The Death Star was a massive space station that was equipped with super lasers capable of destroying planets. Needless to say, the Death Star would have sparked fear in all who saw it or knew its potential.
The Death Star was the first in a long line of super weapons created to serve the Galactic Empire. However, what Emperor Palpatine and other Imperial officers didn’t account for was the perseverance of the Rebel Alliance, who refused to submit to the technological terror.
The Death Star was not invincible and was destroyed numerous times, but more on that later. This sparks curiosity in the hearts of fans everywhere about exactly how many Death Stars were created.
Keep reading as we dive into the wondrous topic of the Death Star.
Table of Contents
How Many Death Stars Were There?
In total, there were four Death Stars, each with its own unique history.
As we mentioned above, the Death Stars were not immune to attack despite being weapons adept enough to wipe out entire planets.
The creation of Death Stars began as a pet project for Emperor Palpatine, Orson Callan Krennic, and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. This was done as a way to advance the military ideology of the Tarkin Doctrine.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at each Death Star’s history.
The Death Star Prototype
The Death Star Prototype was the brainchild of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. It was crafted by the Maw Installation’s engineers with a Durasteel frame, reactor core, super lasers, engines, and a control center.
Ultimately, the prototype worked and was left at the Maw Installation, where it remained uncompleted.
Eventually, Tol Sivron and his fleet used the prototype to escape an attack the New Republic launched on the installation in 11 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). Once they escaped the Maw, Sirvon wanted to test the super laser while the rest of the crew recovered.
The planet Kessel was used as the target, but because the prototype was poorly calibrated it misfired. Still, it hit the planet’s moon, destroying it, and proving that the battle station would work once properly built.
In the end, the Death Star Prototype was destroyed when Kyp Durron (who was on the Maw Installation looking to destroy the Sun Crusher) directed it into a black hole.
The Death Star
Designed as the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, the first Death Star (or Death Star I) was often referred to as the Ultimate Weapon.
Armed with a single super laser powered by a giant Kyber crystal, the Death Star I was crafted with the destruction of planets in mind.
The plans to make a weapon of such caliber date back to the days of the ancient Sith.
Thousands of years later, shortly before the onset of the Clone Wars, the Geonosians worked in conjunction with Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems to secretly construct the Death Star I.
After the dissolution of the Confederacy, the construction of the Death Star was taken over by the Empire, which built the Ultimate Weapon in the orbit of Geonosis. The battle station took longer than expected to finish and was eventually moved from Geonosis to Scarif.
Over time, the Rebel Alliance caught word of Death Star’s existence, which divided the group. Some members were filled with fear, whereas others felt that the Alliance could attack the Death Star using an alleged weakness against it.
In the end, Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor came up with a scheme to steal the Death Star’s construction plans, and they lured Princess Leia Organa in. After she was rescued from her captivity, Organa transferred the plans to the Rebel Base on Yavin 4.
From there, the Alliance launched the Battle of Yavin, which resulted in Death Star I being destroyed by the rebel pilot and Jedi, Luke Skywalker.
The Death Star II
Before the destruction of the first Death Star, the construction of Death Star II, simply called DS-2, began. In fact, it was created to be even more powerful than its predecessor.
The main purpose remained the same as the first: to torment planets and other star systems, especially those in alignment with the Rebel Alliance.
Still, there was a secret purpose that a lot of people weren’t aware of. That was, to lure the Rebel Alliance into the Empire’s planned ambush.
Structurally, Death Star II is similar to Death Star I. However, it did receive a technical improvement.
This came through the incorporation of millions of millimeter-sized heat dispersion tubes, which replaced the two-meter wide tubes that the Rebels were able to exploit in the first place.
Not only did Death Star II receive better heat dispersion tubes, but it was also larger and sat in a synchronous orbit above Endor with a deflector shield surrounding it.
The Empire’s approach to this Death Star was to annihilate the Rebels. Therefore, the main priority of its construction was the super laser.
Once completed in 4 ABY, the Empire leaked the location of the Death Star to Bothan spies, under the pretense that it was incomplete.
These Bothan spies worked for the Rebellion and relayed what they saw to the Rebels. This prompted the Rebels to make their way to Endor.
Although they were shocked when they encountered a completed Death Star, the Alliance fought valiantly and was even able to break down the deflector shield around Death Star II.
Because of this, the Rebel Starships were able to infiltrate the Death Star, reach the reaction core, and destroy yet another one of the Empire’s battle stations.
The Death Star III
Death Star III was a bit different from the first two in that it was more of a mock Death Star.
It did not follow the same blueprint as Death Stars I and II, but rather it was a battle station crafted from an incomplete Worldcraft.
This falsified Death Star was created by the Kaarenth Dissension and its Supreme Commander, Ennix Devian, who used it to create a diversion.
This diversion helped to distract the Alliance of Free Planets on Endor while the Commander’s team stole numerous warships from the Alliance’s shipyards.
Even though this diversion was successful, this knockoff Death Star was unexpectedly destroyed. This was done by the Red Squadron, when the leader landed a direct hit on the battle station’s poorly protected thermal exhaust port.
How Long Did It Take To Build The Death Star?
There are numerous technicalities involved in creating the Death Star. This is why the first Death Star took twenty years to complete, and here’s why.
The creation of the Death Star was a demanding one that required the use of most of the galaxy’s resources, not only those of the dark side.
The Death Star program (dubbed Project Stardust), happened at a time when the Empire’s resources were scarce as Emperor Palpatine was also greenlighting other technological devices such as Imperial Star Destroyers.
Ergo, Project Stardust often fought for attention with other projects, which is why it took a whopping twenty years to complete. Ironically, it took 20 years to finish and only a single day to destroy.
Even more ironic, the second Death Star, which was bigger and more powerful than the first, only took four years to build. This was one-fifth of the time it took for Death Star I.
Why Does The Empire Keep Building Death Stars?
Now, it seems like a waste of resources and time to keep constructing Death Stars when it was clear that they were failing. But somehow, the Empire didn’t see it this way.
Tarkin and Palpatine both believed that the Death Star would be the epitome of the Empire’s protection. They thought the power of the Death Star would serve as the ultimate disincentive for the Alliance and the Republic at large.
With this massive deterrent, the Empire was expected to gain uncontested control of the Outer Rim territories while preparing for any retaliation that might occur.
As a result, it is theoretically possible that the dark side keeps building Death Stars as a tool to stoke fear in the galaxy’s inhabitants rather than as a true weapon of mass destruction.
FAQs
The Star Wars community is one of the most diehard fandoms there are.
Naturally, with a topic that seems as contradictory as the Death Star and why it was built, many fans would be set abuzz with even more questions.
So without further ado, here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding the Death Stars.
Were There Two Death Stars Constructed At The Same Time?
There were technically two Death Stars that were constructed at the same time. That would be Death Stars I and II.
Production on Death Star II began before the first one was even destroyed. This is because the Empire had the plan to create a fleet of operational Death Stars in the galaxy.
At the time of Death Star II’s construction, Palpatine knew he had already found a way to improve upon the original design. As such, the second Death Star’s building began before the completion of the first one, not after its destruction
How Many Times Has The Death Star Been Destroyed?
One Death Star was not destroyed multiple times; rather, each Death Star was destroyed at some point during their lifetime.
As we have already established, the prototype was destroyed when Durron directed it into a black hole, and the first Death Star was destroyed by Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Yavin.
The second was destroyed when the Rebel Alliance’s starships were able to bypass the battle station’s defense system and shut down the control center.
Death Star III met its end when the Red Squadron’s leader placed a direct hit on the system’s open thermal exhaust port. Ergo, the Death Star has been destroyed a total of four times.
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Conclusion
The Death Star is one of the most sought after and technical devices in the Star Wars franchise. So much so that there were four of them.
The first took an astounding twenty years to build, but as time passed by, the construction process quickened.
Although each Death Star had its own story and were all ultimately destroyed, the Empire continued building them. It is speculated that this is because the Empire thirsted for power more than anything else.
Therefore, the Empire could have theoretically built the Death Stars as symbols of a threat and fear instead of as an instrument intended for destruction.
Nevertheless, the loss of the Death Star was a significant hit for the Dark Side. Once combined with the loss of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, the Dark Side began to see that their end was drawing near.