Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - Five talking points from Porgs to Kylo Ren's redemption

With a little over two months to go until Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives in cinemas, LucasFilm has finally released a second trailer for the anticipated sequel, and naturally it's the subject of a lot of fervent speculation among the franchise's legions of fans.

The trailer itself gives little away regarding the film's plot, instead offering a moodboard of sorts for a film continuing the journeys of two central characters from 2015's The Force Awakens: Daisy Ridley's Rey and Adam Driver's Kylo Ren.

Questions regarding them are raised, and we'll get to them later, as we discuss the five biggest talking points offered up by the new trailer.

No new characters

We see plenty of characters we know from The Force Awakens and the original trilogy, but not even a glimpse at the new characters being introduced in director Rian Johnson's film. There's a small exception (we'll get to that next) but otherwise, where was Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo or Benicio Del Toro's DJ?

Even Kelly Marie Tran's Rose - who was introduced on stage at Star Wars Celebration - gets no attention. It's not a bad thing, as it leaves those characters untouched mysteries, but it is a little surprising.

Porgs

Porgs are the exception. While 'character' is a bit of a stretch for these feathery friends, the little creatures, which are native to the world where Rey found Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker at the end of The Force Awakens, are sure to be as popular as droid pal BB-8 was two years ago.

The porgs obviously exists to sell stuffed toys, and appear to have been focused-tested to an incredible degree, but dammit, they adorable. Almost frustratingly adorable. I must have one.

Kylo Ren is still conflicted

Trailer two includes a fair amount of misdirection, but there's a pretty clear cut sequence in which we see Kylo Ren lock his fighter's weapons on what we're led to believe is the command room where his mother, Carrie Fisher's General Leia is.

The next shot of Fisher implies she can feel his presence, and then we see Kylo struggle with taking the shot. In The Force Awakens, Kylo killed his father Han Solo in an effort to quell the part of him that feels "the pull of the light", so he could fully succumb to the dark side.

If this sequence is to be taken at face value, Kylo is still conflicted. Even if it's simply a case of clever editing, it is still conveyed strongly enough that we can assume it'll play a significant part in the journey of his character.

Rey and Snoke encounter

Perhaps the most revealing shot in the film showed Andy Serkis's Supreme Leader Snoke putting Rey through significant pain. We see her bent backwards, screaming in agony with Snoke's golden gown and one of his red-armoured Praetorian guards out of focus in the background.

LucasFilm has already revealed these guards in various action poses and wielding staffs, suggesting they'll enter into battle with one of the film's heroes. This new shot suggests it'll be Rey, but what will be most intriguing is the pivotal first encounter between the fledgling young force-wielder and Kylo Ren's master.

Rey asks for help and Kylo Ren extends his hand

The final few shots of the trailer are a masterclass in misdirection, but they still suggest so much. First we hear Rey say: "I need someone to show me my place in all this," before we see Kylo Ren extend his hand. The sense is that these two shots are not from the same scene, however.

Rey's line could quite easily be from early on in the film, during a conversation with Luke who we know will reluctantly teach her the ways of the force. In the unlikelier scenario is that she is asking for help from Kylo, or even Snoke, that poses in even greater questions.

Could Rey be tempted by the dark side? She certainly has a potential to. After all, as far as she's aware she was abandoned by her parents, and if the truth of her heritage is not to her liking, it could send her down a dark path.

Kylo's action is the most interesting however, because for anyone aligned with the dark side to make such a potentially reconciliatory action would represent a big plot development.

The question becomes why and to who he's extending his hand. Luke, Leia, Rey? Has he been asked for help or is he the one requesting it? We don't know of course, and that's the beauty of this trailer.

We won't know for sure until 14 December.