Unidentified moon

For other uses, see unidentified moon.

"We're caught in that moon's gravitational field."

―Rex, to Ahsoka Tano — 20?cb=20250116042720

An arctic and rocky unidentified moon was located in the galaxy. Shortly after the initiation of Order 66 in 19 BBY, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal, which had been carrying former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, fell out of hyperspace above the moon after the former Sith apprentice Maul, previously a prisoner on the vessel, destroyed its hyperdrive. Caught in the moon's gravitational field, the Star Destroyer was set on a collision course. Tano and Clone Commander Rex managed to escape before the starship crashed, but the remaining clone troopers aboard were killed.

Around 17 BBY, during the reign of the Galactic Empire, Imperial forces led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader visited the crash site of the Tribunal, where Vader discovered the abandoned lightsaber of his former apprentice.

Description

"We've entered the atmosphere. Fire retrorockets!"
"We've lost lateral control! We're gonna break apart!"

―Two Republic officers, during the crash of the Tribunal — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Although it lacked a name,^[3] an arctic,^[4] remote,^[5] and rocky moon was situated in the galaxy^[1] somewhere between the Outer Rim planet Mandalore and the Core Worlds planet Coruscant,^[6] near a larger blue-and-white astronomical object. It appeared brown with some green patches visible from space along with white clouds,^[1] and had a Type I atmosphere^[2] breathable to humans and Togrutas.^[1] Its climate was frigid,^[3] with the barren area where the Venator-class Star Destroyer^[1] Tribunal^[7] crashed at the end of the Clone Wars^[1]—a three-year conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems^[5]—becoming covered in snow by the time the crash site was discovered by the Galactic Empire^[1] some years later.^[8]

History

Order 66

"We need to get out of here."

―Ahsoka Tano, upon seeing the moon approaching through the Tribunal's hangar doors — 20?cb=20250116042720

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The Tribunal careens towards the moon. — The *Tribunal* careens towards the moon.

In 19 BBY,^[9] the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal traveled through hyperspace from Mandalore to Coruscant,^[1] commanded by the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Having captured the renegade Sith Lord Maul, a former apprentice of^[10] Dark Lord of the Sith^[5] Darth Sidious, during the Siege of Mandalore, she and Clone Commander Rex intended to deliver him to the Jedi High Council. However, during their journey, Sidious issued Order 66, a secret directive which compelled the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic to turn on and execute their Jedi commanders via inhibitor chips implanted in their brains. Thus, the troopers aboard the Tribunal attacked Tano after receiving the order. Tano narrowly escaped the bridge and reluctantly released Maul from the Mandalorian vault he had been imprisoned in as a diversion for the clones.^[10] Left to his own devices, Maul destroyed the starship's hyperdrive, severely damaging it and forcing it out of hyperspace, where it was caught in the moon's gravitational pull and set on a collision course.^[1]

Meanwhile, Tano used the distraction to follow up on a clue Rex had given her, capturing him in order to remove his inhibitor chip and bring him back to his senses. As the Tribunal fell, Tano and Rex reached the hangar control room and discovered the situation the ship was in. However, as they were fighting their way to a Nu-class shuttle to escape, Maul seized the craft for himself. Tano attempted to prevent Maul from leaving, but chose to let him go in order to defend Rex from clone reinforcements that had arrived.^[1]

Ahsoka Tano falls through the moon's atmosphere

As the Tribunal hit the moon's atmosphere and began to fall apart, Tano and Rex found a working Y-wing in the repair bay to escape in. Using the Force, Tano threw Rex over to the starfighter while holding off more attacking clones. As the bridge exploded, the ship was thrown completely out of control, causing it to plummet more rapidly towards the moon. Rex entered the Y-wing and shouted for Tano to join him, but the Y-wing was knocked free of the Tribunal as Tano leapt for it, sending her tumbling through the atmosphere. Rex gained control of the starfighter after some difficulty and flew back for her, with Tano dashing across falling debris to reach him. When the Tribunal crashed, everyone onboard was killed and a gouge was torn into the lunar surface.^[1]

The crash site

"Ahsoka and I barely managed to survive the chaos ourselves. As much as I wanted to save our squad, it was too late. Like the good soldiers they had always been, they followed their final order…right into an early grave."

―Rex, The Secrets of the Clone Troopers^[11]

Afterward, Tano and Rex landed at the crash site, salvaging useful items from the wreckage, including the remains of Tano's astromech droid R7-A7, who had been taken out by blaster fire during the hangar firefight.^[1] To honor their comrades,^[4] they buried the bodies of every clone trooper they could find^[1] in a makeshift graveyard,^[4] marking the graves with the clones' helmets on sticks.^[1] Despairing, Tano abandoned her lightsabers^[12] at the crash site^[1] in order to fake her death.^[13] After leaving the moon, Tano and Rex eventually parted ways in order to hide,^[14] leaving the repaired R7 with the Martez sisters, two smugglers^[15] who were friends of Tano^[16] and who later worked with Rex in efforts against the newly formed Galactic Empire.^[15]

The snow-covered wreckage of the Tribunal — The snow-covered wreckage of the *Tribunal*

Around 17 BBY, during the Imperial Era,^[5] the crash site, by then covered in snow, was discovered by Imperial forces.^[1] In an effort to explore the destroyed cruiser,^[4] stormtroopers and snowtroopers inspected the wreckage with Viper probe droids. All of the grave markers erected by Tano and Rex had since fallen down, with the graves themselves hidden by the snow. The Sith Lord Darth Vader,^[1] who had been Tano's Master prior to her departure from the Jedi Order and his fall to the dark side,^[7] visited the crash site and recovered one of her abandoned lightsabers. After finding and igniting the weapon, Vader saw the convor^[1] Morai, a mystical creature^[17] who watched over Tano and lingered in places important to her,^[7] flying above him. He watched the bird for a moment before leaving with the lightsaber,^[1] reclaiming the blade he had once returned to her as Anakin Skywalker.^[18] Despite assuming that Tano may be dead after not sensing her presence at the crash site,^[3] the visit to the moon, deep down, proved to the Sith Lord that his former apprentice had survived.^[4]

Rex included a picture of the moon in his book—The Secrets of the Clone Troopers^[11]—which was published at some point following^[11] the 5 ABY^[5] end of the Galactic Civil War between the Republic's successor state, the Empire, and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In the same section, he discussed the end of the Clone Wars and his escape with Tano^[11] to the moon.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Molly Denmark's concept art of the Tribunal hurtling into the moon. — Molly Denmark's concept art of the *Tribunal* hurtling into the moon.

The moon first appeared in "Victory and Death,"^[1] the series finale of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series that premiered on Disney+ on May 4, 2020^[19] as part of the show's seventh season.^[20] Two pieces of concept art featuring the moon were done by Molly Denmark.^[21]^[22] Rex's Databank entry on StarWars.com states that the moon was small,^[23] while Tano's entry states that the moon was large.^[12] This article does not assume the correctness of either claim.

The card "Darth Vader finds Ahsoka Tano's Lightsaber" from the 2021 Topps Star Wars Chrome Legacy card set established that the moon was not identified in-universe. The card also states that Vader took both of Tano's lightsabers with him from the moon.^[3] However, "Victory and Death" shows that Vader only found and departed with one of the blades.^[1] This article assumes the episode is correct.