Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker - 8 Burning Questions Left By The Trailer
3. Why Does Rey Seek Out The Death Star?
The trailer concludes with Rey, Finn, Poe, and several other characters observing the wreckage of a Death Star that is resting in the ocean.
It's not exactly clear which Death Star this is, but all signs point to it being the second, last seen in Return Of The Jedi, where it was destroyed. For one thing, The Emperor's laugh can be heard immediately after this shot, and the second Death Star is where he died. Plus, the second Death Star was destroyed by Lando, so this could be how the film works him into the story: he might know exactly where Rey can find its wreckage.
The big question here is what exactly Rey needs with the wreckage of a Death Star in the first place. This is the trailer's money shot so this will clearly be a major part of the film, so what is she after?
One possibility is that Rey is scavenging for tech that the Resistance can use to build a weapon, which could then be used against the First Order. Death Stars are obviously insanely powerful, so there's bound to be some useful machinery in its wreckage that can be re-purposed. Rey was a skilled scavenger on Jakku, so this sort of thing would be right up her alley. Plus, someone who claimed to have inside plot information even stated that Rey will be seeking a Death Star antenna in the film.
Interestingly, the wreckage of the second Death Star was almost included in The Force Awakens. Concept art for the film shows a character called Kira (later renamed Rey) swimming through its underwater remains.
If this concept art is any indication, Abrams has clearly been planning something like this for a while.