During most of its appearances in the Star Wars franchise, spice has been looked upon as a bad thing. In “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope,” C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) laments that the Empire will toss him and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) into Kessel’s spice mines; on “The Book of Boba Fett,” Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) takes out the spice-hauling Pykes encroaching on his territory; and in “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker,” Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is picked on by his friends for once running spice. In reality, though, spice is only as bad as those in possession of it.
The truth is that some raw forms of spice can be used for medicinal or generally positive purposes. Take, for instance, the ore variety known as ryll, which is found on both Ryloth and Aaloth. It is surprisingly essential to both scientific and military projects, but, unfortunately, it’s not typically used for either. Like other strands, it, too, is commonly used as an illegal drug rather than anything to help push science in a new direction or benefit military forces. With that said, it is one of the weaker variations and isn’t considered the most profitable for smugglers to haul, either.
Even though it could do some good in the Star Wars galaxy, spice can’t seem to avoid being widely used as an illicit substance. Thus, it stands to reason that’s the reputation it will carry in the franchise for the foreseeable future.
