Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker final trailer teases the end of the Skywalker Saga

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's final trailer promises the Force will always be with fans even if this is the end of an era.

The footage debuted in the US during Monday Night Football, and offered some hints about how the franchise will wrap up the nine-film epic story that George Lucas started in 1977.

This final battle between The Resistance and The First Order is, as expected, foreshadowed through an ideological pull that Rey (Daisy Ridley) is facing between the light and the dark.

The voice of the Emperor is once again heard over footage of Rey and Kylo Ren, sinisterly boasting: "Long have I waited, and now your coming together is your undoing."

There is growing darkness within Rey as we see her fighting alongside Kylo Ren, but she is also seen presumably battling the First Order with Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon.

"People keep telling me they know me. No-one does," she warns, with Kylo Ren answering: "I do."

That sequence alone sheds more light on Ridley's recent hint that The Rise of Skywalker "does deal" with all of the Reylo fan theories that have cropped up on social media.

Elsewhere, there is a teaser on what happened to C-3PO's eyes as he wistfully explains he's taking "one last look at [his] friends", while Babu Frik tinkers with his circuitry.

This final trailer does end on a hopeful note, with the voice of Luke Skywalker heard saying: "The Force will be with you."

"Always," General Leia Organa adds.

Along with the final trailer's release on Monday night, Disney and Lucasfilm have also officially put tickets for the movie on-sale a full two months before the actual release date. Click here for more details.

The Rise of Skywalker is set to mark the ending to the Skywalker saga, though director JJ Abrams has promised it will be a "cohesive" conclusion.

"This is about bringing this thing to a close in a way that is emotional and meaningful and also satisfying in terms of actually answering [as many] questions as possible," he said.

"So if years from now, someone's watching these movies, all nine of them, they're watching a story that is as cohesive as possible."

Abrams added: "While there were many things that were planned for and discussed – George Lucas himself said when he created this he saw it as three, three-act plays – that doesn't mean there isn't discovery, that doesn't mean there aren't things that come up that make you realise, 'Oh, here's an opportunity.'

"It also doesn't mean that there's a list of payoffs that we have to do because of setups. But we also were very much aware this is the end of the trilogy and it needs to satisfy. We went into this thing knowing it has to be an ending. We're not screwing around."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a release date of Thursday, December 19 in the UK and Friday, December 20 in the US.

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Sam Warner

Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International.  Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.

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