Mudhorn cave

"The oviparous quadruped is found on the desert planet of Arvala-7, where it makes its home in the caves that line the desert's rocky ranges. Here it builds its nest and tends to its young."

―Ardis San Tekka, in her journal^[2]

The mudhorn cave was located on the desert planet Arvala-7. In 9 ABY, the bounty hunter Din Djarin stole a mudhorn egg from a mudhorn living in the cave, managing to defeat the creature with the help of the Force-sensitive child Grogu.

Description

The mudhorn cave was located on the desert planet Arvala-7,^[1] nestled in a crater^[3] within one of the world's rocky ranges.^[1] Featuring striated walls,^[4] the cave's interior was cool, dark,^[5] and muddy, with bones strewn across the surface.^[6]

History

Djarin watches the mudhorn exit its cave.

By the time of the New Republic, a mudhorn, a large horned creature, resided with its egg^[6]—called a "sooga"^[3] in the Jawaese language^[6]—in the cave.^[3] In 9 ABY,^[7] the Mandalorian bounty hunter^[6] Din Djarin^[3] was taken to the cave by a tribe of Jawas so he could retrieve the mudhorn's egg. Djarin entered the cave and soon began fighting the mudhorn when it knocked him out of the cave. Djarin eventually killed the creature with the help of the Force-sensitive child^[6] Grogu^[3] and secured the egg, taking it to the Jawas.^[6]

At some point no earlier than 35 ABY,^[8] Galactic Society of Creature Enthusiasts' Director of Creature Cartography, Ardis San Tekka, visited Arvala-7 to study mudhorns. After compiling several drawings of the mudhorn in the mudhorn cave and the surrounding area, she included her observations and the illustrations in her journal.^[2]

Behind the scenes

"At one point there was a big old tree right above the entrance to the mudhorn cave."

―Dave Filoni^[9]

The mudhorn cave first appeared in "Chapter 2: The Child,"^[6] the second episode of the first season of the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The episode aired on November 15, 2019.^[10] Prior to the episode's release, the cave appeared in a trailer for the season that was released on October 28, 2019, on the official Star Wars YouTube channel.^[11] The location received its name in the 2020 edition of the Monopoly: Star Wars The Mandalorian Edition board game^[12] released on September 19 of that year.^[13] The audio description for the episode suggests that the cave was man-made.^[4] The episode was filmed between November 30 and December 13, 2018.^[9]

Concept art of the cave by Jama Jurabaev

Concept art of the cave was drawn by artists Christian Alzmann, John Park, and Jama Jurabaev. Storyboards were created by Dave Lowery, Phillip Norwood, and David Duncan. According to series director Dave Filoni, who shot the scene of Djarin entering the cave, the cave at one point had a tree on top of the entrance,^[9] but this was removed in the final cut of the episode.^[6] The scene, however, remained unchanged from the early storyboards, as Famuyiwa fully agreed with Filoni's plan.^[9]

On November 16, 2020,^[14] the cave was added to the video game Minecraft as part of the Minecraft Star Wars expansion pack, located on the Arvala-7 section of the map. Within the cave, the player can fight a mudhorn and acquire its egg.^[15] On December 16, 2020,^[16] the location was added to the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes as part of a Hero's Journey event for Din Djarin in his full beskar armor. In the game, the cave appears in the second level, in which the player takes control of Djarin to defeat the mudhorn outside.^[17]