Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for Pacific Rim Uprising. Proceed with caution, but only if you’re drift compatible. 

Earlier this year, the first trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising contained a tantalizing glimpse of Jaegers battling each other instead of the kaiju. At the time, we theorized that humanity had turned Jaeger battles into a new form of warfare during the decade between the first Pacific Rim and its sequel. At Tokyo Comic Con, a brand new video feature for Pacific Rim Uprising not only appeared to confirm our theory, it may have uncovered a dark direction for the plot. Today’s Nerdist News is drifting through kaiju minds to find out what it means.

Join host and the woman who found Hannibal Chau’s lost shoe, Jessica Chobot, as she dodges the fallout from the giant robot battle to give us the answers. It’s entirely possible that what we’re seeing is from the beginning of the movie, which could establish the state of Jaeger warfare in a world that was seemingly free of kaiju threats. That would even echo the way that the first film set the stage for its story.

But look at the intensity in that fight. Those two Jaegers aren’t behaving like random participants in a battle. They’re acting like they have very personal stakes on top of whatever else is going on. That’s why we’re betting that it takes place later in the story after that vendetta has been set up for the audience. Settling old scores in the middle of a fresh kaiju invasion is probably a bad idea, especially if the enemy wants to destroy humanity as we know it.

An alternative way for that battle to play out is if the rogue Jaeger pilots have actually sided with the kaiju against their fellow humans. It’s extreme, but not entirely out of the question. The Jaeger wars are bound to leave emotional wounds on both sides of the conflict, especially the losing side. Who’s to say that someone wouldn’t make a deadly alliance with the kaiju just to get their revenge on their hated rivals? We can totally see that happening, but we doubt that the powers behind the kaiju would have any interest in sharing the Earth once the Jaegers are out of the way.

What do you think about our Jaeger vs. Jaeger theory? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Legendary Pictures

Editor’s note: Nerdist Industries is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

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