(In the EU, Vader also had other pads, including a skyscraper-like palace on Coruscant and a “fortress retreat” on the Great Western Sea of Coruscant. It was an equally inhospitable planet, however, soaked with acid rain and barely capable of sustaining life. Known as Bast Castle, the spot where Vader hung up his cape in the EU wasn’t on Mustafar but rather a world called Vjun. (The idea morphed into Maz Kanata’s castle.) But the notion of a palace on a volcanic world can also be traced back to McQuarrie’s Return of the Jedi concepts, where the Emperor’s throne room was originally depicted in some kind of lava lake.Īdditionally, the idea of showing the Emperor’s right-hand man’s home isn’t new to Expanded Universe (a.k.a. That’s a cool idea, that Leia would inherit dear old Dad’s place, but it didn’t pan out either in the end. Decades later, the castle almost showed up in The Force Awakens, with Vader’s daughter Leia now in possession of it (and using it as a front for the Resistance). Legendary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie created art depicting the structure (with at least one image placing it amid lava, as per George Lucas’ request), though of course the idea didn’t make it into the final film. In fact, Vader’s castle was almost in The Empire Strikes Back. Living on Mustafar of all places poses some interesting questions about Vader’s state of mind, but first let’s talk a bit about the history of Darth Vader’s castle. Vader castle concept art from The Empire Strikes Back (Image from The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) He has two Imperial guards protecting him during this vulnerable time, and a pale Imperial creep of a toadie who Google tells us is called Vaneé. The guy has never been the same since his duel with Obi-Wan, and this rare glimpse into his inner sanctum shows us how tortured his day-to-day must be, struggling to heal himself of wounds that ultimately cannot be healed. It’s a creepy scene, as we see an obscured but unmasked Vader floating in a bacta tank.
But Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo recently all but confirmed that’s where the castle is located.)
(Oddly, while Rogue One goes out of its way to tag each planet’s name with onscreen titles, Mustafar is not specifically named. Because yes, the castle is on Mustafar, that awful world where the Sith Lord’s final transformation from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader took place as he battled Obi-Wan Kenobi and lost several limbs, and his soul, for his trouble.
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