Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order Theory Confirmed By Rise Of Skywalker
Details revealed in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary have confirmed the connection between Starkiller Base and Ilum, one of the planets featured in Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars established Ilum as a crucial and sacred location to the Jedi. The snow-covered planet appeared in multiple episodes, revealing it as the location where Jedi traveled to harvest Force-attuned kyber crystals, one of the main components needed to create a lightsaber, Similarly, the Empire relied on kyber crystals for their energy amplification capabilities, using them to construct both Death Stars and Starkiller Base.
Star Wars fans have theorized Ilum and Starkiller Base are one and the same since the latter debuted in The Force Awakens. Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order offered players the opportunity to take a more in-depth look at Ilum, unveiling more about the planet's history when Cal Kestis travels there to find a kyber crystal and create his lightsaber. As you approach Ilum, you can see clear signs of Imperial occupation, including the massive trench that bisects the planet.
The visual similarities between Starkiller Base and Respawn's depiction of Ilum in Fallen Order seemed to confirm their connection, with one Redditor suggesting the Empire took over Ilum to mine the massive kyber crystals hidden beneath its surface. This mining operation eventually transformed into the Starkiller Base seen in The Force Awakens. Though a logical conclusion, the theory remained unconfirmed by official Star Wars sources.
The visual dictionary that accompanied The Rise of Skywalker provides a wealth of previously unknown details about planets, storylines, and other elements of the now completed saga, including the creation of Starkiller Base.
"Properly energized, kyber crystals create containment fields that hold and amplify power to incredible levels. The Empire controlled several kyber-rich worlds, funneling their resources into the Tarkin Initiative's Death Star development. One unique world in the Unknown regions, Ilum, had a kyber crystalline core. Most of its more easily accessible deposits were scoured, but there were even larger crystals buried deeper beneath the surface. The First Order continued its excavations and gradually transformed Ilum – a revered Jedi world since antiquity – into an instrument of unfathomable destruction."
Another Star Wars mystery laid to rest.