What to do? On the next episode of Now, This is Podcasting! I wanted to do a type of analysis on a lot of rumors from one source that we can’t get verified. I was going to sit on this material until the one thing I’m waiting for becomes available. The ultimate weapon that will be crush false rumors once and for all (not the script). That’s not far off. But these rumors are starting to swirl in other places.

I was sent around 10 emails from someone this week. Some of their stuff sounded cool and other stuff sent up red flags.

The source lied to me about his name and then accidentally emailed me with his real name. Shortly after that he packed up and ceased our correspondence. Was it because he wanted to do this under the cover of anonymity? Or did someone attempting a hoax screw up?

Just in case by some chance they are legit, I have edited out a few places where they seem to reveal some details about placement. Other than that, I’m not fixing spelling errors or typos. Just understand that while “Rey” is spelled every way under the twin suns of Tatooine possible, that doesn’t rule someone out. The guy doing the drywall on the bathroom at Pinewood might not people’s names and how to write all that well, but he sure as hell can be informative (similar things have happened and I appreciate it). All that said, this person didn’t provide me with anything like the normal sources do. I’m sharing it because this info has started to turn up other places in tiny doses. So here’s the massive dump of it. You can decide if its legit when holistically placed together. Some of it lines up well and some of it contradicts things I firmly believe to know rightly.

I know some guy on some message board is going accuse me of wanting the hits and that’s why I posted this. That’s far from the case. I don’t care. What I do care about is the truth about the film because I want to know everything. I’m like Spalko at the end of Indy IV, I want to know. False information just muddles things. I don’t want to see this turning up on other sites over the next weeks if its a hoax. Taken one piece at a time, it sounds cool. But there are things that seem, well, off to be honest. I probably wasn’t going to run it until I had more things that lined up with it. Since elements are popping up elsewhere, lets just get it over with.

Enjoy, believe, scoff, rebuke, whatever, here it is:

Email 1:

Luke Skywalker – Luke is in hiding during much of TFA. He has put himself in a self imposed exile and is protecting an ancient sith tomb from being opened by the main bad guy, Kylo Ren. What lies in this tomb is an Ancient Sith Lord who may turn out to be Darth Plagues The Wise. Luke, it is revealed, has been experiencing severe mental torture whilst protecting this tomb by ghosts of the past, present and future and he is very unstable as we meet him. His power is terrifying to both himself and what it could mean for the future of the galaxy. There is talk that Kylo Ren knows how to unlock this tomb as he has self trained himself in the ways of the Sith without the need of a master. It is not mentioned how long Luke has been watching this tomb but it is implied it has been a few years against the better judgement of his friends. Luke isn’t crazy so to speak but he has felt the damaging effects this exile has had on him.

Han Solo – Han has the lions share of work to do on TFA and it can be said Fords portrayal is closer to ANH/ESB than ROTJ. His arc sets things in motion by being the person who brings Rey, Finn and Poe into the mix. It is true that a simple lightsaber leads the trio to Han but what isn’t mentioned is that Han is extremely reluctant to allow his daughter to be part of this plan. The scene in the trailer of the falcon is Han piloting the gang of the planet after Imperials target them because Poe and Rae help break Finn free of the empire. It is a fact that Han does die in the movie and his death is poignant but amazing. There will be sad eyes come December. I’ve heard that Luke kills Han at his request to save a loved one.

Finn: It is revealed that the Empire have rebuilt their forces through forced enlisting into their ranks despite ability. Finn’ family were murdered by the empire and he was caught and enlisted. He absolutely hates the Empire and is a pacifist. There is a scene which shows him trying to shoot a blaster and he is awful – it’s a little in-joke about how inept Storm Troopers were in the OT. Finn and Poe end up in an imperial brig after being caught. Poe dislikes Finn at first but Finn, an extremely likeable character, pleads with Poe and Rae to get him off the ship. Rae sees his plight and they both agree to steal a TIE FIGHTER. Rae shows how like a solo she is and manages to coerce a simple minded trooper into conversation and ends up stealing a key card.

The brig escape is pure fun – Old School SW much like the detention block escape. It is fast paced, funny as hell but you feel the odds against them. Finn and co steal an advanced TIE and unfortunately it crashes, injuring Finn. Rae helps both Poe and Finn escape by hiding them in her speeder and they travel to see Max Von Sydo in a seedy cantina. Finn shows promise when he uses the lightsaber to deflect some blaster shots. Rae says something about finding his calling.

MAX VON SYDOW: – I don’t know this characters name but he plays a watcher to Rae at the request of Solo. A former Rebel Alliance veteran now dealing in antiquities – very much like a SW version of Brody from Indiana Jones. It turns out that Rae has a lightsaber which holds information vital to the rebellion and this is hidden inside BB-8. Rae is not aware of this and only through the watcher do we understand the significance of it. It is revealed the weapon, Uncle Lukes, has a crystal in it that unlocks the tomb in the castle. This crystal is the main mcguffin of TFA.

RAE: This is Han and Leias daughter. Her real name is revealed through Han Solo much to the surprise of Finn and Poe. Rae is resourceful, humourous but is scared of being part of a force family. Uncle Luke was trying to guide her to being a jedi but she refused. Poe catches her using the force to move something in her workshop but doesn’t mention it.

Solo appears at the Cantina with Chewbacca and Rae expresses her anger at being asked to protect this weapon. Solo explains that it was necessary for her to use an alias and to be on the outer rim to avoid ties to her uncle. He says sorry for not telling her the significance but is thankful. Rae expresses frustration at the watcher who was in on the ruse.

POE: Poe is this trilogies Han – he is a cocky, foolish but brilliant pilot. Rae is in love with him which frustrates Han. Han sees Dameron as his younger self and is slightly annoyed that he is now an older cocky man. Poe is on the planet with Rae and she is fixing his X-Wing. It is revealed that he has strong feelings for Rae. He respects Han too much to act on them. There is a bit of jealousy from Finn as he too likes Rae but she treats him like a kid.

Email 2:

When we see Kylo Ren in the forest in the trailer, his pose and movement indicate he is injured. This scene takes place After solo dies and he is chasing Rey, Luke and Finn into the forest. They are heading towards Poe and the Falcon.

Ren receives damage in a battle with Luke. At the request of Hans dying words, Luke spares Ren and escapes with the others. What follows is a battle between an untrained Finn and Rey after Ren manages to separate then from Luke. Luke is beaten and is unable to aid them. The fight shows that Ren isn’t as prominent a fighter as he wants to be and ultimately is on an even footing with Rey in ability. Finn tries hard to help but ultimately turns to get Luke on the falcon.

Ren is the son of Han and Leia and therefore brother to Rey. It is said that Ren, Adam Driver, has been obsessed with his lineage for a few years and is somewhat an historian with a fascination with the Sith. he is a pilot with the alliance but you will see that he is quite twisted. He sabotaged Poes X wing at some point prior to the opening scenes and this resulted with Poe being on the same planet with Rey. He is arrogant and cares little for his parents or siblings as he wants to be as powerful as his grandfather, Darth Vader. Facts are vague but it will be revealed that there is bad blood between this man and his family.

Email 3:

The Stormtroopers in TFA are given more of a humanity to them. A few actors/extras were given lines and we see troopers sans helmets in a few scenes. They definitely aren’t clones here! There is a Weequay and Rodian trooper in one scene in a hanger bay plus female ST. A scene described to me involved an Imperial commander belittling an alien.

TFA features a scene involving limb loss. The character is said to provoke a main character and Chewbacca basically pulls their arm out of its socket.

The re- introduction of Luke Skywalker is meant to be iconic. Having seen a play by play of the scene, my source said this:

” Luke is huddled against a wall, he is looking at an approaching figure. We don’t see his face at all and his body is hidden by the dark, we see various flashes of his hood is over his head and the light only shows his grey beard. Someone says “Luke?”. He is startled and cowers to his knees. we are shown his robotic hand, sans glove, with a burn mark exposing the robotic components. An arm reaches out to try and grasp his light sabre which is a few inches away on the floor. The light sabre is smoking. Luke struggles for it and we hear a disembodied voice say “You’ve failed, Skywalker. Have you felt it? Your struggle with the darkside and the light “. We hear the first vocals from Luke and his words staggered and stuttered. He tries to stand but a cackle makes him cower again. He is further goaded by this voice before he hears a familiar voice and stands up and pushes his hood back much like obi wan kenobi did when he first saw Luke in ANH. This is our first proper look at Luke. This Luke is wizened but crazed, his eyes twitch and are bloodshot, his robe is tattered, ripped and his beard is scraggy and his hair grey and long. Luke walks down a few steps and his looking at the tomb. The disembodied voice says ” You will fail, Skywalker”. Luke falls to his knees and screams out with arms outstretched. A tremor reduces a wall partition to rubble and the voice laughs louder. ” They will all die. I am your only choice”. Luke uses a statue to pull himself up and he begs the voice to stop. He has no fight left. Luke uses the force to grab his weapon and he ignites it this time the glow of his green sabre fully shows us a classic glimpse of an older Luke. We then hear footsteps and the ignition of a second light sabre, a red glow appearing in a pool of water near the tomb.

Email 4:

Just to add to my previous message some lines of dialogue from the shooting

“Are you still relying on that ancient religion?”

“We can play this game once we figure out a way to not getting killed!

” hey, the grunt can’t hold that thing let alone use it!”

“ain’t no use to a dead man, Finn”

Email 5:

Hi Jason, not much has been said about Leia in TFA but this is about to change.

in TFA we first meet Leia at a hideout for Rebels. This is the Greenham common set. She certainly does wear an outfit similar to the Tantive fleet troops.

Leia is not a politician but a republic martyr in hiding from the Empire at the insistence of the senate. She is in hiding with the last numbers of the rebel alliance who we learn have been beaten with no real hope of stopping a newly growing empire.

There are traitors within her own group.

Both the empire and the rebellion are trying to build super weapons. What we learn in a beautiful scene with Leia and the Hutts is that crime lords are funding the construction of the rebels defence of the empire in exchange for leniency with the senate who will turn a blind eye to their criminal actions and ultimately protect them from the empire.

The rebels share an uneasy alliance with criminal groups with Han Solo acting as a go between with a dangerous group of bounty hunters.

The Reublic Senate and the Empire aren’t one and the same. The Empire wasn’t truly defeated after the battle of Endor and many splinter groups are in abundance but controlled by a master imperial order. Storm troopers are a mix of human and alien races.

Email 6:

Hi Jason, to clarify recent reports:

There are two super weapons in TFA. The empire weapon is not a planet but a super extreme Star Destroyer, the largest vessel in the imperial fleet. Do you remember the seismic charges Jango used on Obi Wan in AOTC? Well this SESD has a weapon on it than can effectively split a planet in two. There is a scene in IMAX which will demonstrate this, it launchs a bomb that basically sends shockwaves through the core and splits it. It’s supposed to look amazing.

The Rebels are building a weapon that acts as an EMT which basically once activated will shut down any imperial ships and effectively crash them. You may have seen concept art of downed star destroyers, well this was a result of this weapon being used.

However, the device that controls this weapon has fallen into wrong hands and getting it back involves our heroes and a rogue imperial.

The super extreme star destroyer houses the Gleeson character who is trying to sabotage the imperial weapon.

Ultimately the weapon is used on the Sith homeworld.

Email 7:

The pirate cove does house rebels but also a rag-tag group of smugglers, hunters and refugees. Their is a common goal for all involved and that is beating the empire. One of the smugglers is a character named Botep, he’s described as humanoid but his torso is stationed on a droid with spider-like legs. It isn’t revealed how he came to be this way but he is distrustful of the rebels and blames them for the current state of things. Another is called Aldro, a female alien who is feisty and good with a blaster. She is slim build, wears a jump suit like Bossk but it is green. She has a hood which she wears over her head and has goggles on her face. The googles are white with a mesh like lens. She has a few lines with Han and refers to Chewie as “The Rug”. There is a small character believed to be called ” Fitch” who is a mechanic and helps Chewie repair the damaged Falcon. Fitch and Chewie have a scene together which is similar to Artoo and Yoda, playful and very funny. Fitch is part Cgi and animatronic.

Email 8:

GW plays the lead Shock Trooper and she commands a huge ship called in the production notes ” Imperial Hand”. She wears a chrome armoured suit which can cloak itself for stealth missions – this ability is used twice in the move. Her character is said to be ” demeaning to peers, arrogant, viscious and fearless. She uses a light saber also and is heavily skilled in hand-to-hand combat. She kills 2 Jedi Padawans in the movie whilst searching for both Finn and Rae. “Once beautiful now grotesque” heavily scarred face and military hair cut. “Battle hardened – an elite killer”.

DG – This will shock people but this character is an Imperial Cadet and the son of the huge character. A deserter of the Alliance after finding out they are constructing a super weapon to irradicate the empire before they can use their own weapon. Effectively turning the rebel alliance into the empire by default. DG plans to inflitrate and destroy the weapon from within.

Email 9:

It is going to be a revelation that Gleeson is related to Luke for sure. However, we will learn that the character isn’t as wholesome as his father and will ruffle a lot of feathers in the process. This Tarkin rumour is bogus – DG is not Tarkin but there DEFINATELY is a tarkin in the movie. JJ & Kasden are desperate to move away from making the galaxy seem too small as the prequals did so whilst there is a character who is related to Tarkin, it won’t be anything major. There are a lot of strands in this movie which tie into the wider picture. For instance, there is a slight reference to the Lost Twenty and the fall of the Jedi Order. Kylo Ren is obsessed with history and you will see that he is very knowledgable about the secrets the Jedi Order had and how the sith play into it.

There is no mention of any mother of the gleeson character and luke doesn’t reference her.