Star Wars: The Last Jedi “A New Alliance” (2017)

Three years after it came out, Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues to polarize fans of the galaxy far, far away. While this will likely remain true for many years to come, there’s no denying that The Last Jedi has its fair share of awesome musical moments. One of my favorites comes late in the film when Kylo Ren brings Rey before Supreme Leader Snoke in his throne room on the Supremacy. This piece is called “A New Alliance” and covers a critical part of the story, when Kylo Ren seemingly turns to the light and kills Snoke.

There are some interesting moments in “A New Alliance” and I’ll highlight a few of them. First of all, the piece starts with what sounds like a brief reprise of “Snoke.” This continues as the tension builds in the music until suddenly at 1:07 the music “explodes”, corresponding with the shocking moment when Rey’s lightsaber ignites, cutting Snoke in half.

Another significant moments comes seconds later at 1:17 when we hear a reprise of “the Force” theme, heard when Rey calls the lightsaber to her and she shares a moment with Kylo Ren before they team up to take out Snoke’s Praetorian guards. This is the big moment that gives me goosebumps, since the tone of the piece flips from tension to shock and surprise almost instantly.

The remaining music focuses on Rey and Kylo’s fight with the Praetorian guards. If you listen carefully, around 2:25 you’ll hear a reprise of “Rey’s Theme” fittingly played as the scene focuses on her own fight.

I chose this piece because I wanted to show that good film music can be found in many places. It’s true, you don’t hear a lot of this because there’s a massive lightsaber battle raging at the same time. But despite that, John Williams took the time to craft this theme together, and it is one of my favorite musical moments in all of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Let me know what you think about “A New Alliance” in the comments below and have a great day!