Yesterday EW ran an article stating that the Imperials where on the planet Jedha in Rogue One for a reason. Today we’ve learned Donnie Yen (Chirrut Imwe) confirmed to Extra TV why the imperials are there already:

“Jehda is the planet where they have these resources to build and make Lightsabers”

It seems like he’s talking about Kyber crystals. Kyber crystals are what power lightsabers; without the crystal, a lightsaber would be useless. We also know that the Death Star is powered by these crystals. We recently ran a scoop on the topic of crystals.

I always wondered where the Empire would get enough crystals to power up the Death Star. In The Clone Wars we see that another location for Kyber crystals is the ice planet of Ilum. We see a episode arc where younglings have to acquire there crystals, but you have to be Force-sensitive in order to find your specific crystal. So it’s possible that on Jedha, getting crystals is way easier for non-Force users. In some of the unfinished The Clone Wars episodes, we see the separatists stealing a huge Kyber crystal, one that could power the Death Star. In any case, I’m very excited to see where they will go with this story in Rogue One–it’s going to be very exciting.

.@DonnieYenCT reveals connection between planet Jeddah & light sabers! #RogueOne #StarWars #SWCE pic.twitter.com/RhAxe6O3vk

— ExtraTV (@extratv) July 17, 2016