Batuu

"The disturbance is located at the edge of your Unknown Regions. It appears to be centered on a planet named Batuu."

- Emperor Palpatine, to Grand Admiral Thrawn

Batuu was a remote outpost planet on the edge of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, one that was often used as a last stop before entering Wild Space. The outpost dated back to the years prior to the use of hyperspace in the galaxy.

Description
Batuu was a temperate planet, one covered with forests and mountains, that was located on the edge of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. The planet was known for its many towering petrified trees, with those spires becoming landmarks for settlers. The world was the location of Black Spire Outpost that became a haven for those looking to avoid attracting too much attention to themselves. Batuuans greeted each other by saying "bright suns" during the day, and "rising moons" at night.

History
Batuu was a prominent trade post in the time before the invention of hyperspace travel. It was used as a busy crossroads for those who traveled on sub-lightspeed trade routes. However, after hyperspace routes became the dominant form of transportation, the planet was bypassed by most travelers. It became a port for smugglers, rogue traders, and adventurers who traveled from the galactic frontier to unknown space.

During the waning years of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker journeyed to Batuu to search for Senator Padmé Amidala after she had been declared missing. There he had his first encounter with Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo also known as "Thrawn." The two agreed on an alliance to find Amidala.

The two returned during the Imperial Era, as sometime after the Battle of Atollon, Emperor Sheev Palpatine sensed a disturbance in the Force that appeared to be centered on Batuu. In response, Palpatine sent his Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, who was secretly Skywalker, and Thrawn, now a Grand Admiral in the Galactic Empire's navy, to deal with the disturbance. During their investigation, the Imperials were attacked by the Darshi, a mysterious race from the Unknown Regions, and they eventually discovered the Darshi were being used by the Grysk, an enemy race of Thrawn's Chiss Ascendancy. The Grysk had been using the Darshi to build hibernation chambers for Force-sensitive Chiss children so the Grysk could use the children and their powers to navigate the treacherous spaces of the Unknown Regions, much like the Chiss themselves did.

In the years after the Galactic Civil War, it was a safe haven for those looking to hide from the First Order. At one point both the Resistance and the First Order had a presence at the planet's outpost. Sometime after the Battle of Crait, the Millennium Falcon visited the planet.

Behind the scenes
Disney CEO Robert Iger first announced at the D23 Expo on August 15, 2015 that the company would be building a Star Wars–themed land in Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and in Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was also announced that the lands' setting would be an outpost on a yet-to-be-seen planet on the edge of the Outer Rim Territories, just before Wild Space.

Batuu's landscape of mountains and rock spires came about as a necessity for the Disneyland installation of Galaxy's Edge, which required the re-routing of the Disneyland Railroad and the Rivers of America in Frontierland. The reworked northern bend of the river features rocky cliffs, trees and waterfalls that block views of the trading post to visitors riding the various vehicles that travel along the river. In turn, Batuu's mountains and spires become an extended background element for the river, allowing for Galaxy's Edge and Frontierland to better function as neighbors. Real-world inspirations for this rockwork includes Bandelier National Monument and the Bisti Badlands in New Mexico, Badlands National Park in South Dakota, and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.

In an interview with StarWars.com about his 2018 novel Thrawn: Alliances, author Timothy Zahn commented that for him, Batuu resembles New York City during the 1950s, also expressing interest to explore Batuu more in future books.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Tours: The Adventures Continue