10 Things to Know: New 'Star Wars' Canon

In the most informative book in the new canon, Catalystby James Luceno,We learn a key point about the Death Star's build time: exactly when it starts. Right after the Battle of Geonosis, the Republic somehow got the battle station plans. Count Dooku/Lord Tyranis took those plans from Poggle the Lesser at the end ofAttack of the Clones.Palpatine commissioned a similar battle station for the Republic, complete with super weapon capabilities, under the impression the Separatists were building their own mobile station. The Republic entered a non-existent arms race for three years.

About one year after the events inAttack of the Clones, the Prime Meridian of the Death Star was finished. Construction kept going in the asteroid field around Geonosis; this is documented in detail in Catalyst.

Kyber crystals are a type of "living" crystal found in theStar Warsgalaxy deeply connected with The Force. Jedi and Sith use them in lightsabers. Because of their nature and link to The Force, each Kyber holds huge potential for harnessing The Force's energy. This led the ancient Sith to develop superweapons like the Death Star, making controlling Kyber crystals a Jedi Order priority.

One mainstream introduction to these crystals appears in atwo-partClone Warsarc: "The Gathering" and "A Test of Strength,"A group of younglings, led by Ahsoka Tano, travel to the ice world of Ilum. They seek a crystal to build their first lightsabers. Later, Pablo Hildago says this is an unfinished but 100% canon, three-episode arc called"Crystal Crisis on Utapau,"Obi-Wan and Anakin find a boulder-sized Kyber. They try to keep it from the Separatists, fearing the damage if the Separatists use it against the Order.

After Order 66, the Empire set up mining colonies on worlds with Kyber crystals, including Ilum, Utapau, and Lothal. The Empire also destroyed ancient Jedi worship sites. They did this to stop symbols of resistance and to gather more Kyber crystals to power their Death Star project.

A major flaw the prequel trilogy keeps is the lack of scale in the galaxy, both in size and political complexity.The Clone Warsanimated serieshelps reshape how viewers see the saga films. The series gives us the view of galactic citizens caught between the Republic and the Separatists—the regular person or a strange alien thing.

Beings simply want to exist. They do not care about the war's sides. This shows the line between good and evil, right and wrong, is blurry and gray.

In.Catalyst., we learn how the early Death Star construction happened on Geonosis, the site of the first major Clone Wars battle. Logistically, this makes sense. Geonosians suffered huge losses and could not fight the Republic construction sites. They used Geonosians for resource extraction from nearby asteroids and for building the battle station with droids.

At least three years before the Battle of Yavin, the Death Star construction site moved. The Empire erased the planet's entire population to keep the project secret, killing about 100 billion citizens.

Tython. We never knew 'ye'... we knew 'ye' from 2006 to 2012 at least. Tython, in what is nowLegends., was the ancestral home of the Jedi's predecessors, the Je'daii. These Force users focused on balancing light and dark, as shown inDarth Bane: Rule of Two.. Jedha is the new Jedi home. It was established in the first and second acts of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

We know little about the sacred moon and its capital, Jedha's origins. This leaves room for films showing the society during its peak.

BetweenTarkin.and.Catalyst.James Luceno gave life to two top characters for page and screen. Wilhuff Tarkin and Orson Krennic both seek ultimate power, or at least the ability to command it. School counselors call "obtainable goals" different ways. Tarkin and Krennic take very different paths to these goals.

Tarkin gained power through traditional means. He served as an admiral in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars, rising through ranks using ruthless but effective tactics. Krennic started in the Republic Futures Program, then dropped out to join the Republic Corps of Engineers, which built deep-space structures for troops during the Clone Wars.

At the start ofCatalyst,We watch Krennic move for power, both real and figurative, closer to the Emperor. Krennic needs acknowledgment and praise. Tarkin gets attention from the Emperor. This causes Krennic's resentment.

Palpatine's influence reached everyone involved in building his Death Star, even Krennic, not just because he wanted Krennic to work harder.

Good research turned into billions of deaths. Galen Erso, as we learn inCatalystAn independent researcher, Catalyst worked for a neutral energy corporation during the Clone Wars. He studied synthetic Kyber crystals and how to use them for cheap power. After some Separatist involvement, Erso, his wife, and daughter Jyn escaped the Republic with Orson Krennic, who joined the Republic Corps of Engineers. Krennic needed a crystal researcher and started controlling both Ersos.

Many people do not realize this (and the films do a poor job showing it outside ofReturn of the JediThe Rebel Alliance is not one large group. It has multiple small cells, squadrons, and groups that join the Alliance. This means there are many different views, personal goals, daily tasks, and contributions to the Rebellion.

Regarding Rogue OneOne important rebel cell is arguablyPhoenix Squadron, also known as the cast ofStar Wars: RebelsPhoenix Squadron made many contributions to the Alliance during Rebels.RebelsThese contributions are used in The Battle of Scarif.

Exploring these extra rebel cells in novels, games, or films could create amazing stories far from the usual.

BOO! HISS! BOO! YOU HAD ONE JOB, LUCASFILM. ONE JOB.

*ahem*

Kyle Katarn became an Imperial defector to the Alliance after his father was executed for treason. We first see Katarn inStar Wars: Dark Forcesopening before the events ofA New Hopewhere he alone infiltrates an Imperial base and steals the Death Star plans. He is force sensitive, but that is secondary; focus on the stolen data tapes.

Yeah.

Lucasfilm dropped the ball here.

But.

Including every other reference and Easter egg in the film, having a character with that last name would acknowledge long-time fans.

This might seem odd, but it will make sense—promise!

The Death Star's size, 120 spherical kilometers, the 2.5 million people on board, and 21 years of building and research mean galactic impacts beyond turbo lasers.Massive.. In the novelsAhsoka, Lost Stars,andCatalyst, the Empire shows what it does for resources, and it is not nice.

InAhsoka, the Empire takes a remote moon with farm exports and colonizes it. The Empire makes its inhabitants grow crops that drain the soil's nutrients, making it useless. Later, people find that Ilum, a planet known for Kyber crystals, has been mined so much the planet is no longer round and its magma shoots into space.

InLost Stars, Thane Kyrell finds the slave labor the Empire uses on a spice world and defects. InCatalyst, we see many Legacy Worlds. These planets supposedly have a protective status like the United States' National Parks. Extracting massive amounts of resources to build the Death Star turns these worlds into wastelands.

The point is this: the attack on Alderaan was terrible, but people suffered more from the Death Star over those 21 years.

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