Leia Returns
Immediately after this shot, we get our first look at Carrie Fisher in the trailer. Standing in a lush forest, Leia and Rey share a fond embrace. As Leia holds onto Rey tightly, the latter sheds a tear. If this wasn’t enough to get us at home shedding buckets of our own tears, Luke resumes his voiceover, saying: “We will always be with you. No one’s ever really gone.”
The second line, of course, is a repeat of what Luke said to Leia when he Force-projected to Crait and handed her back Han’s golden dice from the Falcon. Now, it refers to himself and, to the audience, Fisher and how this will be her final film.
It’s also important to note the use of “we” in the first sentence, though. Assuming this voiceover is still addressed to Rey, who else is Luke talking about? Is he still referring to the many Jedi that have come before her? Possibly, but maybe he’s hinting that Leia will also pass away in the film.
The Remains Of The Death Star
Following this, there’s an awesome team shot showing Chewie, Beebee, Dio, Threepio, Rey, Poe and Finn on a grassy hill. We then see what they’re looking at: very probably the remains of the Death Star II, meaning this must be Endor!
It makes sense for Rise of Skywalker to callback to Return of the Jedi. After all, The Force Awakens heavily borrowed from A New Hope while Last Jedi, though it took its own path, still recalled Empire Strikes Back – not least with Yoda’s cameo appearance. Plus, the Disney Star Wars movies have always been obsessed with the Death Star, from TFA‘s Starkiller Base to Rogue One‘s retelling of the first model’s origins.
If the team really is on Endor, it shows Leia’s earlier scenes in a new light – the woods around her and Rey could be the forests of Endor. This is understandably getting fans excited for a return of the Ewoks. If that’s the case, Kylo Ren and his forces might want to tread carefully after what these little critters did to his grandpa’s army in Episode VI.
Revisiting the wreckage of the Death Star also tees up nicely with the shock return of a familiar face (well, voice at this stage) who was last seen on the planet-sized weapon.
