Theory: Jedha In 'Rogue One' Became Starkiller Base In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
One of the new planets introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a small desert moon located in the galaxy's Inner Rim called Jedha. Director Gareth Edwards has described the world as "a Mecca or Jerusalem within the Star Wars world" where people who believe in the Force come to worship. In the years before Star Wars: A New Hope, the planet has become occupied by Galactic Empire and serves as a key location in this first Star Wars standalone movie.
However, a new fan theory suggests that Rogue One might not be the first time we've seen Jedha on the big screen. Some fans believe that the planet was later used by the First Order as Starkiller Base, as seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Is it true? Could it be possible? Let's explore the Jedha Starkiller Base theory, after the jump.
The following theory contains some plot motivations from Rogue One, but no big spoilers or reveals.
The Jedha Starkiller Base Theory
Back in August, we learned why the Galactic Empire had occupied the Jedi holy land. It's not because of the Emperor and Darth Vader's disdain for the light side of the Force, but a practical need. As it turns out, the moon called Jedha is the source of a precious resource: kyber crystals, once used by the Jedi Order to build lightsabers. The same crystals are used to power the Death Star.
While Jedha is not the only place to get kyber crystals in the galaxy, the planet is apparently the most abundant source of the material in the known universe. The official Star Wars Databank describes the world 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.
Some fans believe that Jedha might actually be the ice planet Ilum which was featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Before the rise of the Empire, the Jedi harvested kyber crystals from Ilum and Jedi younglings came to the Force-sensitive planet to experience a rite of passage and retrieve their own unique kyber crystal. We don't yet know what happened to Ilum after the Emperor wiped out the Jedi.
Fans noticed around the release of The Force Awakens that the geographical location of Starkiller Base seemed to line up with previous maps that featured Ilum.
A StarWars.com article even mentions that Starkiller Base was "situated not far from the legendary world of Ilum," showing the origin point of the planet turned base right next to where Ilum existed. A recent tweet from the official Star Wars Twitter account now has fans connecting the dots between The Force Awakens and Rogue One:
The Empire's hidden resource became the First Order's ultimate weapon. #TheForceAwakens pic.twitter.com/at2BVt5mi9
— Star Wars (@starwars) October 18, 2016
Is it possible that Ilum, Starkiller Base, and Jedha are the same planet? One /Film reader presented this theory to me, and I've noticed other fans have been talking about the possibility on Reddit.
Here is what we know:
Sounds like a plausible connection, right? I can definitely see the reasoning, especially if there were one planet in the galaxy with an abundance of this secret powerful resource. Remember, Edwards told EW:
There's something very important in Jedha that serves both the Jedi and the Empire. It felt very much like something we could relate to in the real world.
It would make sense that the First Order may use the planet the Empire was mining to bring the Death Star online for their own purposes. Part of me loves the idea that Rogue One could further be connected to the galaxy presented in the other movies and TV show, but the other part of me hates how if it is true, it's seemingly making this galaxy even smaller.
However, Jedha is supposedly located in the inner rim while Starkiller Base was found in the outer unknown regions. That said, Starkiller Base had the ability to move around the galaxy, so this doesn't necessarily debunk the theory. We know that the First Order fled to the Unknown Regions to turn this planet into their base, and when we come to find it in The Force Awakens, Starkiller base has already been moved to that star system to drain its star to power its primary weapon.
What do you think? Does Jedha eventually become Starkiller Base? Or is this just a bunch of Star Wars fanatics looking too deeply into things?