Rodia was a remote and swampy jungle planet. It was the homeworld of the Rodian species. Cities on Rodia were encased with domed environmental shields that allowed entry and exit for vehicles and vessels.
Located on the border between the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim Territories, and the second orbit in the five-planet Tyrius system, the planet Rodia was in a region of the galaxy that had been very busy throughout history. The primary world in the Savareen sector at grid square R-16 on the Standard Galactic Grid, Rodia was situated close to the Corellian Run super-hyperroute, which gave travelers a clear route all the way throughout the galaxy. A hotbed of life with a hot and humid climate and breathable atmosphere, Rodia was mostly covered in water, including the vast Wesessa Sea. The majority of the planet's solid landmasses that were not submerged were covered in unworkable swamps, thick forests and jungles, with colder regions to the north and south of the planet. Rodia had a strong smell that was pungent to most visitors.
Around fifteen millennia before the Battle of Yavin, Rodia had joined the Galactic Republic after seeing benefits come from their union. New technology had made its way onto the planet and, with permission from the Grand Protector, Rodian hunters were allowed to leave Rodia—an act which was unpermitted previously—and embark upon galaxy-wide careers as bounty hunters, enslavers and soldiers of fortune.
Bubble-domed habitats on Rodia
Later, during the waning days of the Republic, the planet was represented in the Galactic Senate by Senator Onaconda Farr. Republic supply ships en route to Rodia were destroyed by pirates, leading to many Rodians starving. At some point during the Clone Wars, Farr betrayed his old friend and ally Senator Padmé Amidala by luring her to Rodia and into the clutches of her old enemy, the Trade Federation viceroy, Nute Gunray, in exchange for the shipment of supplies, which the Republic had failed to deliver, to his planet. However, when Gunray stated his intentions to execute Amidala, and delay the delivery of Rodia's supplies, he realized his mistake and helped her escape. The two held Gunray at gunpoint and had him arrested. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine dispatched several supply convoys to Rodia upon learning of the dilemma.
Bounty hunter Cad Bane was later assigned to Rodia by Darth Sidious to capture a Force-sensitive Rodian child. Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived too late to prevent the child's kidnapping. Ahsoka Tano later recalled the incident during the Imperial Era.
By the time of the Galactic Civil War, Rodia had fallen under Imperial control. Many Rodians who opposed the occupation of their homeworld were recruited by the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star, Luke Skywalker took a luxury yacht, the Desert Jewel, to Rodia's Betu continent on a secret mission to recruit the Chekkoo clan to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Chekkoo clan opposed the ruling Chattza clan, which sided with the Empire. In his stay on Rodia, he learned of a Rodian Jedi named Huulik who fought in the Clone Wars and visited a secret mausoleum deep in the jungle to honor Huulik.
Around the time of the Battle of Jakku, Rodia was represented in the Galactic Senate of the New Republic by Dor Wieedo.
Rodia first appeared in the Star Wars Legends novel Shadows of the Empire, which was written by Steve Perry and published in 1996.. It first appeared in canon in an opening flashback in "Ambush," an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that first aired on October 3, 2008.
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