Alderaan is a terrestrial planet in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is
the home of the characters Princess Leia, Bail Organa, Tycho Celchu and
also, in 4000 BBY, Ulic Qel Droma who fought in the Great Sith War. It was
destroyed by the Death Star's superlaser.
Description There are three descriptions or
depictions of Alderaan: In the Star Wars expanded universe
descriptions Considered a "Shining Star" of the Core
Worlds. Wild grasslands and old mountain ranges dominated the planet's surface.
Ice-rimmed polar seas were the only large bodies of water, though thousands
of freshwater and saltwater lakes provided habitats for a large variety of
flora and fauna. Alderaan was also the home-world of some of the galaxy's most
famous animals, such as the nerf and the Thranta. Cities of Alderaan were often
built with great care taken to protect nature. One city was built on the walls
of a canyon, nearly invisible from above. Other cities were built on stilts
along the shoreline or under the polar ice. The capital town of Aldera, known
for its university, was built on a small island in the center of a caldera.
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Alderaan is seen briefly at the end of the movie where the newborn Princess
Leia is taken to her adopted parents Bail Organa and his wife. The terrain of
the planet appears to be mountainous in this scene.
In Star Wars Alderaan is seen only from space and
appears to be an Earth-like planet covered mostly in water, and then as an
asteroid belt called The Graveyard after its destruction by the Death Star.
Culture The Alderanian people highly valued
education, arts, architecture, poetry, the performing arts, and diplomacy. They
placed high value in their participation in the Galactic Senate. It was a largely
democratic society, and took the form of a hereditary constitutional monarchy
that was ruled by a monarch from the historic Royal House of Antilles and
later, due to marriage, the House of Organa. It had a minister presiding over
the High Court and legislative High Council of Alderaan, and in various
descriptions of this figure, styled First Chairman and Viceroy, he appeared
to function as a generally benevolent leader. Its monarchs have variously
borne the title of King or Queen of Alderaan. The ruler of Alderaan from the
end of Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope was Queen Breha Antilles-Organa. Queen
Breha was married to Bail Organa, who served a term as Senator during the
events depicted in Revenge of the Sith, later serving as both prince consort and
first chairman of Alderaan. Traditionally, the heir of the
Alderanian throne also served as a lawmaker, first locally in the High
Council, then on Coruscant as an interplanetary Senator for Alderaan.
Queen Breha and Bail's heir and daughter was Princess Leia, who was serving as
Senator for Alderaan in the Imperial Senate during the events depicted in A
New Hope. History and destruction
After the Clone Wars, Alderaan's massive war machine was dismantled and the
weapons were placed aboard an armory warship called Another Chance. The ship
was programmed to continually jump through hyperspace until called home by
the Alderanian Council. Alderaan became home to the majority of
the remaining Caamasi when their home world of Caamas was devastated by the
Galactic Empire, as told in I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole.
Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star's superlaser in Star Wars at Grand
Moff Tarkin's order as a demonstration of its power to the galaxy. Even though
Princess Leia offered the location of an abandoned Rebel base, Dantooine, Tarkin
thought he won, causing him to order the destruction of Alderaan. The superlaser
was then fired at Alderaan, destroying Alderaan's planetary shield completely
upon contact. The hypermatter reactor had given the beam a superluminal boost,
which upon contact with Alderaan's surface, pushed a large part of the
planet's mass into hyperspace. The huge loss of mass forced the planet to expand
rapidly like a balloon and nova, killing approximately 2 billion people.
Despite Princess Leia's protests of Alderaan being a peaceful world with no
weapons, the film's novelization states that the planet had armaments as strong
as any planet in the Empire. Tarkin felt the Rebels were growing
bolder, and only a very public demonstration of the Death Star's power
against a Rebel target would succeed in frightening the Alliance into
submission. Palpatine approved in advance of the destruction of the
planet, but publicly adopted a benevolent persona, announcing that he
was saddened by the loss of such a noble world. He added that, had Alderaan
entrusted itself to Imperial protection, it would still be thriving. In other
words, the destruction of Alderaan might not have been necessary had Bail Organa
simply bowed before the emperor. Although most Alderaanians died in the
destruction of the planet, approximately 60,000 natives survived because they
were off-world, and many of them relocated to New Alderaan, hoping to
recreate the beauty that had been on Alderaan. The Emperor had made an
apparently magnanimous offer to resettle the surviving Alderaanians who were away
when their home world was destroyed on his "private resort world."
"These people have lost a home world through no fault of their own. Offering
them a new home world is the least I can do to compensate them for their loss."
The planet's catastrophic explosion was not without detrimental effects to the
Empire, however. Once word of the world's fate got out, thousands of
Alderanians who had been off-planet joined the Rebel Alliance. Alderaan's
survivors became among the most dedicated soldiers of the Alliance,
vowing never again to let the Empire destroy another world. Most Imperial
military members from Alderaan immediately defected to the Rebellion. A
few of the Alderanian survivors became supporters of the Empire, blaming the
inept and traitorous first chairman Prince Bail Organa and the rebellion for
opposing the Emperor and thereby destroying everything they had, even
their loved ones. Princess Leia met one such supporter, an Imperial military
officer, on the planet Bakura during a temporary truce between the Alliance and
one section of the Empire. Survivors of Alderaan and their
descendants practiced a ritual of "returning" to the Alderaan system.
Returners would fill memorial capsules with gifts for departed relatives and
friends and jettison them into the asteroid field, which was all that
remained of the planet after its destruction. Some survivors, such as
Tycho Celchu, had made known their desires to be buried amid the remains of
their former home world after their deaths.
With Alderaan destroyed, some council members led the people to New Alderaan,
which was founded after the Galactic Civil War died down somewhat. The Royal
House of Alderaan, in the person of Leia Organa-Solo and her children, continue
to hold sovereignty of both New Alderaan and the Alderaan system. The government
on New Alderaan administers both systems.
See also List of Star Wars planets and moons
Further reading A Guide to the Star Wars Universe 3rd
Edition, by Bill Slavicsek, Del Rey Books
The Essential guide to Planets and Moons, 1st edition, by Daniel Wallace,
Scott Kolins. 1998. ISBN 0-345-42068-3 Star Wars: Rebel Dawn, by A. C. Crispin.
1998. ISBN 0-553-57417-5 Star Wars, X-Wing: The Bacta War,, 1sp
paperback printing, 1997. Michael A. Stackpole, ISBN 0-553-56804-3
Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, softcover, 1997. George Lucas, Leigh
Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Laurent Bouzereau, ISBN 0-345-40981-7
Star Wars: Roleplaying Game- Coruscant and the Core Worlds, hardcover 2003, by
Craig R. Carey, Chris Doyle, Jason Fry, Paul Sudlow, John Terra, Daniel Wallace,
ISBN 0-7869-2879-4 References
External links Alderaan in the Official StarWars.com
Encyclopedia Alderaan on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars
wiki