Zeitooine, situated in the Inner Rim, was a planet characterized by its jungle environment and governed by a monarchy. During the High Republic Era, specifically in 232 BBY, the world became the setting for a mission undertaken by members of the Jedi Order, including Jedi Knight Dez Rydan. While the Jedi intervention initially helped to alleviate some of the planet's turmoil, its impact waned over time. Centuries subsequently, under the control of the Galactic Empire, Zeitooine was visited by Imperial defector Thane Kyrell, who had hoped to procure a power cell for the light freighter named Mighty Oak Apocalypse. However, his efforts were thwarted when he witnessed the arresting of a family native to the planet.
The Jedi Order dispatched a mission to Zeitooine in 232 BBY during the High Republic Era, with Jedi Knight Dez Rydan among those assigned. During his time stationed on the planet, Rydan gained extensive knowledge regarding poisons, which were commonly employed by the various houses comprising the Zeit royalty. This expertise later proved invaluable in recognizing the symptoms exhibited by pilot Affie Hollow after she was exposed to a poisonous vine during a skirmish aboard the Amaxine Station.
While the Jedi intervention initially succeeded in calming some of the unrest on the planet, within a few months, Rydan and the other Jedi found themselves largely ineffective, embroiled in political infighting without meaningful progress. Consequently, Rydan requested a transfer to the Starlight Beacon space station, seeking both greater challenges and fearing he might succumb to his anger if he remained. Following the Zeitooine mission, Rydan's former master, Jora Malli, confided in her new Padawan, Reath Silas, that she believed she had helped both of her students achieve balance. However, Malli privately questioned this assessment after learning of Rydan's experiences on Zeitooine and the planet Christophsis. The mission to Zeitooine was subsequently referenced in the sixth chapter of Chronicles of the Jedi, a book written by Jedi Master Harli Cogra in 229 BBY.
Zeitooine was integrated into the Galactic Empire by seven months after the Battle of Yavin. At that time, Thane Kyrell, a former TIE fighter pilot who had deserted the Empire, visited the planet while serving as a navigator and co-pilot aboard the light freighter Mighty Oak Apocalypse. During their journey, Kyrell informed his captain, the Wookiee Lohgarra, that the ship's aft sensor array power cell could only be charged to sixty percent of its capacity and suggested purchasing a replacement on Zeitooine. Lohgarra reminded Kyrell of their limited financial resources but eventually approved a budget for the purchase, cautioning that such an item might be costly on Zeitooine. Kyrell acknowledged this, noting that higher prices were typical in Zeitooine's region of space and that the Outer Rim Territories would offer significantly cheaper alternatives.
The spaceport where the freighter landed was situated on the outskirts of a Zeit city. Upon disembarking from the Mighty Oak Apocalypse, Kyrell observed his breath forming clouds in the cool air. He also felt uneasy due to the perceived strong Imperial presence, attributable to the planet's location in the Inner Rim. Lohgarra reassured him that, given the limited number of cities and Zeitooine's status as a less active trading hub, his chances of being apprehended were low. While the rest of the crew delivered several constructor droids, Kyrell set out to find a vendor of used parts. Despite discovering that the nearest seller was a ten minutes' walk away—further than he had anticipated—he resolved to proceed.
En route, Kyrell arrived at the city square, where a sizable crowd was witnessing Imperial stormtroopers arrest a local family indefinitely for violating a ban on independent publications. Appalled by this, Kyrell returned to the freighter, falsely claiming that he had been unable to find anything within his budget. Subsequently, the Mighty Oak Apocalypse and its crew departed from the planet. In 35 ABY, the historian Beaumont Kin mentioned Zeitooine in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. In this work, Kin recounted Kyrell's witnessing the imprisonment of civilians for disseminating independent publications not sanctioned by the Empire following the Battle of Yavin, using this observation to comment on the suppression of news throughout Imperial space, attributing his insights to a file pertaining to Kyrell located in the "Defections & Debriefings" section of the Rebel Alliance Archives.
The people of Zeitooine were known as the Zeit. The Zeit were governed by a royal family consisting of several competing houses, whose members frequently engaged in betrayal and attempted assassinate one another. Assassination methods were elaborate, including the addition of powders to wineglasses and the application of venom to pillowcases. During the Imperial Era, at least one family of civilians resided on Zeitooine.
Zeitooine made its debut appearance in the 2015 novel Lost Stars, authored by Claudia Gray.