'Rise of Skywalker' Leaks: Star Wars Novel Reveals Which Death Star Appears

Even the first Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer that debuted in April implied that the ruins of a Death Star would feature prominently in the upcoming film, and because the second Death Star is where Palpatine died — and he’s slated to return — this location is probably Endor. But one dedicated fan who read the canonical Star Wars book Aftermath: Life Debt recently shared one crucial detail on Reddit that might prove it’s the second Death Star, and the planet Rey visits with her fellow Resistance fighters is none other than the forest moon of Endor. There are, however, some direct connections to Alderaan, the planet destroyed by the first Death Star during A New Hope.

“In the book Aftermath: Life Debt, there is a chapter about the Alderaanians that were off world when the planet got destroyed,” the redditor writes. “Shortly after the Empire fell, they gathered together and settled in the system on a flotilla of ships. The chapter ends with Leia gifting them the remains of the first [Death Star] to build a permanent space station in the system out of it.”

Despite what graphics from late ‘70s might imply, it appears that Luke Skywalker didn’t totally obliterate the first Death Star after all.

The redditor admits “there is still the possibility that they only got a part of the ruins and the rest is what we see in the teaser, presumably on Yavin IV,” but logistically, the first Death Star really wasn’t that close to Yavin IV whereas the second was very close to Endor. The second Death Star is also significantly larger, so there’d be much more of a gravitational pull from the nearby planetary bodies that would cause wreckage to land there. For what it’s worth, the second Death Star’s explosion also looked a lot bigger as well.

Either Death Star is seemingly possible for The Rise of Skywalker, or perhaps even both are featured, but especially in light of this new piece of evidence, the second Death Star and Endor is looking more and more likely. Not only was this the location of Palpatine’s death and probably the site of his eventual resurrection, but it would offer an opportunity for The Rise of Skywalker to bring back the beloved Ewoks in some capacity. We won’t know for sure until the movie comes out, but this feels like the most likely explanation.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released in theaters December 20, 2019.

Here’s the Reddit post in its entirety: