Arvala-7 was a remote desert planet with a barren, rocky surface and breathable atmosphere. During the New Republic Era, it was home to the Ugnaught Kuiil, who lived on a moisture farm with his blurrg. Sometime after Kuiil moved to the world, a group of Nikto mercenaries built an encampment, inside which they kept captive a youngling of the same species as the late Jedi Master Yoda.
Having accepted a contract to retrieve Grogu for his client, the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin traveled to Arvala-7 in his gunship, the Razor Crest. He met Kuiil after the Ugnaught saved him from a blurrg attack, and the farmer offered to help Djarin locate his quarry. Kuiil led Djarin to the mercenary encampment on blurrg mounts and left the Mandalorian to capture the asset on his own. With the help of IG-11, an IG-series assassin droid also working for the Bounty Hunters' Guild, Djarin eliminated the Nikto and located Grogu. He then rescued the youngling from IG-11, who intended to kill him per the Client's request.
Upon returning to the Razor Crest, Djarin discovered his ship had been scrapped by local Jawas for spare parts. With the help of Kuiil, the bounty hunter negotiated a trade for the parts in exchange for a mudhorn egg. Djarin traveled into the cave where the mudhorn dwelt, and only defeated the beast after Grogu used the Force to levitate it. With the egg handed over to the Jawas, Djarin was able to repair his ship and leave Arvala-7.
Djarin later returned to the planet with Carasynthia Dune to recruit Kuiil's help in caring for Grogu while they went on a mission to the planet Nevarro. Kuiil agreed to come along only if IG-11, whom the Ugnaught had repaired and reprogrammed, and the blurrg were allowed to join. After Djarin reluctantly agreed, the newly formed team departed for Nevarro.
The barren, rocky surface of Arvala-7
Arvala-7 was an out-of-the-way terrestrial planet with a barren, desert surface covered in rocky mountains, cracked hardened mud, viscous mud flats, canyons, and caves that was incredibly difficult to traverse on foot. The world was home to several creatures, including blurrgs, mudhorns, gorvin snu, and Sorgan frogs. Arvala-7 had a breathable atmosphere that was capable of producing thunderstorms. The planet was sparsely populated but shared its name with Arvala-Six, a location that was occupied by the Galactic Empire during the Imperial Era.
Kuiil trains Djarin on blurrg-riding.
During the New Republic Era, a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin traveled to Arvala-7 after accepting a contract to retrieve an asset for his client. After landing his gunship, called the Razor Crest, he spotted a herd of blurrgs, two of which quickly attacked him. The Ugnaught Kuiil arrived on a blurrg mount and rescued Djarin, taking him to his moisture farm, where he offered to assist the Mandalorian in locating his bounty. Kuiil trained Djarin on blurrg riding in preparation for their journey to a nearby encampment, and the duo later departed across the rocky terrain.
After leading Djarin to the encampment, Kuiil departed back to his farm. While observing the Nikto mercenaries in the camp, Djarin noticed an IG-series assassin droid entering the base and demanding the asset be released, citing the Bondsman Guild Protocol. The assassin droid, designated IG-11, was immediately attacked, though he killed many of the mercenaries, sending the rest into hiding within the camp's buildings. Djarin approached IG-11, and the droid initially perceived him as a threat. After revealing himself as a fellow member of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, the two negotiated a deal to work together and split the bounty reward.
Djarin saves Grogu.
As the remaining Nikto began a second attack, the two worked their way to the back of the camp, where Djarin's tracking fob indicated the asset was being held. After eliminating the remaining mercenaries, the two used a mounted turret to blast open the door to the room containing their target. Once inside, they discovered a child of the same species as Jedi Master Yoda. When IG-11 aimed his E-11 medium blaster rifle at the asset, Djarin shot the droid, destroying him.
Jawas stripped the Razor Crest for spare parts.
With the asset in possession, Djarin made his way back to the Razor Crest. Along the way, he was ambushed by a group of Trandoshan mercenaries who had been hired by the Guild, though he managed to kill them all. Upon arriving at his gunship, the Mandalorian discovered a group of Jawas had gutted the Razor Crest for spare parts. After an initial failed attempt to pursue the Jawas' sandcrawler, Djarin returned to the remains of his ship and then to Kuiil's farm.
Djarin had to battle a mudhorn to retrieve its egg.
Kuiil offered to help Djarin get his ship parts back by taking him to the Jawas so he could negotiate a trade. When they eventually caught up to the Jawas, Djarin, though at first demanding his parts free of charge, agreed to retrieve a mudhorn egg in exchange for his stolen property. The Jawas drove the bounty hunter to a nearby mudhorn cave where he confronted the beast. Despite being heavily beaten by the creature, Djarin defeated the mudhorn after the asset used the Force to levitate it, allowing Djarin to stab its head. He then retrieved an egg and delivered it back to the Jawas, who busted it open and began consuming it.
With the parts returned to him, Djarin, Kuiil, and the asset returned to the Razor Crest. Kuiil assisted in the repairs, and Djarin offered him a job as a crewmate. The Ugnaught politely declined and thanked the bounty hunter for bringing peace to his valley, and Djarin and the Child left Arvala-7 for Nevarro.
Djarin recruits Kuiil.
After receiving a hologram message from Greef Karga, the head of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, requesting Djarin bring Grogu back to Nevarro to be used as live bait to lure the Client out, as he had made himself an enemy of both Karga and the Guild. Djarin recruited ex-rebel shock trooper Carasynthia Dune on Sorgan, and after leaving the planet, the two brought Grogu back to Arvala-7 to request the assistance of Kuiil in caring for him. Kuiil agreed to join them on their mission to Nevarro on the condition that IG-11, whom Kuiil had repaired and reprogrammed, and his blurrgs be allowed to come along. After agreeing to the deal, the newly formed team left Arvala-7.
Image Engine worked with Industrial Light & Magic on the Arvala-7 scenes.
Arvala-7 first appeared in the first episode of the television series The Mandalorian, which was titled "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" and aired on November 12, 2019.
When Lucasfilm Ltd. art department designed Arvala-7, the artists tried to find a different take for the then new planet. They thought about taking dried mud and scaling it up so features that were normally a couple of meters across became hundreds of meters. The original brief was that it rained very rarely, every five or seven years, and the events of the The Mandalorian take place between rainy seasons. When Rick Famuyiwa joined to direct "Chapter 2: The Child," he wanted to make the planet wetter and give it a little more texture.
was responsible for developing several establishing shots that documented Djarin and Kuiil's journey through the rain to the Jawa camp, as well as working on a sandcrawler render from Industrial Light & Magic and the bargaining scenes at the camp. Backdrops on Arvala-7 were created using 360-degree LED display monitors, which allowed for interactive backdrop assets to be rendered and displayed in real time. When the light from the LEDs was not enough to simulate real daylight, the team performed heavy grading on props to make them blend with the backdrop. Whenever the real-time background looked out of place, the LED volume was replaced entirely with a computer-generated backdrop. To accomplish this, Image Engine ingested the real-time assets from ILM, uprezzed them in lookdev and texture, made sure cameras lined up properly, and then handed the asset over to the environments department.
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