You might think that building a giant, planet sized super-weapon in outer space might not go unnoticed, but it’s just one of the things you have to roll with if you’re a “Star Wars” fan. But if you’ve ever wondered how the Empire managed to keep construction of the Death Star secret, well, there’s now a whopper of an answer.
In the recently released “Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide” (in case you forgot, all books, games, etc. published since Disney‘s acquisition of Lucasfilm are now canon), put together by Pablo Hidalgo and the Lucasfilm Story Group, the answer is provided and it’s kinda crazy, and sorta involves genocide. io9 did the hard work of digging up the info, and they certainly know the nooks and crannies of the “Star Wars” universe better than I, so here’s how they describe it:
Ever since Attack of the Clones included the bombshell that the Separatists were the ones who originated plans for the Death Star, fans have wondered how the battlestation went from Geonosian idea to Imperial crown jewel. Turns out, it involves a lot of dead bug people.
When the Geonosians first started planning to build a separatist superweapon powered by a kyber crystal weapon, it was largely kept secret, until Geonosian ruler Poggle the Lesser was captured by Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. After the Clone Wars came to an end and the Empire rose, Wilhuff Tarkin learned of the theoretical weapon and became enamored with it, championing it to Palpatine (who, of course, just so happened to have the Geonosians’ original plans thanks to his alter ego as Darth Sidious). Construction of the physical frame of the weapon began over Geonosis with the help of Geonosian labor.
With the framework done, the only problem remaining was refinement of the kyber crystal energy source to power the facility’s superlaser. In order to keep the weapon secret while it worked on that conundrum, the Empire sterilized the entirety of Geonosis, wiping out its population of billions (a fact previously hinted at in Rebels and Marvel’s Darth Vader comic).
I guess that’s one way to do it, but geez, that’s grim. For more revelations, head over to io9. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is now playing everywhere. Check out lots of new images below.
