10 things You Never Knew About Mustafar
Mustafar is one of the most iconic planets in the Star Wars universe. It was the site of one of the greatest and most impactful battles in the saga. It was the location of Darth Vader’s castle, and before that, it was the home of the remaining members of the Separatist leaders. It was also their place of demise, but I digress. There are a ton more interesting facts about Mustafar that most people probably don’t realize.
10. Mustafar Wasn’t Always A Lava Planet
Mustafar is a small planet, roughly the size of Mercury in our system, and it was not always the lava world that we know from the movies. Mustafar was at once a luscious green planet. Long ago, Lady Corvax (more on her in a bit) took on a great task of trying to bring her husband back to life with the Bright Star. This caused gravimetric dual between the gas giants that surround Mustafar, and it heated Mustafar’s core which turned it into the world we know.
9. The Creatures Which Arose
The rapid change in the planet’s ecosystem destroyed most of the flora and fauna that already lived on the planet, but some creatures were able to grow and thrive on the newly desolate planet. The lava fleas developed an exoskeleton that protected them from the fiery world. They would eat the minerals on the planet’s crust, and that led to the creation of the cave systems on the planet.
8. The Mustafarians Live Underground
While we do see the Mustafarians working on the surface in Revenge of the Sith, they did not live there permanently. The Mustafarians lived beneath the surface in elaborate cave systems. Some of those caves were created by the lava fleas mentioned above. They would live together when they could, but the geographical hazards and distances made it easier and safer to have their own communities. The Mustafarians lived in the caves most of the time, and they journeyed to the surface do their lava mining.
7. Two Races of Mustafarians
The Mustafarians were divided into two separate races: the Northern Mustafarians and the Southern Mustafarians. The Southern Mustafarians lived closer to the equator while the Northern Mustafarians lived, well, in the north. The Southern Mustafarians were mostly responsible for carrying out the heavy labor because of their stronger physiology. The Northern Mustafarians, on the other hand, were guards and became excellent lava flea riders, but the Southern Mustafarians could ride fleas as well.
6. The Religion
The Mustafarians had an interesting relationship with the planet, which influenced their “religion.” The planet also had a deep connection to the Force (which will appear again later on the list). The Mustafarians listened to the lava, so to speak, and they had certain members of their clan that could read the fires and receive visions of what might come. Their priestesses and other religious leaders would often speak of the “lifefires” and “endfires.”
5. Lady Corvax
Lady Corvax was a Force-sensitive lady that lived on Mustafar with her husband Dorwin. They lived in peace with the native Mustafarians. However, one day, Mustafar came under attack, and Dorwin was slain in battle. Filled with grief, Corvax took the prized artifact of the Mustafarians, the Bright Star, in an attempt to bring her husband back from the dead. The attempt ultimately failed, and it resulted in the desolation of the once lush green planet.
4. The Rise of Skywalker
This may or may not come a surprise, but the planet that Kylo Ren is fighting on at the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker is Mustafar. Obviously, the planet has changed a little since Anakin and Obi-Wan’s battle decades before. The magma has cooled, and some forms of plant life have been able to grow. The new environment has also attracted other species and cultists to the planet, which we also see Kylo Ren fighting at the beginning of the film.
3. Vader’s Castle
We all know that Vader’s castle is located on Mustafar. However, some may not know that it was actually designed by another Sith Lord. Darth Momin originally designed and created the castle. He built it atop a Sith cave on the Gehenn Plains. It was his hope that he could use the fortress to harness the power from the Sith cave to open new connections to the dark side of the Force.
2. Mustafar is Strong with the Dark Side
As stated above, Vader’s castle was built on a Sith cave. The entire planet of Mustafar seems to have a deep connection to the Dark Side of the Force, but no one is really sure as to why that is. This is partially why Darth Vader used it as the location to bleed his Kyber crystal red, and its strength with the dark side has even been noted by Darth Sidious.
1. It’s Hell, Literally
The idea for a confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan goes back to the inception of the first Star Wars movie. George Lucas wanted an epic battle between the two which led to the creation of Vader. When he finally got to include it in the prequels, he wanted it to symbolize the Biblical Hell. This adds a new light on the battle as Mustafar led to Anakin being tortured and literally being.