Episode IX: Spoilers and Rumors

These covers didn't make me happier... Early promotion with Vanity Fair had romantic undertones and these covers are closer to generic hero/villain. I'm sorry but I was aiming to something that is not hiding romance as romance between protagonist and antagonist will be fricking main theme of every story.

I'm OK with it. As reylos we may want exclusively romantic-centered promotions, but Rey and Kylo are also the head of their respective factions. Whatever they personally feel for each other, they're nevertheless enemies by circumstances. So promotions that imply this are not entirely negative imo, especially when we also get shippy stuff as well. There's also more to come in terms of posters and magazine covers.

special_cases wrote:These covers didn't make me happier... Early promotion with Vanity Fair had romantic undertones and these covers are closer to generic hero/villain. I'm sorry but I was aiming to something that is not hiding romance as romance between protagonist and antagonist will be fricking main theme of every story.

@special_cases

I think it could be worse, they could completely ignore Kylo for several months like what pre-TLJ marketing did. But so far the media have tried their best to please us and  they even have Reylo hashtag in their post (which is obviously provoking the loud ants on Instagram now) because after TLJ,  the Reylos has become a strong faction who willingly buy Rey/Kylo's merch, magazine, etc,...while the antis don't spend a single cent for their faves.

I think the cover looks great but also exactly like TFA except Rey's outfit is cleaner and Kylo's mask has red lines lol. So it's also kinda repetitive imo.

The cover is amazing!! Reylos are having a field day online. They will never show overt romance, that's the long awaited twist for the GA. The empire photos show the story has always been about them. Also, I couldn't help but think Empire used that line "a thousand generations live in you now" for the purple pic and my first thought was "reylo babies!!!" Rey and Ben are the future.

spacebaby45678 wrote:

AcrosstheStars wrote:
@spacebaby45678

The fact that they’re called the 105th makes me think they’re going to turn on Kylo eventually, like the 501st did to Obi-Wan and the others.

@AcrosstheStars

Yup.. mirror images.

@spacebaby45678 I suppose alternatively, they could turn on Palpatine and betray him in the end. That could work for mirroring purposes too, though I like the other idea better.

Mila95 wrote:I think the cover looks great but also exactly like TFA except Rey's outfit is cleaner and Kylo's mask has red lines lol. So it's also kinda repetitive imo.

@Mila95

Agree, but tbh, my expectation is low, so I'd rather see Reylo on the cover than seeing the forced trio

CNET just dropped a new bomb, according to them, D-0 is BB8's child, BB8 made D-0 from his own accessory, while JP said D-O is just a droid that randomly shows up on a ship

https://www.cnet.com/news/star-wars-toys-from-rise-of-skywalker-mandalorian-are-ready-for-you/

special_cases wrote:These covers didn't make me happier... Early promotion with Vanity Fair had romantic undertones and these covers are closer to generic hero/villain. I'm sorry but I was aiming to something that is not hiding romance as romance between protagonist and antagonist will be fricking main theme of every story.

@special_cases

If you go back to the posts here months before TLJ, we figured it would be expected that they’d be portrayed as antagonists in all the promos, so the actual relationship between them would be a big twist.  We didn’t think they’d let that out of the bag.  But nope— there was Kylo, extending his hand to...whom?  There were honestly people who were deluded enough to say it was Hux(!). (Edited to add: NOT HERE!) I could have seen it being his mother.  But it really looked like it was going to be Rey, so we were kind of amazed.  

Remember, people who aren’t reading too closely think that he has gone Full Evil and wants her (and the Falcon) destroyed, and she has slammed the door on him.  So of course they’re setting them up as antagonists.  If they made them all lovey-dovey, I’d be a little worried.

It’s been a while, but I think I’m the one who started the (smallish) thread to the effect of “there has to be a lightsaber fight— who will it be and what will it be like?”   If I remember rightly, I was all in favor of it being Rey and Kylo, taking out their frustrations with each other but not trying to inflict actual harm, and lots of sexual tension.  Ending up with some sort of bewildered understanding.  And did I mention sexual tension?   We need a smoking hot lightsaber fight, y’all, and I think we’re already seeing some of the shots from it.   They’re both skilled fighters, they’re both passionate characters, and they’re both angry and disappointed— although I think he’s probably mostly angry and disappointed at himself.  There is a 2017 interview with the L.A. Times in which Rian says he did the Forcetime scenes as a way to get Rey and Kylo to talk without fighting.   I think this time, there will be fighting— they have a bigger history, and they need to hash it out.  And they will— and then they’ll move on to what they become after this.

(Just FYI, here’s the snippet from the interview).

Rian:  “With the Force connections between Rey and Kylo I thought, “OK, I need to get these two talking. But if I put them face to face they’re going to either fight, or one of them has to be tied up” —

Reporter:  “Well, they could also make out …”

Rian:  “They could also make out! I’m going to give you a spinoff movie … Even if they make out, then they can’t be talking. So I knew I wanted them to talk, and to talk enough to where we could go from “I hate you,” to her being forced to actually engage with him. That’s where the idea of these “Force connections” came from, which is kind of a new thing.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-star-wars-last-jedi-spoilers-20171218-htmlstory.html

The early promotion of TLJ: Luke and Rey is a beating heart of the movie (to bait millions of Rey Skywalkers and GA) = the early promotion of TROS: unmasked Kylo and Rey looking at each other longingly, "will they, won't they"

At this point, two years ago, we got this art, officially chosen by LF to be on ComicCon

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We had Rian's interview about romance in the movie, all marketing in autumn was about Rey and Kylo being mirrors of each other which was spoilery.

I am just trying to look at this fairly. If we use defence 'it's early marketing', then actually right now it's not the early promotion already. It was 'early' with pro-Reylo Vanity Fair. I prefer to think that it's different strategy even if odds are low. Do they try to hide a twist and the twist is the relationship between main characters? Maybe. I find it stupid but it's possible. I really really dislike this marketing, it's so thin, it hurts. But I guess that marketing leaker was legit because he said that marketing will be focusing on big battle between Rey and Kylo and this is what happening.

OrionStars wrote:CNET just dropped a new bomb, according to them, D-0 is BB8's child, BB8 made D-0 from his own accessory, while JP said D-O is just a droid that randomly shows up on a ship

https://www.cnet.com/news/star-wars-toys-from-rise-of-skywalker-mandalorian-are-ready-for-you/

@OrionStars

lol JP is implying that that source is wrong. I'm looking forward to more info coming out which contradicts his plot points. I think he's receiving a lot of his info from merchandising sources anyway.

Focusing on a big battle between Rey and Kylo makes sense in a way since it’s bound to be a spectacle, but what is the audience supposed to care about with this battle anyway? There’s no suspense in whether our hero can defeat her antagonist, since Rey already beat Kylo in the first movie and he’s basically the underdog here. If it’s instead about the drama of two people who are forced to fight each other but don’t really want to, you kinda need to show that beyond coy responses about how “complicated” their relationship is.

I think the covers from Empire magazine are fine. We have to look at who their audience is, they're just catering to that fraction. They're huge on blockbuster action movies so are big on marvel etc. The fact that we even got a back to back reylo shot pleases me greatly! Vanity Fair is a magazine of popular culture, so I'm not surprised they focused on the romantic undertones either!

AcrosstheStars wrote:

spacebaby45678 wrote:

AcrosstheStars wrote:
@spacebaby45678

The fact that they’re called the 105th makes me think they’re going to turn on Kylo eventually, like the 501st did to Obi-Wan and the others.

@AcrosstheStars

Yup.. mirror images.

@spacebaby45678 I suppose alternatively, they could turn on Palpatine and betray him in the end. That could work for mirroring purposes too, though I like the other idea better.

@AcrosstheStars

Yes, yes give me that..

I was trying to be calm about the mask, but I will stop trying. The return of the mask grates me. I will always remember when the teaser poster for TLJ was first shown - it does help that I was in the SWC room - but seeing his unmasked face on it was both exhilarating and a relief. It was a clear sign that we were going to see more of the man behind the mask, Han and Leia’s son. But now, it’s all confusing. That mask is even on all toys again *sigh* I swear if that mask is in more than 1 scene with no good reason, I’ll walk out of the cinema. I don’t want TFA 2.0. The positive side is that my bank account will be better off this time except for the comics that so far sell a much more promising and nuanced story than the mainstream promotion.

Speaking of, I finally could download the Age of Resistance Kylo comic. It’s a fun one that hammers down the “Kylo wants to be Vader but better”, which I found funny. Every generation thinks they’re going to do better than the previous, right? And as for Hux and Snoke, the profile at the end is spot-on. And that part has made me wonder, is that a spoiler hidden in a comic book: “Maybe his fate will be somewhere in between” It just sounds so right. The author goes on musing on how everyone sees the character differently, but that everyone’s interpretation is correct. Maybe they will keep Ben Solo as a “grey” character. Now, if the return of that damn mask is in the context of keeping Ben Solo a grey character, I am more fine with it.



And that title is music to my ears. In line with my favorite TLJ quote “you have too much of your father’s heart in you, young Solo.”

AhsokaTano wrote:@DeeBee
Thank you for your lovely post yes I too have been getting excited about the new merchandise and spark of resistance book out next week  . We have a reylo box of dolls and Sleemo  on Twitter has posted too about the new figuarts and how the descriptions say  Kylo is the key to TROS .
I agree too that even if Palpatine does try to throw kylo into a pit or shaft or wherever, he’s getting back up with his force powers and because we’ve seen both Luke do this in Empire strikes back and also Han defying the odds big time  ( and he wasn’t a force user). I think this all foreshadowing for what kylo/Ben will do . He’s not getting tossed aside and thrown away.





Excuse spelling error in description

@AhsokaTano
thanks AhsokaTano for responding with kind words! Thanks too for sharing these! it's so funny to see how long supreme leader Kylo Ren's name is next to... 'Rey' lol!
I'm loving the hoodie look on Rey too. lol nothing too insightful here from me haaaaa..

regarding Kylo being the key - very interesting.. I've honestly always thought he is the key. As Leia and Han's child, the last living skywalker, he has to be in my eyes. The thing is - I think he is the key and so is Rey. I think they are the key together. I don't know what this will entail exactly but it seems to me where the story is headed based on what we've seen so far - there's no ying without the yang..
oh and rofl. You can ‘pose as if you were posing’! well.. okay then! haaaa

All these images of Rey and Kylo fighting each other.. and yet.. I'm not seeing any hate or rage in their expressions!

californiagirl wrote:New Empire covers. My entire TL is screaming IT'S PURPLE.





Has anyone noticed Rey doesn't look that aggressive in these posters and covers, same for VF. Intent, but not super-angry.

Also this retail poster that was mostly leaked the other week. Though it, and Rose being the only funko left out of a new TROS funko are adding to the #wheresRose.

@californiagirl
-thanks for sharing these amazing covers!  wow I wonder how many fans will subscribe so they can get this cover? this is really pushing fans to spend money! I thought it was full on releasing two different covers and making people buy two. Now people have got to subscribe huh. lol. Still the fact remains: it is a beautiful cover! Love that they are back to back again- just as they had been in the throne room..
by my expectations and standards? this is really reylo! I wasn't thinking we'd even get this much in marketing haaa!

-yes!!! I noticed Rey doesn't look so angry too!!! and cough- I bet Kylo doesn't under the helmet too haaaaaa. Probably why he wears the helmet so he can hide is lovey dovey looks at Rey! haaaa..

thanks for sharing that full poster- finally! I've been itching to see the full one. I'm really surprised Rose isn't there..
Not mad or upset just confused but I guess we'll see what's the LFL plan here eventually.

a few other random thoughts - Lando is in the poster - but no Leia. Hmmmm... could mean anything but my first thought was Leia passes early in the film and we see little of her.
Looking forward to seeing this full image in HD. what is that thing behind C-3PO? I see the bowcaster, Rey's staff.. and what?

What has struck me about this poster is how varied the resistance side is - great representation ha (except missing Rose) and on the first order side it's all well.. ordered.. generic.. faceless.. impersonal.. and amidst all the helmets is Kylo  - with his unique helmet which tells of his human struggle which is so very personal. He looks to be surrounded by ‘nobodies’ and to me he looks like he's never been more alone or isolated.
So for this reason I don't mind that we don’t see Hux or Pryde here and I wonder if this is deliberate..

Funny to start seeing all these references to Sith. a few days ago - I posted on here about how I was starting to suspect the sith troopers are aligned to Kylo at least to start with..

spacebaby45678 wrote:

AcrosstheStars wrote:

spacebaby45678 wrote:@12 Parsnips

The Sith Troopers are First Order.. from spoilers I believe they are some how powered by and ancient sith knowledge or something something....

@spacebaby45678

The fact that they’re called the 105th makes me think they’re going to turn on Kylo eventually, like the 501st did to Obi-Wan and the others.

@AcrosstheStars

Yup.. mirror images.

@spacebaby45678
I don’t know about spoilers but just based on toys, images and merch we’ve seen so far – I’ve been starting to wonder if they will turn on Kylo order 66 style… your point here certainly adds to that AcrosstheStars- great catch!!

I’m starting to actually wonder if Kylo is toying with Sith history – in his exploration of the dark side.. what was it?
Here it is.. the new description on the back of black series Kylo:

SOURCE

Part of me doesn’t want Kylo to even briefly turn Sith lol just because dudebros who always want Sith and have said over and over Kylo is Sith when as far as we know he isn’t.. that would just annoy me! Rofl.
However – fair is fair and I should try not to let my prejudice make me deaf to alternative ideas – afterall this is what I think Reylos have experienced and I don’t want that to be me!
So I start to play with the idea of Kylo actually playing around with the Sith order now he has been turned down by Rey.. and he looks for answers.. From the depths of the dark side- kinda sounds like the sith no?
Who knows maybe he will find some answers in the sith texts (afterall in The currently non canon book of Sith talks about how to sustain your life force and this might be an explanation for palps’ return.)
I’m open to it.. sure Kylo said he wanted to end the Sith, the Jedi all of it. But maybe he will be the mirror image of Rey.
She’s going to continue the Jedi in some way (not same as old Jedi order) maybe Kylo is on the same path with the Sith? And TROS ends with the Jedi and Sith reuniting? Into the ummm Sedi? Or the Umm Jeth?!
Rofl.. I joke about it but I think this could be done well if it’s where the story leads. I’m open to the return of the sith in an unexpected way!
Anyone else thought about Kylo and the Sith?
I just don't want Kylo/Ben to turn dark side ugly haaaaaa..  

@Lovely_Rose – hear hear!

rey09 wrote:The cover is amazing!! Reylos are having a field day online. They will never show overt romance, that's the long awaited twist for the GA. The empire photos show the story has always been about them. Also, I couldn't help but think Empire used that line "a thousand generations live in you now" for the purple pic and my first thought was "reylo babies!!!" Rey and Ben are the future.

@rey09 – I love it!!!

I gotta run.. but I happily leave with warm fuzzies about purple reylo babies!   tee hee..


edited to add:

Moonlight13 wrote:

DeeBee wrote:
At some point before TLJ the forum was split into spoiler and non-spoiler sections. Will we be doing this at some point leading up to TROS?

I prefer to steer clear of 'leaks' and I'm exploring official content looking for potential spoilers lol. does that make sense?!

@DeeBee
Yes, I'm pretty sure we'll do the same.

@Moonlight13
-almost missed this!! thanks Moonlight13. I look forward to this

forgive the double post.. I've been tempted.. oh the shame..   I am supposed to be doing other stuff.. but.. I've been taking a look at this starwars.com article HERE and all the lego..  Thought I'd share a few random thoughts.. see if anyone else has any about this they'd like to share! Here goes!

I never know how much to read into Lego! but.. interesting to see Pasaana..
and.. interesting to learn this first order vehicle is called a treadspeeder, and that the jet troopers take off from there. lol fun!


First time I've seen merch 'General Pryde' (not Allegiant General?)

Maybe this has already been said and I've missed it, but I'm starting to think the Knights of Ren aren't going to get names.. they are just 'Knights of Ren'... Can't say I mind.. I think being without names can make them cooler, more mysterious lol.
You think the bright light in the top right corner means anything? It's blue!


Lego seems to be suggesting Zorii can pilot a ship, and ends up piloting a resistance ship, even if only briefly! (see her in the pilot seat?!)

and.. we have Poe with Zorii again..
the first order snowtrooper in this set is interesting.. it suggests that the first order catch up with Zorii and the resistance on Kimji - the snowy planet... just sayin.. see the snowy mountain? this play set scene looks like a getaway..
Now even I know not to trust that scenes in lego are actually seen in the movies. but still - it is curious to include a snow trooper..


Great to see Snap - I keep hoping for Mr Bones to come back in some way!

check out Lt.Connix's hair - very Leia-esque no?


I wonder if the characters in this set tell us how the team gets split up..

So who is this Boolio?! what do we know about him or her? anyone?

So far, no Leia.. and no Rose..
do you think the planets behind these sets tell us anything interesting?


edited to add:
Okay! my wish for high res of that artwork has been granted by the artist - Brian Rood. thanks Kindly! SOURCE



these are really beautiful! He should be proud!
So is that a backpack C-3PO is carrying?
okay - really am going now haaaaa bye!

@DeeBee
I think it’s a high possibility that indeed Rey looks deeper into the Jedi secrets and Kylo into the Sith secrets leading them to cross path at some point and finally settle in the middle with the Galaxy also settling in the middle. It could be a good story. I just hope then that JJ explains why Ben wants to know more about the Siths if only out of respect for RJ. He was executive producer for TLJ so he better not now change directions just because he feels like it.

Not related, but the Galaxy of Adventures’ Kylo has terrible hair. A realistic helmet hair. I guess it’s to fit the helmet (?), but who wants to see that

Cool pic of the Knights of Ren



Not gonna lie... of all the 'mysteries' surrounding the ST, it's the Knights that most fascinates me.

Armadeus wrote:Cool pic of the Knights of Ren



Not gonna lie... of all the 'mysteries' surrounding the ST, it's the Knights that most fascinates me.

@Armadeus

OMG, I love that picture. And look at those trademark Kylo sleeves on the second KoR’s outfit. If JJ succeeds in making these KoR kickass, I think I’ll forgive pretty much any flaw in TRoS.

Lmao JP posted his third act finally and it sounds extremely unbelievable. “Ben falls into the abyss, never to be seen again.” Rey having no reaction to his so called death in the ending scene. Nah I don’t believe it. I thought perhaps he’d make himself seem more believable by adding in a few nice things in regard to reylo but it’s full on dudebro fanfic.

@SanghaRen

I remember this quote from Rian Johnson on why the KoR were not in TLJ:

“We have a very full movie already there literally was just not room for another element...I guess I could’ve used them in place of the Praetorian guards but then it would feel like wasting them because all those guards had to die,” Johnson told the Empire podcast. “And if Kylo had some kind of connection to them it would’ve added a complication that wouldn’t have helped the scene...truth is I just didn’t see a place for them in the movie.”

It doesn't seem like the team at LF consider the KoR as just throw-away mooks for the Resistance to kill. There's something deeper going on...

Speaking of sleeves, could this guy have something to do with the KoR?

Lovely_Rose wrote:Lmao JP posted his third act finally and it sounds extremely unbelievable. “Ben falls into the abyss, never to be seen again.” Rey having no reaction to his so called death in the ending scene.  Nah I don’t believe it. I thought perhaps he’d make himself seem more believable by adding in a few nice things in regard to reylo but it’s full on dudebro fanfic.

@Lovely_Rose


See, told ya, every time the media gift Reylo something, JP comes up with another bitter leak. Anw, JP only repeated what Jason said.

@Armadeus I believe RJ also said the KORs are JJ's favourite, so he let Kylo kill PG instead of KOR in TLJ.

Well now that he posted this hopefully we can move on. I was prepared to believe some of the info if it would have been expanded on to create a believable narrative, but at the end of the day this sounds fake. I would be very taken aback if his big plot points came true.

@OrionStars

Another reason to anticipate their debut