Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – The 5 Best Lines in the Final Trailer

The final Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer has arrived, and it is glorious. While fans around the world take in every moment (and wipe away their tears), we want to take a deeper look at the dialogue.

The lines in this trailer are impactful, they’re strong, they hold incredible weight, and they tell a story. All the best lines in Star Wars history tell a story all on their own. When you think of lines like “No, there is another” or a more recent one like “I am no Jedi,” those don’t just hit at the moment, they give you an idea of more.

The entire concept of Rogue One is built not on a spoken line, but a single written line, appearing in the first movie’s opening crawl, after all:

“During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.”

Here then are five of the best lines in this final trailer, the ones that invoke that kind of feeling; of course, virtually every line could be in this list. But we tried.

“Jyn, Whatever I do, I do it to protect you.” AND “When was the last time you were in contact with your father?”

Yes, right off the top and we’re already cheating with two lines in one entry. That’s because of the emotional context of all of this. The best Star Wars stories are rooted in very personal relationships that are seen under the backdrop of the larger galaxy-wide stakes, and lines like these are where those come from.

This is the story of the birth of the Rebellion, yes, but it’s also the story of a father trying to protect his daughter. That personal relationship will hold the story together and make even the biggest battles come down to one family… sound familiar, Star Wars fans?

“It’s um… Rogue. Rogue One.”

K-2SO reports that they need a call sign, and Captain Cassian Andor replies, “It’s um… Rogue. Rogue One.”

Yes, the name of the movie is a call sign, as everyone thought from the beginning, but there’s still impact to this. When Andor realizes that they’re essentially starting the Rebellion anew, and they’re taking on a mission that will start the modern Rebellion in a real way.

“The power that we are dealing with here is immeasurable.”

There’s something about the human, non-Force using leaders of the Empire. When you have regular humans in power, like Tarkin, Hux, and now Director Orson Krennic, standing in the face of the seemingly magical abilities of the Force, they ground things and make the Force even more amazing when it is used.

It’s fun, then, when Krennic is telling Darth Freaking Vader about “immeasurable power.” You can almost hear Vader just busting open with laughter – or getting angry and incredulous and telling Krennic he knows nothing of true power. Basically, it makes his next line the most anticipated line in the trailer, and of course, we don’t get it, so we’ll have to wait for the film.

“We have hope.”

The Rebel Alliance leaders are gathered around a familiar war room table, and one proclaims, “If the Empire has that kind of power, what chance do we have?”

Now, the next line in the trailer may or may not be the next line in the movie, but the expert editing has it as a perfect response: “We have hope.”

There’s something so powerful in that line, something that makes the emotions swell and tears well up; it’s such a simple line, one that’s been used in a lot of war movies, but its delivery here, especially in the face of truly overwhelming odds, carries incredible weight. In a world so angry and painfully divided right now, a little hope helps.

“Save the Rebellion! Save the Dream!”

Saw Gerrera is known for his gruffness, his refusal to ask for help, and the fact that he will move to some down and dirty tactics to get the job done in the Rebellion. So him having the most hopeful line in the trailer is intense and meaningful. Again, this is the most “war movie” of a Star Wars film ever; but it’s a war movie with Star Wars lines as the inspirational ones.

It also underlines the whole tone to this trailer, which is one that is centered on this ragtag bunch actually achieving their goals: because spoiler alert, the end is already written and they succeed, they get the Death Star plans and the Rebellion destroys that Death Star relatively soon after (but not before Alderaan feels its power).