The final 'Rise of Skywalker' trailer just confirmed these 5 major leaks
Palpatine's throne, Force flash fight, and more leaks are all seemingly confirmed by the new trailer.
With all the news of recent reshoots, several Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker leaks may have already been debunked. Still, with so many possible plot points and spoilers floating around the internet, it seems the leaks were bound to get at least some of the information right. The release of the final Rise of Skywalker trailer seems to confirm several major Making Star Wars leaks, including precise details about Emperor Palpatine’s throne, the Force dyad, and other key plot points. Let’s break it down, shall we?
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Fans already knew of Emperor Sheev Palpatine’s return, though none of the previous Episode IX trailers had confirmed he would appear in the flesh. However, the latest trailer featured him in a major way, just not in the way that had been previously reported on by Making Star Wars editor Jason Ward. Ward suggested the final Rise of Skywalker trailer would include Kylo Ren and Palpatine meeting and that Sheev would laugh and proclaim himself Darth Sidious.
While that obviously didn’t happen in the actual trailer, there’s a chance the footage was recut to avoid spoilers. Regardless, Palpatine’s presence is felt throughout via an eerie voice-over and a final appearance looming over Rey at the end, though we don’t see his face. The new Rise of Skywalker trailer gave us plenty of food for thought, lending credence to rumors about Palps’ plan for Rey and Kylo, C-3PO’s reprogramming, and more.
Here are five Rise of Skywalker leaks confirmed in the trailer.
Is this Palpatine's new throne?
Emperor Palpatine’s throne
Palps’ spiffy new throne room appears in the trailer twice. The first moment comes when Rey and Kylo are spotted standing in Sheev’s destroyed throne room from Return of the Jedi. However, it seems Palpatine built himself a new throne. An MSW leak from a month ago posited that the final showdown between Rey, Kylo, and Palpatine would take place in the cavernous underground on the dead planet of Exogol, and the throne in the trailer seems to prove as much.
Is this Rey confronting mechanical Palps?
Palpatine is hooked up to a machine
Noted Instagram leaker Bespin Bulletin posted a while back about Palps being connected to a “bunch of mechanical stuff.” It seemed like the most logical route with regards to his return. After all, the Sith master couldn’t have survived an explosion on the Death Star II without having lost a few limbs, right? We also know that he’s handy with that kind of technology after he patched up Anakin when he fell into that lava pit. In the trailer, there’s a shot of Rey standing in front of an ominous figure hooked up to wires and breathing heavily. She looks spooked, but it seems to confirm that Palps has returned … with quite a few adjustments.
C-3PO may be getting his program wiped after all.
C-3PO’s reprogramming
When the beloved C-3PO appeared in the D23 trailer with red eyes, fans began speculating that he’d been mind-wiped and rebooted. Some of the leaks suggested the same. Now that we’ve seen the bumbling droid say his goodbyes to Rey, Finn et al in the trailer, it confirms that Threepio’s motherboard is either being wiped, reprogrammed, or shut down. Either way, it’s clear the protocol droid won’t be the same after the Droidsmith Babu Frik is done with him.
Rey and Kylo join forces eventually, which is what Palpatine wanted all along.
Rey, Kylo, and Palpatine’s Force dyad
One of the most fascinating leaks to come out of MSW was the information that Palpatine’s plan involved exploiting Kylo and Rey’s Force connection. Apparently Palps needs them together to siphon “the Force through them and rejuvenates himself”. The final Rise of Skywalker trailer seems to confirm this leak through Sheev’s voice-over.
“Long have I waited, and now your coming together is your undoing,” he says. Rey and Kylo are seen destroying what looks like Darth Vader’s helmet, indicating they will work together, though for how long remains unclear. Ultimately, however, their coming together will destroy them, but it will benefit Palps, which is what he’s wanted all along.
Rey and Kylo are fighting throughout different locations in Star Wars history.
Rey and Kylo’s Force flash duel
Although Rey and Kylo may end up working together, they’ll probably fight each other long before that ever happens. Though it’s unclear at what point their battle will occur in the film, an early MSW leak indicated that they’d engage in a “Force flash duel.” Basically, their fight would involve them teleporting to a variety of locations seen throughout all nine Star Wars films. As the new trailer points out, they do seem to be dueling each other in different places, proving that at least some of the leaks have merit to them.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20, 2019.
