New Star Wars Book May Reveal Death Star Spoilers From 'Rise of Skywalker'
Will 'Thrawn: Treason' spill one of the biggest twists in 'Star Wars: Episode IX'?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker won’t arrive in theaters until the end of the year, but a new Star Wars book coming later this month could reveal a pretty huge spoiler from Episode IX. An excerpt from the upcoming canonical novel Thrawn: Treason hints at a pretty huge detail about how the Death Star will return in Rise of the Skywalker.
Warning: Speculative spoilers for Star Wars: Episode IX below.
Shared on StarWars.com in late June, this passage from the new Admiral Thrawn-focused book details a meeting between some of the most powerful leaders in the Empire, including Emperor Palpatine himself. The story is set in the time gap between the end of the prequels trilogy and the beginning of A New Hope. It focuses on Project Stardust, a codename for the construction of the first Death Star.
Of course, if you watched the trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, you know that both the Death Star and the Emperor are set to come back in a big way as Episode IX attempts to close out the entire Skywalker Saga. So any new details about the planet-destroying weapon could be extremely relevant.
Thrawn as he appears on the cover of 'Thrawn: Alliances.'
Here’s a short snippet of the Thrawn: Treason excerpt. Be warned that this is basically just an Empire office meeting. So don’t expect any thrills beyond the sort of cutthroat office politics that only a boss like Palpatine could inspire:
The muscles in Krennic’s throat tighten briefly. “As I said, Your Majesty, the situation is under control. We’re merely having a few problems with mynocks at the equipment transfer point.”
“Grallocs,” Tarkin murmured.
“Grallocs are simply a cousin species to mynocks,” Krennic countered. His expression hardens, the skin flushing slightly. Possibly annoyance; possibly anger; possibly embarrassment. “They live in vacuum, they attack power cables and couplers—”
After a bit more arguing, Tarkin reveals just how extensive the damage from these “gralloc” creatures has been:
“A nuisance?” Tarkin asked. His expression holds triumph. “Your own reports show the equipment and point-defense turbolaser transshipments are already three weeks behind schedule. I don’t see how this qualifies as merely a nuisance.”
Ultimately, the Emperor decides that Thrawn will be put in charge of getting Project Stardust back on track. If he fails, funds will be diverted from his own TIE Defender project to speed up Death Star development.
Yes, this all sounds bureaucratic and boring, but here’s why it matters to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. We still don’t know where that Death Star wreckage was actually located in the first trailer. It could be Yavin 4 or Endor (the two locations where previous Death Stars were located), but it might also be a totally new planet. And with Thrawn assigned to sort out Death Star production in this new book, he might just be headed to that exact spot in the galaxy.
Could Thrawn: Treason reveal the location where Rey and the gang are headed in The Rise of Skywalker? And what will they find there? This new Star Wars book may just hold the answers.
Thrawn: Treason arrives on July 23, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be in theaters everywhere on December 20.
