Exactly one week ago,Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyhit theaters, and fans just can’t get enough of it. ThisStar Warsspin-off has already earned $221.9 million domestic and $419.8 million worldwide from a $200 million budget, and over the past week, a number of new details about this project have started to be revealed. Today, more details have been revealed through a newStar Warsbook, offering fresh insight into the popular character Chirrut Imwe, played byDonnie Yen.
ComicBook.comgot a hold of the bookStar Wars Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, which is available in stores now, and reveals that Chirrut Imwe actually has akyber crystal, the same substance used to fuel lightsabers and the powerful weapon inside the Death Star. LucasFilm’sPablo Hidalgoreveals in this book that Chirrut’s “Crystal containment lamp” doesn’t hold a full kyber crystal, but rather “a kyber sliver.” Here’s an excerpt.
“Designed as a symbolic source of inner illumination, it also allowsChirrutto better gauge where the end of the staff is, as he can hear both the battery and crystal harmonic.”
Each of these kyber crystals are known to emit a sound that only Jedi warriors can hear, known as the “crystal harmonic.” WhileDonnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe is not a Jedi, his blindness has enhanced his other senses, including his hearing, which allows him to hear the crystal harmonic. He listens for this sound during his fight scenes, which makes his skills even more impressive than they already are for a blind man. The kyber crystal in his staff also explains how the blind Chirrut could “sense” the kyber crystal on Jyn Erso’s (Felicity Jones) necklace, because he could hear the crystal harmonic.
This report comes just days after another interesting piece of news about some famous characters that almost appeared in the movie. We reported that actualnerf herderswere initially included in an early draft of the script, which would have been the first time they were seen in a movie. A nerf herder is quite the lowly occupation in this galaxy far, far away, tasked with rounding up creatures known as nerfs, with the occupation considered a derogatory term. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) calls Han Solo (Harrison Ford) a “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder.” Han responded with the now-legendary quip, ‘Who’s scruffy-looking?" While the term “nerf herder” has lived on in theStar Warspantheon, we have yet to see an actual “nerf herder” on the big screen. To this day, there is much debate that Leia actually called Han a ‘nerve hurter’ (seriously), but as the original script will attest, as will the CC on the earliest VHS copies of Empire, it has and always will be Nerf Herder.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyis an all-new epic adventure. set in a time of conflict, where a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.Rogue Onewill be followed by aHan Solospin-off, starringAlden Ehrenreichas the title character andDonald Gloveras Lando Calrissian, which will hit theaters on August 07, 2025.
