A T.I.E. fighter approaches the Imperial City.
The Imperial City of Alderaan was the capital of the New Galactic Empire.
Description[]
It was a vast, platter shaped construct which floated amongst the cirrus methane clouds of the gas giant Alderaan.
It was the capital of the New Galactic Empire and the home of the Galactic Emperor and the Supreme Tribunal in the rough draft of the script for A New Hope and the home of the Master of the Sith in the second draft. Security perimeters surrounded it into deep space.
Inside the Imperial City
Triple guards, scramble scanners, gas locks and the isolation of each sector of the city helped to preserve its reputation of invulnerability.
After being captured above the planet Utapau, Deak Starkiller was tortured and imprisoned in the Imperial City. He was released by Han Solo, Chewbacca, Montross Holdaack, Luke Starkiller and the droids Artoo and Threepio after they sneaked inside by convincing the Imperial TIE fighter patrols that they were adrift space junk.[1]
Places in the city included the Plaza of the Daders and a nightclub.[2]
The bowels of the Imperial City were infested with Dai Nogas, deliberately introduced by the Sith as a security measure.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Imperial City of Alderaan is mentioned in the treatment for and appears in the rough, second, and third drafts of the script for A New Hope. The look of the Imperial City was designed by Ralph McQuarrie for the second draft. This look was re-used for Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. The Imperial City was deleted from the script for A New Hope when George Lucas wrote the fourth draft due to budget constraints and the scenes set in it were moved to the Death Star.[3]
Lucas, prior to the realization of Cloud City, described a similar environment for "Crell" and mentioned Granicus, the name Alderaan was known as in the first draft of the script for A New Hope, in notes for licensees written in 1977.[3]
Appearances[]
- The Star Wars 1 (First appearance)
Sources[]
- The Star Wars story synopsis
- The Star Wars rough draft
- The Star Wars first draft (as Granicus)
- Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars
- The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film