According to Screen Rant, Irish actress Valene Kane will portray Lyra Erso, the character rumored to be the mother of protagonist Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones), in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

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Kane, who appeared in BBC series "Thirteen" and "The Fall," notably opposite "X-files" actress Gillian Anderson, said in an interview with BelfastLive that she couldn't believe she got the role, saying, "I grew up watching Stars Wars and I didn’t believe it was happening until I was filming in Iceland."

Even though specific information about the plot of "Rogue One" has been scarce, the synopsis of an upcoming Star Wars novel  revealed key details about the film's characters and their relationships. "Catalyst: A Rogue One Story" is set prior to the movie, focusing on scientist Galen Erso (played by Mads Mikkelsen in "Rogue One"), whose energy focused research becomes a subject of interest for Separatist and Republic during the Clone Wars. Orson Krennic (actor Ben Mendelsohn in the film) is an agent for Chancellor Palpatine's secret Death Star project, and believes Erso's research will play a critical role in the production of the Chancellor's secret weapon. For some reason Galen initially believes that Krennic is using his research for purely altruistic reasons -- but it's up to him and his family to uncover how his work is truly being applied.

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An important detail to note is that actress Valene Kane is around the same age as actress Felicty Jones. Unless energy-research has age defying side effects, it's likely that Lyra will appear in flashback sequences -- something never done in previous "Star Wars" films, with the exception of Rey's sequence of visions from "The Force Awakens."

Screen Rant gave evidence for this conclusion, citing an interview with Mads Mikkelsen, who said  “we jump back and forth in time” , explaining that he makes an appearance as a younger version of his character at one point in the movie. Given that the film seems to be emphasize a darker tone, it's likely that the character's death will be an important story point and potential motivation for our protagonist.

Since Orson Krennic has previous ties with the Erso family, the Imperial agent could have played a direct part in Lyra's death -- but that might be a bit of a stretch...it's not like Palpatine and the Empire have had a history of committing assassinations. Only time will tell to see how the character is used in the upcoming film's story.

"Star Wars: Rogue One" is set to premiere in theaters December 16, and "Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel" releases on November 15.

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