5 fan theories that fit together puzzle pieces in the new Star Wars trailer

Kylo Ren is related to Darth Vader

At 0:57, we’re shown what looks almost like an altar, upon which rests Vader’s mangled helmet. As this image flashes, we hear Kylo Ren say — in a particularly Darth-like fashion — “nothing will stand in our way. I will finish, what you started.” The words “our way” are particularly important here. Not only does Kylo sound and dress like Vader, but we all know that Star Wars has a reputation for familial plot twists. Adam Driver’s villain seems pretty determined to carry on Vader’s legacy and it could be because he belongs to his bloodline. We also wonder if the story of Vader’s last-minute change of heart and subsequent Emperor-icide ever came out, because it would seem that such a thing might hurt his dark-side street cred just a bit. Either way, there’s plenty there to chew on.

Darth Vader will appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Before you get too excited, we don’t necessarily mean in the flesh. Remember, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and even Anakin Skywalker all come back to visit from the great beyond in the original trilogy and the more we think about it, the more we think that Darth Vader may only be mostly dead … which is, of course, very different from all dead. Remember that while it’s certainly possible that it’s simply a mode of worship, Kylo Ren does address Luke’s late father directly at 0:50.

There has also been talk that Ren may be trying to resurrect or even clone the former dark lord, which is also an interesting theory. Bottom line: We wouldn’t be seeing that crumpled, disfigured old helmet for the second time if it didn’t factor into The Force Awakens in some way.

Daisy Ridley’s Rey is the film’s main character

At 0:15, a disembodied Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) asks Rey (Daisy Ridley) “who are you?” And her response is telling: “I’m no one” says Rey — which of course probably means that she is not only someone, but a very important someone. It also brings to mind an exchange between Luke and his Aunt Beru in the original Star Wars. Angry at his uncle’s suggestion that he should wait to leave home until next year, Luke storms off, and when his aunt asks “where are you going?” He responds “looks like I’m going nowhere.” As we know, he couldn’t have been more wrong and it looks as if Rey is similarly blind to her destiny. For us, she seemed like the star of the trailer and of all the characters we’ve met so far, she certainly seems the most Skywalker-ish — which leads neatly into our next theory.

Rey has Skywalker blood running through her veins

While everyone is understandably caught up on this latest trailer, remember how the teaser we saw back in April started? “The force is strong in my family,” says Luke “my father has it, I have it, my sister has it — you have that power too.” Though we can’t be sure of who the “you” he’s referring to is, those words will feel awfully familiar to fans of the original trilogy, as Luke says something almost identical to his unsuspecting sister in The Return of the Jedi: “The force runs strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And … my sister has it. Yes. It’s you, Leia.” Given that parallel, it’s not much of a stretch to think that he’s using the same words to reveal something similar to another one of his relations. Since — as we said before — Rey feels the most Skywalker-ish of this new cast of characters, we’d bet that she is either Luke’s daughter or (more likely) Luke’s niece. Which of course would mean that Rey is Leia’s daughter — and possibly Han and Leia’s daughter. Annnnd now our heads are spinning.

The Rebels suppressed the stories of their victory over the Empire

“There are stories about what happened,” says Rey at 1:05, to which Han responds “it’s true, all of it. The dark side, the Jedi — they’re real.” Since she doesn’t then respond with, “well, duh!” we can assume that the stories have now become myth, but why is a trickier question. It could have been that the Empire took over in the years between episodes VI and VII and whitewashed the history of the Rebels’ victory, or it could be that the Rebels wanted to make sure that the next generation didn’t know anything about the dark side of the force. Maybe they felt that the dark side would prove too seductive and would rise again, or maybe — since the subtitle of this film is The Force Awakens and not The Dark Side Awakens — the existence of the force itself was kept secret, since it’s power was too great to trust anyone to wield.