Today, Star Wars decided that it might be better to try to hype up The Rise of Skywalker without bashing the previous installment (who would’ve thought?), and they did so by releasing a brand new clip of the upcoming film – and it’s incredible!
Though this clip was officially released on the Star Wars Facebook and Instagram pages, I will say that *** if you’re not wanting to know much about the film, then don’t watch this or read any further! *** I wouldn’t call it a spoiler since Lucasfilm actually released it (and therefore I’m imagining it’s a clip from fairly early in the film), but it’s still not something I’d suggest watching if you want to experience all of these surprises for the first time in the theater next week.
But if you want to see it, you can check out the clip here. And I think it’s a very significant one.
Kylo Ren arrives in his TIE Fighter out of hyperspace, approaching a dark planet. He gets out of the TIE and walks toward a floating cube-like structure, lightsaber ignited. We’ve seen these shots previously, but now we have context as to what’s going on.
Kylo takes an open elevator down into a vast cavern, and in this cavern (as it is illuminated by lightning) we see giant statues. Kylo walks cautiously through this huge area as we hear a voiceover from Palpatine, addressing Kylo: “At last. … My boy. … I have been every voice”, he begins, but then we hear the voice of Snoke continue: “you have ever heard”, and then we hear the voice of Darth Vader finish it: “inside your head.” After all of this is finished, Kylo raises his lightsaber at something off-screen, and the clip cuts out as we hear Palpatine’s cackle.
The footage then splices together a number of shots we’ve seen previously, set to Duel of the Fates, as it makes up a mini-TV spot. But obviously the clip of Palpatine speaking to Kylo is amazing and it’s the focal point.
And what it really reveals (or at least strongly seems to reveal) is something that I have long thought, but now seems to be true: Palpatine has been behind everything.
Palpatine tells Kylo that he has been every voice he has ever heard inside his head, but what is especially interesting (and really freaking cool) is that the voice changes as the line is said. It starts off as Palpatine, then switches to what sounds an awful lot like Snoke, and then finishes with the unmistakable voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader once more. The implication is clear: those voices that Kylo has been hearing for years, of Snoke and Vader (and who knows who else?) have all been Palpatine. He has been behind it all.
So Snoke? It seems that Palpatine was behind him. I think the movie will explain a bit more of what exactly that meant, but I do think we’ll come to learn that rather than it being Snoke who manipulated Kylo, it was actually Palpatine working through it all. And when Kylo speaks to the helmet of Darth Vader, maybe he’s actually heard the voice of his grandfather? Even if so, it seems that it would have been the voice of Palpatine. So Darth Sidious is the one who has manipulated everything in the sequel trilogy; he’s the one who lured Kylo to the dark side. I’m guessing that there’s a bit more to the story here that will be more fully revealed in the film with more context, but I think this line in and of itself is very interesting.
If this is all true, then I think that adds a ton to our understanding of everything that has transpired both in the sequel trilogy and in the years before it. But it also sets up even more reason to hope for Bendemption (which is coming, I guarantee you), as Star Wars continues to paint him as an almost sympathetic character despite his heinous deeds. If he has been unknowingly manipulated by the Dark Lord of the Sith this whole time, I think a lot of people will be even more forgiving once he realizes that and returns to the light.
And maybe that’s the reason for releasing this clip early. Maybe it’s not just to try to create some positive excitement for a change, but it might also be to help people further realize that Bendemption is happening. I can’t wait to see it, and this clip is just so super interesting and intriguing to me, and it has me even more excited to see what happens in The Rise of Skywalker.
Only one more week!!!
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