SPECULATION OFFICIAL: THE FIRST ORDER DISCUSSION THREAD

I think they are based on these costumes but with a long coat or cape due to the cold climate of the planet they're on.

 

From a distance it look Vader with a hat....and minus the front computer panel.

 

Captain Phasma is looking a lot like someone who holds the position Vader had in ANH in this shot. With the possible Gleeson being very Tarkin-like.

Do Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren get along? Are they in a Vader/Inquisitor type relationship like in Rebels?

All this really intrigues me about the hierarchy of the First Order...

 

I think you are dead on except for the part about the Empire still being an oligarchy. I believe we will see in TFA a birth of a new Empire, as one (Uber) announces and exerts his sole authority...

 

By the way, those are just my assumptions, nothing official.

 

Couple of interesting things come to mind:
1- It's the FIRST Order. Why don't they call themselves THE Order....it's like they're assuming there will be a second one?
2- OR, is it to pay homage to another Order... one that really hasn't been addressed in the new Canon....maybe a Sith Order with 10 members (9 are present in photo...plus Uber).
Just a thought.

 

Posted elsewhere:

 

i thought about this all night last night! so exciting to have a new trailer to discuss!

personally, i think that whatever the Order is doing, it still has the upper hand in the conflict. i base this assumption off the fact that Finn, at some point in his life, was drawn into their ranks. Finn may have been conscripted or even drafted, but he's going through/gone through the mill with every other farm boy that's joined the Order. he lands himself in a heap of trouble, his friend dies, and he realizes that the First Order is maybe not the right kids to be playing with. all of this says to me that the Order is attracting people to join, so they can't be too blatantly evil; they have to have a pretty epic propaganda scheme in action to keep the recruits coming in, even if a few fall between the cracks (Finn).

as for how the Order came about, i'm guessing that after a while of civil war and conflict between factions of the fallen Empire and the fledgling New Republic, a powerful leader named Kylo Ren stepped in and, using propaganda and a grass roots movement, created the First Order, binding the petty factions together again, saving the galaxy from further war and blood shed. of course we know that that's all a ruse because we're the audience; thankfully some characters are also aware of this attempt at consolidating power and so create a Resistance.

the only real snag with this is how does Luke allow this to happen? he could take down the Emperor and Vader but he's somehow bested by the First Order? maybe part of the propaganda scheme is against the damaging influence of the Jedi. i'm still not sure how all that's meant to work...

 

Maybe. But like you said, he might have been conscripted. It could be possible that those leading the remnants of the Empire have become so militaristic as to require insanely high amounts of the population (at least the poor pops) to serve time in the military.

Then they wouldn't really be so much attractive as they are oppressive.

Addendum: I'm almost afraid this new version of the Empire might be so malicious it won't be cool to like them.

Good observation. I don't think I'd see it as a snag... the only reason he could get close to the Emperor was because the Emperor wanted to play his game thinking he couldn't lose whatever the outcome. Those making the Order would simply sidestep him or find some way to make him run and hide.

 

Okay I am going to hate this but... lets look at Star Trek Deep Space 9...

When the federation and Cardassians signed a peace treaty, many federation and human colonies had to be handed over to the Cardassians. the people on these world neither wanted to become part of the cardassian empire, nor wanted to give up their homes, becoming the Maquis... which was in part funded by "corrupt" federation officers

I am certain we have a similiar situation here. The Republic and the Empire signed a truce, but the empire is still subjugating many worlds, maybe even worlds that had to be handed over to the empire for the truce...

Or its possible that the First order is targeting worlds outside of the republic, or minor worlds on their borders...

This resistance was formed by Leia and other former rebellion officers to maintain what the Rebellion fought for and to not let the empire gain footing. Its not a rebellion, its a group of people resisting the empires influence and expansionist ideas.

 

I remember reading last year that Adam Driver played a popular Napoleon-like politician. He gains popularity with the troops and then with the people. I remember thinking, "That's a pretty cool idea, a do-over on how to show a Hitler-esque rise to power like they tried to do with the PT".

Now seeing these images of the Third Rei.... First Order.... I'm getting more and more excited every day!

 

Hmmm

 

You must have fine eyesight to see that close.

 

I know you did that it's just his facial features are still blurred.

 

That makes me go back to the whole thing about whether Driver is playing Ren or not. It seems almost accepted that he is, but there still seems to be a bit of doubt since I don't recall us getting anything super-credible on that front, or I just missed it.

Some people almost feel what we've seen of Ren has a more feminine quality to it... more than what we've seen of the chrometrooper/Phasma. Could it be possible the Gwendoline Christie is playing Ren, who is somewhat the hound of Driver's leader character? Having a female badass villain would certainly open the world of Star Wars up to diversity, as Kennedy was hinting at.

They do seem like capes by the way the "fall" around them so to speak. Also their caps seem interesting...

I know I'm completely wrong, and at most it's a cape mixed with a normal cap like the central figure, but in my head I'm seeing something like distinguished soldiers/generals wearing fancy hats like this... which would be really cool to see.

 

Tarkin knows that something is up. There's a pretty good part of the book where he infers correctly that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker. The author did a pretty good job having him put 2 and 2 together from a lot of random information to arrive at that conclusion. In the book, without spoiling a lot, Tarkin sees Vader use the force several times, and he's aware of the special relationship between Sheev and Vader. Also, Sheev now lives in the Jedi Temple. There's one specific part where Tarkin specifically thinks about rumors of the Sith Order and how it relates to those two and what really went down with Windu, but he comes to the conclusion that it's basically none of his business. By the end, he's the only other person in the Empire that's high enough ranked to be on equal footing with Vader and can speak to Sheev in a one-on-one way without all of the bowing and scraping.

 

Would certainly make for an unexpected twist if Kylo Ren is actually female, played by GC, while the Chrome Trooper is played by Driver.