Star Wars Episode 9 Trailer Breakdown: 16 Things You Need To See

2. No One's Ever Really Gone...

As we see the shot of the Death Star II, we hear a laugh. A familiar laugh that will send chills down the spines of Star Wars fans the world over. "No one's ever really gone," Luke says at this point, and boy is he right.

And just in case there was any doubt who that laugh belonged to, Ian McDiarmid came out on stage after the trailer to deliver a mic drop.

Yes, Emperor Palpatine - and McDiarmid - is back in Star Wars Episode IX. This is obviously huge in and of itself, given the character was believed to be dead - and might still be - but just in a thematic sense, it loops together all nine Star Wars movies, because the Prequels were as much his story as they were Anakin's.

As for that return, well, could he be alive? The laughter suggests yes. Palpatine did tell Anakin the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, and perhaps the Emperor really did learn the secret of cheating death after all. At the same time, it could be a Force Ghost, or something less present, like a lingering message or hologram (which we've seen before). Undoubtedly, though, this is going to spark an insane amount of theories from now until the film's release. One of the big rumours about this film is a greater threat from ‘the Beyond’ - what if that’s Palpatine? And ‘The Beyond’ then takes on a double meaning, as it also refers to the afterlife and his supposed death.