in:Legends articles,We're Doomed!,Cities on Tatooine,

and4 more

Mos Eisley

<Mos Eisley

Edit

Click here for Wookieepedia's article on the Canon version of this subject.

This article covers the Legends version of this subject.

We're doomed!

This article covers an essential topic and is in need of major additions and/or work.

Please follow the guidelines in theManual of Style and complete this article to the highest level of quality before continuing on other articles.

Mos Eisley

General information

Constructed

85 BBY^[1]

Mayor

Mikdanyell Guh'rantt^[2]

Location information

Planet

Tatooine^[3]

Location

Great Mesra Plateau, 80km north ofAnchorhead^[4]

Societal information

Affiliation

"Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi, toLuke Skywalker^[5]

Mos Eisley (pronounced /mɑs aɪzliː/,moss izelee,(Listen (help·info))), formerly known asEisley, was a largespaceport town on theplanet Tatooine. It was the largest settlement on the planet and generally known as the "armpit of the galaxy."

Description[]

"Mos Eisley is known as the galaxy's armpit. I guess there are worse parts of the anatomy where we could be stuck."

―Lando Calrissian^[6]

MosEisleyFarFarAway-ANH — The full expanse of Mos Eisley

Mos Eisley was located in a valley to the east of theJundland Wastes^[4] and roughly 80 kilometers north ofAnchorhead, near the desertpalace ofJabba the Hutt. It could be reached from the high ground to the west via theSluuce Canyon.^[4]

From a distance, the spaceport appeared as a haphazard collage of low-grade duracrete, stone, andplastoid structures that spread outward from a central power and water distribution plant. The city lacked a main landing facility; therefore it relied on 362 individualhangars.^[4]^[7] By order of the Empire, all of these hangars were equipped withtime-lock devices.^[4] Illegally parked vessels were not an uncommon sight.

The town was really larger than it looked, as a good portion of it lay underground. In fact, it had a population of around 40 to 60 thousand people, varying seasonally.

Streets in the city included Corporation Road, Curved Street,Outer Curved Street,Straight Street,Spacers Row,Paradise Road,Dune Street, andKerner Plaza. Many citizens roderontos,dewbacks, and other beasts of burden.

Mos Eisley spaceship — The streets of Mos Eisley

Mos Eisley was divided into the "New Quarter" and the "Old Quarter." The Old Quarter was originally wheel-shaped and contained a thriving marketplace. Jabba the Hutt also maintained a residence there, known as theDesilijic Complex, since it was difficult to make business from his palace. The New Quarter was more tourist-friendly and was a merchant district where tourists could relax (though there was still much crime).Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina served as the hub of the newer quarter.^[4] Each quarter had individual neighborhoods, such as the rough-and-tumbleTar Mass area.

During theGalactic Civil War, the Empire established a smallgarrison in Mos Eisley, although this did not help with the city's massive crime rates. The base was located near the cantina and whenever an expansion was required, the Empire would simply level surrounding buildings.^[4] To support the constant flow ofspacers, Mos Eisley featured a large number of hotels,casinos, andcantinas.

The shops district was close to a hangar, the markets, a warehouse, and a housing complex.^[8]

History[]

"The city's history actually has a lot to do with a crashed starship, the Dowager Queen, which crashed into the desert flats in the center of what is now the city of Mos Eisley."

―Mayor Mikdanyell Guh'rantt, to a spacer^[9]

Mos Eisley street — TheImperial presence in Mos Eisley in0 BBY

Mos Eisley was built from the beginning with commerce in mind. It was founded as a substitute for the nearby, yet more expensive,Anchorhead. Located around the crash site of theDowager Queen, the survivors of this crash originally named it simply Eisley. They later renamed it to fit with other towns such asMos Espa andMos Gamos. These same immigrants would later found the planet's future capital,Bestine.

The city was reputed to be a hub for shady persons and illegal activity, notably the smuggling of spice and illegal arms. The city did not have enough customs officers to keep up with the crime, and even when criminals were caught, they often successfully bribed the officers.^[4] Jabba the Hutt owned atownhouse in the city.

Because Tatooine was a desert planet, availability of water was at a premium and the sewers were very small. To reprocess water quickly, it was decided that the sewers should use aBunkurd Reclamation System. Unfortunately, it was prone to leaking and often led toBunkurd Sewer Disorder, which nativeFalynn Sandskimmer once contracted as a youth.

During theGalactic Civil War in0 ABY, the "hive of scum and villainy" became a target of notoriousImperial officerGrand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who had been tasked with controlling theOuter Rim byEmperor Palpatine prior to theBattle of Yavin. He began his conquest on the outskirts of Mos Eisley, seeing the city as an ideal outpost for their operations. Unfortunately for the Imperials, the Rebel Alliance had their own outpost station in nearby Anchorhead, and moved to intercept the Empire, thus theBattle of Tatooine ensued. Though the Empire emerged victorious from the desert battle, their task force was considerably diminished, and their eventual presence in Mos Eisley was less than had been expected. This came back to haunt the Empire, asR2-D2 andC-3PO slipped through the cracks in what would otherwise have been a mighty security force. The Rebel presence in Mos Eisley was finally routed during the latter part of the battle.

MosEisley-celebration — The streets of Mos Eisley erupted in celebration at the news of the Emperor's demise.

Chalmun's Cantina played a crucial role in these times, as the establishment was whereLuke Skywalker andObi-Wan Kenobi metHan Solo andChewbacca in their quest to get toAlderaan in order to deliver theDeath Star plans to the Alliance. The Imperials also searched Mos Eisley for R2-D2 and C-3PO, the holders of the missingDeath Star plans.^[5]

Shortly thereafter, Mos Eisley was transformed overnight into a police state run by the Empire as a direct result of the Battle of Yavin. In addition, it suffered from a severe outbreak ofBledsoe's disease after a Jawa that unknowingly took a transport capsule from a crash site containing squills died within the cantina. Luke Skywalker reluctantlyreturned to Tatooine in order to investigate the capsule.^[10]

Six months later,^[11] Mos Eisley wasattacked by ImperialTIE Bombers andViper probe droids to draw out the now–Rebel Alliance pilot Luke Skywalker.^[12] Abounty hunter had provided information which led to the raid.^[11]

After theBattle of Yavin, theRodian Mikdanyell Guh'rantt was themayor of Mos Eisley. During his term, Guh'rantt was willing to improve, despite limited funding, life conditions and security in the city. To achieve those objectives, he worked closely with the animal controlofficer Entha Kandela, the veteranmarksman Purvis Arrison and the combat expertPeawp R'dawc, and he occasionally hiredspacers to assist them. However, the mayor eventually found himself indebted to theHutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure.^[13] In retaliation for the late payments, Jabba developed a plan to trick theTusken Raiders into attacking Mos Eisley. One of Jabba's minions, theTrandoshan bounty hunter Bossk, recruited a spacer to attack Tuskens around Mos Eisley so they would think theMos Eisley militia was responsible. Although a Tusken berserker discovered the truth and was promptly assassinated by the spacer, Jabba's plan eventually worked out.^[14] Then, hostile Tuskens began to amass inJunktown, a slum on the outskirts of Mos Eisley, to attack the city.^[15] Fortunately, in1 ABY,^[16]Bib Fortuna, Jabba'smajordomo, offered the services of spacers to help the mayor find a way to reimburse the Hutt.^[13] Working with Peawp R'dawc, the spacers defeated undesirable thugs and criminals who prowled around Mos Eisley.^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20] In addition, the spacers and Entha Kandela eliminated various creatures which were posing a threat to public health and damaging city infrastructure.^[21]^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25] Finally, the spacer under the orders of Purvis Arrison battled the Tusken Raiders around Junktown. The adventurers killed enough Tuskens to preventing them to raid Mos Eisley for the time being.^[26]

In1 ABY, Mos Eisley and other communities onTatooine were put under Imperial curfew by anameless Moff.Ackmena, the night bartender of Chalmun's Cantina, was the one to receive the message, and reluctantly responded bysinging to encourage her guests to leave.^[27]

In4 ABY,^[28] the city erupted in celebrations after thedestruction of the Empire'ssecond Death Star and the death of the Emperor.

Locations[]

"Much of the business—legal or otherwise—is conducted in the seedy cantinas near the docking bays."

―Mammon Hoole^[29]

Behind the scenes[]

MCQ-moseisley — Concept art byRalph McQuarrie

The real-world locations forMos Eisley are mostly inDjerba,Tunisia with the establishing shot on Dante's View in Death Valley looking toward Furnace Creek.

Mos Eisley appears in a map in the2004 video gameStar Wars: Battlefront. During the Historical Campaign, the battle on the map appears as an Imperial mission, although the game's story issecondary continuity, according toLeland Chee, the keeper ofLucasfilm'sHolocron continuity database.^[37] Also, Mos Eisley was used as a map forStar Wars: Battlefront's successor,Star Wars: Battlefront II, where the player could play as either a hero or a villain.