The Death Star is one of the most well-known features of the original Star Wars trilogy. The first moon-sized space station destroyed Alderaan and nearly wiped out the Rebels in A New Hope, and the second one proved to be a devastating force in Return of the Jedi, even in its unfinished form. Next week, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will revisit the first Death Star as it nears completion, which means it will soon pop up on the Rebellion's radar. Before that story unfolds, check out this special trailer spotlighting into the history of this technological terror and how it will play into the first Anthology spinoff.
Fandango put together this "Ultimate Franchise Trailer" for Rogue One, which starts off with reminiscing about the good times we shared with the Death Star in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. And by good, I mean kind of scary, as dialogue from Imperial bigwigs Tarkin and Motti reminds us of how the Empire saw the Death Star (both of them) as the ultimate tool to keep the Empire's subjects in line. From there, we dive into Rogue One, where the Rebellion has discovered that the first Death Star is almost 100% completed, and they need to take drastic to learn about the battle station and destroy it.
Fortunately, they have an ace up their sleeve: Jyn Erso, whose father, Galen, worked on the Death Star. Putting together a team of operatives, Jyn will lead a mission to find her father and retrieve the station's schematics. We already know that those plans will eventually make their way back to the Rebellion and lead to Luke Skywalker blowing up the sucker, but sneaking the plans out will be its own unique challenge. Needless to say there will be plenty of battles in the new Star Wars movie, from several ground assaults to an attack of the Shield Gate installation hovering in space above Scarif.
The Force Awakens introduced a new planetary-sized superweapon last year in Starkiller Base, which eliminated the Hosnian system. Still, nothing beats the Death Stars, especially the first one. It's a ridiculously expensive endeavor to both build that thing and keep it running, but as a sci-fi idea, having a space station capable of destroying a planet is a terrifying and tyrannical concept. Plus, as we've seen in a few Rogue One previews, even though it hasn't blown up any worlds yet, the Death Star will still be capable of causing mass destruction. So much like how the uncompleted second Death Star gave the Rebels hell in Return of the Jedi, the nearly-completed Death Star in Rogue One will be a force to be reckoned with, making it all the more important that Jyn Erso and her compatriots find the schematics as soon as possible.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story arrives in theaters on December 16.
