Rogue One: Donnie Yen Reveals Jedha’s Secret

Actor Donnie Yen revealed, in a short interview, the real secret behind the mystical planet Jedha, from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story…

Just yesterday we reported on an interview that Rogue One director, Gareth Edwards did with Entertainment Weekly, where he revealed the name of the mystical planet that the Empire is trying to subjugate and occupy, for its resources.

But what exactly are these resources that the Empire must have, and why do they need them?

The denizens of Star Wars Leaks on Reddit, have sifted through the wasteland of the internet, to find an short interview that Extra TV did with Donnie Yen, who plays the blind warrior-monk, Chirrut Imwe, in Rogue One. Listen closely:

"“Jedah is the planet where they have these resources to build…make lightsabers.”"

If you notice the date, this interview took place back in July, during the Star Wars Celebration in Europe. Gareth Edwards just revealed the name of the planet Jedha, and its mystical connection to the Force, yesterday.

In fact, Edwards would not go into detail on why the Empire is on Jedha, and what they are mining for resources, but there is some speculation:

"“Again, Edwards didn’t explicitly say why Jedha is so important to the Empire. Breznican of EW speculates Jedha houses kyber crystals, used by Jedi and Sith to generate lightsaber blades and also the sources of power for the Death Star’s superlaser. Given Rogue One is mostly about the Death Star and how to destroy it, it makes sense to incorporate kyber crystals into the story and throw a little Force lore in there to enrich the setting.”"

I find it very interesting that Donnie Yen, who plays the blind warrior-monk, who is supposedly not a Jedi, knows that Jedha is the planet that holds the resources that can help create a lightsaber. He chose his words very carefully there. He didn’t say Death Star crystals, he said lightsaber.

Next: What we Know about Darth Vader and 15 other Characters in Rogue One

I wonder if Yen’s character, Chirrut Imwe, will attempt to use his connection to the Force, to build his own lightsaber, in order to battle the Empire’s aggression on his home-world of Jedha. He did say in that interview that he could feel it with his heart. Rogue One is shaping up to hold a lot of secrets, and maybe this Thursday’s trailer will show just a few of them. Let’s hope so.