Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel has been released, and like every other Star Wars book, it was
packed with lots of cool details and references to other pieces of the Star Wars universe
as well as hints at what’s to come in Rogue One.
So in this video I’m going to cover fifty one new facts revealed by James Luceno’s
book!
Why fifty one?
I don’t know!
It just worked out that way!
Some of these I covered in my review yesterday, but there were lots of little things that
I think are worth talking about that just don’t merit their own individual video,
so let’s get started!
Oh, and of course, this is going to be absolutely full of spoilers, so if you plan on reading
this, you might want to hold off on watching.
The Death Star began construction as a Republic weapon, not Separatist.
After Dooku brought the plans to Sidious, Palpatine used them to instill fear that the
Separatists were building a superweapon and that the Republic needed to build a version
of their own first.
Palpatine created the Strategic Advisory Cell to take charge of the battle station project.
The members of the Cell assumed the plans had been captured with Poggle the Lesser after
the Second Battle of Geonosis.
Every member signed the Official Secrets Act to keep Republic citizens, even the Jedi,
from learning about the project.
One member of the Advisory Cell was Gubacher, who appeared in the Clone Wars as the engineer
that upgraded the members of D-Squad.
Orson Krennic was a Lieutenant Commander in Special Weapons, after transferring from the
Corps of Engineers.
The rank insignias of the Republic and the Empire not only indicated seniority, but also
worked as automatic security clearance to enter restricted areas.
Construction on the Death Star began less than one year after the battle of Geonosis,
meaning it took nearly twenty three years to build.
Sentinel Base, which was mentioned in the novel Tarkin, was already established by this
time.
Since the Death Star was being built in Geonosis’s orbit, the asteroids surrounding it were mined
for ores.
Geonosis’s battle droid factories were also converted to refineries to assist in construction.
The first piece of the Death Star to be completed was the prime meridian.
Geonosians were responsible for introducing autonomous thinking to battle droids, so they
weren’t controlled by a central computer like Naboo.
Knowing the Death Star would require a large work force, Poggle the Lesser’s freedom
was negotiated in exchange for the use of his drones.
Sate Pestage, Janus Greejatus, and Ars Dangor all mentioned attending the return of Poggle
to Geonosis with Krennic.
Geonosians almost needed work to survive.
They fought and killed each other over tasks they found satisfying, a practice which was
considered completely natural to them.
Over the course of its construction, members of the Strategic Advisory Cell wondered why
Dooku never attacked the construction on Geonosis.
Of course we know this is because he is simply following his master’s orders.
It would appear that kyber crystals were impossible to synthesize because they were organic to
some degree.
The Jedi called them living crystals.
Large kyber crystals were rumored to decorate the various Jedi temples spread throughout
the galaxy.
We may see something like that on Jedha.
Galen Erso was researching kyber crystals so that he could harness their power to provide
cheap energy to developing worlds.
Lyra, Galen’s wife, was pregnant with Jyn, and it’s mentioned that the more wealthy
women of Coruscant would pay surrogates to carry their children to term.
Jyn was born in the first year of the Clone Wars.
That would make her twenty one years old at the time of Rogue One.
Galen was from a planet called Grange, which is a brand new planet.
Lyra was Force sensitive, but not enough to control it.
She was more just connected to nature and could feel the Force rather than access power
through it.
Lyra was also an intergalactic traveler, and we learn that there were a number of wonders
of the galaxy, much like the wonders of the world.
There were fifty wonders of the core.
There were thirty wonders of the mid-rim.
There were twenty five wonders of the outer rim.
Morseerian scientists working for the Separatists were attempting to develop biological agents
that would target the clone troopers, which is referenced in Servants of the Empire as
the reason the clone army was phased out.
Galen spent some time imprisoned by the Separatists.
Upon his return to Coruscant, he and Tarkin bonded over their shared experience, although
Tarkin had a much harsher experience.
Krennic disliked the idea of reporting to Tarkin, who was rumored to take control of
the entire Death Star project.
Tarkin, as we all know, did have his eyes set on controlling the project, but was content
for a while to allow Krennic to serve as the scapegoat for the numerous delays on construction.
Up until the end of the Clone Wars there was an area on Coruscant that was untouched by
the city called the B’ankora refuge.
The Imperial company logo was not so subtly the Death Star.
This is my own rendering based off the description in the book.
Galen was given access to the largest kyber crystal he had ever seen, noting its clear
color, confirming a tweet from Pablo Hidalgo stating that the large crystals were also
colorless until bonded with a Jedi.
Every department of the battle station’s development had a cover name and agency.
The superlaser’s cover was Project Celestial Power.
Other names included Stellar Sphere, Mark Omega, and Pax Aurora.
Galen was a pacifist and was under the impression his research was for energy enrichment.
But his work was sent to another facility where attempts were made to weaponize it.
One failed test resulted in the total destruction of an entire city and the deaths of tens of
thousands of beings.
Another similar facility was located on the planet Hapori, which was noted for the Battle
of Hypori.
The battle described is taken from the 2003 Clone Wars cartoon, so part of that series
is now officially canon!
The superlaser’s first successful test fire took place near two black holes.
This could be a nod to the Maw Installation from Legends.
Those two black holes were nicknamed Hero Twins.
This is a reach but maybe that’s a reference to Jacen and Jaina Solo, also from Legends.
Although classifying Jacen as a hero by the end is definitely open for debate.
The test superlaser was two percent the size of the final version.
A group of smugglers attempting to hide weapons and munitions from the Empire used an incredibly
antiquated technology called a boat.
A visitor marveled at the craft actually floating in the water rather than above it.
A mining conglomerate named Turlin/Benthic was located on a planet taken over by the
Empire for its resources.
Benthic is the name of one of the new aliens in Rogue One named Two Tubes, who is known
to be fighting the Empire after they invaded his home world.
The galaxy had what were called Legacy worlds.
They were like protected environmental or historical sites.
The Empire began ravaging them for resources.
Saw Gerrera began fighting the Empire in retaliation against the devastation of Legacy worlds.
When Galen learned what his research was being used for, he escaped Coruscant with Saw’s
help.
This means that Jyn had a long history with Saw.
The Ersos traveled to a planet called Lah’mu, which is probably the same planet seen in
the Rogue One trailers.
Gerrera gave the Ersos a communication card in case they ever needed his help again.
I think he will help rescue Jyn from Krennic in Rogue One.
Galen’s escape meant a complete stall on the final superlaser until he could be found.
Krennic was blamed for the escape of the Ersos.
For his failure he received a demotion and Tarkin was assigned to oversee his future
work.
There you have it!
Fifty one fun new facts from Catalyst!
I’m sure I missed some, so if there is something cool you’d like to talk about, leave it
in the comments!
Also, even though I just spoiled quite a bit of the book, if you’re still interested
in experiencing the full story for yourself, you can get the audiobook for free with a
trial of Audible!
There is a link in the description where you can sign up and get the book and support the
channel at the same time!
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As always, thanks for watching and may the Force be with you!