

With this Star Wars theory confirmed, it does provide a neat link all the way from the prequel era through to the sequels, with Ilum bridging the Empire, the Death Stars, and Starkiller Base. The purpose of Ilum was twofold: wipe out a key Jedi area, and the suppository of kyber that would likely be needed for any new Order to rise, and then also being able to channel that power into its own superweapons, essentially making it a perfect plan for the Emperor. Ilum was a key Jedi world, and Palpatine, following on from Order 66, wanted to ensure the light was truly sniffed out, looking to destroy or at least cover up all traces of the Jedi Order, to the point that many in the galaxy simply believed them to be a myth.

This began shortly after the formation of the Galactic Empire, and fits perfectly with Palpatine’s plans in a couple of ways. It makes sense that the Empire started excavating Ilum to funnel its resources into the Death Star. After the Empire fell and the First Order rose from the ashes, it simply returned to finish what Palpatine had started. In the book, Palpatine confirms that the kyber on Ilum was used to power both of the Death Stars, long before it was Starkiller Base. Secrets of the Sith, an in-universe account of all things dark side purportedly written by Emperor Palpatine himself, makes it more official. Various books have given different pieces of this puzzle, revealing Imperial mining on the planet long before the First Order completed its terraforming. With this, then, came the theory that Ilum and Starkiller Base were connected to the Empire's Death Stars from the original Star Wars trilogy. Related: Star Wars Reveals 5 New Details About Palpatine's Backstory That was essentially confirmed by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and then made more explicit by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. Many speculated that Starkiller Base was the planet Ilum, a kyber-rich world that was once where Jedi would go to obtain crystals for their lightsabers.

It was there, too, it built its superweapon. Created from an Imperial Remnant, the First Order grew its power in the Unknown Regions. Emperor Palpatine had become Supreme Leader Snoke, who ruled over the Empire-like First Order, which came complete with its own planet-destroying superweapon, Starkiller Base, this time even bigger and deadlier than before.Īlthough the Star Wars sequel movies didn’t reveal too many secrets of the First Order, tie-ins have given greater insight into its operations. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought the franchise back to life in 2015, it did so with many familiar elements. A Death Star and Starkiller Base theory has been confirmed in Star Wars.
