Oh wow, I didn't realize how much good a Star Wars trailer could do me but this international Rogue One trailer is apparently just what I needed.
“I rebel,” spoke by Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso in previous trailers was powerful enough on its own but considering current events, a lot of Star Wars fans are taking solace in the message. Some are even changing their avatars to the Rebel symbol. But this new trailer drives home the film's message of keeping hope alive.
Now a small warning, this trailer shows a potentially huge “spoiler” for the film. I put spoiler in quotes there because well, if the studio decides to put something in their marketing material, they want viewers to know about it. That said, I completely understand why some fans want to go in fresh. I'll also say at this point that if I had that forethought, I wouldn't have watched this trailer myself.
Still good to go? Ok, here it is:
First of all, HI, JYN'S MOM!! We learned of Valene Kane landing the role back in September but this is the first time she's made an appearance in the trailers. As I surmised, it's during one of Jyn's flashbacks. What I would have never guessed was her possibly passing on a powerful Force relic to her daughter.
I can't be certain at this point of course but this could easily be a Kyber crystal. Thanks to the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars we know those objects are what power lightsabers for both Jedi and the Sith. (We already know the film will focus on Force-sensitive “Holy Land” on Jedha.) Crystals don't have a color until they are chosen by a Jedi but they do come in several colors afterward – blue, green, purple, red, black, yellow, yellow-green, and white. The “crystal” here looks clear to me but if it's considered white, that would be the same as Clone Wars character Ahsoka Tano who purified two Sith crystals for her own use.
Kyber crystals have also been known to power larger weapons like the Sith temple on Malachor and…you guessed it…the Death Star's superlaser. In that instance, eight crystals were required, so now I'm thinking Jyn is going to be an integral part of the Empire's puzzle. Only she might not know it yet. So her mom passing the crystal on to her, as well as hiding when the Empire shows up for her father, would make sense.
None of this means Jyn is necessarily Force-sensitive or that she'll become a Jedi but she certainly has some connection to the Force.