In Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha, an iconic bounty hunter from the film series returns to a Knights of the Old Republic setting.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha by Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Laura Martin, and Travis Lanham, on sale now.
One of the most interesting aspects of Star Wars is the various planets seen throughout different publications. While the movies rarely stray from desert or jungle environments, Star Wars comics, games, and books have taken fans all across the galaxy far, far away. Nar Shaddaa is one of the moons orbiting the Hutts’ home planet and although it has a notorious reputation, it has not been featured prominently in the movies. However, the moon played a large role in Knights of the Old Republic 2, and Boba Fett just recently made a pit stop there.
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha depicts Boba Fett’s delivery of Han Solo’s body to Jabba the Hutt. Boba was in route to Tattooine when he noticed an issue with the frozen carbonite prison that houses Solo. Luckily, Fett is close to Nar Shaddaa where he has a friend that might be able to help with the carbonite. Unfortunately, Boba does not have the necessary resources on hand to pay for the prison to be fixed.
Fett negotiates a deal with his friend to dethrone the champion of another planet’s arena. Fett agrees and leaves Nar Shaddaa, but the Smuggler’s Moon shows its true colors while Boba is away. Thugs slaughtered Boba’s friend and stole Solo’s frozen body. Now, Boba is on the hunt to find Solo’s body and find a way to stabilize him before it is too late.
Nar Shaddaa is truly one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy and has been so for a long time. Nar Shaddaa is a moon orbiting Nal Hutta, the home world of the Hutts. This explains why the moon became so dangerous as the Hutts were always expanding their territory along the Outer Rim. It makes sense that they would have started with areas close to their home world. The Smuggler’s Moon has been noted as extremely dangerous by a number of major players in the Star Wars universe.
“Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon” from Star Wars #7-12 by Jason Aaron, Simone Bianchi, and Stuart Immonen depicts Luke arriving on Nar Shaddaa in hopes of finding a navigator to Coruscant. Luke explains to R2-D2 as they first land on the Nar Shaddaa that it is “an entire world of pirates and outlaws.” Skywalker learns this firsthand as he enters a bar and immediately gets into a fight before somebody steals his lightsaber. C-3PO would also share his disgust over the moon when he arrived with Chewbacca looking for Luke.
The Smuggler’s Moon has also been a consistent destination for Star Wars video games. In Knights of the Old Republic 2, the moon had been overrun with refugees fleeing their homes after the Jedi Civil War. The entire moon was being fought over by multiple criminal organizations. The Exile came to the planet in search of Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell and ended up freeing many of the citizens from the reign of the Exchange. The moon looked very bleak and smoggy during Knights of the Old Republic 2 with an occasional neon light mixed in. Nar Shaddaa would have this same gloomy look in other games such as The Force Unleashed, Jedi Knight II, and Dark Forces but was shown to resemble a cyberpunk version of Las Vegas in The Old Republic.
There’s no question of the dangers surrounding Nar Shaddaa. Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie have all experienced it firsthand and now Boba Fett is having his own issues on the Smuggler’s Moon. As the War of the Bounty Hunters commences, it appears that many familiar faces will be stopping by Nar Shaddaa on the hunt for Han Solo. Luke and Chewbacca will be heading to the Smuggler’s Moon in search of their friend in Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas’ Star Wars #13. The galaxy’s most dangerous bounty hunter Beilert Valance and his nemesis Dengar will also be heading to Nar Shaddaa in search of the location of Boba Fett in Star Wars Bounty Hunters #12 by Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli. Time will tell if the heroes and villains can survive their visit to the galaxy’s greatest haven for scum and villainy.
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