Mustafar/Legends

"I am sending you to the Mustafar system in the Outer Rim. It is a volcanic planet which generates a great deal of scanning interference. You will be safe there."

- General Grievous to the Separatist Council

Mustafar was a small planet located in the Mustafar system of the Outer Rim Territories, coreward of Rutan, between the Hydian Way and the Ninth Quadrant.

The tiny world of Mustafar was a fiery volcanic world where lava was mined like a precious natural resource. It was also the last capital of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the site of the Separatists' downfall, an event that shaped galactic history. It was also the site of a climactic duel in which Darth Vader dueled his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and was forced to wear dark armor for the rest of his life.

Mustafar was a very young and volatile world, torn apart by opposing gravitational forces of the gas giants Jestefad and Lefrani, with the former being the closer of the two. Astride thick-skinned lava fleas, the natives leapt across the lava fields to mine the planet's deadly natural resources. Mustafarians oversaw the smelting facilities constructed by the Separatists on Mustafar.

History
"It's obvious that civilizations have been present here for thousands of years. Strangely enough though, apart from the last few hundred years, there are no records at all of who was here or where they are now."

- Epo Qetora



Early history
Once a lush green world, Mustafar was home to many Jedi Enclaves built around 5,300 BBY. It was here that they cultivated their abilities as well as training their students. One such Jedi Master was Chu-Gon Dar, an individual whose mastery of physical Force was unmatched. He created a unique Force-sensitive object while on the planet known as the Chu-Gon Dar cube which was used to both channel and manipulate the physical Force to alter the physical properties of an item placed inside it. However, in 3,996 BBY, the resurgent Sith wished to exterminate the Jedi, and so a climactic battle took place on the planet. This battle was so intense that one of the nearby gas giants was pulled into its current location by the Force, starting the gravitational tug-of-war. The environmental hazards caused by this tug-of-war forced the Jedi to abandon their temples on the planet. This caused all knowledge of Chu-Gon's cube to be lost.

Mustafar was home to two variants of sentient Mustafarians&mdash;the northern Mustafarians, who were tall and thin, and the southern Mustafarians, who were short and squat. Centuries ago, a cataclysmic eruption destroyed all Mustafarian settlements except for Fralideja.

Clone Wars
"Master Kenobi, we have Miss Padmé on board. Yes, please. Please hurry. We should leave this dreadful place!"

- C-3PO to Obi-Wan Kenobi

At the time of the Clone Wars, the Techno Union had owned Mustafar since its (re)discovery c. 300 BBY, harvesting minerals and energy from the 800-degree-hot lava. It was comparatively cool compared to most other lava due to the unusual mineral allotropes that became molten at a lower temperature. Regardless, the lava could only safely be mined when a repulsor field was placed to repress any eruptions and deflect heat away from those harvesting it.

The main Separatist stronghold was located in a massive industrial complex located on a fiery cliff bracketed by two huge lava flows. Collection arms mined lava from the area, while durable industrial droids worked further afield. Within this facility lay a Separatist command center, one of the most secure bunkers in the galaxy.

During the early years of the war, Palpatine, in his guise as Darth Sidious, tasked the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane with kidnapping Force-sensitive children and taking them to a secure facility on the planet, where he could turn them into a cadre of Force-wielding spies. The plot was scuttled by Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, Palpatine would continue to have a vested interest in the planet, ordering General Grievous to move the Separatist Council there near the end of the war, apparently for their own safety, but in reality to gather them together so that Anakin, newly anointed by the Sith Lord as Darth Vader, could kill them all and deactivate the droid armies, bringing about the end of the war. Shortly afterwards, the duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader would also take place on the lava planet. During the duel, the controls to the mining complex were destroyed and the repulsor fields dropped, allowing the violent lava eruptions to overwhelm the complex. Vader suffered grievous injuries including the loss of his remaining limbs and the searing of his lungs when he attempted to jump to higher ground from a platform on the lava river, only to be immobilized by Kenobi. He was later rescued by Emperor Palpatine, who brought him back to Coruscant where he was rebuilt into the feared cyborg executor of the Emperor at the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center. It was also on this planet, immediately prior to the Kenobi/Vader battle, that Lord Vader, who unbeknownst to Padmé Amidala was no longer the man she had married, Force-choked the pregnant Senator of Naboo into unconsciousness. This would eventually add to the causes of her death, along with the loss of will she suffered alongside her broken heart.

Imperial era
After the destruction of the Separatist Council and the Imperialization of the Techno Union, Mustafar was largely forgotten, until a Separatist stalwart, the fugitive Geonosian Gizor Dellso, holed up on Mustafar during the early days of the Galactic Empire and re-activated an independent battle droid factory, intending to rebuild the Confederacy's previous military strength.In 12 BBY, he constructed a small droid army and a flotilla of warships above the planet, and got the support of several fellow Geonosians. One year later, the situation had been required by the attention of the loyal 501st Legion of stormtroopers to storm the planet. At the battle's end, with the droid schematics destroyed and Dellso eliminated, the base was annihilated in a massive orbital strike from Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, which resulted in the fate of the Geonosian Industries, along with the fragmentation of the Separatist holdouts.

At some point, Mensix Corp established the Mensix Mining Facility, built to replace the previously destroyed complex.

Galactic Civil War
Prior the time the Death Star plans were stolen, Twi'lek mercenary Rianna Saren and Zeeo were sent to gather Intel on current Imperial operations and sabotage the Mirkanite Mining Facility. The mission was successful as the duo narrowly escaped from Imperial soldiers and a squadron of TIE Fighters.

After the destruction of the first Death Star, it was rumored that several would-be Jedi found their way to the legendary world of Mustafar, and were apparently guided on their path to Knighthood by the spectral form of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A disturbance caused by a gathering of dark side energy drew Kenobi's spirit to the planet. Other explorers at the time apparently encountered the ancient assassin droid HK-47 along with an ancient Hammerhead-class ship.

Post-Endor
The Sith Lord X1, formerly a clone trooper, had made Mustafar his base of operations sometime during the New Republic era. X2 found his brother on Mustafar and led New Republic troops in a battle. After a fight over the planet, X2 and his troops descended to the planet's surface. X2 destroyed his brother's cloning lab, and the two brothers dueled, ending with the death of X1.

At sometime during 137 ABY, Mustafar came under the control of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.

Behind the scenes
Mustafar was originally known as "Mufasta" in early drafts of Revenge of the Sith.

Mustafa is Arabic for "Chosen One." It is very possible that Lucas named this planet Mustafar because the fate of the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, would be revealed on the planet. Mustafa is also a male name in some regions. However, also compare with Muspelheim, the mythical Norse realm of fire.

The concept of a lava duel dates back to early versions of Return of the Jedi, in which Luke Skywalker battles Darth Vader over a lava lake in Palpatine's throne room in the lowest levels of the Imperial homeworld. Even back then, it was rumored that Anakin suffered his grievous injuries at the hands of Obi-Wan during a battle over a lava pit, and the concept became an almost mythical tale among Star Wars fans until finally realized on film over twenty years later. Joe Johnston envisaged the environment that would ultimately become Mustafar in a series of drawings designed to show Darth Vader's home. The novelization of Return of the Jedi previously stated that the duel between Vader and Obi-Wan, which resulted in Vader's terrible injuries, happened on a volcanic planet. The battle was stated in some sources predating the prequel trilogy to be on Sullust, also a volcanic world.

Mustafar was originally designed to look like George Lucas's vision of hell. In Revenge of the Sith, while Darth Vader and Obi-Wan are fighting on the fallen arm, the lava flows backwards (as can be seen by looking at the lava "waterfall").

Mustafar bears a striking resemblance to Io, one of the moons of the gas giant Jupiter. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system, a trait which is caused by the gravitational effects of Jupiter pulling at the moon causing it to heat to extreme temperatures on the inside, parallel to Mustafar which is volcanic due to the gravitational effects of Jestefad and Lefrani. The obvious difference between Mustafar and Io is that Io's volcanic flows are made up of sulfur, whereas Mustafar's are made up of molten silicate rock and iron ore, which are much hotter than molten sulfur. Either could set a man's clothes on fire, but molten sulfur wouldn't have melted the metal foundations of the lava mining shield arm on the building. Another difference is that in the movie, as well as other source photos, Mustafar is covered with hundreds of active volcanoes, whereas Io only has about eight active at any one time.

Mount Etna was scouted for Revenge of the Sith, to capture plate photography for backdrops in the Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader fight on Mustafar. Conveniently, Etna erupted during the making of the film, so Lucas sent a team to film it. The resultant moving image of lava flows could be used as backgrounds for the duel. These images could have been done by CGI, in theory, but it would have been more difficult and expensive than sending a few people to Sicily with cameras, as Lucas states in the audio commentary to Episode III.

The Mustafar scenes took a lot of work and time from the many special effects workers. The lava was made of a food additive with bright lights shining underneath it for the glow. The overview scene was built with a scale model in a pitch black studio. During filming, the room was filled with fog to create the steam effect. The actors were filmed on a green screen and the special effects artists brought it all together.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars -Phantasmagoria-
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Old Wounds
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes