The Dying Star is famously essentially the most detrimental weapon wielded by a Sith in all of Star Wars historical past, having been the darkish shadow looming over your complete Imperial period. Nonetheless, there’s one different Sith planet-killer often called the “Closing Protocol” that really in some way makes the Dying Star look type by comparability.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope launched the Dying Star to the newly-established Star Wars universe, although even after its destruction on the finish of the movie (in addition to the destruction of the second Dying Star on the finish of the unique trilogy), that wouldn’t be the final followers would hear of the planet-destroying super-weapon. In actual fact, the primary chronological point out of the Dying Star was in Episode II, which is about a long time earlier than the occasions of Episode IV. Not solely that, however the build-up to the Dying Star’s completion is felt in a lot of Star Wars tasks, together with Star Wars: Rebels and the direct prequel to Episode IV, Rogue One. Nonetheless, even with all of the anticipation for one thing followers know will probably be a practical destroyer of worlds, Star Wars’ Closing Protocol proves in far much less time to be rather more horrific.
In Star Wars Legacy #47 by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, readers are launched to the Closing Protocol by the Sith ruler of the galaxy on the time, Darth Wyyrlok, who took over after the obvious demise of the first ‘big-bad’ of the Legacy period Darth Krayt. As defined within the challenge (and disturbingly proven all through points #47-49), Closing Protocol means dropping viral spores – lethal organic weapons – on a planet, which kills each type of life on that world. When it was used on Dac towards the Mon Calamari, the Closing Protocol worn out roughly 80% of the planet’s inhabitants, with the one survivors being those that had been shortly evacuated or already off-world.
Whereas the method of the viral spores killing your complete planet is pretty fast, it’s a lot slower and extra painful than a single direct blast to a planet from an orbiting house station. In each circumstances, the top result’s a useless world, however killing a planet by means of organic warfare and permitting everybody on the world to expertise the ache and terror of watching themselves and their family members fall unwell as the encircling wildlife noticeably deteriorates is way crueler than merely obliterating the planet immediately. Even when there are extra survivors by means of this methodology of decimating a planet, the Closing Protocol makes the inhabitants of no matter world it’s used towards endure way over a world that’s been blown to smithereens by the Dying Star.
One factor to remember is that the Closing Protocol isn’t a greater solution to destroy a world, because the Dying Star is way quicker and extra environment friendly in planetary destruction, it’s merely crueler. A Sith who offers this destiny out to a planet is one who revels within the ache and affected by lifeforms on a cosmic scale, making them extra sinister than a Sith who merely desires to ship a message to their wider Empire, which is why – even when the Dying Star is a ‘higher’ planet-killer – Star Wars’ Closing Protocol makes the Dying Star look type.