Here is my speculation, based on the official trailer that debuted during Monday Night Football on October 19th. No spoilers here since this is just guess work on my behalf. I have striven to be spoiler-free outside of official information (novels, comic books, press releases, etc.).
My Guess on the Plot
Luke tried to get the Jedi Order going but every time he could track down a Force-sensitive (not many of them), he is intercepted by Knights of Ren who either recruit them or kill them. So he goes into hiding so he himself is not killed. Han and Leia have a baby who seems to have latent Force ability. To protect her from the Knights of Ren, they abandon her to the desert world of Jakku to keep her safe (passively watched over/developed by pirate ruler Maz Kanata). Suddenly there is a Force-event that causes an awakening in her. Leia sense her daughter is no longer safe and sends Han & Poe to recover her from Jakku and to find Luke to train her.
Why do I think Rey is Han and Leia's daughter? The fact that she is prominently featured in the trailer and music that plays for her is Leia's theme from the original Star Wars movie.
Meanwhile, Finn is also affected by the Force-event and is awakened. He is labeled a traitor to the First Order by the Knights of Ren, who sensed his Force ability and approached him to join their ranks, after he refuses to join them. He escapes in a TIE fighter only to crash land on Jakku, where he meets up with Rey.
Han & Chewie find Rey and Finn, daringly escape the attack by Captain Phasma in her TIE fighter, and journey to the castle of Maz Kanata to learn where to go next. Their meeting is interrupted by the attack of the First Order - Finn, Chewie and Han are almost captured when the castle falls.
The Death of Chewbacca?
We see Rey crying over what looks like to be a body - perhaps a furry one. If this is true, then it sure seems like Chewbacca dies in the film. I sure hope not. He was the only major legacy character to be killed off in the old EU, in the novel Vector Prime. IT feels like a rehash of that - which I am sure Lucasfilm would play up: "See we do like the old EU!" It also doesn't make sense from a franchise standpoint - why kill off someone who is not a face character? Wookies live for several centuries and since he is a "guy-in-a-suit" character, they can use other actors other than Peter Mayhew.
However, from a dramatic standpoint, I can see why JJ would choose to do it. He wants us to emotionally bond with Rey - especially the OT fans. What better method than the Old Yeller approach - having the lovable, protective, and loyal friend die? I've seen in the Star Wars sticker book Rey and Chewie in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon together. It fits. I hate it, but it fits.
The Death of Poe?
I expect Poe to die in this battle or when he is captured and tortured by Kylo Ren. I assume some clever editing in the trailer makes it look like he lives to fight the final battle on Starkiller Base on the yet-to-be-named ice world. It is his death that Leia mourns in her very brief appearance in the trailer. The Shattered Empire comic book series shows that she knew Poe's parents and presumably formed a close friendship with them over the 30 years.
We see Poe being tortured by Kylo Ren in the trailer, more than likely to extract information. But what if it is something else? What if Kylo is tapping into his emotions and converting him into a Knight of Ren? That would be very cool and it would help explain why only Kylo Ren has a lightsaber while all the other knights seem to have move conventional weapons.
The official poster does show parallel arrangement for the two characters. It also helps to answer the question why Kylo is fixated on Darth Vader rather than the Emperor. If it is his grandfather, it would be much more understandable that he would be fixated on him. This could be part of Leia's heartbreak that we may be glimpsing in the trailer.
We will see how close I am to these guesses - mostly taken from this trailer.
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