We’re now just three days out from the long-awaited release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. With the film locked down, the world premiere in all the papers and private embargoed screenings no doubt happening around the globe, we’re deep into potential spoiler country.
If you want to stay completely pure about the movie, then now’s the time to log off. But then again, I doubt anyone wanting to avoid spoilers would have clicked on a headline like this in the first place, right?
Hot off the presses of the premiere we now have the opening crawl of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As this is just the opening crawl, it doesn’t spoil anything about what happens in the rest of the movie, but it does fill in some of the blanks between the end of The Last Jedi and now.
Without further ado, here it is:
EPISODE IX
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE.
GENERAL LEIA ORGANA dispatches secret agents to gather intelligence, while REY, the last hope of the Jedi, trains for battle against the diabolical FIRST ORDER.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader KYLO REN rages in search of the phantom Emperor, determined to destroy any threat to his power.
The most interesting thing about this is that the return of Emperor Palpatine has happened before the film begins and the characters already know he exists. Most had assumed that the Emperor’s return would come as a surprise to everyone, with the meat of the film puzzling out which sinister figure was working behind the scenes against them. But this sounds like we’re leaping into the plot in media res and watching the Emperor execute his plan to resurrect the Empire.
Another nugget of information that’s nice to have confirmed is that Kylo Ren has indeed ascended to Supreme Leader of the First Order after the events of The Last Jedi. Ren being opposed to the Emperor’s plans throws up some interesting wrinkles though, as many in the First Order may feel that they have allegiance to the Emperor over their new, young and unpredictable leader.
How it’ll all play out remains to be seen, but at least there’s not long left to go, as we can now count the hours until we’re sat in our seats watching Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
