The Prophecy And in time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as : THE SON OF THE SUN. And he shall bring Balance to the Force. "Journal of the Whills, 3:12"
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April 2017
The Last Jedi teaser trailer ! 30th April 2017
At this year's Star Wars Celebration (Orlando), Lucasfilm unveiled the teaser trailer for Episode VIII : The Last Jedi ! The short and mysterious trailer carried out its assigned role superbly, and set discussion in motion !
Fansite SWNN, amongst many others, provided a detailed and predictive summary of the teaser images.
First, we hear both Master Luke Skywalker and Rey speaking, then shortly after we see their silhouettes as she trains with her sword ; later we see Rey running with a determined expression on her face and her blue sword lit. We briefly see General Leia Solo from behind as she reviews a holo-map, and we see Finn in some sort of medi-capsule, Poe and BB8 running through a starship, and a close-up of an angrily determined Kylo Ren. We see a dogfight space battle of X-Wings and TIE fighters amongst new starships - short barrel-shaped vessels with protruding fins - as well as a ground-based battle on salt-flats against B-Wing inspired fighter craft and new-style AT-AT walkers ; as the fighter craft strike the ground with their wings - deliberately ?? - red dust is kicked up against the contrasting dazzling white of the terrain. We briefly see the Millennium Falcon in action blasting TIE fighters out of a blue sky. And we see Luke and Artoo regarding a blazing structure, imagery very much akin to the Force-flashback scene that Rey encountered in The Force Awakens : was this the destruction of his Jedi Academy, presumably directed by Kylo Ren ?
For the white salt-flats world, director Rian Johnson has since revealed that this new planet is called Crait, which is on the edge of the galaxy, "uncharted, mineral-rich, with mining facilities" ; he adds that the world was home to an old abandoned rebel base, and the location "plays a key role in the story".
Most mysteriously, though, we see a hand carefully touch an ancient book, as well as what appears to be similar books on a shelf against a rock or tree root background - a very abstract image ! Luke's words close the trailer, with him feeling that the Jedi Order should come to an end... ?!
All in all, an exciting and deliberately teasing trailer.... much to ponder with very little clear answer.... and the most worrying being Luke's final words. I'd greatly hope that LFL would not bring the iconic motifs of 'Jedi' (and 'Sith') to an end, though I fear that might be the direction they are moving towards, and I fervently hope that this line is essentially the, or one of the, narrative 'macguffins' driving the plot, from which we - and Luke - discover that the Jedi Order is very much greatly needed still.
Fan site MakingStarWars provided some new details about the costuming for TLJ characters. In one report, the site described Snoke as wearing a lavish gold over-cloak with blood-red trim and matching long-toed slippers, clearly comfortable in an affluent lifestyle ; his 'throneroom' is very opulent with a gold and white marble appearance ; and he wears a significant finger ring, that may or may not hold a black (Kyber ?) crystal. The Supreme Leader will be located on a mega-sized Destroyer starship in the shape of a 'flying wing'.
He is apparently flanked by at least six personal guards, dressed in red armour and red cloths, with individually styled but opaque helmets - there are no eye pieces set within the helmets ! They also wield medieval-inspired weapons.
Also, some notes and sketches on Captain Phasma and her 'Executioner Stormtroopers'. The former now carries a 'spear' of sorts, while the latter have a bolder black & white armour, and carry the electrified riot baton weapon that we saw the stormtrooper use on Takodana.
In addition, they provided some details about a necklace that Master Luke Skywalker wears. They are reporting that he holds a crystal pendant around his neck, and that the crystal is red. Now this, along with Snoke's crystal ring, could be 'filler' detail for a character's costuming.... but the two coincidences, plus the unusual fact that a Jedi hermit would specifically wear jewellery, starts to imply that these items are indeed significant.....
At the end of March, MakingStarWars revealed that the actor Justin Theroux had been cast in The Last Jedi as an "expert slicer", a computing geek, who dresses very smartly, and can be found in the casino locations that had been filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
MakingStarWars recently provided fan artwork of the mysterious 'avian' creatures said to inhabit the islands of the ocean world Ahch-To. They resemble a cross between penguins and puffins... and ewoks ! They apparently have a clear connection to the Force. In The Last Jedi we see not only Luke interact with them, but also Chewie and Artoo.
Fan site MakingStarWars also recently reported on two rumoured character names for the 'Young Han Solo' movie currently in production. The first is a "Mother Proxima", while the second is "Val". Both could be 'placeholder names', but they're certain that the first 'titled' name will be a puppet, and likely to be operated by the BB8 puppeteer, Dave Chapman. The "Val" character apparently has a prominent role and stunt action.
On the Star Destroyers that had been engaged in battle since rising from Kessel, there is surprise quickly followed by jubilation : one captain instructs that Commander Kane be updated with their success in the wake of the Alliance's retreat...
However, the crews in the Bridge command pits belatedly realise that the paralysing aura gas is quickly circulating through the ship's air vents ! Within seconds the whole of the ship's crew have collapsed and under the effect of the dociling nerve agent !
In my recent scripting for the Virtual Edition Episode IX Duel of the Fates, I've been expanding the subplot involving the surviving colonialists on Kashyyyk, and in particular the roles of Kura and Connie Solo, Han's parents who were left for dead in the chaos immediately following the events of Chancellor Palpatine'sOrder 66....
