‘Star Wars Rebels’ Explains ‘Force Awakens’ Connection in New Trailer

Apart from teasing some incredible action to the back half of Season 2, Star Wars Rebels got tongues wagging with a new trailer that seemingly promised ties to The Force Awakens. There was Kylo Ren’s lightsaber and a masked figure sounding suspiciously like Supreme Leader Snoke, and now supervising director Dave Filoni answers if Rebels will really introduce a major movie tie-in.

You’re warned of spoilers for both Star Wars Rebels Season 2 and The Force Awakens from here on out, but where the latest Rebels trailer turned plenty of heads with a crossguard lightsaber suspiciously similar to Kylo Ren’s, Filoni tells Entertainment Weekly to consider the weapon more of a visual homage, hearkening back to an ancient design:

I wanted to put a nod to this new history we’re seeing in The Force Awakens. It’s important to have these links between stories in major ways and subtle ways. Here you find a sword we’ve encountered before, and it gives a little more context to something that turns up later.

The shot in question appears to take place outside a rather ancient-looking temple, with frozen figures burned into place Pompeii-style, which would at least fit the lightsaber’s ancient origins.

Less clear was the appearance of several masked figures in a more modern-looking temple, one of whom fans thought sounded suspiciously like Andy Serkis’ Snoke. How close the voices match is up for debate, but Filoni seems to shoot down the notion:

Filoni won’t say who the actor is, and he seems to enjoy the connections fans may make — legit or not. “That’s part of the mystery, part of the fun. There will be so much more to talk about once this stuff is out,” he says. “Star Wars fans are brilliant about running with stuff. Give them a tiny little kernel, and they will run all the way to the finish line and practically produce a whole trilogy in their minds. That’s why I love them. They’re a creative group.” […]

While the identity of this person can’t be revealed yet, it’s probably not Snoke. (Sorry.) Filoni says he’s unlikely to resolve any major secrets from the films — just as he wouldn’t want the movies to tie up any loose ends involving the characters from his shows. “For anybody in Star Wars, I think one of the questions you’re going to get asked is, ‘Is that Snoke?’ It’s one of the mysteries right now. So, anybody could be seen as Snoke.”

In particular, Filoni identifies the figures as Jedi Temple Guards, designs carried over from The Clone Wars series, but that isn’t to say no deeper mystery stands afoot.

In the meantime at least, we’ll have Princess Leia’s Rebels debut this coming Wednesday, and plenty more to come from that epic trailer above.

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