Mos Eisley/Legends

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

―Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Luke Skywalker^[5]

Mos Eisley (pronounced /mɑs aɪzliː/, moss izelee, (Listen (help·info))), formerly known as Eisley, was a large spaceport town on the planet 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]

Mos Eisley was located in a valley to the east of the Jundland Wastes^[4] and roughly 80 kilometers north of Anchorhead, near the desert palace of Jabba the Hutt. It could be reached from the high ground to the west via the Sluuce Canyon.^[4]

From a distance, the spaceport appeared as a haphazard collage of low-grade duracrete, stone, and plastoid structures that spread outward from a central power and water distribution plant. The city lacked a main landing facility; therefore it relied on 362 individual hangars.^[4]^[7] By order of the Empire, all of these hangars were equipped with time-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, and Kerner Plaza. Many citizens rode rontos, dewbacks, and other beasts of burden.

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 the Desilijic 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-tumble Tar Mass area.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Empire established a small garrison 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 of spacers, Mos Eisley featured a large number of hotels, casinos, and cantinas.

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^[src]

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 the Dowager Queen, the survivors of this crash originally named it simply Eisley. They later renamed it to fit with other towns such as Mos Espa and Mos 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]

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 a Bunkurd Reclamation System. Unfortunately, it was prone to leaking and often led to Bunkurd Sewer Disorder, which native Falynn Sandskimmer once contracted as a youth.

During the Galactic Civil War in 0 ABY, the "hive of scum and villainy" became a target of notorious Imperial officer Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who had been tasked with controlling the Outer Rim by Emperor Palpatine prior to the Battle 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 the Battle 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, as R2-D2 and C-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.

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 where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi met Han Solo and Chewbacca in their quest to get to Alderaan in order to deliver the Death Star plans to the Alliance. The Imperials also searched Mos Eisley for R2-D2 and C-3PO, the holders of the missing Death 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 of Bledsoe's disease after a Jawa that unknowingly took a transport capsule from a crash site containing squills died within the cantina. Luke Skywalker reluctantly returned to Tatooine in order to investigate the capsule.^[9]

Six months later,^[10] Mos Eisley was attacked by Imperial TIE Bombers and Viper probe droids to draw out the now–Rebel Alliance pilot Luke Skywalker.^[11] A bounty hunter had provided information which led to the raid.^[10]

In 1 ABY, Mos Eisley and other communities on Tatooine were put under Imperial curfew by a nameless Moff. Ackmena, the night bartender of Chalmun's Cantina, was the one to receive the message, and reluctantly responded by singing to encourage her guests to leave.^[12] By this time, Mikdanyell Guh'rantt was the city mayor.^[2]

Jabba the Hutt owned a townhouse in the city.

In 4 ABY,^[13] the city erupted in celebrations after the destruction of the Empire's second 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^[14]

Behind the scenes

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

Mos Eisley appears in a map in the 2004 video game Star Wars: Battlefront. During the Historical Campaign, the battle on the map appears as an Imperial mission, although the game's story is secondary continuity, according to Leland Chee, the keeper of Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Holocron continuity database. Also, Mos Eisley was used as a map for Star Wars: Battlefront's successor, Star Wars: Battlefront II, where the player could play as either a hero or a villain.