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- "The Seeds of the Jedi have been Sown throughout the Galaxy, on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and Others."
- ―Kli the Elder, Rammahgon
Ossus was a terrestrial planet located in the Adega system of the Outer Rim Territories' Auril sector that was affiliated with the Jedi Order. The planet was orbited by at least one forest moon. Some Jedi scholars made the case that Ossus was the site of the Jedi Order's first temple. According to the Qel-Droma Epics, Ossus was a Jedi retreat and the largest repository of Jedi knowledge in history. At the very least, Ossus housed the Great Jedi Library and a Jedi temple.
In the Qel-Droma Epics, Ossus was decimated during the Cron Supernova, when the Sith Lord Naga Sadow triggered stars in the Cron Cluster to become supernovae. The Jedi managed to save a fraction of the artifacts housed on the planet, such as mosaic floors and the Chronicles of Med'eeth, which made it to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant via nearby Exis Station.
According to legend, what few Jedi survived the blast banded together to survive. Over millennia, those humans became tribal Ysanna, a group of near-humans with a high percentage of Force-sensitivity among them, who regarded it as atavistic magic. The other humans on the planet were considered a minority population.
During the New Republic Era, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker constructed his Jedi temple on Ossus. There, he trained students until the temple was destroyed in 28 ABY, after which he went into a self-imposed exile.
Description[]
A lightning storm rages across the barren surface of Ossus
Ossus[11] was a terrestrial[3] planet[6] located in the Adega system within the Auril sector[2] of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, positioned at coordinates R-6 on the Standard Galactic Grid,[1] orbited by at least one forest moon. A wasteland at one point in its history, vicious lightning storms ravaged the surface of Ossus,[2] although it was verdant[13] by the New Republic Era.[3] It was home to kaddyr bugs and kirruks,[2] as well as Sorgan frogs[3] and mud yaks.[8]
History[]
Early history[]
Ossus as depicted in the Qel-Droma Epics.
According to the Qel-Droma Epics, Ossus was a bulwark against Hutt and Sith aggression, a Jedi retreat, and the largest repository of Jedi knowledge in history.[2] Certain scholars surmised it was the location of the first Jedi temple ever built, although Ahch-To, Coruscant, Jedha, and Tython were also candidates.[6] The fabled planet was thought to have troves of holocrons and datacards filled with Jedi wisdom from throughout the ages, and if one were to discover it, they could gain access to unmatched power.[2]
According to the Jedi,[2] around 12,000 BBY,[14] Ossus became a cultural center of the Jedi Order and was made a near-mandatory pilgrimage site. Jedi operating along the Perlemian Trade Route were said to have gone to Ossus for unique opportunities to train under other Jedi Masters and contemplate a wider view of the Force.[2] It was one of the worlds mentioned in a chapter of the Rammahgon, an ancient Jedi text written by the Jedi Kli the Elder, alongside Jedha and Xenxiar.[12]
According to the Qel-Droma Epics, Odan-Urr received his Jedi training at the Jedi Praxeum on Ossus under Jedi Master Ooroo, and later, honoring a promise to his Master, he designed and oversaw the construction of the Great Jedi Library atop the Ooroo Canyon. Odan-Urr also commissioned the Knossa Branch Library in the Ossus city of Knossa, for academics and Jedi who sought knowledge for time-sensitive investigations.[2]
The Great Library was destroyed at some point prior to the Clone Wars.[6] At some point before the construction of the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant, the Jedi evacuated a few of the holobooks and artifacts from the lost Great Jedi Library on Ossus which made it to the Jedi Archives on Coruscant.[2] At some point, the mosaic floor of the Ossus temple was salvaged and transported to the Order's newer headquarters on Coruscant.[6]
In the Qel-Droma Epics, Ossus was decimated during the Cron Supernova[2] around 4000 BBY,[15] when the Sith Lord Naga Sadow triggered stars in the Cron Cluster to become supernovae. The Jedi had little warning of the coming cataclysm and prioritized the artifacts from the Chamber of Antiquities of the Great Jedi Library. Despite the efforts, they only managed to save a fraction of the artifacts housed on the planet, which made it to the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant via nearby Exis Station, leaving the Great Library in ruins.[2] Prior to the establishment of the Jedi High Council on Coruscant, a Jedi Council was located at Ossus.[16]
Galactic Republic[]
As recently as 122 BBY,[17] the Jedi Order suggested they possessed Ossus artifacts that were mentioned by name in the Qel-Droma Epics.[2] At some point before the birth of the antiques dealer Antron Bach, the last charred fragment of the Chronicles of Med'eeth was also salvaged from the ruins of the planet.[11]
At some point during or after the Clone Wars, Ossus was part of a conspiracy theory which claimed Count Dooku,[2] the fallen Jedi who had publicly led the Confederacy of Independent Systems,[18] had established a base there to search for lost artifacts. Another rumor swirled around the same time of a secret hyperspace route to Ossus and the Jedi possessing a hidden fortune there.[2]
New Republic Era[]
The new temple[]
- "What is this place?"
"There's nothing now, but will someday be a great school. Grogu will be its first student." - ―Din Djarin and Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka Tano and Din Djarin observed the early stages of the temple's construction.
At some point, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker explored the subterranean ruins of Ossus and discovered the original Rammahgon text, which was thought to have been destroyed over five thousand years beforehand.[19] Seeking to restore the Jedi Order after the Great Jedi Purge by training a new generation of Jedi in the ways of the Force,[20] Skywalker constructed his new Jedi temple and school[3] on Ossus.[7] Around 9 ABY,[21] the Mandalorian Din Djarin traveled to Ossus to see Grogu, a Force-sensitive foundling that he protected and ultimately returned to the Jedi. The temple was in the early stages of construction at the time, and Djarin observed multiple ant droids in the process of building a dome-shaped structure.[3]
A new generation[]
- "We were… learning. We all studied together. I was first, but they came not long after. Voe, Hennix and Tai."
- ―Ben Solo
Skywalker would train nearly a dozen students at the temple.
Between 15 ABY and 16 ABY,[23] he took on several more students, including Hennix, Tai, and Voe, and trained them and Ben Solo in the ways of the Force at his Jedi Temple.[10]
In his lessons on the nature of the Force, Skywalker described how the Force flowed everywhere and all things were equal in the Force. Though some like Solo would find it easier to let the Force flow through them, that did not make any being stronger than another. Skywalker taught them Jedi techniques and traditions such as telekinesis, meditation, and the use and construction of lightsabers. As his first class of students[22] grew older,[10] newer younglings continued to be brought in and trained, with Skywalker being helped by Solo and the Twi'lek Enyo in such matters.[7]
Temple ablaze[]
- "When I came to, the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students. And slaughtered the rest."
- ―Luke Skywalker, to Rey
After regaining consciousness, Skywalker and R2-D2 stared at the destroyed temple in shock and shame.
One night in 28 ABY,[24] Skywalker's concerns for Solo had reached the point where he decided he must go to his nephew's room and confront him. While peering into the mind of his sleeping nephew, Skywalker sensed a growing darkness and the machinations of Snoke. Instinctively, Skywalker ignited his lightsaber. However, it was a fleeting moment and Skywalker was soon overcome by shame and regret. Waking to find his uncle standing over him with lightsaber drawn, Solo believed he meant to kill him and fought Skywalker, destroying his own dwelling with the Force in the process.[4]
Believing his uncle dead, Solo left the ruins of his room, confused and consumed with despair and rage at the betrayal.[10] Led by his fear and anger, Solo destroyed the temple and its students[25] with a powerful lightning storm from the sky that set the temple ablaze and killed the Jedi inside.[10]
First Order-Resistance War[]
Seeking revenge on his former master and uncle after the Battle of Crait, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren briefly visited the ruins of the Jedi temple and ordered General Hux to attack the location with an orbital bombardment.[26]
Inhabitants[]
Ossus was home to a human population and,[9] according to legend, a sentient Ysanna species, a tribal group of near-humans with a high percentage of Force-sensitivity among them. Ysanna wore tribal masks and depended on the native kirruk, residing in the nitrogen-rich valleys near the Eocho Mountains. Farming was their main source of food, though hunting with concussion bows became increasingly useful.[2] It was also the homeworld of Veris Hydan, a scholar of Jedi and Sith lore who served as advisor to Emperor Palpatine during the time of the Galactic Empire.[9]
Locations[]
Knossa[]
One of the few cities on Ossus named within the Qel-Droma Epics, Knossa was built from stone and bronzium, and its squat domes were located high in the western Eocho Mountains. Knossa supposedly consisted of the Eye of Ashlanae, a powerful Force vergence on one of its peaks, and Knossa Spaceport, which resembled a sprawling promenade wrapped around Agorn Mountain, which was originally built to support pilgrims visiting the nearby Eye of Ashlanae.[2]
Great Jedi Library[]
Chamber of Antiquities during the Imperial Era.
According to the Epics, Odan-Urr designed and oversaw the construction of the Great Jedi Library atop the Ooroo Canyon on Ossus to honor a promise to his Master Ooroo. The main public area of the Great Library's collections was known as the Hall of Knowledge, open to the public and encompassing chambers on multiple levels and functions. Containing ancient star charts and Jedi texts, philosophical text, galactic histories for thousands of worlds, the Hall of Knowledge was sprawling and exhaustive.[2]
In the Chamber of Antiquities, Odan-Urr catalogued and studied ancient artifacts, as well as translated and digitized writings, and kept the most treasured and dangerous items in the entire library. The library stood for nearly a thousand years as the physical embodiment of Jedi dedication to knowledge. It required several days' of pilgrimage to reach Ooroo Canyon, where the library was located, far from Knossa and Ossus City. The Great Library was devastated during the Cron Supernova and by the Imperial Era, its ruins were the only remains of what was once a palatial facility.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
Ossus as it first appeared in Tales of the Jedi
Ossus was first canonically mentioned in the short story "The End of History" by Alexander Freed, which was published in issue 154 of Star Wars Insider magazine[11] on December 9, 2014.[27] In the Star Wars Legends continuity, Ossus was first mentioned in the endnotes essay for the fourth issue of the Star Wars: Dark Empire comic series, which was written by Tom Veitch,[28] and first appeared in the first issue of the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi story arc The Freedon Nadd Uprising, which was written by Veitch, illustrated by Tony Akins, and published by Dark Horse Comics on August 2, 1994.[29]
In the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, a forested planet appears in a vision to the character Rey and is established to be the location of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple, but the planet itself goes unnamed in the film and would remain unidentified for several years.[30] This planet appeared again in the sixth episode of the 2022 Disney+ television series The Book of Boba Fett, once again unnamed in dialogue.[3] According to Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo, however, the episode's script, written by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, settled on the idea that the forested planet and Ossus were one and the same.[31] This decision would be further disseminated in the 2022 novel Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher,[7] the first source to call the planet Ossus in print.[31]
The 2019 reference book Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition established Ossus as the homeworld of Veris Hydan.[9] The author Adam Bray wanted to make a meaningful Star Wars Legends connection. He also noted the irony of an Imperial Advisor being born on the planet that once housed the Great Jedi Library, a repository of all Jedi knowledge.[32]
Appearances[]
- Dooku: Jedi Lost (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
- Dooku: Jedi Lost script (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
"The End of History" — Star Wars Insider 154 (reprinted in Star Wars Insider: The Fiction Collection Volume 2) (First mentioned)- The Book of Boba Fett Junior Novel
- Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett — "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger"
- The Mandalorian – The Graphic Novel of Season 3 (Mentioned only)
- Shadow of the Sith (and audiobook)
- Star Wars (2020) 50
- The Rise of Kylo Ren 1
- The Rise of Kylo Ren 3 (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (First appearance) (Vision to Rey)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization (and audiobook) (Vision to Rey)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel (and audiobook) (Vision to Rey)
- Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition (and audiobook) (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel (and audiobook) (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi Graphic Novel Adaptation (In flashback(s))
- Legacy of Vader 1 (In flashback(s))
- Legacy of Vader 2 (In flashback(s))
- "See You Around, Kid" — Star Wars (2020) 25
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
Non-canon appearances[]
- LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales (In flashback(s))
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (In flashback(s))
- LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation (In flashback(s))
- "Tests of a Jedi" — LEGO Star Wars 107
