It’s one of the most significant planets in Star Wars lore, but it’s easy to miss the fact that Mustafar showed up in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren visited the world in the film’s opening montage when he was on the hunt for the Sith wayfinder that would lead him to Emperor Palpatine’s hideaway on Exegol. You know that scene where we see him cutting down some foes in a forest under a foggy red sky? Well, that’s Mustafar.
Mustafar isn’t a planet that springs to mind when you think of any kind of greenery, as it’s been depicted as a volcanic, barren world in previous appearances. It’s also, of course, where Anakin Skywalker dueled Obi-Wan Kenobi and gained his hideous injuries in Revenge of the Sith and then he’s later shown to have erected a castle there in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But why is Mustafar now looking so different?
Well, there’s an explanation for this, but you have to keep up to date with another Star Wars release to find it out. The third chapter of VR game Vader Immortal recently arrived and features a run-through of Mustafar’s storied history. It turns out that it used to be a verdant garden world ruled over by the Force-sensitive Lady Corvax. When her husband was killed in battle, Corvax became obsessed with finding a way to resurrect him. Her schemes involved her plugging the powerful relic the Bright Star into a dark machine.
However, corrupting the Bright Star in this way corrupted the planet, too, and Mustafar’s lush greenery was replaced by acres of lava. In Vader Immortal, set just before Rogue One, Vader attempts to pick up where Corvax left off and use the Bright Star to resurrect his wife Padme. It doesn’t go to plan, though, and the relic is destroyed, releasing a wave of energy that begins to heal the world.
Therefore, by the time of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker some 30+ years later, the curse that Mustafar was under appears to have almost lifted completely, which acts as a neat mirror for the way Kylo Ren himself is on the verge of redemption, too.