The Sith Dagger can be spotted approximately 12 seconds into the new TV spot for The Rise of Skywalker that focuses on the journey Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron take together, presumably to track down and defeat the resurrected Emperor Palpatine once and for all.
(Strangely, while the Sith Dagger shot appeared in the TV rollout for the ad, the version posted to the official Star Wars account excises the shot.)
Rey holds up the dagger on a shoreline of a moon where the second Death Star crashed. This could be Endor’s forest moon—home of the Ewoks—but descriptions from Disney Parks suggest another possibility: the Death Star wreckage fell on an oceanic moon of Endor called Kef Bir. Its presence in The Rise of Skywalker validates a number of leaks, which further indicate that the Sith Dagger has a central role to play in the plot of Episode IX.
Since there’s little indicating the purpose of the Sith Dagger in the actual TV spot, leaks regarding its role in the movie should be regarded as speculative, but have the potential to convey major spoilers about the plot. According to plot leaks published by MakingStarWars.net, which uses anonymous sources to piece together the plot of The Rise of Skywalker ahead of its release, the Sith Dagger serves multiple narrative functions.
The Sith Dagger—which does indeed look like a piece of Imperial technology—is believed to lead our heroes to the location in the Outer Rims where Emperor Palpatine has been hiding. But leaks point to the Sith Dagger as far more than just a compass—it may also be the key to unlocking Rey’s past. For a full recap of major potential spoilers, check out the Making Star Wars rundown, but suffice to say the red-eyed C-3PO seen in trailersmay have something to do with Resistance efforts to decode the runes on the Sith Dagger to uncover its full meaning.
While it’s possible the Sith Dagger has a relatively minor role to play in the upcoming Star Wars, if the leaks are correct it’s the skeleton key to much of the movie’s plot. We’ll find out just how important the Sith Dagger is when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20.
