Arvala-7 was a desolate, far-flung planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories, characterized by its harsh, rocky terrain and a breathable atmosphere. During the era of the New Republic, it served as the residence of the Ugnaught named Kuiil, who maintained a moisture farm alongside his blurrg companions. Sometime after Kuiil made this world his home, a band of Nikto mercenaries constructed an encampment, within the confines of which they held captive a youngling belonging to the same species as the deceased Jedi Master Yoda.
Tasked with a contract to secure Grogu for his employer, the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin journeyed to Arvala-7 aboard his gunship, known as the Razor Crest. He encountered Kuiil after the Ugnaught intervened to save him from a blurrg assault, and the agriculturalist volunteered to aid Djarin in pinpointing his target. Kuiil guided Djarin to the mercenary stronghold on blurrg mounts, leaving the Mandalorian to independently apprehend the asset. With the collaboration of IG-11, an IG-series assassin droid also employed by the Bounty Hunters' Guild, Djarin neutralized the Nikto and located Grogu. Subsequently, he shielded the youngling from IG-11, who intended to eliminate him as per the Client's directive.
Upon his return to the Razor Crest, Djarin discovered that local Jawas had dismantled his vessel for salvageable components. With Kuiil's assistance, the bounty hunter successfully negotiated an exchange for the components, offering a mudhorn egg as compensation. Djarin ventured into the cave inhabited by the mudhorn, ultimately subduing the creature only after Grogu employed the Force to lift it into the air. With the egg delivered to the Jawas, Djarin was able to repair his starship and depart from Arvala-7.
Djarin later revisited the planet alongside Carasynthia Dune to enlist Kuiil's support in caring for Grogu while they embarked on a mission to the planet Nevarro. Kuiil consented to accompany them, provided that IG-11, whom the Ugnaught had repaired and reprogrammed, and the blurrg were permitted to join. Following Djarin's reluctant agreement, the newly assembled team set off for Nevarro.
Arvala-7 was a remote terrestrial planet whose surface was a desolate desert, marked by craggy mountains, parched and fractured mud, slick mudflats, canyons, and caverns, making it incredibly difficult to navigate on foot. This world was the home of various lifeforms, including blurrgs, mudhorns, gorvin snu, and Sorgan frogs. Arvala-7 possessed a breathable atmosphere capable of producing thunderstorms. While sparsely inhabited, it shared its name with Arvala-Six, a location occupied by the Galactic Empire during the Imperial Era.
During the age of the New Republic, a Mandalorian bounty hunter by the name of Din Djarin made his way to Arvala-7, having accepted a contract to secure an asset for his client. Upon landing his gunship, the Razor Crest, he noticed a group of blurrgs, two of which immediately set upon him. The Ugnaught Kuiil arrived riding a blurrg and rescued Djarin, taking him to his moisture farm, where he offered to assist the Mandalorian in finding his target. Kuiil instructed Djarin in the art of blurrg riding in anticipation of their journey to a nearby encampment, and the pair subsequently departed across the rugged landscape.
After guiding Djarin to the encampment, Kuiil returned to his farm. While observing the Nikto mercenaries within the camp, Djarin noticed an IG-series assassin droid entering the base and demanding the release of the asset, citing the Bondsman Guild Protocol. The assassin droid, known as IG-11, was immediately attacked, though he killed many of the mercenaries, forcing the rest to seek refuge within the camp's structures. Djarin approached IG-11, and the droid initially perceived him as a threat. After identifying himself as a fellow member of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, the two negotiated an agreement to collaborate and divide the bounty reward.
As the remaining Nikto launched a second attack, the two advanced toward the rear of the camp, where Djarin's tracking fob indicated the asset was being held. After eliminating the remaining mercenaries, they employed a mounted turret to breach the door of the room housing their target. Upon entering, 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.
With the asset in his possession, Djarin began making his way back to the Razor Crest. Along the way, he was ambushed by a contingent of Trandoshan mercenaries who had been hired by the Guild, though he succeeded in killing them all. Upon reaching his gunship, the Mandalorian discovered that a group of Jawas had gutted the Razor Crest for spare parts. After an initial unsuccessful attempt to pursue the Jawas' sandcrawler, Djarin returned to the remains of his ship and then to Kuiil's farm.
Kuiil offered to assist Djarin in recovering his ship parts by taking him to the Jawas so he could negotiate an exchange. When they eventually caught up to the Jawas, Djarin, though initially demanding his parts without charge, agreed to retrieve a mudhorn egg in return for his stolen property. The Jawas led the bounty hunter to a nearby mudhorn cave where he confronted the beast. Despite suffering heavy blows from the creature, Djarin defeated the mudhorn after the asset employed the Force to levitate it, enabling Djarin to stab its head. He then obtained an egg and delivered it back to the Jawas, who cracked 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 position 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.
After receiving a hologram message from Greef Karga, the leader 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 become an enemy of both Karga and the Guild. Djarin recruited ex-rebel shock trooper Carasynthia Dune on Sorgan, and after departing the planet, the two brought Grogu back to Arvala-7 to request Kuiil's assistance 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 accompany them. After agreeing to the deal, the newly formed team left Arvala-7.
Arvala-7 made its initial appearance in the premiere episode of the television series The Mandalorian, entitled "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian," which was broadcast on November 12, 2019.
When the Lucasfilm art department designed Arvala-7, the artists sought to create a novel perspective for the then-new planet. Their concept involved scaling up dried mud, transforming features that were typically a few meters in size into structures spanning hundreds of meters. The initial concept stipulated that rainfall was exceedingly rare, occurring only every five to seven years, and the events of The Mandalorian unfolded between rainy seasons. When Rick Famuyiwa joined to direct "Chapter 2: The Child," he aimed to make the planet wetter and enhance its texture.
Image Engine 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.