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One shot from the new 'Star Wars' footage tells us a lot about what to expect

Thanks to Instagram, we have a precious few seconds of new footage from the next "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens."

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If you want to avoid spoilers or speculation about the "The Force Awakens," stop reading now.

First, watch the new clip. It's only a few seconds long.

There has been an awakening... #StarWars #TheForceAwakens

A video posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on Aug 27, 2015 at 10:00am PDT

Most of that clip comes from earlier teaser trailers. There are only two new scenes.

In the first new scene we see new character Rey with the droid BB-8. It's almost impossible to tell what's going on here. She could be looking at anything.

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Lucasfilm/Instagram

The second clip is way more interesting.

We see the other new main character, Finn, ignite a blue lightsaber in a snowy forest, apparently getting ready for a duel with Kylo Ren, one of the new villains. (Read more about Kylo Ren here.)

First we see the classic shot of Kylo Ren igniting his three-bladed lightsaber.

star wars the force awakens sith lightsaber kylo ren
Disney/Lucasfilm

Then we see Finn get ready for the fight.

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finn star wars
Lucasfilm/Instagram

But that's not just any lightsaber in Finn's hands. It's the lightsaber Luke Skywalker lost in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Darth Vader chopped off his hand in a duel.

This one:

mark hamill carrie fisher star wars 1977
Terry O'Neill/Getty Images

It goes deeper.

The lightsaber originally belonged to Darth Vader before he fell to the Dark Side and was a Jedi named Anakin Skywalker. When Anakin turned evil, he got in a duel with his master Obi Wan Kenobi who defeated him and took the lightsaber. Obi Wan then went into hiding on Tatooine, where he kept a close eye on Luke as he grew up. In "A New Hope," Obi Wan gives Luke Anakin's lightsaber.

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One of the earliest plot leaks for "The Force Awakens" has to do with that lightsaber. The theory goes that even though Luke lost the lightsaber, someone finds it decades later. Eventually, the lightsaber makes its way to Finn, an ex-storm trooper who has had a change of heart and abandons the evil military group called the First Order.

Some fans believe Finn goes on a quest to find Luke, who in turn ends up training him to become a Jedi so he can face the First Order and take down Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke, the two Dark Side followers who lead the group.

The first time this theory was at least partially confirmed was when the second teaser trailer came out in April and we got a close shot of the lightsaber. It seems like someone is handing the weapon to, who is presumably, princess Leia.

star wars force awakens lightsaber
Lucasfilm

So, what does it all mean?

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It seems like a lot of the story in "The Force Awakens" will be centered around the lightsaber, which has a long history with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. One common theory is that Luke has gone into hiding since we last saw him about 30 years ago. It could take Finn bringing the lightsaber to Luke that convinces Luke to come back and help save the galaxy again.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" hits theaters December 18, 2015.

Star Wars Disney
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