Concordia

"The Concordian moon is a province, with its own governor."

Concordia was one of two moons orbiting the Outer Rim world of Mandalore. A verdant moon possessing dense forests, the Mandalorians originally settled Concordia as an agricultural colony. However, during the time of war, the Mandalorians established a vast number of mining camps on the moon in search of beskar iron, a nearly indestructible metal ore unique to Mandalore and its orbiting satellite. The excessive strip-mining operation almost destroyed Concordia's forests, though by 22 BBY, they were making a recovery. Centuries after the rise of the pacifistic New Mandalorian faction, the violent renegade sect of Mandalorians known as the Death Watch incited numerous Mandalorian clan leaders to war against their peaceful regime in a conflict that became known as the Great Clan Wars. The Death Watch-backed warlords were eventually defeated, reluctantly accepting exile to Concordia, an independent Mandalorian province the rule of which was turned over to Clan Vizsla.

By the beginning of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Concordia was governed by Pre Vizsla, a public supporter of New Mandalorian leader Duchess Satine Kryze, but secretly the leader of a reborn faction of Death Watch. Vizsla established a Death Watch base in the moon's abandoned mines, where he worked in secret to rebuild the Death Watch. His base was discovered by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi during an investigation of the Death Watch's presence in current Mandalorian affairs, and his efforts to turn the New Mandalorians against the Republic were thwarted by the combined actions of Kenobi and Duchess Kryze. With Vizsla's ties to Death Watch were exposed to all, he lost his position as governor of Concordia, and was eventually forced to abandon the Mandalorian moon to join Death Watch in a nomadic existence wandering the galaxy, until he led a coup against the New Mandalorians to take power.

Description[]

"I thought Concordia was an agricultural settlement."
"Before the end of our wars, they turned it into a mining base. The sheer number of mining facilities here nearly destroyed our forests. They're finally growing back."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze^[2]

Concordia was a terrestrial moon,^[2] one of two satellites that orbited the planet Mandalore, the cultural homeworld of the Mandalorian people, located in the Mandalore sector of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. One of several habitable locations in the Mandalore system,^[1] Concordia was a lush, temperate moon, with chains of mountains dotting its surface.^[2] As the system's sun set, Concordia could be seen from the surface of Mandalore as a green sphere in the evening sky.^[5]

ConcordianLandscape — Concordia's rural landscape

A verdant moon where dense forests grew, Concordia became an agricultural colony after being settled by the Mandalorians.^[2] The Mandalorian moon was home to a number of animals, including carnivorous predators who were known to chance attacking sentient prey at night. Individuals who ventured out into the Concordian plains in the dark could ward off the moon's predators with fire.^[6] During the period when Mandalore continued to engage in large-scale warfare,^[2] Concordia became the target of beskar iron miners, who scoured the moon^[3] for the nearly indestructible metal.^[7] Unsightly mines marred much of Concordia's surface,^[3] almost destroying the moon's forests in the process. Even after the Mandalorians' wars came to an end, it was only around the time of the Clone Wars that the Concordian forests began to make a recovery. The old mines were abandoned to fall into disrepair, a symbol of the mining industry left behind, only be revitalized by the radical Death Watch splinter sect to serve as hidden bases for their operations on Concordia^[2] and a place to manufacture armor and munitions in secret.^[5]

History[]

"Some unrepentant mercenaries and warriors were exiled to the moon Concordia, while others dispersed throughout the galaxy, resuming the Mandalorians' ancient trade as blasters-for-hire."

―Vilnau Teupt^[8]

ConcordianMines-Overview — *Beskar* iron mines marred Concordia's lush surface

The early Mandalorian Taung conquered the uninhabited world that would become Mandalore around 7000 BBY, naming the world for their leader, Mandalore the First. As they set out to capture the surrounding worlds of the Mandalore system,^[1] the Mandalorians eventually turned their sights on the lush and forested moon of Concordia. Over time, the verdant moon became an agricultural settlement, inhabited and tended by Mandalorian farmers.^[2]

During the Galactic War, the Mandalorian soldier Galron made camp on Concordia with his twin daughters Mari and Tayn. Around the fire, they spoke of the famed warrior Shae Vizla and the ancient Mandalore the Conqueror, before the girls drifted off to sleep under their father's watchful eye.^[6]

Eventually, interest in Concordia turned away from agriculture and in the direction of mining. As the Mandalorians continued to wage war^[2] centuries prior to rise of the Galactic Empire, they sought beskar iron ore from beneath the surface of Concordia.^[3] The metal was a galactic rarity, found only on Mandalore^[9] and its moon,^[3] and was prized for its nigh invulnerability,^[7] capable of withstanding the blows of a lightsaber.^[9] Ugly mines came to scar the surface of Concordia,^[3] and the Mandalorians' strip-mining efforts were so extensive that the moon's native forests were nearly destroyed.^[2]

Following the Mandalorian Excision—a brief but overwhelming conflict between the Mandalorians and the Galactic Republic^[8] that transformed portions of Mandalore into barren deserts of white sand^[3]—a reformist political faction of Mandalorians was born: the New Mandalorians. The New Mandalorians believed in pacifism, and sought to establish a peaceful society isolated from the traditional warrior clans.^[1] Rogue elements within the warrior clans worked to see the New Mandalorians' downfall for centuries,^[5] eventually culminating with the foundation of the Death Watch splinter group under Tor Vizsla^[7] around 60 BBY.^[8] In an attempt to see the New Mandalorians' downfall, Death Watch incited a number of clan chieftains to war against the pacifists, though other clan leaders rose to defend them. In the end, the Great Clan Wars resulted in a defeat for Death Watch, and the beaten but unrepentant clan warlords accepted exile to Concordia. Control of the Mandalorian moon was turned over to Clan Vizsla,^[5] to act as a province independent of the New Mandalorian state.^[2]

VizslaVilla-TMP — A Mandalorian settlement on Concordia

By the start of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY,^[8] more than a decade after the end of the Great Clan Wars,^[5] it was the position of the New Mandalorian government that the warriors that had been exiled to Concordia had died since out. During this time, Concordia was ruled by Governor Pre Vizsla, an outward supporter of the New Mandalorians and friend to their leader, Duchess Satine Kryze. In secret, however, Vizsla was the leader of the Death Watch,^[2] rebuilding the sect in the wake of the Great Clan Wars.^[5] Vizsla established a base of operations in the abandoned beskar mines of Concordia,^[3] using the facilities to manufacture Mandalorian armor and armament, and as a staging ground for his Death Watch forces.^[5] Vizsla's plans and the Death Watch's secret base were uncovered by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Duchess Kryze during a visit to Concordia in the early months of the Clone Wars. Discovered, Vizsla fought Kenobi to a draw, and a trio of his Death Watch troops forced the Jedi Master to retreat with the Duchess back to Mandalore.^[2] Even still, Vizsla continued to use Concordia and his base there as a staging ground for a planned Death Watch takeover of Mandalore. There, he amassed an army of soldiers, but before an attack could be made, Count Dooku—Vizsla's ally in the Confederacy of Independent Systems—ordered his men to stand down due to the veto of a Republic defense initiative that would have sent a contingent of clone troopers to Mandalore. Vizsla and Dooku had planned to use the Republic occupation to sway the Mandalorian populace to support Death Watch as would-be liberators against an oppressive offworld force. Without the backing of Mandalore's people, Death Watch did not have the strength to take control of the planet.^[10] Death Watch was later driven from Concordia and the surrounding Mandalore system, eventually establishing a camp on the far away world of Carlac.^[11]

By the Clone Wars' end, Concordia had acquired a reputation for doing business with a number of pirates and smugglers that operated in and around Mandalorian space. Areas of the moon were known to host an ostensible presence of the Black Sun crime syndicate, operating under the oversight of Vigo Xizor's lieutenant, Tyno Fabris. Non-Mandalorian offworlders with business on the Mandalorian homeworld would occasionally make planetfall on Concordia to fulfill their needs, rather than journeying down to the surface of Mandalore itself.^[12]

Inhabitants[]

"You won't make much progress without me there, especially since you've just been involved with the death of a Concordian."

―Satine Kryze^[2]

Vizsla welcomes Satine — Concordian Governor Pre Vizsla and his armored guards

Concordia was first inhabited by members of the Mandalorian culture as an agricultural settlement, becoming a home to a number of Mandalorian farmers. Later, the moon was transformed into a mining base,^[2] and Concordia became a haven for beskar miners, operating the numerous mines littered across the moon's surface.^[3] The people of Concordia were collectively known as Concordians, and spoke a dialect^[2] of Mando'a—the traditional Mandalorian language^[13]—also known as Concordian,^[4] a dialect shared by the nearby world of Concord Dawn.^[13]

In the aftermath of the Great Clan Wars, several unrepentant warrior clan chieftains who had sided with Death Watch to dethrone the New Mandalorians went into exile on Concordia upon their defeat. The rule of the Mandalorian moon was entrusted to the members of Clan Vizsla,^[5] and by the time of the Clone Wars, Concordia was recognized as an independent province, separate from the New Mandalorian state and ruled by its own governor.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

The moon of Concordia was first introduced to the Star Wars universe in the twelfth episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' second season, entitled "The Mandalore Plot."^[2] The Mandalorian moon made subsequent appearances in the following episodes "Voyage of Temptation"^[14] and "Duchess of Mandalore,"^[10] before receiving a mention in the fifth season episode "Shades of Reason."^[15] The novels The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy^[5] and The Last Jedi made additional mentions of Concordia,^[12] as did the young reader book The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 4: Guardians of the Chiss Key,^[16] and the The Old Republic web short "Bedtime on Concordia."^[6]

Although The Essential Atlas—a galactic geography reference book authored by Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace, and published August 18, 2009—was the first source to state Mandalore was orbited by two moons,^[1] Concordia was the first to be introduced by name.^[2] Fry's later sourcebooks Star Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefronts: The Visual Guide and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Incredible Vehicles featured additional information on the Concordian moon,^[3]^[17] and The Essential Guide to Warfare Fry co-wrote with Paul R. Urquhart gave further mention and information of Concordia.^[8]