Mina-Rau

This article is about the planet. You may be looking for the settlement located on the planet.

Master Qui-Gon, more to say, have you?

It is requested that this article, or a section of this article, be expanded.

See the request on the listing or on this article's talkpage. Once the improvements have been completed, you may remove this notice and the page's listing. The following needs expanding on: Expanding main body of article

"This is an agrarian world. One replete with all forms of insect and plant life."

―Aayla Secura, on Mina-Rau^[8]

Mina-Rau,^[1] also known as Xuretria,^[9] was an agricultural^[1] planet^[10] that existed in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. The planet's surface consisted of large fields, hills, grasslands,^[1] and lakes.^[4] The planet was divided into zones each controlled by a council. The planet was inhabited by humans, an unidentified species and local wildlife such as the bier beast. The principal settlement was Rau, which was close to the Mina-Rau General Store,^[3] where farmers and mechanics, referred to colloquially as "toolies," were supplied with non-grain needs as well as being a central hub for local gossip and news.^[10] Many residents lived in silos,^[3] whereas migratory toolies had mobil-hauses that could be packed up and quickly moved to a new farming site.^[11]

History

Reign of the Republic

Bandit battles and an assassin's activity

"My understanding is that Master Etzis' assignment to Mina-Rau was a recent one…"
"Yes. He was instrumental in dealing with a group of bandits who had been stealing our crop yield."

―Aayla Secura and Magistrate Khediva, on Fondar Etzis' importance to Mina-Rau^[8]

Mina-Rau was active as an agriworld during the Republic Era, where combine machines would aid harvesting.

Farmers were active on Mina-Rau during the Republic Era. As an agriworld, the planet produced harvests of grain with the help of combine machines.^[8] Between 40 BBY and 34 BBY,^[12] the planet was governed at least in part by Magistrate Khediva, but the world saw incursions from the Quillian bandits, who hoped to steal some of the planet's harvest. In response, the people of Mina-Rau were provided protection by Jedi Master Fondar Etzis, who was greatly effective in battling the bandits and quickly became a beloved part of their community. In an event that Khediva would remember as an example of Etzis' heroism, one skirmish saw the Jedi engage a group of speeder-riding bandits in the planet's fields and successfully drove them off. Ultimately, however, Etzis was killed shortly into his stay on Mina-Rau via the fast acting^[8] emubara^[13] toxin. The toxin was administered by the assassin Corlis Rath, who hoped to draw out Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn with Etzis' death.^[8] Holding a grudge against Jinn that dated back to his time as a Padawan,^[14] Rath had launched a personal crusade to kill the Jedi Master,^[15] having first revealed himself to Jinn—who had forgotten about Rath^[14]—during the invasion of Syrinx Prime.^[15]

Despite the mysterious circumstances around Etzis' death, Khediva was certain the bandits were not responsible due to his successes against them and, instead, believed the Jedi Master had simply died of old age. In response to his death, an honor guard of Jedi—consisting of Jinn, his fellow Jedi Master Mace Windu, and the Jedi Knight Aayla Secura—was dispatched to Mina-Rau aboard a T-6 shuttle in order to recover Etzis' remains and deliver them to^[8] the planet^[16] Coruscant,^[8] the home of the Jedi Order's primary Temple,^[16] for cremation,^[8] a major part of a traditional Jedi funeral.^[17] After the Jedi landed and were received by Khediva, the group made their way into a urban area in the midst of a harvest, during which Secura took notice of and complimented one of the combines.^[8]

Jedi jurisdiction

After venturing into the city and speaking with Khediva about Etzis's death, the trio of Jedi made their way to their comrade's body, around which Jinn sensed a darkness that made him believe Etzis had been murdered. While neither Secura nor Windu sensed anything of the like, Jinn continued to trust his instincts and took a blood sample from the fallen Jedi. The Jedi trio made their way to Etzis's undisturbed ship in Mina-Rau's plains, where Jinn analyzed Etzis' blood and discovered the toxin that had really killed the Jedi Master. Deducing the bandits were indeed not responsible for his death as poisoning was not their typical tactics but unsure of why their comrade had been killed, the Jedi elected to stay on Mina-Rau until they could uncover the truth surrounding Etzis' murder. After confirming Etzis had been the only one to enter or leave his starship since it had landed on Mina-Rau and learning from Khediva it was unlikely someone native to Mina-Rau had committed the murder, the Jedi made their way into the fields, where Secura theorized an element natural to Mina-Rau—something the indigenous population was immune to but could be fatal to an offworlder—had been responsible for Etzis' death.^[8]

Corlis Rath revealed himself on Mina-Rau to again engage Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

Rath would soon reveal himself as the true culprit, however; while Jinn was able to sense his approach while Secura outlined her theory, Windu and Secura were caught off guard and knocked out with poisoned darts, after which Rath jumped into action to engage Jinn with his^[8] energy-edged blades,^[14] which were also coated in emubara.^[13] Jinn responded with his lightsaber, creating^[8] a challenging^[13] duel that cut through the grain around them and saw both leap atop an incoming combine. As they battled, Jinn deduced Rath had killed Etzis and asked what quarrel he had with him, revealing in the process he had learned Rath's name. After Jinn finally managed to overpower Rath atop the combine and again demanded to know why he was trying to kill him, Rath simply revealed it had to do with Sinsara,^[8] an incredibly dangerous world^[18] that, with its mere mention alone, shocked Jinn. The surprise left Jinn open for Rath to reclaim both his blades and stab the Jedi Master through the chest,^[8] nearly killing him^[18] and leaving him helpless atop the combine.^[13]

Managing to raise themselves and climb the combine as Mina-Rau's sun set, Windu and Secura made their way to the struggling Jinn and deduced he did not have the time for a computer to put together an antidote. After Jinn was able to suddenly struggle out the word Sansara, which both Jedi assumed was a person, Windu and Secura brought him back to their T-6 shuttle, aboard which they departed Mina-Rau and Windu stabilized Jinn for the time being with dothrasim. Secura, meanwhile, found that Sansara was a planet and put in the hyperspace coordinates to reach the Anoat sector world. With that, the two Jedi were able to secure the antidote and returned Jinn to Coruscant, where he was left in a coma after the severe damage the poison had left in his system.^[13] In the end, however, Jinn was able to recover.^[17]

Reign of the Empire

During the Imperial Era, farmers worked on the planet to produce grain for the Galactic Empire. The entire planet, by that time, had been terraformed to grow that specific type of grain for the Empire, which made use of the food on Coruscant.^[7] People who worked on the planet were required shares or visas. Despite this, the councils hired undocumented immigrants as well to ensure harvests were possible. The Empire, while aware that many residents lacked visas or shares, often overlooked such violations to maintain agricultural output.^[4] The planet was subjected to the Imperial Supply Census, where the Empire inspected grain exports and the visas of those residing on the planet. Imperial lieutenant Krole noted that the settlement Rau had changed from his previous visit a few years ago.^[1]

By 4 BBY, the humans Bix Caleen, Wilmon Paak, and Brasso resided there, where they worked as toolies. By this time, some residents, such as Aneth expressed hostility toward undocumented migratory toolies, disapproving of her daughter’s relationship with Wilmon Paak. During this time, an Imperial supply census was conducted on the planet, leading to a comms blackout to ensure the audit could be conducted properly.^[1] Various groups were caught by the Empire for trying to flee the area. One group consisting of Brasso, Caleen, and Paak attempted to flee the Imperial authorities and were saved by Cassian Andor, who fired on the pursuing forces in his stolen TIE Avenger prototype. In the ensuing chaos, Brasso was shot by Imperials. Andor and the rest of the group escaped via the stolen ship.^[4]

Between 2 BBY and 1 BBY, Bix Caleen returned to Mina-Rau to raise her newborn child.^[19]

Behind the scenes

"For Mina-Rau, all we had was a couple sketches of Luke Hull's wonderful wheat sketches. I hadn't seen Mina-Rau yet. I didn't know what the hell it was. But I'm gonna say this until someone adds it to the Wikipedia page, Tony Gilroy named Mina-Rau after my daughter, Mina. He made a Star Wars-loving little girl immensely happy."

―Tom Bissell, on Mina-Rau^[20]

Mina-Rau first appeared in "One Year Later,"^[1] "Sagrona Teema," and "Harvest,"^[3] the first three-episode arc of the second season of the Disney+ television series Star Wars: Andor, which aired on April 22, 2025.^[21] The world was first revealed prior to the release of the episodes in a sizzle reel for the series exclusively shown at D23 Expo on August 12, 2024.^[22] Its name was then first mentioned in a production brief linked to the show and was released by Walt Disney Studios via Getty Images on April 10, 2025.^[23] According to series writer Tom Bissell, showrunner Tony Gilroy named the planet after the writer's own daughter, Mina.^[20]

Production designer Luke Hull emphasized that each three-episode arc of Andor was treated like a standalone movie, aiming for a cinematic look intrinsic to Star Wars. This approach influenced the design and construction of sets like Mina-Rau, ensuring they felt grounded and authentic. The expansive fields of Mina-Rau were filmed in Watlington, where ancient rye was planted specifically for the TV series. The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes led to the rye fields being harvested and recreated using polystyrene sheets. These sheets were then used to reconstruct the outdoor sets on Pinewood's 007 Stage in early 2024.^[7]

The mobil-haus dwellings used by characters such as Bix Caleen, Brasso, B2EMO, and Wilmon Paak resided were fully constructed with both interior and exterior designs. However, the sets had to be relocated twice to Pinewood Studios first due to torrential rain and then because of the 2023 actors’ strike. The animals used by Mina-Rau's farmers were based on unused designs from Andor Season 1, originally intended for cattle on Aldhani. These creatures were brought to life by two puppeteers operating a pair of legs each, adding a tangible realism to the scenes.^[7]