It’s usually easy enough to predict what Star Wars sets LEGO will try to do next; you could just say “practically everything” and be right most of the time. But like Palpatine’s unveiling as Darth Sidious to the oblivious prequel Jedi, this is one we did not see coming: Darth Vader‘s castle from Rogue One. It may not have become as instantly iconic as some other locations, but let’s face it: there is a long tradition of “bad guy’s base” playsets in toy lines. Snake Mountain. The Terrordrome. The Mustafar castle joins that hallowed lineage as of its preorder date tomorrow, Oct. 4th.
The bacta tank chamber is of course represented, though curiously we do not get a minifig of a larynx-impaired Director Krennic. We, do, however, get shirtless Darth, who is not going to be outdone by his Swolo grandson on that score. And a hook for his cape is a bonus feature, which answers a question you probably never thought to ask.
Because we didn’t see much else of the interior, the rest of the set extrapolates. Of course there’d be a hangar for his special TIE fighter (smaller in scale here, but the Vader minifig does fit inside), and it stands to reason he’d have a meditation chamber like the one on his favorite Star Destroyer.
There’s even a mouse droid, though we assume at some point Vader would get annoyed with its jabbering and maneuvering between his feet and Force crush it.
Darth Vader’s castle was originally a concept George Lucas came up with for The Empire Strikes Back, but like many alternate Lucas ideas, it’s been rediscovered and repurposed in the Disney era: Supreme Leader Snoke even wore a ring containing a piece of obsidian from beneath its future ruins. Now you can have your own in time for holiday season 2018, and unlike some other large LEGO sets it won’t be hard to find, as it’s an Amazon exclusive.
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Images: LEGO