Wookieepedia

READ MORE

Wookieepedia
Register
Advertisement
Wookieepedia

"The Empire sure knows how to ruin a perfectly good city."
Kyle Katarn[1]

Barons Hed, also spelled Baron's Hed and sometimes called the "Fallen City", was once a great spaceport full of life, with busy market streets, entertainment and cantinas that was located on Sulon.

Geography[]

A twenty kilometer-long bridge with four lanes entered into the city. The bridge opened to a highway of six lanes and led to the farmlands fourty kilometers away.[2]

The city was surrounded by an once-white wall, which however between 5 BBY[3] and 5 ABY[4] was allowed to turn into grey, even black at some points. The wall had a gate in the west side, and others at several directions. In the adjacent countryside herders would graze their gras outside the gates.[2]

The city was built around the hill of Barons Knoll. The city was layered like a cake, roughly divided into High Town, which marked the wealthiest residences, and Low Town for the poorest citizens. The Government House was built on top the Knoll. Rimmer's Alley was a street of the city. Barons Hed was filled with pyro flower gardens which however remained untended during the occupation, or repurposed as weapons emplacements and antenna farms.[2]

Locations of interest[]

Club Hed
A music club in the city
Barons Hed Lagoon
An artificial body of water in the middle of a plaza, fed by a waterfall. The Lagoon was a large stone pool, and contained no vegetation or life outside of several Drugons. Although it was located right next to an artificial river that flowed out of the city, it was not connected to it, being separated by a wall. Around the edges of the lagoon were a number of residences, a tavern, and the House of Max. A bridge connected the side those buildings were on to the other side of the lagoon, which contained the entrance to an expansive bazaar.

History[]

The Sulonese built the city around the geographical feature of Barons Knoll, which gave the city its name.[2]

When the Galactic Empire took control of the city, many businesses quickly went under. Locals remarked that "everything but the river dried up." Only a handful of die-hard businesses remained open, for the sole purpose of catering to the Imperial officers and mercenaries that hung around. Outside the city limits, was a once bustling space refueling port, which saw very little business since the Imperials took over, depending on the ships of the Empire as customers, whenever one was close by.

Sometime before 1 BBY several Sulonians who complained about Imperial policies, eventually publicly gathered in the city and protested in a non-violent demonstration. They managed to scramble before Imperial forces reacted, embarrassing the local Commandant who failed to arrest any; he resolved to the recorded holovids (and the collaboration of a traitor) to identify and hunt them.[2]

During the Subjugation of Sulon where the Imperials, who were under the command of the mysterious Emperor's Hand and Dark Jedi Jerec and a certain captain Thrawn, smashed the local Rebel resistance, the Imperials "decorated" the city walls with the heads of the "traitors", along that of their leader, Morgan Katarn, put on a stake.[5]

A huge administration tower, Government House, was built in the center of the Knoll where the governors and law enforcers once resided. For a time it was home to the Jerec, who had built it during his governorship. The subjugation brought neglect to parts of the city, such as the walls and the gardens. Rebel attacks increased, and the once colorful gardens were repurposed to contain military equipment.[2]

This situation continued after the Battle of Endor, during the time of the Imperial Remnant. In 5 ABY Jerec returned to Sulon while looking for the Valley of the Jedi. That time the city was full of troops, mercenaries and bounty hunters hired by his splinter of the Imperial Remnant. The gates were blocked by Imperial forces, residents were eye-scanned and others were interrogated in order to find Katarn, and lines formed outside the wall gates. The main reason was that Morgan Katarn's son, defector, Rebel agent and Jedi novice Kyle Katarn was detected on the moon. Pairs of commandos on speeder bikes, troops on hoverscouts and AT-STs regularly left the city for patrols.[2]

Katarn however managed to sneak into the city and fought his way through Barons Hed, which was garrisoned with troops and other thugs, and infiltrate the Palace.[2][1]

Behind the scenes[]

Barons Hed appears in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II mainly as a playable map where the player can move and explore; an overview is seen in one of the cutscenes, where Kyle Katarn spies on it with his electrobinoculars.

In that game, level 5 is played in the town and levels 6 through 8 are played inside the administration tower. Originally, levels five and six were one complete level, but was split into two because of how big it was.[6]

One small section of the level 5 map is based directly on a previously unused Ralph McQuarrie concept painting known as 'Gamorrean Commons'.

The player who chooses the Dark Side path of the game, can attack and kill both enemies and the innocent bystanders living in the city.

Barons Hed appears again in Dark Forces: Rebel Agent, the novelisation of the game; more background and features are described in the narration, that are inconsistent to the in-game appearance; for example the canyon and the bridge leading into the city is nowhere to be seen when Kyle spies on the city, while the city itself doesn't seem to be built around a hill, although the Government House itself appears in the cutscenes and the game.

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

In other languages
Advertisement