Warning: Spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 1.
Based on Star Wars Rebels, Obi-Wan Kenobi is giving viewers their first live-action look into Obi-Wan’s activities during that time.
However, Tatooine once looked drastically different than it did before the beginning of the Skywalker Saga. According to the Star Wars Extended Universe (EU), Tatooine was once a tropical world covered in large oceans and rainforests. Then the Rakata, an alien race, attacked Tatooine, using weapons that caused the planet’s oceans to dry and soil to turn into sand. This eventually converted Tatooine from a jungle to its familiar desert climate. When Disney bought Lucasfilm though, the Star Wars EU was determined to no longer be canon.
However, The Book of Boba Fett reintroduced this piece of Tatooine’s history into Star Wars canon. When describing the planet, a Tusken Raider mentioned that the planet had changed greatly “since the oceans dried.” This means that although Tatooine’s environment may have changed due to natural events rather than an alien invasion, the desert world was once covered in water. Tatooine’s aquatic history is ed by Obi-Wan’s job harvesting a “sand whale” while in exile along with Tatooine’s animal and sentient inhabitants.
Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 1 featured Obi-Wan trying to live a normal life on Tatooine. Since he could not risk using the Force, Obi-Wan worked harvesting meat from a massive dead animal in the desert. Referred to as a sand whale, the animal resembled a sea creature with multiple fins. This suggests that the sand whale may have originally been a marine animal. As Tatooine’s oceans dried though, the whale could have evolved to burrow through soft sand rather than swim. If Tatooine’s climate did slowly change from an aquatic ecosystem to a desert due to natural events, this would have given the sand whale time to adjust to its new surroundings.
Similarly, Tatooine’s other inhabitants also adapted to live in the harsh desert environment. For example, the The Mandalorian, burrowed through sand and may have originally lived in the ocean like the sand whale. In addition, many of Tatooine’s sentient species worked as moisture farmers, including Luke’s uncle, Owen Lars. These moisture farmers used large vaporators to collect water from the atmosphere. When Tatooine transitioned from a tropical to a desert climate, the water from its oceans would have evaporated and become trapped in the atmosphere. Due to this, Tatooine’s moisture farmers are evidence that the evaporated water is still present from the planet’s original ecosystem. Between the sand whale in Obi-Wan Kenobi and Tatooine’s other residents, Star Wars seems to be confirming that Tatooine was once covered in oceans.
Obi-Wan Kenobi releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.
