -- or at least, of some very twisty, confident storytelling ahead.

Topics Star Wars

Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor

Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.

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