10 OMG Moments From Both Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trailers

Will Rey embrace the Dark side or the Light side in Lucasfilm's sequel?

By Zach Johnson Oct 10, 2017 2:00 PMTags

What the heck just happened?

The second trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuted during ESPN's Monday Night Football, leaving fans with more questions than answers. Tickets are on sale for the next installment in the trilogy, debuting in theaters nationwide Dec. 15. Until then, let's examine the two trailers.

Trailer No. 1 (Apr. 14, 2017)

Released during the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, it picks up immediately after the events of 2015's The Force Awakens. Now viewed over 41 million times on its official YouTube channel, fans have combed through every frame to find clues about what's next for Finn (John Boyega), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Rey (Daisy Ridley) and co.

1. Let the Training Begin

It's no surprise Luke will shepherd Rey in her use of the Force, educating her on the Light and Dark sides. "Breathe," Luke tells his protégé. "Just breathe. Now, reach out. What do you see?"

It's the first time fans have heard Luke speak since Return of the Jedi, as he's been sequestered on Ahch-To since Kylo Ren helped destroy the Jedi Academy. Rey sees "light," "darkness" and "balance," but fails to see the full scope. As Luke tells her (or warns her?), "It's so much bigger."

2. Time Heals All Wounds

Kylo sliced Finn's back during the assault on Starkiller Base, but the severity of his injuries wasn't immediately known. (When Rey left for Ahch-To to find Luke, he was still unconscious.) In the trailer, Finn is seen in a containment pod, monitoring his status. Kylo, meanwhile, has removed his mask, revealing the scar he got from fighting Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Pics
Jules Heath/Lucasfilm Ltd.

3. Aim for the Sky

Poe and BB-8 race towards an X-Wing while the Resistance base is under attack. Meanwhile, in another scene, the Millennium Falcon is engaged in combat with TIE Fighters. Rey came into possession of the "fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy" after Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was killed by his own son, but the pilot is not shown here. It seems unlikely she'd be steering the ship if she were still training...unless, like Luke before her, she had to leave early to rescue her friends. Another clip shows Resistance speeders on the planet Crait, flying by an abandoned Rebel base.

4. A Word to the Wise

At the end of the trailer, Luke says, "I know only one truth: It is time for the Jedi to end."

Dun, dun, dun!

The Interim (Apr. 15—Oct. 7)

Empire, Entertainment Weekly and Vanity Fair dedicated covers stories to the saga, while a behind the scenes featurette (published on July 15) fill in some holes and briefly introduced a few new characters, like Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), a maintenance worker for the Resistance.

Trailer No. 2 (Oct. 9, 2017)

5. On Shaky Ground

As Rey embraces the Force and hones her lightsaber skills, she admits, "Something inside me has always been there, but now it's awake, and I need help." It's assumed she's talking to Luke—and if that's true, he doesn't seem too keen on helping her. After he watches her crack the stone ground using the Force, he gets a flashback of the destroyed Jedi Academy and tells her, "I've seen this raw strength only once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now."

At another point in the trailer, Luke tells Rey, "This is not going to go the way you think." It's reminiscent of a similar warning Yoda gave him as a Jedi-in-training in The Empire Strikes Back.

6. By Any Means Necessary

Kylo's shattered helmet was first shown in April's trailer, and in the second teaser, it's revealed that in a bout of rage, he smashes it into a wall. "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to," Kylo says (though it's unclear who he's speaking to). "That's the only way to become what you were meant to be." Cut to footage of Kylo flying his TIE Silencer into battle against the Resistance, while his mother Leia appears to sense his approach. But, as he targets the bridge, he hesitates.

David James/Lucasfilm Ltd.

7. Fighting Fire With Fire

It's not Rey piloting the Millennium Falcon, after all—it's Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew/Joonas Suotamo) and Porg, flying through a cavern of red crystal formations. And from the looks of it, the ship can't take many more hits. As other ships rein fire above them, Poe gives hope to his fellow pilots, promising, "We have a spark that'll light the fire that'll burn the First Order down."

8. Meet Your Maker

After disguising himself as a First Order officer, Finn—former stormtrooper FN-2187—battles with his former commander. Curiously, his new partner-in-crime, Rose, is nowhere to be seen.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi Character Posters
David James/Lucasfilm Ltd.

9. Out of the Darkness

In The Force Awakens, Snoke only appeared to General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo via hologram, but now, he appears in person to tortures Rey. "Fulfill your destiny..." he commands. It harkens back to a line Darth Vader said in Return of the Jedi: "You underestimate the power of the Dark Side," he told a beaten Luke. "If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny."

10. Blinded by the Light

At the end of The Force Awakens, Rey reached out her hand to Luke, offering him the lightsaber he lost after Darth Vader sliced off his hand in The Empire Strikes Back. At the end of the second trailer, it's Kylo offering his hand to Rey. Rejected by Luke, she tells him, "I need someone to show me my place in all this." Is Rey going to the Dark side? It's too soon to say, but director Rian Johnson certainly wants fans to think that. After all, the trailer opens with Supreme Leader Snoke saying, "When I found you I saw raw untamed power, and beyond that…something truly special." At first, the focus is on his apprentice, Kylo. But when he finishes speaking, Rey is wielding a lightsaber on the sacred Jedi island, Ahch-To. Clever foreshadowing or a red herring?

What's Next?

Twelve hours after its premiere, over 8 million people have watched the second trailer on YouTube, and it became a trending topic on Twitter. New characters played by cast members Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern were noticeably missing, as were the droids R2-D2 or C-3PO.

Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters everywhere Dec. 15.