4
About the Death Star
The ultimate weapon of terror, the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station colloquially known as the Death
Star, became one of the most eective weapons in the arsenal of the Galactic Empire. Prior to
its eventual destruction by the Rebel Alliance led by the young Jedi Luke Skywalker, the Death
Star earned its infamy by crushing resistance through sheer size and might, as well as the total
destruction of Leia Organa’s homeworld, Alderaan.
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, with assistance from the Geonosians, plotted to build the first
dreaded Death Star – a weapon unlike anything the galaxy had ever seen. Palpatine, secretly the
Sith Lord Darth Sidious, had his apprentice Darth Tyranus (also known as Count Dooku) deliver the
plans from Geonosis to Coruscant at the start of the Clone Wars. The Death Star secretly took
shape in space above Geonosis. Access to the former Separatist world was restricted, with very
few in the Imperial hierarchy allowed to know about the battle station’s construction.
The Empire appointed Wilhu Tarkin to oversee the project. Tarkin proved a capable commander,
and Palpatine rewarded him by making him a Grand Mo with greater control over the project.
Tarkin would become the battle station’s greatest champion, seeing it as the key to vanquishing all
resistance to Palpatine’s rule.
The Death Star’s downfall began with Leia Organa rescuing a series of blueprint layouts and
plans for the Death Star, and realizing the importance of the plans’ survival, placed them inside
Astromech droid R2-D2 who, along with his companion C-3PO, were purchased by Owen Lars from
scavenging Jawas. Located by Luke Skywalker, and later Obi-Wan Kenobi, the plans inside R2-D2
were key in the Rebel Alliance’s discovery of the Death Star’s one major weakness: an exhaust
shaft that led directly into the Death Star’s main reactor.
© & ™ Lucasfilm Ltd.
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