The Secret Meaning of Those Star Wars Character Name Reveals (Maybe)
By now you’ve all certainly seen the badass throwback Star Wars trading card images that revealed the names of the characters from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There’s a lot of interesting information we can pull from the names, the images used, and the way in which JJ and Disney chose to make the reveal, but there’s one mystery that Master Lens-Flare specifically pointed out in the Entertainment Weekly reveal, thus challenging me directly to solve.
Asked if there was significance to the numbering, Abrams replied: “YES.”
Without dissecting everything there is about the names themselves (like how “Kylo” doesn’t really sound like a bad guy) or the idea that it seems we’re being lead towards all-that-will-make-us-feel-nostalgic-for-the-original-trilogy-while-forgetting-the-prequels-happened, I’ll still tackle those pesky numbers.
My theory is that they represent the minute of the film each image was pulled from. So if that’s true, we can further determine the sequence of events that we’ve seen in the trailer, which would look like this:
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| BB-8 on the move! |
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| Poe Dameron in his X-Wing |
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| Kylo Ren ignites his Lightsaber! |
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| Rey on her speeder |
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| Finn on the run! |
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| Stormtroopers prepare for battle! |
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| X-Wings in formation! |
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| The Millennium Falcon |
If I’m correct (and I might not be but it’s my best guess), then a HUGE portion of this film takes place on Tatooine. It also places those troopers exiting their transport (from card 81) probably in the same place as the X-Wings from card 88, given the environment.
I’m also going to take a stab in the dark here and say that the Stormtrooper leaning out of the line in card 81 is Finn, and that he’s a hero in disguise to harken back to Leia’s “Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper” line in A New Hope.
It’s not a ton to go on and doesn’t reveal much if I’m correct, but it would be interesting if that much of the film is on Tatooine. There really wasn’t much left there by the end of Return of the Jedi and seemingly no reason to go back. Luke’s relatives are all gone, Obi-Wan gone, Jabba gone, etc. Could there be some further meaning or mystery on the desert planet?
The theory also gives us some structure to place content from future stills and trailers. Which, right or wrong, will be fun.
Well, that’s a wrap for my time as your Guest Editor today. I hope you enjoyed having me. We’ll always have Paris. If you want to keep in touch you can catch me on Twitter @tomakel
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