Star Wars has just quietly linked the construction of the Death Star to Palpatine’s secret bases, a genius retcon that explains so much. We all tend to think of Star Wars as a film and TV franchise, but it’s always been so much more than that. Every Star Wars novel adds so much to the galaxy, explaining countless mysteries.

Take Lamar Giles’ Sanctuary, a novel starring Clone Force 99. Set during the Dark Times of the Empire’s reign, within two years of Order 66, this introduces a key ally of Palpatine’s: Cellia Morten. A wealthy industrialist, she’s apparently been part of Palpatine’s circle for a long time. There’s one major surprise; she has suspicions about the Death Star’s construction.

How Celia Morten Figures The Death Star Out

Morten may be a close ally of Palpatine’s, but she doesn’t know all the Emperor’s secrets; she isn’t supposed to know about the Death Star at all. But she’s noticed some familiar patterns that tell her “Sheev” is up to something:

“I’m not supposed to know. Nobody is. These are invoices from supply companies I use for my largest projects. The same companies I used when I constructed three of Sheev’s homes. You should see the one I built on Byss. It’s truly a marvel.”

Cellia thinks she’s talking about “homes,” palaces used by the now-Emperor but constructed in secret when he was just Chancellor (and perhaps even before). Readers know better; Palpatine maintained a network of secret “Observatories,” strongholds where he kept Sith secrets. This, then, is how they were built.

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It seems Palpatine viewed the construction of these Observatories as something of a template for a much bigger project: the Death Star. Building the Observatories helped him establish close, under-the-radar connections to major companies all over the galaxy. He took advantage of these to build the Death Star. As Cellia Morten continues:

“The purchases are through shell companies. Some are new, but some are the ones I was instructed to bill when I worked on his homes. I recognize the pattern – though it’s on a scale I’ve never seen, and I’ve built Star Destroyer factories.”

The Range Of Palpatine’s Plans Is Finally Making Sense

Palpatine’s Observatories have always seemed odd, not least because many are known to have been constructed before the fall of the Republic. It’s long felt as though the Sith Lord consumed resources at an unprecedented rate, and something should surely have been noticed decades before the Death Star was completed.

Now we can see the pattern, though, one becoming clear because of the vagaries of the Star Wars timeline. Palpatine was a man of unprecedented cosmic vision, and he used the Observatory projects to build a network that he could revisit for an even greater project when he was ready. No doubt every Observatory was a learning experience.

Palpatine managed to keep the Observatories secret even though he was operating as Chancellor, not Emperor, and that’s an impressive feat. Given he perfected such secrecy even before he became the galaxy’s absolute ruler, it’s no surprise Star Wars‘ greatest villain managed to conceal the Death Star too.