Dantooine

"Dantooine? That's in the middle of nowhere." "That's the whole point. Where else could the rebels hide?"

- Thane Kyrell and an Imperial officer

Dantooine was a planet in the Outer Rim Territories within the Galactic Republic and later the Galactic Empire.

History
"Dantooine. They're on Dantooine."

- Leia Organa, lying about the location of the Rebel base

A crucial Galactic Republic battlefront during the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Mace Windu led a battle on Dantooine; however, many of his troopers were injured. Windu's forces sent out a distress signal and awaited a delivery of medical supplies from Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee.

During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, Dantooine was an Alliance to Restore the Republic regional headquarters and operations sector. Dantooine was included in a map of the galaxy that listed safe worlds, starfighter hubs at level five or higher, regional headquarters and operations sectors, and deep space caches. The map was then incorporated in The Rebel Files.

In 2 BBY, during the early rebellion, the former Imperial Senator and rebel leader Mon Mothma made arrangements for the rebel fleet to rendezvous above Dantooine. She wanted to unify the disparate rebel cells and factions and make official the Rebel Alliance. With the help of Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla and the Spectres, Mothma managed to travel through the dangerous Archeon pass to Dantooine. Above Dantooine, Mothma gave an impassioned HoloNet speech urging the galaxy to rise up in rebellion against the Empire. Shortly later, the rebel fleet converged above Dantooine.

Shortly before the Galactic Civil War, the Rebellion briefly used the planet as the location of a base. By the time of the Battle of Scarif, that base had been abandoned, and the Rebels had established their headquarters on the jungle moon Yavin 4, a location that was already in use by Jan Dodonna's rebel cell.

When Princess Leia Organa was held captive on the Death Star, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin threatened to destroy her home planet of Alderaan if she did not provide him with the location of the Rebellion's secret base. Organa then lied to him, disclosing the location of the then-current base as Dantooine. Tarkin impatient to try out the Death Star's superlaser at full capacity and deemed Dantooine "too remote to make an effective demonstration" and ordered the destruction of Alderaan anyway. Nonetheless, Imperial forces, led by General Cassio Tagge, reconnoitered Dantooine, only to find the remains of the abandoned Rebel base. Upon learning this, Tarkin ordered Organa's immediate execution. Thane Kyrell was one of those who were sent to explore Dantooine, and he was surprised by the level of organization and sophistication he saw in the abandoned base.

After The Rebel Files were rediscovered on Durkteel in 34 ABY and handed to the Resistance, Major Caluan Ematt and General Leia Organa wrote annotations.

Behind the scenes
Dantooine was first mentioned in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope as a former location for a Rebel base and has since been only briefly mentioned in passing in canon. Stories from the Expanded Universe, later re-branded as Star Wars Legends, particularly the Knights of the Old Republic and The New Jedi Order, provided extensive details both about the planet's composition and history, within the Legends context.

Early versions of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens had the First Order converting Dantooine into their superweapon and retrofitting the abandoned Rebel base for their own purposes.

Initially, the evacuation of the Dantooine Rebel base was to be featured in the 2016 movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The sequence did not make it into the film due to budget constraints.

Appearances

 * Lost Stars
 * Lost Stars webcomic
 * Battlefront: Twilight Company
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
 * Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization
 * Star Wars: Heroes Path
 * Star Wars: The Original Trilogy – A Graphic Novel
 * Doctor Aphra 13: The Enormous Profit, Part V
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game
 * Doctor Aphra 13: The Enormous Profit, Part V
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game