The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary is an essential read, and here are all the major reveals. Any Star Wars movie is typically accompanied by a Visual Dictionary, which helps viewers add context to the scenes they see on the big screen, and sometimes clear up potential plot holes or contradictions.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the end of the Skywalker saga, with the films going on a hiatus for the next few years. As a result, this particular Visual Dictionary is essential reading, because Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo presents it as the last word on a lot of sequel trilogy issues. Surprisingly, the book is absolutely silent when it comes to the central mystery of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Palpatine's return. Although elements such as the Force Dyad are mentioned in detail, and there's some discussion of Exegol and Sith cultists, the Emperor's resurrection is implied rather than overtly stated. Hopefully that means Lucasfilm is holding that story back for later.
Still, leaving aside this curious absence, the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary really does flesh out a lot of the film's plot. Here are the main takeaways.
Disney Create A New Star Wars Timeline
The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary opens with a new Star Wars timeline that's centered around the sequel trilogy, with events dated in relation to the firing of Starkiller Base. It's probably been introduced in order to simplify the chronology right now, because it's unlikely to stick. Events are dated as BSI (Before Starkiller Incident) and ASI (After Starkiller Incident). So the movies are dated like this:
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace - 66BSI
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - 56BSI
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - 53BSI
- Solo: A Star Wars Story - mainly 44BSI
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars - 34BSI
- The Empire Strikes Back - 31BSI
- Return of the Jedi - 30BSI
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 0
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - 1ASI
For consistency's sake, this article will use this timeline.
Legends Sith, Such As Darth Revan, Are Now Canon
It seems the legions of Sith Troopers are named after ancient Sith Lords. The following legions are named:
- The 3rd: Revan Legion
- The 5th Andeddu Legion
- The 17th: Tanis Legion
- The 26th: Tenebrous Legion
- The 39th: Phobos Legion
- The 44th: Desolous Legion
All of these names will be familiar to fans of the old Expanded Universe, and the reference to Revan adds to a building body of evidence that the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games are gradually being incorporated into canon. Meanwhile, it's worth remembering that Darth Vader had his own personal legion in the Empire, the 501st, which is presumably being retconned as his Sith legion. This gives an idea of just how many Sith Troopers Palpatine has at his disposal.
The Force Dyad Is Explained
It seems that Rey and Ben Solo were something called a "Force Dyad," two beings who share a previously-unheard of bond in the Force. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary contains two passages about the Force Dyad, and they help a little to understand the nature of this connection. The first notes that it was a natural event, strengthened when Kylo Ren attempted to penetrate Rey's mind in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The second, surprisingly, compares it to the Sith Rule of Two. There's a brief sketch of Sith hieroglyphs, which are said to be a Sith Eternal incantation "carved in the Old Tongue denotes the nature of the dyad, a pairing in the Force. Curiously, it is nearly identical to text describing the Rule of Two - a Sith doctrine that there could only be two living Sith Lords - but inflection marks and line breaks change specific meaning in certain words."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Star Destroyers AREN'T Mini Death Stars
According to the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, Palpatine's new Star Destroyers don't actually use Death Star technology. Instead, these Xyston-class Star Destroyers are described as "horrifically powerful capital ships... [with] planet-devastating first strike capabilities." The axial superlaser is fed from the Star Destroyer's main reactor, which explains why it's a vulnerability, and it required multiple shots to shatter the planet Kijimi - in contrast to the Death Star, which can obliterate worlds with just one shot.
Starkiller Base May Have Begun Construction Under The Empire
The first section of the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary is entirely dedicated to trying to create a narrative throughline that fits with every chapter of the sequel trilogy. As part of that, it attempts to establish continuity between the Empire and the First Order, in order to more coherently define the First Order as the next stage of Palpatine's plan all along. One of the more interesting details is that the Empire began a major Terraforming project on the ancient Jedi temple of Ilum in 52BSI - just a year after the Empire was founded. The Jedi: Fallen Order game recently confirmed that Ilum was the planet converted into Starkiller Base, so this is clearly trying to say that the First Order's superweapons were being built by the Empire. Ironically, this attempt at a continuity fix creates more problems than it solves; Ilum is in the Unknown Regions, and tie-in novels had already established the Emperor didn't immediately cast his eyes there. Meanwhile, Star Wars: Resistance revealed that there were three failed Starkiller experiments. Were these all conducted within a year of the Emperor's rise to power?
Kylo Ren Should Have Known Where The Resistance Were Hiding
Leia has taken the Resistance to the planet Ajan Kloss, which was discovered by Alderaanian scouts prior to the Galactic Civil War. Although there's some evidence Ajan Kloss was once inhabited, the natives - who are referred to as the "Kloss" - died out untold eons ago. It became a secret stronghold of the Alderaanian Royal Family, and was passed to Leia Organa after the deaths of her parents. Although the Rebellion never used Ajan Kloss, Leia took Luke Skywalker there to train his first generation of Jedi - and he trained Leia there as well. In an ironic twist, the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary implies that Ben Solo began his own Jedi training on Ajan Kloss. Kylo Ren really should have been able to track his mother down.
How Rey Has Repaired Luke's Lightsaber
Luke Skywalker's lightsaber was destroyed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but it's been mysteriously restored for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The Visual Dictionary explains a leather wrist strap has been used to bind the two broken halves together, while the broken Kyber Crystal has been restored using healing techniques gleaned from Rey's ancient Jedi texts. There are apparently new weld marks on the lightsaber, too, where Rey has welded the separate parts back together.
What Secrets of the Force has Rey Learned?
Rey has been studying the ancient Jedi scriptures for the last year, and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary hints at what she may have learned. It seems these texts were so old that they had been believed lost millennia ago, meaning many of their lessons had long since been forgotten by the Jedi. But, with the help of Resistance linguist Beaumont Kim, Rey has been translating them. That means she's learned a little about:
- The World Between Worlds, a concept introduced in Star Wars Rebels that allows entry into a place where time and space can be manipulated;
- The Phases of Mortis, the mysterious avatar world that was visited by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka in The Clone Wars;
- Force techniques derived from other traditions, explaining Luke's Force projection power in Star Wars: The Last Jedi;
- Myths on the creation of the Force, many of which conflict;
- And, of course, secret techniques for healing Kyber Crystals.
Some of the books are written in a language called "Vertical Tionese," which is an amusing reference to an EU Jedi who studied ancient Jedi history, Tionne. Scans have been preserved in R2-D2's memory units for posterity.
Rey's Hood Is In Honor Of Leia
Rey's costume has been switched up a little in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and apparently there are story reasons for it, not just new merchandising opportunities. A hood has been added, in the traditional Alderaanian style, as a mark of Rey's respect for Leia - her new Jedi Master.
The Return of the Tantive IV
The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary confirms that the CR90 Corvette, seen so prominently in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is indeed the Tantive IV. Leia's old consular vessel was impounded by the Empire at the beginning of the first Star Wars movie, and Darth Vader ordered it destroyed. Instead, it wound up placed in storage, and the Rebels recently discovered it. Leia turned the Tantive IV into the Resistance flagship, which makes its apparent destruction during the Battle of Exegol a lot more poignant.
The Visual Dictionary also neatly explains a minor Tantive IV plot hole. Star Wars: The Last Jedi established that it had previously been impossible to track a ship through hyperspace - so how did Darth Vader pursue this ship from Scarif to Tatooine? It seems there was a fault in the Tantive IV's hyperdrive that made it possible to trace it.
The Names of the Knights of Ren
The Knights of Ren are finally being fleshed out as characters in Marvel's The Rise of Kylo Ren comic, and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary reveals a lot about them. It confirms that all members of the Knights of Ren are low-level Force-sensitives, and names them as follows:
- Vicrul, who sees himself as the harvester, the reaper of the fallen, and the targeter of souls. He grows in the dark side with every life he takes, and has a nascent and uncontrolled ability to generate fear in his prey.
- Cardo, a destructive warrior who uses hefty arm cannon packs, vented plasma bolt launchers, and flamethrowers. He is the Knights' armorer, and is obsessed with weapon modification.
- Ushar believes in testing his victims; if they plead for mercy, then they receive a slow and painful death. His signature weapon is a blunt-ended war club that drives kinetic energy into a concussion field generator.
- Trudgen collects trophies from his fallen conquests, adding to his weapons and armor with every victory. His patchwork helmet incorporates elements from a Death Trooper he defeated at some point, and his signature weapon is a powerful vibrocleaver.
- Kuruk is something of a loner, and typically operates as the Knights of Ren's pilot. He's predominantly a sniper.
- Ap'lek is a master manipulator and strategist, who likes to use smoke to conceal his approach and uses the Force to peer through the smoke screens. He carries an ancient Mandalorian executioner's ax.
Allegiant General Pryde's Backstory Revealed
According to the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, Enric Pryde was an Alsakan who was born shortly before the Clone Wars. He was trained on his planet's Imperial Academy, and was fiercely loyal to the Empire, fighting at the Battle of Jakku. He knew more about Palpatine's machinations than many of his fellow Imperials, and used that knowledge to cement his own power in the First Order. Pryde was one of Supreme Leader Snoke's closest allies, and was one of the few to realize that Snoke was working on behalf of someone else.
Kylo Ren Finds Darth Vader's Sith Wayfinder On Mustafar
There are two Sith Wayfinders; one belonged to Emperor Palpatine, and the other to Darth Vader. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens with Kylo Ren visiting a molten world in order to acquire one of these Wayfinders, and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary confirms that this is indeed Mustafar. The planet is recovering from the dark side of the Force thanks to the events of the Vader Immortal game, but still draws cultists who are devoted to Darth Vader's memory. Kylo Ren takes the Wayfinder from one such Vader cult, the Alazmec of Winsit, who had presumably rescued it from the ruins of Vader's Tower.
Luke Skywalker's Compass Was A Jedi Wayfinder
Star Wars: The Last Jedi introduced viewers to a Jedi Compass, and according to the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary this was the Jedi equivalent of a Wayfinder. While the Sith Wayfinders helped chart a course to Exegol, the Jedi Compass guided Luke to Ahch-To, the first Jedi Temple. While this is a convenient retcon, it's actually one of the better ones in the book.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Had A Bounty Hunter Cameo
The visit to Kijimi includes a brief shot of a mysterious cybernetic being in the background, and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary reveals that this is an aged bounty hunter called Rothgar Deng. He's apparently using an alias, and the details provided are enough to identify him as Dengar, one of the bounty hunters Darth Vader used in Return of the Jedi.
Some Old Legends Races Are Now Canon
Some of the most esoteric ideas from the old Expanded Universe are now canon. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary makes oblique references to two Force-sensitive races from the EU, the Aing-Tii and the Fallanassi. The technique of Force Projection used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was inspired by the Fallanassi, an all-female sect who immersed themselves in the Force, which they referred to as the White Current. Meanwhile, a section discussing Sith Wayfinders references the Aing-Tii, who can use the Force to travel through hyperspace at will. Both are pretty deep cuts into Legends lore, but fit with the Disney era's interest in Force cults.