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- "There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser!"
- ―Han Solo
Hoth was a remote, icy planet that was the sixth planet in the star system of the same name, located in the Anoat sector of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. It was the homeworld to the primitive wampa species.
It notably hosted Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War, the temporary headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, until the Galactic Empire located them, initiating a major confrontation known as the Battle of Hoth. In the months following, scavengers established temporary base camps on the planet to scrap the AT-ATs destroyed.
In the months after the Battle of Endor, rumors emerged about the New Republic intending to repurpose Hoth into a prison for those who remained loyal to the Empire, however, the credibility of the rumors were dismissed as Chancellor Mon Mothma had been dedicated to a pretext of justice over punishment. Meanwhile, the war returned to Hoth, where it became the site of another battle during the Iron Blockade.
Description[]
- "Anyone who looks at Hoth from above would be forgiven for thinking it a mostly dead ball of ice."
- ―Kell Tolkani's notes
Imperial AT-ATs traverse the frozen landscape on Hoth.
From space, the planet of Hoth looked like a pale blue orb due to its dense snow and ice covering. Five planets existed between Hoth and its sun, while an asteroid belt surrounded the planet with meteors occasionally striking the surface.[7] Most of its surface was covered with glaciers and frozen ice plains.[5] Despite the characterization of Hoth as being a planet of frozen tundras[25] and nothing more, a characterization the naturalist Kell Tolkani said would be fair if someone only viewed the world from orbit,[24] another third of the planet was covered by oceans.[26]
The temperature, although always frigid, was known to drop to -60°C come nightfall.[7] Although devoid of intelligent life, Hoth was home to fifteen subspecies of tauntauns, which were commonly used by Rebels as a means of transport, and which Han Solo cut open to use as shelter to keep Luke Skywalker and himself warm during a snowstorm. It was also home to a species of towering predators known as wampas.[10][7] During his stay on Hoth, Skywalker was captured by a wampa and was hung upside down in the wampa's cave, waiting to be eaten. Using the power of the Force, Skywalker managed to get his hands on his lightsaber and cut himself down from the roof and sever the wampa's right arm. The planet also had a number of "crystalline geysers."[26]
History[]
The Rebel Alliance[]
- "Jan Dodonna was always planning for the future…he had preliminary scans for possible new rebel bases."
"Gimme a look at that…Atanu, Jabone IV, Lonania Prime, Hoth, Mupin XII? Mupin XII? Really? Did he make that one up? What are these places?" - ―Leia Organa and Han Solo
By the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Hoth was undergoing an ice age.[23] Various smuggling rings tried to make use of Hoth as a base, yet their efforts always failed due to the planet's extreme conditions.[28] Sometime following the Battle of Yavin, Saponza's Gang, itself a rebel cell, established a base on Hoth.[16] Hoth was first surveyed for use as a rebel base[28] by Corporal Purpruff.[29] Jan Dodonna, a general in the Alliance to Restore the Republic,[30] listed Hoth among his preliminary scans for possible Alliance bases.[27] With Hoth a world so obscure it was not on most star maps[31] despite being extremely close to the Corellian Trade Spine,[28] it looked to be a perfect spot for a rebel base.[31] Indeed, its surface was a winter wasteland, Hoth sat on a lesser used hyperlane,[28] and the asteroid field around Hoth provided an extra degree of protection.[32] That field hampered travel through the Hoth system, and any asteroid crash into the surface would create enough of a thermal signature that it hid signs of intelligent life.[28]
In 1 ABY,[33] with more resources at their command than the various smuggling rings that had failed to turn Hoth into a headquarters,[28] Hoth was chosen by the rebels as the location for their base of operations. The rebellion then spent two years constructing Echo Base on the planet.[31] With the Alliance's resources at their disposal, rebel engineers worked on expanding ice caverns into a base over those two years.[28] Around 2 ABY,[34] after Dodonna was killed in the Battle of Mako-Ta,[30] Mon Mothma gave his list of possible bases to Leia Organa after the mission to Shu-Torun, requesting that her team scout the locations. Han Solo expressed surprise at how obscure the locations were. However, Luke Skywalker responded to him by saying that one of the locations was the Rebellion's new home.[27]
Battle of Hoth and aftermath[]
- "My lord, the fleet has moved out of light-speed. Com-Scan has detected an energy field protecting an area of the sixth planet of the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any bombardment."
"The Rebels are alerted to our presence. Admiral Ozzel came out of light-speed too close to the system."
"He felt surprise was wiser—"
"He is as clumsy as he is stupid. A clean bombardment is now impossible. General, prepare your troops for a surface attack."
"Yes, my lord." - ―General Maximilian Veers and Darth Vader
AT-ATs engage the rebel defense of Hoth.
Hoth was the arena of a battle between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, which had installed its temporary headquarters, Echo Base, on the ice planet. However, thanks to one of the thousands of probe droids they had dispatched throughout the galaxy, the Imperials had discovered the Alliance base within a month of the Rebels' habitation on the planet.[35] Although Echo Base was evacuated in the eleventh hour, the Battle of Hoth resulted in a clear defeat for the Alliance after the elite Imperial Blizzard Force overran it.[7][10]
In the months following the Battle of Hoth, scavengers established temporary base camps on the planet to scrap the AT-ATs destroyed by the Rebel Alliance during the Empire's attack. Following the Battle of Endor, Hoth became the site of another battle, occurring during the Iron Blockade imposed upon the Anoat sector.[36]
New Republic Era[]
- "The planet's hostile conditions prevented settlements from taking root before or after the Alliance's time there, and Hoth returned to being all but ignored, remembered as a footnote in galactic history when it was recalled at all."
- ―The Galactic Explorer's Guide
In 5 ABY,[38] Troithe Acting Governor Fara Yadeez heard rumors that the New Republic intended to repurpose Hoth into a prison for those who remained loyal to the Empire. Major Soran Keize, however, dismissed the credibility of the rumor as Republic Chancellor Mon Mothma had been dedicated to a pretext of justice over punishment, and that repurposing Hoth, where the Rebellion had been badly defeated by the Empire, had too much poetry.[39]
By the New Republic Era, Hoth returned to obscurity, the battlefields being picked apart and long-abandoned. It was mentioned in the Galactic Explorer's Guide, a survival guide written by Hondo Ohnaka and DK-RA-43, where it was described as a "footnote" in galactic history.[37]
Behind the scenes[]
Concept art of Hoth by Ralph McQuarrie.
Hoth first appeared in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, the second installment of the Star Wars original trilogy.[10] The real-world filming location for Hoth was Finse, Norway.[40] The scenes of Luke Skywalker stumbling through the snow were filmed a few feet outside the crew's hotel.[41]
Hoth appears in "Reflections," a short film with unconfirmed canonicity.[42] In between 25 ABY and 34 ABY,[43] the First Order had a presence on Hoth, but assignment to Hoth was considered a punishment. During that time, two First Order stormtroopers were reassigned to Hoth by an angered Captain Phasma, who had overheard one of the troopers tell the other that whomever was in command of their prior facility should be reassigned to Hoth for their failings. Upon finding themselves on Hoth, the first trooper attempted to find comfort in finally blending into an environment, only for a wampa to roar in the distance.[42]
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
Sources[]
Non-canon sources[]
- LEGO Star Wars: Choose Your Side: Doodle Activity Book
- LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure
- LEGO Star Wars 55 (Free Gift) (Picture only)
- LEGO Star Wars 61 (Free Gift) (Picture only)
- LEGO Star Wars 79 (Free Gift) (Picture only)
A Brief History of How LEGO Star Wars Built 20 Years of Stories on StarWars.com (backup link)- "The Song of Four Wings" Episode Guide | Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 on StarWars.com (backup link)
Notes and references[]
External links[]
- Hoth on Wikipedia
- Hoth on the Disney Wiki
- Hoth on the Star Wars Battlefront Wiki
