Presumably, the final act that solidified Ben Solo’s shift to the Dark side was his involvement in the destruction of his uncle Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. The new teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi might have just given fans a first look at that tragic night.
After failing at starting a new Jedi Order, Luke notoriously went into hiding, and Star Wars fans were left with questions about what he’s been up to since. The new Last Jedi trailer, released Friday at Star Wars Celebration, almost certainly teases at flashbacks that might answer those questions. And it all begins with everyone’s favorite droid, R2-D2.
Everyone knows that R2 went into standby mode when Luke disappeared. That’s why he was standing silently in the corner of the Resistance base on D’Qar for most of The Force Awakens. But there was no indication of what, exactly, R2 had been up to beforehand.
It’s easy enough to assume that R2 was hanging out with his buddy and long-time master Luke. Trailers for The Force Awakens showed an image of Luke placing his bare, robotic hand on R2’s head while something burned off screen. The shot was used in Rey’s vision sequence from when she touched Luke’s lightsaber, and is accompanied by the sound of someone screaming in pain.
An image from Rey's visions of Luke in 'The Force Awakens'
These visions that Rey had in The Force Awakens were obviously about Luke’s disappearance and his unknown journey, which are assumed to be tied to his shame surrounding the fall of the new Jedi. This shot from The Force Awakens also lines up suspiciously well with a shot from the new Last Jedi trailer.
Luke and R2-D2 standing among the rubble of, possibly, Luke's fallen Jedi Academy.
In the trailer, a robed, staggering Luke stares out over a burning palace with R2 at his side. The scene is accompanied by an image of Kylo Ren with his lightsaber and Captain Phasma leading Stormtroopers through a wall of flames. But this perfectly aligned scene of Luke and R2 beside a burning structure — which looks grand enough to be a new Jedi Academy — is almost certainly a hint at flashbacks and answers to what exactly happened that night.
The destruction and tragedy of that single shot alone would definitely be enough to, say, prompt the legendary Luke to say: “I know only one truth: It’s time for the Jedi to end.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters December 15.
