Star Wars: Rogue One (Trailer Analysis)
Also referred to as "Suicide Squad in Space", Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has released its second trailer on Thursday, during the Olympics. (Note: this is the last time I will call it "A Star Wars Story"; that's a lame title!)
This is all speculation. Anything that turns out to be correct just proves I'm good at this kind of stuff. I screen-capped stills from the trailer and I’ll talk about what I noticed. We’ll go in order of the time stamps.
This is Space-Jerusalem or "Jedha"; the Jedi "Holyland". Like Jerusalem, it seems like there is a fight over who gets it. It is rumored that this mountain city is rich in Kyber crystals. I'm kind of hoping that this is the planet Scarif, and that Jedha is a city on the other side of the beach locations. Why is Naboo the only planet with two different locations? you've seen Earth's diverse locations, right? And Earth is one planet.
Also, notice the new Imperial shuttles. They sport four fins instead of three, and look like they transport troops and cargo, rather than smaller parties.
Here is the mountain city. There's a star destroyer towering over it, and we see (who I assume are) Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor in the foreground. They probably couldn't find a good place to park.
Some of you may have noticed it too, but a keen eye can spot a new creature to the Star Wars Universe hiding in plain sight.
It looks like some kind of wizard dragon. Will it side with the Rebellion or the Empire?
We were given a lot of footage of the new U-Wing.
It looks like if Sid from Toy Story mashed a bunch of his toy ships together. We got the front of Y-Wing (yellow), the belly of a republic gunship (orange), the engines of an X-Wing (red), and the unnecessarily huge, long, and transformable wings of Kylo Ren's shuttle (black). This ship is seen in just about all of the locations. I think it’s safe to say that this ship is going to have the same function as the Studebaker from The Muppet Movie; they stop by each location and get the band together.
I wouldn’t get too attached to the U-Wing, though...
This is the blind "spiritual warrior", Chirrut Imwe. Although technically not a Jedi, he does believe in the force. He might even tie into Lor San Tekka, a member of the Church of the Force who may make some kind of cameo somewhere. As you can see, Imwe's staff is also a blaster. He may not be a Jedi, but it seems that he is using the force to bend the trajectory of the laser blast (red), because that is not parallel to the position of this staff (blue). There's a crashed X-Wing in the back there.
Later on we see that Chirrut took down at least 8 stormtroopers in this seen, while also freeing Andor and Erso. These troopers are not even aiming at the single guy at point blank range; perhaps he's not the only blind guy in this scene.
This is K-2SO. He's tall. supposedly, he is like an anti-C-3PO; being less friendly and not very cooperative. He could potentially be a scene-stealer and a fan-favorite. Unfortunately, in this shot, they're not quite looking eye to eye.
Now the Death star. Remember when we thought it was massive? It is seen here upside down. I know what you might be thinking, "there's no upside down in space; haven't you read Ender's Game?" Yeah, but it's not in space; it's still in this planet's atmosphere. The proportions make it look like a baseball being hit out of the park into space in a cartoon.
Unless, maybe it's about to shoot its laser into the planet to launch it into space, or test the "Death" part of its name.
From here, we are really far away from Space-Jerusalem. I wonder if it's just an artsy shot or some characters are seeing it from that far. Notice, there aren't any Star Destroyers hovering around or TIE fighters swarming about.
SPECULATION: The Death Star is gonna blow up dragon mountain in a weapons test. That's why the Empire's ships are not buzzing about. This may tie into Baze Malbus saying that his home was destroyed.
This is Director Krennic at his eclipse viewing party/office mixer. You can tell that he's upset because he's the only one dressed nice. There might be some unexpected guests at his party, as I will explain further down.
Space Normandy. No one seemed to take the time to get fitted for there helmets. It does emphasize how unprepared these rebels are for such a massively overpowered opponent.
Something isn't right though. Who is shooting at the Rebels? The stormtroopers are behind them (and dead) and the Rebels are running away from them toward whoever is shooting. If they are stormtroopers, then why are they shooting at where the first group of stormtroopers were? If it's other Rebels providing cover fire, they're shooting really close to their own people. Again, the Rebels are running toward whoever is shooting at them, and aren't returning fire. Something is fishy.
What did I say? R.I.P. U-Wing. it looks like the Rebels are going to be left stranded; one might say deserted on an island...
Anyways, back to Space-Jerusalem...
Cool tank. Notice how it uses blue laser blasts. I think the Clones' blasts were blue, but the Empire's were green or red (I think mostly green, though).
Here it is at seemingly a different angle. The guy in the tank is staring at the ground. the two guys in front of the tank are pointing their guns up at the higher explosion which is NOT the one from the tank.
SPECULATION: The Empire is looking for Saw Gerrera. Saw Gerrera was probably tipped off and sent some guys to blow up there hiding spot. That's why the Stormtroopers don't care about friendly fire or civilian casualties. Saw Gerrera would be that big of a threat to them. There are two hooded figures with guns running away in the foreground. Did they plant the bomb?
Hope you weren't too attached on those new imperial shuttles...
This is Director Krennic's personal shuttle (you can see him circled in red). It's similar to Kylo Ren's: Overcompensating fins and Black, unique to the rest of the fleet. I don't recommend getting too attached to this ship, though, considering the X-Wings...
I'm not sure how making these guys TALLER helps; yes, it's better for visibility, but these AT-ACT's are supposed to be carrying cargo; how are they supposed to get giant crates all the way up there!?
SPECULATION: we haven't seen TIE Strikers in action yet. What if those orange doors are hangar doors, and a ton of TIE Strikers are dispersed like a swarm of bees? that would explain why they're so high up.
The thing I really wanted to highlight is that Baze here is using a rocket launcher, NOT a laser cannon. I always had a feeling he might be a defected clone. Clone troopers used actual rockets, and his armor looks like it could be a clone's. Lastly, he has the same skin tone, hair color, and eye shapes as Jango Fett.
I'm pretty sure this is dragon mountain. You can spot the U-Wing trying to escape, and it looks like something the U.S.S. Enterprise would fly away from in J.J. Abram's Star Treks.
SPECULATION: The Death Star is going to blow up Jedha/Dragon Mountain/Space-Jerusalem. A meeting spot for Jedi and Jedi-supporters? you really think Emperor Palpatine is going to let that exist!? Notice the lightning: perhaps the Death Star's weapons are not as fully operational as planned.
Jedha is possibly like Comic-Con to Jedi-lovers. If they blow up the entire fan base, then who is going to pass on the legends of the Jedi? I'm sure the Empire is wiping all data about the Jedi existing.
SUPER SPECULATION: This would be crazy; like, super crazy. What if Snoke is there? If Snoke is an inquisitor, then he would definitely be on Jedha. So what if he gets badly scarred and wounded in this blast and is recovered and put in the bacta tank!? (Obviously, he'd have to make his way back to the Empire; they wouldn't go back to save him)
I know it's a crazy speculation, but what if I'm right? I mean, I'm probably not... but what if I am?
Post-reshoot Saw Gerrera (notice the hair). That window makes it look like his interior decorator is a hobbit. Notice how he needs a breathing apparatus (like an iron lung). Why isn't he using it though? he does sound out of breath, but put the damn mask back on, man. He might be missing a limb, given the awkward shoulder pauldrons. He probably isn't, but then why else would they not show his full body.
Why is Jyn limping? She's not afraid of the TIE Fighter. This could be how the Rebels capture her in the first place; she's wearing this outfit when they bring her to Mon Mothma. Her father is a big name in the Empire, so they wouldn't shoot her, and she knows it, too, but she wouldn't expect someone else flying this TIE. Also, notice how they are super high up and they are near the beachfront.
This shot is very similar to Edge of Tomorrow. I can only imaging that this is not far off from what they actually are saying.
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Anyways, That's the trailer. A lot of ships are going to blow up. If I had one thing I want to see happen in the movie, it is Darth Vader kicking ass like in the opening of The Force Unleashed game.
The following are two screen caps from the Star Wars Celebration Reel. The first one was me accidentally pausing at the absolute worst moment:
The stormtrooper's arm is actually behind Donnie Yen, but his belt is the same color and in the right angle.
Last one. Notice Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor in Empire garb. It looks like the same room Krennic and all the Imperial officers were gathered. Are these two in the same scene as them, or is this them on their way to steal the Death Star plans?
There maybe one more trailer, but whatever. I'm super pumped for Mid-December!
Oh right! I wanted to share this link too! he talks about some of the ships we'll be seeing in Rogue One:
If you visit this guy's site, tell him I sent you! (Then tell him who I am and that I'm a fan and need more publicity...)
May the Force be with us!
