Star Wars fans have just been staggered to learn how the Death Star was actually constructed. A master manipulator, Palpatine tricked the Republic itself into beginning work on the Death Star – because they believed the Separatists were already building one. Work was already well underway before the Republic became the Empire.

But just how was such a mᴀssive battle-station constructed in secrecy? We know that a lot of the infrastructure was built at Geonosis, and it’s generally believed it was built in orbit. Surprisingly, though, De Agostini’s Star Wars Encyclopedia suggests a different method…

The Death Star Was Actually Built INSIDE A Planet

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Cobalt Green spotted this remarkable image on Twitter, and was staggered to share it; the image shows the Death Star superstructure built inside a planet. This is an idea with roots in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, but it was thought to have been wiped from canon. It’s unclear which planet is shown here.

Naturally, this raises a lot of questions about just how such a feat of engineering would be possible. That’s especially true given the Republic would have had to complete a literally planet-sized construction facility during the Clone Wars, since the plans for the Death Star were only retrieved during Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

The Death Star’s Construction Really Does Set Up Starkiller Base

This idea may seem rather absurd, but it does have two major advantages. The first is that this perhaps explains one of the strangest questions of the original trilogy; how was the second Death Star built so quickly? This would perhaps make more sense if the Empire had essentially created a planet-sized conveyor belt system for when the prototype was finished.

The second is that this helps establish the strange links between the Death Star and Starkiller Base, an entire planet transformed into a superweapon by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This “conveyor belt” system becomes the prototype for feats of engineering on a planetary scale.

Technically, De Agostini’s Star Wars Encyclopedia is canon. It’s worth noting, though, that elements of Legends did tend to slip into these publications; some of them have been removed from later editions. Darth Plagueis’ Sith Master, Darth Tenebrous, was named in one issue of Build the Millennium Falcon, but he was subsequently wiped.

So the Death Star’s surprising origin is Star Wars canon for now, but that may change.