Star Wars: 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Yavin 4

Star Wars‘ fictional universe includes a plethora of planets, one of which is the red gas giant known as Yavin. The planet has a number of moons including Yavin 4. This moon is of significant importance as it bore witness to the final battle in the first-ever Star Wars film, A New Hope.

However, other than the climactic battle of Episode IV, the satellite is of importance to other Star Wars-related media including novels, comics, and video games. The lush jungles on its surface allowed not only Rebels to form military bases but also for Jedi masters to train their future students.

9 The Real-Life Yavin 4 Is In Mayan Ruins

Like many other planets in the Star Wars franchise, the scenes set in Yavin 4 were also filmed in real-world locations. In this case, the location was the Tikal Pyramids in Guatemala.

Located within Guatemalan rainforests, these Pyramids once served as temples for the Mayan civilization. As reported by Reuters, Lucas wished to shoot in this location after he caught a glimpse of Tikal in a travel agency poster in England. Interestingly, when his crew actually ended up in Guatemala, the country was in the midst of a 36-year-long civil war.

8 It Was The Home Of Poe Dameron’s Parents

Poe Dameron has been a fan-favorite character in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. This pilot is also connected to Yavin 4, as this was the site where his parents lived together.

As the 2-15 comic miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Universe revealed, Yavin 4 was the home of Poe’s parents, the rebel pilot Shara Bey and the Rebel Alliance sergeant Kes Dameron. After retiring from the Rebel service, the couple set up their residence at Yavin 4. They also planted a fragment of a Force-sensitive tree on the moon, a gift that Bey was offered by Luke Skywalker.

7 The Temples Were Dedicated To A Sith Lord

As mentioned earlier, real-life Mayan temples were used to establish the location of Yavin 4. Even in the Star Wars continuity, these landmarks were treated as places of worship.

For instance, in the comic Tales of the Jedi, the Massassi worshiped the Sith Lord Naga Sadow in these ruins. Sadow was revered by this group as he had used Sith Alchemy to enslave and mutate them. Apparently, Sadow also sought refuge in Yavin 4 while running away from the Republic five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin.

6 Oscar Isaac’s Connection To Yavin 4

Poe Dameron actor Oscar Isaac originally hails from Guatemala, the very same country on which Yavin 4 was set. When Isaac got to know about this fact, he wished for Lucasfilm to trace his character’s origins back to the Yavin moon. And Lucasfilm did comply with his desire.

As Isaac told Gizmodo ahead of the release of The Force Awakens, “So [the backstory] was a collaboration. I was born in Guatemala. This takes place 30 years later. Which is close to my age. And so I thought ‘Why couldn’t Poe be from Yavin? He could be from there, that rebel base.”

5 Yavin’s Battle Established The Star Wars Timeline

The birth of Christ has helped in marking an epoch in human history to the point that history can be divided into phases before and after this birth. In a similar fashion, the Battle of Yavin was so significant that the Star Wars continuity can be divided into years BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin).

This categorization is often used in the novels that fall under the Star Wars Legends imprint. The reference books Star Wars: Jedi Battles and Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology further reinforce this fact.

4 Yavin 4 Debuted In A Star Wars Novel

Contrary to popular belief, Yavin 4 wasn’t introduced in A New Hope but rather in the novel that preceded the original film. In 1976, the Star Wars paperback book Star Wars:From The Adventures of Luke Skywalker was released under George Lucas’s name (although Alan Dean Foster served as the ghostwriter).

The novelization didn’t add many changes to the film’s story, barring a prologue that added more context on future antagonist Senator Palpatine. It’s for this reason that Yavin 4’s description is also largely unchanged.

3 Yavin’s Name Is A Hebrew Word

Even though George Lucas has not given any direct explanation behind the origin of Yavin’s name, the word ‘Yavin’ can be traced back to Hebrew roots. In fact, Yavin is also used as a male baby name.

This makes sense given how many planetary names in the Star Wars derive from multiple cultural influences. For instance, Tatooine comes from the Tunisian town of Tataouine and Mustafar is a variation of the Arabic name Mustafa.

2 It Served As A Training Center For Luke Skywalker

In the Jedi Academy novels, Luke Skywalker establishes his Jedi Praxeum at Yavin 4. This basically serves as a base where Luke can train the new generation of Jedi Knights.

After having his fill, Luke passed on his training duties to the husband-wife duo Kam Solusar and Tionne Solusar. However, the Praxeum was destroyed soon after with the Yuuzhan Vong species invading the moon. It’s for this reason that it gets shifted to the planet of Ossus instead.

1 It’s Only Had Brief Appearances In Video Games

Unlike other planets and moons, Yavin 4 has only briefly appeared in Star Wars games despite its paramount importance in the franchise.

In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Yavin 4 is a part of the downloadable content. Star Wars: The Old Republic similarly adds the moon under the expansion pack titled Shadow of Revan. Yavin 4 appears in the PC game Star Wars: Rebellion but it’s mistakenly shown to be in the Sumatra sector while in fact, it is located in the Gordian Reach sector.

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
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Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

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