The official databank on StarWars.com got a major update this week (as spotted by MilnersBlog.com), with tons of new information about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. There’s new details about side characters, droids, weapons, and vehicles, but we’re going to focus on the big one: the locations in Rogue One.
With new details on Rebel bases and holy cities, on outer rim planets and personal homes, it gives real insight (and gorgeous imagery) into the Star Wars galaxy and the way that Rogue One presented this world. Take a look at the new planets and locations by clicking through the slides.
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now, and hits Digital HD on March 24, 2017 and on Blu-ray and DVD on April 4, 2017.
Lah’Mu
Official Description: Located in the Outer Rim’s Raioballo sector, Lah’mu is a sparsely inhabited backwater whose rich soil and groundwater are contaminated by minerals and other elements. The Erso family fled to Lah’mu from Coruscant, hoping to find refuge from the Empire.
Our Take: This world was basically intentionally desolate – the endless horizon, no other people or civilization in any direction, it was meant entirely to show the isolation of the Erso family – and show that no matter how far you go, the Empire will find you. With one simple shuttle, the Empire made this vast, empty space into a tiny, claustrophobic cave (which Jyn then literally entered).
Rebel Massassi Outpost
Official Description: Some time after abandoning Dantooine, Alliance High Command transferred operations to a new headquarters on the jungle moon of Yavin 4. There, stone temples built by a now-vanished species have been transformed into hangars, barracks and a command center. From Base One, as the Massassi site is known, rebel leaders direct the fight against the Empire.
Our Take: This base on Yavin-4 getting a little more detail is cool. With the Star Wars Rebels TV series going to Dantooine this week (according to the preview), it looks like the show and movie are still on course to collide. It’s certainly intriguing to think about the ancient species that built these temples. Were they strong in the Force? After the fall of the Empire, Poe Dameron’s parents would head to Yavin-4 with a Force tree sapling, and he’d be born there, so there’s certainly more to be told about Yavin and its history.
Catacombs of Cadera
Official Description: Across the desert from the Holy City lie the ancient Catacombs of Cadera, once the final resting place for adherents of a vanished faith. Saw Gerrera’s partisan militia has set up operations among the bones of the forgotten, using the catacombs as a base for raids against Jedha’s Imperial occupiers.
Our Take: Thanks to the Rogue One Visual Guide and other book tie-ins, we’ve learned a lot about the people who worship the Force on the holy moon, even though the vast majority of them don’t have a wielding-connection to it the way the Jedi and Sith (and select other beings in the galaxy) do. Using a holy site, and a resting place no less, as a war headquarters certainly says something about Saw Gerrera. It could mean he felt like for all intents and purposes he was already dead, or could give him a sense of a holy crusade to his work.
Erso Homestead
Official Description: When the Ersos decided to break with the Empire, Saw Gerrera facilitated the purchase of a 65-hectare farm on the eastern side of the distant planet Lah’mu. On this world far from the centers of power, Galen and his family have reinvented themselves as subsistence farmers, hoping to escape from Director Krennic and his hunters.
Our Take: A simple but strangely inviting home, the Ersos’ aesthetic is not unlike that of Luke Skywalker and his Aunt and Uncle’s home on Tatooine. The parallels don’t stop with furniture style, though that does help to bridge the two films together – the Ersos were also forced into an exile and the child of the family, Jyn, likely didn’t understand why they were there.
Wobani
Official Description: A forlorn world in the Mid Rim’s Bryx sector, Wobani is the site of Imperial Detention Center & Labor Camp LEG-817. Jyn Erso is serving a 20-year sentence on Wobani under the alias Liana Hallik when Alliance Pathfinders free her from captivity.
Our Take: A full prison world is something that’s been talked about a lot in Star Wars but rarely shown. Seeing exactly how the Empire treats its people like this is a rare glimpse into the true darkness that it brought upon the galaxy, and why (thanks to Obi-Wan) we still refer to this era as “the Dark Times.”
Eadu
Official Description: A rugged planet in the Outer Rim’s Bheriz sector, Eadu is known – to the extent it’s known at all – for its rain and native nerf herders. Few suspect the planet is home to a top-secret laboratory where Imperial scientists working for the Tarkin Initiative seek to unlock the secrets of kyber crystals and perfect a terrifying weapon.
Our Take: Nerf herders! Yes! There are nerf herders on Eadu! It’s like an Easter egg inside an Easter egg here. It’s also fun to note that the weaponizing of the kyber crystals was the “Tarkin Initiative,” not any of the other higher-ups in the program or the Empire.
Holy City of Jedha
Official Description: Also known as NiJedha or simply Jedha City, the fabled Holy City of Jedha continues to attract pilgrims from numerous faiths despite a brutal Imperial occupation. Saw Gerrera’s partisans have fought back against the Empire, turning the city’s ancient streets into a war zone. But pilgrims keep coming despite the danger, hungering for answers to spiritual questions…
Our Take: If there’s one place in the galaxy we’d love to see explored further it’s Jedha. The idea of seeing all these other people who worship within various Churches of the Force in a native environment before the Empire came and tore it all apart is just so intriguing. Hopefully we’ll get more Jedha someway, sometime.
Mustafar
Official Description: A tiny, fiery planet in the Outer Rim, Mustafar maintains an erratic orbit between two gas giants. Mustafar is rich in unique and valuable minerals which have long been mined by the Tech Union. Its lava pits and rivers make this planet a dangerous habitat; its natives have burly, tough bodies that can withstand extreme heat. The planet became the backdrop for the fateful duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. After the rise of the Empire, captured Jedi were brought to the volcanic world for interrogation and execution.
Our Take: This one didn’t actually get an update, but it’s so important to Rogue One and there’s information in there you may not know. As the fiery castle home of Darth Vader, Mustafar played a pivotal role in the film. But some fans may not know that last line, that Jedi who weren’t killed instantly when Order 66 was enacted, were taken to Mustafar for torture – er – “interrogation.” It’s tough to think about the former Anakin bringing some of his former friends and allies there.
