Skip to main content

The latest Rogue One trailer: a breakdown of all its hidden clues

The latest Rogue One trailer: a breakdown of all its hidden clues

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

LucasFilm

Rogue One already has a teaser and a regular trailer, but the latest (and apparently final) trailer contains a lot of additional new footage. Which is to say it’s stuffed with more clues and hints to obsess over while we wait impatiently for December. Like with the regular trailer, let’s dig in and see what it reveals.

Be warned, though this is speculation, there are likely some spoilers ahead.

LucasFilm

This new trailer opens with a scenic look at a ringed planet, with an Imperial shuttle coming in for a landing.

LucasFilm

This cuts to what appears to be a farm, where someone is taking a look at the Imperial landing team.

LucasFilm

The team is composed of Death Troopers, which are part of the Imperial Intelligence division, with a team working under Director Krennic, who’s high up in the Advanced Weapons Research division. We’ve seen them in earlier trailers, and they are very, very scary.

LucasFilm

Next up, we get our first glimpse of Galen Erso, a brilliant weapons designer who is apparently instrumental in bringing the Death Star online. This is likely a flashback to when Krennic recruited Erso for the job.

Erso tells his daughter Jyn that he’s doing this to protect her, and in subsequent shots, she’s hiding in the bushes.

LucasFilm

Nothing says "recruitment" like a squad of special forces stormtroopers at your back.

LucasFilm

This is a younger Krennic than we saw in the earlier trailers, which shows that he’s been at this project for a while. We got our earliest glimpses of the Death Star way back in Attack of the Clones, and later in Revenge of the Sith.

LucasFilm

Jyn wakes up from this apparent flashback in an Imperial prison, judging by the trooper stationed outside. We know she’s been living on her own since her teens, and it’s likely that she’s gotten into trouble with the law.

LucasFilm

Here’s a cool shot of the planet Jedha, which, as we pointed out in our last breakdown, is a sort of holy land for Jedi, and where we’ll later see a firefight.

LucasFilm

Boom. Poor Stormtrooper.

LucasFilm

"You want to get out of here?" Diego Luna’s Captain Cassian Andor is behind the explosion and appears to be breaking Erso out of her cell. It’s not clear exactly when or where this is: the ceiling looks a bit more modern than the rougher cell that she was in a moment ago.

Our guess here? Jyn Erso had been captured by the Empire, and was broken out by Captain Andor and some other rebels on Jedha, after they figured out her connection to her father and his work on the Death Star. Or, she’s captured sometime later in the film, and broken out again.

LucasFilm

Really neat overhead shot of the U-Wing headed somewhere on Jedha. We’ve seen similar shots in earlier trailers, but now we can see that some of those ridges are the remains of a giant statue of a Jedi.

In a voice-over, Mon Mothma explains that the rebellion is all that there is to push back against the Empire.

LucasFilm

We’re back to a familiar location: Yavin IV, where the Rebellion is based, and where we saw Jyn hauled in handcuffs in the last trailer.

LucasFilm

We’ve seen other bits of this scene in earlier footage, but now, it’s clear that the Rebellion is interested in one thing: Jyn’s father, who is working on a new superweapon.

According to the first trailer for the film, Jyn has been on her own since the age of 15, so it’s likely that she hasn’t heard from her dad in a while. "What is this?" she asks. She’s clearly not been keeping up with her father’s activities.

LucasFilm

Cut to a very Imperial-looking base as Mon Mothma explains that Galen Erso is "critical to the development of a superweapon."

LucasFilm
LucasFilm

Cut to two shots of a much older Galen Erso and Director Krennic (who doesn’t look very happy).

LucasFilm

Here’s a pretty shot of the Death Star, orbiting what is probably Scarif, where it was constructed (and where we’ll see some big battles later on).

LucasFilm

"If my father built this thing, we need to find him," Jyn tells Andor. It looks like the Rebellion is going to try to use Jyn as a personal angle to get the information they need on the Death Star.

LucasFilm

"Alright, how many do we need?" Baze Malbus asks. One of the prevailing theories of this film is that it’s part heist film, of which a big component is assembling the team that will carry it out. This certainly looks like Andor and Erso will need to find the right people to steal the plans.

LucasFilm

Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO tells them that someone is requesting a call sign. "Rogue," Riz Ahmed’s Bodhi Rook says. "Rogue One." Movie title!

The Rogue call sign has a particularly vivid history in Star Wars: it was what the squadron on Hoth, and later at Endor used, and was later the basis for a series of novels and comics by Michael A. Stackpole. In the older canon, Rogue Squadron emerged out of Red Squadron, which had fought at Yavin IV in A New Hope.

It’s not entirely clear if this unit is the origins of the later squadron, or if they just share the name. Undoubtably, there’ll be a novel or short story that will outline the nitty-gritty.

LucasFilm

A testament to the new-ness of the Death Star. Nice, shiny floors for dramatic reflections of Darth Vader.

LucasFilm

Director Krennic talking to Darth Vader: "The power that we are dealing with here is immeasurable." Given Vader’s stance on the Death Star back in A New Hope, it sounds like he’s not entirely convinced about its potential. Also, the way Krennic says the word "power" is amazing.

LucasFilm

We knew the Death Star was big, but it’s nice to get a reminder.

LucasFilm

Cut to a scene overseeing another planet, which looks like Jedha. This is the same room where Governor Tarkin ordered the destruction of Alderaan just a little after this film ends. Given the planet’s significance when it comes to Jedi, it makes sense that the Empire would want it destroyed.

LucasFilm

We’re back on Yavin IV, where one rebel asks: "If the Empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?"

This is interesting, because it looks as though the Rebellion already has some of the Death Star’s plans. They’re clearly aware of the nature of the Death Star, but lack detailed plans for the installation.

LucasFilm

Troopers on Jedha are backed up by an AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport) during what appears to be a pitched battle. We’ve seen some of this fight in earlier trailers.

LucasFilm

"We have hope," Jyn Erso says to a group of Rebels. "Rebellions are built on hope." Maybe this is in the aftermath of another battle that didn’t go well? It certainly seems like a "rally the troops" sort of moment, as though someone asked what they had left.

LucasFilm

A very pretty picture of Scarif, where the Death Star was reportedly built. This certainly looks like an Imperial facility. We already know from previous trailers this beautiful beach setting will host a battle between Imperial and Rebel troopers.

LucasFilm

Rogue One has been described as a war film by its director, Gareth Edwards. There’s certainly been some visual comparisons to World War II, especially based off of the footage from earlier trailers. This scene looks like it’s right out of something from the Pacific Theater of Operations.

LucasFilm

"They have no idea we’re coming," Erso says. Sneak attack! These two shots show Captain Andor and Erso in disguise as Imperial Forces. K-2SO blends right in. We’ve seen that iconic shot of Jyn in armor already, although without the helmet. Toys have revealed that she is wearing an Imperial Ground Crew uniform. It looks like the visor is retractable, which gives this costume a particularly awesome look.

LucasFilm

Here’s quick shot of an attack in the rain, which we saw in the last trailer. It looks like the Rogue team has some air support.

LucasFilm

And here are some neat residents of Jedha.

LucasFilm

Baze Malbus takes out some Imperial troopers in front of a downed X-Wing as Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Îmwe says that The Force is strong.

LucasFilm

Here’s another shot of that night raid as a squadron of X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters lay down some punishment.

LucasFilm
LucasFilm

Jump to the battle on Scarif, where we get a glimpse of the new Shoretroopers, while Bodhi Rook looks like he’s coming to terms with something. The next shot sees him running through the battle into a doorway.

LucasFilm

A spectacular image of X-Wings in space. This looks like it’s come right off of the old Michael A. Stackpole / Aaron Allston X-Wing series covers.

LucasFilm

The Force Awakens had some incredible starfighter scenes, and this looks as though it’ll stand up there with that.

LucasFilm

We caught a glimpse of a similar X-Wing pilot in the behind-the-scenes clip from Celebration. (Update: this isn't the same pilot as in that clip - their helmets are different colors)

LucasFilm

K-2SO’s skills apparently extend to flying a ship.

LucasFilm

There’s a voiceover from Erso that is pretty inspirational: "We’ll take the next chance, and the next. You’re rebels, aren’t you?"

LucasFilm

Here’s something blowing up spectacularly. This looks similar to another scene in the last trailer, when Erso and Andor escape via the U-Wing. (My colleague Chris Plante is convinced this is a Star Destroyer crashing into the planet’s surface.)

LucasFilm

We get one more shot of Vader, entering dramatically toward Director Krennic. We’re a little surprised at how downplayed his role appears here, given how his presence grabbed headlines with the last trailer. He feels almost like an afterthought.

Galen Erso, on his knees, does not look happy. This looks as though it connects back to the earlier shot of him in this trailer. Maybe the Death Star is behind schedule, and Krennic is taking it out on the designer?

LucasFilm

"Save the Rebellion!" Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera cries out. "Save the dream." If these aren’t the last words of a heroic character, I don’t know what would be.

LucasFilm

Another cool shot of the Scarif battle: the walkers here are a little different from the ones at Hoth: they’re called AT-ATCs — All Terrain Armored Transport-Cargo.

LucasFilm

Speaking of Walkers, it looks like Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe are about to be squished by one on Scarif.

And that’s it! This is being billed as the final trailer, but there’ll be a ton of TV commercials and clips coming out in the months ahead that will undoubtably reveal even more of the film.

This trailer certainly gives us a better idea of how the film is framed, and how important Jyn Erso is to the entire story, but it also injects a bit of a "war film" element that hasn’t really come through in prior trailers.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will arrive in theaters on December 16th, 2016.


The Force Awakens had a silly original opening