Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Major Scene Almost Happened on a Key Prequels Planet

One of the iconic moments from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was at one point meant to take place on a key Star Wars planet. In The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren catch up with Rey and her Resistance allies on the desert planet Pasaana. Kylo Ren pursues Rey in his TIE whisper. On foot, Rey uses the Force to pull off a stunning running aerial maneuver that allows her to disable Kylo Ren’s starship with the swipe of her lightsaber blade. Newly revealed concept art shows that this moment was, at one point, meant to take place on the planet Coruscant, the former capital of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire.

Coruscant was the capital of the Republic when it fell to Darth Sidious. Emperor Palpatine kept his base of power there when he ascended as ruler of the Galactic Empire, transforming the Jedi Temple on the planet into his Imperial Palace. After his fall, the Imperial remnant tried to hold Coruscant. It relinquished control after suffering a significant defeat a the Battle of Jakku. The New Republic, breaking with tradition, did not take Coruscant as its capital. Despite being a New Republic member planet, the former capital fell under the control of various criminal syndicates vying for power in the Empire’s absence. Few visited Coruscant, and those who did brought protection.

By the time that The Rise of Skywalker takes place, the First Order had taken control of Coruscant and established a military presence. That may explain why the planet appears “devastated” in the artwork shared by Adam Brockbank, seen above.

Brockbank says the art is from early on in development. Perhaps in that version of the story, Rey traveled to Coruscant to retrieve the Sith Wayfinder from the Imperial Palace’s ruins instead of from the ruins of the second Death Star on Kef Bir.

Coruscant never appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy until Star Wars creator George Lucas added a shot in the special edition of Return of the Jedi. The galactic capital got its name in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to Empire, which continued the Star Wars story after the events of Return of the Jedi. Lucas chose to keep that name when drafting the script for The Phantom Menace. The planet was a significant location in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, especially during the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is streaming now on Disney+.