A Death Star and Starkiller Base theory has been confirmed in Star Wars. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought the franchise back to life in 2015, it did so with many familiar elements. 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.

Although the Star Wars sequel movies didn’t reveal too many secrets of the First Order, tie-ins have given greater insight into its operations. Created from an Imperial Remnant, the First Order grew its power in the Unknown Regions. It was there, too, it built its superweapon. 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. That was essentially confirmed by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and then made more explicit by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary.

Related: Star Wars Reveals 5 New Details About Palpatine's Backstory

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. Various books have given different pieces of this puzzle, revealing Imperial mining on the planet long before the First Order completed its terraforming. Secrets of the Sith, an in-universe account of all things dark side purportedly written by Emperor Palpatine himself, makes it more official. 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. After the Empire fell and the First Order rose from the ashes, it simply returned to finish what Palpatine had started.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Gathering on Ilum

It makes sense that the Empire started excavating Ilum to funnel its resources into the Death Star. This began shortly after the formation of the Galactic Empire, and fits perfectly with Palpatine’s plans in a couple of ways. 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. 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.

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 Empire’s operations were also partly responsible for the trench carved into the planet’s core; deepened by the First Order, it gave Starkiller Base its distinctive appearance. There was still plenty of kyber buried deeper in the planet than the Empire had gone, allowing for Starkiller Base to become an even more devastating weapon than either Death Star. And with Palpatine already taking a keen interest in the Unknown Regions long before his death, and then eventually pulling strings of the First Order via Snoke, it means Starkiller Base was him finishing what he started.

Next: Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

Key Release Dates