OK, so the first Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer is here and you’ve watched it, loved it and you’ll watch it again all weekend and completely forget to bathe and socialize. (Fine. Me too.) Next time you watch it, though, be on the lookout for something a little familiar.
Go to the 1:27 mark of the trailer, when Forest Whitaker says the line “What will you become?” Now, call me a conspiracy theorist, but underneath that line I’m pretty sure you can hear what sounds like Darth Vader’s iconic breathing. Sure it’s a little high-pitched, maybe to not be too obvious, but it’s definitely something, right? These things aren’t done by accident, folks.
The line, too, “What will you become?” is important, because when punctuated by the breathing, it makes it sound like Felicity Jones’ character might be facing a Skywalker-esque battle against the light and the dark here.
Maybe that high-pitched breathing wasn’t so much a hint at Vader himself, but more of a warning for a road Jones might be heading down. She is dressed in Imperial garb at the moment, after all. Infiltrating the Empire might come at a steep price, and Whitaker also warns “What will you do if they break you?”
Star Wars has always been about temptation: temptation of the Dark Side, temptation of power, temptation of wanting to see little Anakin get hit by a street sweeper. Don’t expect Rogue One to forget that main theme just because it’s a spinoff.
There have been rumors for months that Vader will appear in Rogue One, and it only makes sense: this is all about the Death Star, which was basically Darth’s bachelor pad in the original Star Wars. Also, there is this quick moment in the trailer:
Vader’s got a weird taste in comfort, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’s kicking back inside that white tube, surrounded by the Emperor’s Royal Guard and this hooded guy (that's definitely not Vader himself, right?).
Until we get firm answers when the movie hits theaters this December, we can do nothing but listen to that breathing over and over again and speculate like animals.
