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- "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
The Dowager Queen, or "Jah Dowahga Kwee-Kunee" in Huttese, was a colony ship from Bestine IV that crash-landed on the planet of Tatooine in 100 BBY.
History[]
- "Oh yes, the people on the crashed ship formed a community, and after a while the city sprung up around the survivors of that crash. The city itself grew up in a radial formation around the Dowager Queen itself, which was long ago pilfered for any useful mechanical items or electronic components. The metal itself was melted down and used to make some of the city's oldest buildings."
- ―Mayor Mikdanyell Guh'rantt, to a spacer
At the time of the Dowager Queen's arrival at Tatooine, Mos Espa was small enough that the crew didn't notice it, and assuming that the planet was uninhabited they attempted to land, where a sandstorm wreaked havoc on the power, display, and guidance systems on the Queen, causing it to crash.
The Dowager Queen in Mos Eisley.
Captain Lis Kaslan and the other survivors—the original "colonists"—built their first city, Eisley, out of the wreckage, while others who left went to found Bestine Settlement. The original inhabitants of Tatooine later renamed the city "Mos Eisley" to coincide with Mos Espa.
The city of Mos Eisley grew up around the wreck. As buildings were constructed, the ship remained in its place, standing nearly vertically in the sand. It was later made into a first-class hotel, because of both its novelty and location at the intersection of Dune Street and Inner Curved Street. The hotel became popular during conventions and trade shows that came to Tatooine.
Many Jawas, Ranats, and other rodent-like species (as well as homeless, beggars, and junkies) lived in the wreckage prior to the conversion.
Behind the scenes[]
Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley identified the wreckage as the Dowager Queen.
The Dowager Queen was originally intended to be the wreckage in front of the entrance to Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina[1] in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.[4] It was first identified by name in the roleplaying game sourcebook Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley, written by Martin Wixted for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and published in 1993.[1]
In 1998, the reference book Star Wars Encyclopedia retroactively established the Dowager Queen as a different ship in the 1997 Special Edition release of A New Hope.[5]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Shadow Games
- "When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper's Tale" — Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (First appearance) (Introduced in Special Edition)
- "Swap Meet: The Jawa's Tale" — Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (First appearance before retcon)
- Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
- Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
- Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
- The Jabba Tape
Non-canon appearances[]
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley
- ↑ Secrets of Tatooine
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience — Conversation with "Mayor Mikdanyell Guh'rantt" on Tatooine
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ Star Wars Encyclopedia