The newest planet in Rogue One is the Force-sensitive world of Jedha, but the Star Wars Twitter account might have just confirmed that the planet has a dark, deadly future. In fact, we’ve already seen it on screen, because Jedha might become Starkiller Base from The Force Awakens.
Per the Star Wars databank, the official description of Jedha is as follows:
A small desert moon frosted by a permanent winter, Jedha is home to one of the first civilizations to explore the nature of the Force. At one time a world important to the Jedi Order, Jedha serves as a holy site for pilgrims from across the galaxy who seek spiritual guidance. Now, the Empire occupies Jedha, and a prolonged battle between Imperial forces and scattered Rebels carries on in the timeworn streets.
In the pre-A New Hope timeline, the Empire allegedly occupies Jedha in order to mine the planets resources for precious ore called Kyber Crystals, which are used to power the planet-destroying laser on the first Death Star. These crystals are also what’s used to power lightsabers, and what gives the planet a kind of Mecca-like aura to people tuned to the Force.
But the mysterious link between Jedha and the planet-wide Starkiller Base comes from a tweet from the official Star Wars account, which says Starkiller used to be a Kyber Crystal-rich planet. We’ve speculated that Jedha would be partially destroyed by a Death Star laser test based on some explosive shots from the trailers, but perhaps the entire planet doesn’t blow up and is simply left there.
Maybe Jedha doesn't completely go boom.
The Empire doesn’t want to ditch all that sweet, sweet Kyber Crystal power, and after two destroyed Death Stars, it seems plausible the fanatical First Order would come up with the idea of turning an entire dead planet into a superweapon instead of building another one.
Both Jedha and Starkiller Base are “frosted by a permanent winter” and based on the awesome firepower they have to both be packing some serious Kyber Crystal mojo. There seems to be no question that they’re one in the same.
Rogue One might be the first non-episodic Star Wars movie, but it looks like director Gareth Edwards still wants to connect it to the larger galaxy of the saga.
