Fantasy film fans gathered in the air conditioned corridors of the Anaheim Convention Center in California on Thursday for Star Wars Celebration, a movable feast marketing event geared toward disciples of that galaxy far, far away. Fans camped out on hard floors the night before, as a ticket to the conference does not guarantee entry to individual events, although the opening panel was also simulcast around the world on the web.

This was the first opportunity for director JJ Abrams to present his cast and show a new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh live action feature film in the second greatest fanboy franchise. (Second greatest because, reminder, Star Trek rules, Star Wars drools.) How will Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan continue the story after the tidy ending of Return of the Jedi? Will it be strange to see Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford back as their spacebuckling personas again? Will new characters like Poe Dameron and Kylo Ren wash away the bad taste of hated Prequel characters like Jar-Jar Binks and Dexter Jettster? Was that last sentence real?

Luckily, tiny blue holoprojections emerged from our computers during the panel, and we were taking notes. Here are the ten most Forceful moments.

1. Grey destroyer down

On what we now know is Jakku, the first captivating vista is of a giant Star Destroyer … destroyed? We’ve seen these things blow up in space, but we’ve never see the wreckage when they land. It’s a pretty striking image for a Star Wars fan.

2. Head injury

We hear Luke Skywalker via voiceover discussing the power of the Force in his family. “My father had it, I have it, my sister has it.” On the line “my father,” we get a troubling image of the once terrifying Darth Vader, now all dinged up like a forgotten hubcap.

3. Red storm

Lucas’s films have always been rather bloodless. Even when Obi-Wan Kenobi lopped off Ponda Baba’s arm in the Mos Eisley cantina, it wasn’t all that gory. But there’s a shot of a Stormtrooper, presumably John Boyega’s Finn, where he’s clutching his head and there are dark red marks. Are the kids in the audience ready for this? And is this who Luke Skywalker meant when he said “you have it”?

4. New coat of paint

Everything in the new trailer is just a little bit shinier. The Empire’s TIE fighters have a sliver-y new sheen. Moreover, the TIE fighter pilots themselves have a sparkle. As blaster fire explodes in green and red, you can see the reflection. Maybe this is Abrams’ new spin on his lens flare from Star Trek. (It is a Christmas timed release, so the green and red works nicely.)

5. We’re home

Get out the hankies, folks. Harrison Ford’s Han Solo doesn’t just get the line of the year, he delivers it … while smiling. Lord knows what’s actually happening in the plot (by now in the teaser it’s just ships zooming around) but everyone’s favorite Corellian spice smuggler is back with Chewbacca the Wookiee in a very recognizable ship. “Chewie, we’re home,” is the sound byte that will ring in every nerd’s head from now until December.

... and here’s what we learned from the press conference.

1. She’s the boss

JJ Abrams is the director and co-writer of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but Kathleen Kennedy is in charge of Lucasfilms. She was right alongside Abrams wearing a Star Wars T-shirt under a white blazer, answering just as many questions as he did. When emcee Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly mentioned that he had a five year old daughter who was a fan, it was her cue to mention that, unlike in the past, there won’t be just one female character. Joining Princess Leia will be Daisy Ridley’s tough gal scavenger Rey, plus still unknown characters played by Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie.

2. Next stop, Jakku

You’d think an event like this would offer loads of information about the meat of the film, but that’s not the JJ Abrams way. He did let it slip that the desert planet we saw in the previous teaser trailer is actually not Luke Skywalker’s home Tatooine. It is a similarly dusty land called Jakku. (Spelling of Jakku may not be accurate, but, then again, when you translate from the original Jakkunese characters, it all becomes academic.)

These scenes were shot on location in Abu Dhabi, and Abrams took a moment to reflect on how George Lucas shot so much of the first Star Wars in Tunisia, which gave it a touch of realism. The assembled crowd then broke out into thunderous applause at the somewhat jargon-ish phrase “practical sets.”

3. Roll out the barrel

Everyone applauded when a motorized R2-D2 hit the stage. This particular model was created by two British fans/engineers (Oliver Steeples and Lee Towersey) that the producers met at a previous Star Wars Celebration. They were then hired to create the actual, lovable droid for the movie.

But R2-D2 is old hat. Let’s see the new kid! And out rolled BB8 to steal our hearts. The one-eyed, orange and white beach ball zoomed across the stage, rounding the corner like a little robotic Charlie Chaplin. His bleeps and bloops sounded a little more tonal than Artoo’s. Not only that, he was trending on Twitter like a demon, with the social network automatically generating little spherical graphics to the hashtag.

4. Meet the new team

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac came out to not really say much about their characters. Boyega, playing Finn, confirmed that he is a Stormtrooper, after checking in with Abrams that it was okay to do so. Isaac referred to X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron as “the best frickin’ pilot in the Galaxy!” who is sent on a mission by a certain Princess, then hooks up with the other two.

Boyega showed his age by mentioning his love of Star Wars was born playing PSP games like The Force Unleashed.

A line-up of Stormtroopers appeared, with some slight modification to their uniforms. This new film is set “a few decades” after the last one, Abrams says, so expect some changes, but to also be in line with the designs we already know.

5. ... and the Old Team

Then Anthony Daniels (C-3P0), Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Mark Hamill came out. They all professed heartfelt love to the audience and the franchise. Yeah, Daniels called his character “C-P30” but there were a lot of eyes on him, anyone can get nervous. He’s beloved nonetheless. Fisher thanked all the toy owners for “playing with her” as they grew up. She also announced no metal bikini in the new movie.