Greetings, Star Wars fans! I’ve been thinking about kyber crystals lately, what with all the occurrences in Rebels, and it got me thinking about Rey. Before we get into that, let’s talk about where they come from.
StarKiller base is one behemoth of a planet-sized super-weapon. This beastly contraption shoots out hyperspace-warping beams capable of vaporizing other planets. It achieves this through a corrupted utilization of the Force-powers of kyber crystals. The TFA Visual Dictionary tells us that the planet used to build the weapon was used because of it’s “energy-transmitting crystaline deposits”:
This basically, in my mind, confirms the theory that StarKiller base was built on the planet of Ilum, a planet in the outer rim known to be rich in kyber crystals. This theory is credited to twitter user and MakingStarWars contributer @JOutred:
I am thankful for @JOutred and his Ilum theory #Starkiller #Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/K0l1dfIjoi
— Pete Morrison (@ThePeteAwakens) November 26, 2015
StarWarsUnderworld ran a piece on this too, among many others.
Ilum is a frozen planet that has a Jedi Temple and caves with Kyber crystals, and was part of an ancient Jedi ceremony called “The Gathering” where young Jedi would enter and find their crystal (Seen in Clone Wars Season 5 episode 6). The crystal is connected with the Force, and is imbued with Force-power, in such a way that it chooses the Jedi as much or more than the Jedi chooses it. The connection between a kyber crystal and their associated Jedi is so powerful that Luminara Unduli said, to Barriss Offee while on Ilum in the Clone Wars shorts (the Tartakovsky ones):
“All are intertwined. The crystal, the blade, the Jedi. You are one.”
Finding your Kyber crystal is an essential part of the Jedi path. There’s a theory that Luke got the crystal to make his green lightsaber from Obi Wan’s chest back on Tatooine, and the crystal was none other than Qui-gon’s. Obi Wan had been keeping it with him all these years. Only problem is if this were true, why wouldn’t Obi Wan bring it with him to Alderaan? Under the theory, I suppose, he thought there was a chance he would lose it, so hid it in his hut. We’ll have to wait and see how the new canon shapes out to get the definitive word.
The one thing that is canon is that kyber crystals were used in the original Death Star. The fact that the Imperials knew about kyber crystals and already used them in their super-weapons makes it pretty clear that they would do it this way again for StarKiller. We have the quote from the Tarkin novel:
So the reason why I’m thinking about this is now that Ilum (Star Killer base) is destroyed, where will Rey get her lightsaber crystal? That is, if we hear or see anything about this in Episode VIII. I’m kind of hoping that we will. Kyber crystals and discussion of their significance have been getting more and more frequent in Star Wars content, with episodes of the Clone Wars and episodes of Rebels devoted to them, it stands to reason that we’ll eventually see them on the big screen. If we saw Rey make her way into a cave or temple with kyber crystals, it would also give a perfect opportunity to see the ghost of Yoda. After all, we heard the voice of Yoda in Star Wars Rebels when Ezra found his kyber crystal in the Jedi Temple on Lothal. Lothal is basically the other planet in the galaxy that we know for certain has kyber crystals and a Jedi temple.
This raises the question of whether there is there any chance that Rey makes her way to Lothal? It would be a cool way to tie together TV and movies for Star Wars if she and Luke were to go to Lothal to the same temple we saw on Rebels. Seeing it on the big screen could be a completely different experience. That said, Lucasfilm does seem to prefer introducing new planets at every chance.
We know from The Force Awakens that Luke is on a planet holding the First Jedi Temple. We’ve also got the recent report from Making Star Wars that there will be a lot of scenes on this planet “Ahch-To” in Episode VIII, a set at Pinewood has re-created it, and even auxilary on-location shots are planned for Dingle Peninsula, which will serve as a proxy for Skellig Michael in some shots. Here’s an example of what the peninsula looks like:
Probably the most likely scenario, if we are to see Rey find her own light saber crystal, is this Jedi Temple on Ahch-To. Assuming it has a cave that has kyber crystals. From the Clone Wars episode “The Gathering”, we know that young Jedi often have to go to great lengths to find their own lightsaber crystal, and Rey’s scavenging skills will come into great use if we see her hunt one down.
Moreover, as with the temple on Lothal, this would also be a perfect time to see Force ghosts of Yoda and Obi Wan. We already heard their voices, so this would be the natural next step.
Another cool possiblitiy would be that finding her crystal involves some under-water cave-diving. That would be like nothing we’ve seen, and be perfectly in the realm of possibility for a water-planet like Ahch-To. Time will tell what ends up happening, but speculation is half the fun!
Follow me on twitter @davestrrr and stay tuned for updates MWF on SpoiledBlueMilk!