Theed

"The first time I saw the Capital, I was very young… I'd never seen a waterfall before. I thought they were so beautiful… I never dreamed one day I'd live in the palace."

―Padmé Amidala, to Anakin Skywalker^[9]

Theed was the capital city of the Naboo,^[10] a society of humans who lived on the planet of the same name. It was home to the Royal House of Naboo's palace,^[2] which was situated on the Palace Plaza. Other points of interests included the Palace Courtyard, the power generator, and the headquarters of both the Royal Naboo Security Forces and the Naboo Royal Space Fighter Corps. Theed also housed several universities.^[4]

Description

"Theed is a beautiful city."
"If you like museums."

―Palpatine's opinion of Theed^[4]

Theed-MoaTM — Theed sat on a cliff and around the Solleu River.

The city of Theed was located on the rich, green grass plains of Naboo, to the planet's north where several other larger cities resided. It was found forty kilometers from the Great Grass Plains. Virtually a floating city, Theed nested on the banks of the mighty Solleu River, which led into a network of underwaterways, tributaries, and caves created by the unstable plasma energy in the planet's core, and ultimately to areas such as Lake Paonga and the Gungan city of Otoh Gunga. The city was also built over a vast plasma source located beneath the cliff edge, which, when mined by the Naboo, provided Theed with more energy than it required.^[3]

The Theed Royal Palace was situated on a tremendous cliff in the city's central district, offering panoramic views of the sweeping countryside below. The Theed Hangar was connected to the palace, and itself to a power generator complex which utilized underground conduits to mine the planet's plasma supply. Hidden underground passages connected the palace, hangar, and other important locations in the city. The Theed Funeral Temple resided in a tranquil area of the city, and hosted traditional Naboo funeral rites that saw the ashes of their cremated dead cast into the Solleu.^[3]

Theed was a cultured city with elegant architecture and a unified, harmonious style borne from rebuilding after a troubled ancient past. Its domed buildings maintained a handcrafted aesthetic, although areas such as the sleek and mechanistic Theed power generator, a popular city attraction hosting regular tours, stood in stark contrast to this style.^[3]

History

Theed's founding

Theed spaceport — With its newly-constructed Hangar and power generator complex, Theed overlooks the latest development of the city—a spaceport

Although Theed endured upheavals in its ancient past, rebuilding efforts united the city into an harmonious style of elegant, domed architecture and a sophisticated culture. For centuries, Theed was powered by an energy supply from small, outlying plasma mines, though the construction of the Theed power generator saw an increase in efficiency, and a yield of more plasma energy than the city required.^[3]

The Naboo always made use of the porous qualities and cleared and extended tunnels underneath the city. Captain Panaka inspected these tunnels sometime before the invasion of Naboo, which had fallen into disrepair. The security teams cleared the tunnels, which were extremely useful during the droid occupation of the city.^[3]

Federation invasion

B1BattleDroids-SWQ08 — Trade Federation B1 battle droids occupied the city of Theed in 32 BBY until the successful Naboo-Gungan liberation effort.

In 32 BBY, Naboo and its cities were invaded by the Droid Army of the Trade Federation, which landed under the cover of night and marched on Theed the following morning. The citizens were taken by surprise, and many were captured after Queen Padmé Amidala continued to strive for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Viceroy Nute Gunray oversaw the arrest of Amidala and her government, and took up residence in the Theed Royal Palace for the duration of the Federation's occupation. With citizens taken to detention camps and its streets sealed, Theed became a ghost town populated only by patrolling battle droids.^[3]

Amidala was saved by Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, and though her petition for aid to the Galactic Senate fell on deaf ears, she returned to Naboo with a plan to retake her city.^[2] At one stage of the invasion,^[11] portions of Theed were consumed in flames as B1 battle droids marched on.^[12]

While Captain Panaka instructed underground resistance movements to infiltrate key locations such as the hangar,^[3] Amidala led a team to recapture her palace, and force Viceroy Gunray to return power to her. The effort was ultimately successful, and the droid forces were driven from Theed. A victory parade was held after the battle to celebrate the return of peace, and to commemorate the unification of the Naboo and the Gungans.^[2]

Funeral of Amidala

At the end of the Clone Wars, a funeral was held for Padmé, who had lost the will to live after seeing Anakin Skywalker fall to the dark side of the Force because of his inability to let go of his desire for her.^[13]

Imperial Era

After the destruction of Alderaan and subsequent Battle of Yavin, Leia Organa, accompanied by her droid R2-D2 and rebel pilot Evaan Verlane, visited Theed to rescue Alderaanians living on Naboo. They landed in Theed's Star Port and registered their ship to receive rations, where at that time Organa gave the false name "First Minister Solo." The two explored the City Streets and looked upon the Theed Royal Palace. They met Lord Junn, a local nobleman, and explained their business. He set up a meeting between Organa and Verlane, and the Melodic Order that resided in the neighboring Keren. Organa later returned to Theed after fighting off thugs and rescuing the Melodic Order and nearby Alderaanian communities. She bargained with Junn and gained a ship for the caravan she was building. The Naboo Alderaanians then departed Keren and Theed to head towards Sullust.^[7]

TheedOperationCinder-ShatteredEmpire3 — Theed suffers under the effects of Operation: Cinder

In 4 ABY,^[14] Organa returned again, this time with Pilot Shara Bey, to discuss Naboo integration into the New Republic with Queen Sosha Soruna. During this time, Operation: Cinder was enacted by the Empire on Naboo.^[8] The three then went into the Palace Hangar, where they found three old N-1 Royal Naboo Starfighters. They took these ships and attempted to fight the Empire above the planet, which was creating storms above several Naboo cities, including Theed. Eventually, the New Republic Fleet led by General Lando Calrissian^[15] and Inferno Squad members Iden Versio and Del Meeko. They destroyed the satellites and star destroyers. Naboo's security system was knocked out. After meeting down on Theed and beginning the defense of the city, Organa, Versio, and Meeko had to go around the city and reactivate it. All New Republic and Naboo Royal Security personnel escaped into the palace and hid from the security system, which disabled all stormtrooper blasters, Imperial vehicles, and TIE-fighters.^[16] Naboo, and Theed along with it, later became a founding member of the New Republic.^[8]