The opening scene of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may have been revealed as Making Star Wars has shared a rumored breakdown of the first few moments of J.J. Abrams’ Episode IX. Let’s just hope the description is accurate as it paints a picture of a truly fan-pleasing sequence.
According to MSW, Rise will kick off with a visit to the past, dropping in on Luke and Leia just after the events of Episode IX. Here’s how it’ll apparently play out:
“After the opening crawl, we pan from space. The camera moves towards a planet covered in trees. We see a blue lightsaber dueling a green lightsabers in the distance. Both of the lightsabers are held in hand by two Jedi with white helmets with visors covering their faces so we cannot immediately recognize if this is Rey with someone new. The two Jedi break from their duel and remove their helmets to reveal Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa looking exactly the age they did in Return of the Jedi on Endor’s moon. The movie begins with a flashback.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of there being a flashback scene in The Rise of Skywalker, as it’s been previously reported that Billie Lourd stood in for her mother Carrie Fisher during filming for the segment, with motion capture/CG tech used to replicate a young Fisher’s likeness. It was also said that Harrison Ford’s Han Solo will appear in the same flashback.
What’s more, this scene would also confirm that Luke trained Leia as a Jedi after the events of the Original Trilogy. While this is part of the Legends canon, it hasn’t been clarified yet in the Sequel Trilogy. That being said, Leia’s unconscious floating in space did heavily hint that the Resistance general had some Force training in her past.
Speaking of Leia, we know that unused footage from The Force Awakens will be used to bring the present-day version of the character into the narrative, following Fisher’s untimely death in 2016. Despite the lack of new material, we’re told to expect her to make a big impact on the story. Abrams has even gone so far as to say that Leia is the heart of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which will finally reveal all when it blasts into theaters on December 20th.
