In the Star Wars universe, there is no more terrifying weapon of mass destruction than the Death Star. Darth Vader may not have been impressed with the original Death Star’s ability to destroy a planet, but its capabilities certainly struck fear within the heart of the Rebel Alliance.
We got a quick glimpse at the early stages of the moon-sized laser cannon at the end of Revenge of the Sith, but it wasn’t completed onscreen until the events of Rogue One. Now, two Star Wars fans have released a new CGI short that breaks down the major steps of the Death Star’s construction.
Via io9 and TheForce.net, the Death Star construction time-lapse was animated by Isaac Botkin, who used Lightwave 3D to create the visuals. Isaac’s brother, Ben Botkin, posted the video and provided its John Williams-esque score. On his YouTube page, Ben Botkin noted that he intentionally tried to maintain “the style and flavor” of Williams’ iconic music for the series.
This may be a fan film, but it does convey the incredibly complex construction that went into the Death Star. io9’s post argued that this time-lapse video proved that the Empire could not have built another Death Star so quickly after the first one was destroyed, and perhaps they’re right. If so, that would suggest that the Emperor had two Death Stars under construction at the same time—maybe as a backup in case the first was destroyed, or maybe the Emperor intended to have more than one Death Star operating at once to expand his control over the galaxy. Now that’s a scary thought.
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Images:Â Isaac and Ben Botkin
