Kryze Fortress

Kryze Fortress, also known as Kryze Castle, was a Mandalorian castle located atop a lush hill by the seaside on the planet Kalevala. It was the ancestral home and dwelling place of House Kryze. The castle featured a landing platform, including a large courtyard at the back of the castle for landing purposes. The castle itself consisted of a throne room containing various murals of Mandalorians in battle.
During the New Republic Era, the castle was the home of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, where she was visited by Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and the Force-sensitive foundling Grogu in Djarin's quest to be redeemed by bathing in the Living Waters. 
After Djarin successfully bathed in the waters, Kryze, Djarin, Grogu, and the R5 series astromech droid R5-D4 went back to the castle where they were pursued by TIE/IN interceptors, all from Gideon's Imperial remnant. The group managed to destroy all six interceptors; however, by then, three TIE/sa bombers from the same remnant arrived and bombed the castle, destroying it.
==Description==
Kryze FortressStar Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy, also known as Kryze Castle, was located atop a lush hill by the seaside on the terrestial planet Kalevala. The castle was affiliated to the Mandalorian House Kryze, a Mandalorian house that served as the royal family of the Mandalorians before the Clone Wars, a galaxy-spanning conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems,Star Wars: Timelines and it served as the personal residence of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze by 9 ABY. It had a small, heptagon-shaped landing platform and a large courtyard at the back of the castle that by the New Republic Era housed a Kom'rk-class fighter which served as the personal transport for Kryze. 
Those visiting the castle would be greeted by a large main tower containing the throne room which was adorned with the banners of House Kryze along its hallways. The throne room consisted of a throne next to two small vases and two large vases. Two murals were also beside the throne depicting Mandalorians in battle. By the New Republic Era, a footman droid with the symbol of the Ka'rta embedded into its chest was present at the landing platform to supervise and monitor any arriving ships.
==History==
Kryze Fortress was the ancestral home and dwelling place of the House of Kryze. In the Republic Era, during Kryze's childhood, Kryze grew up flying the various cliffs near the castle. By 9 ABY, in the time of the New Republic Era, Kryze along with her followers made an effort to reclaim the Darksaber, a symbolic lightsaber crafted by the first Mandalorian Jedi Tarre Vizsla which could reunite the Mandalorians, from Moff Gideon, an Imperial warlord who led a remnant. In 9 ABY, Kryze as well as her followers were recruited by the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin to rescue the Force-sensitive foundling Grogu from Gideon's remnant. In exchange, Kryze could claim Gideon's light cruiser and the Darksaber. During the rescue, Djarin managed to defeat Gideon leading to Kryze being unable to obtain the Darksaber as it could only be obtained by combat. Following the rescue, the forces that she amassed to retake Mandalore, a planet located in the same system as Kalevala, melted away leading her to stay at the castle with her footman droid.
Around that year, Djarin as well as Grogu visited the castle, where they met with Kryze. Djarin asked Kryze if he could join her forces to which Kryze responded that there was nothing to join. After Kryze and Djarin discussed Kryze's previous army plus the Darksaber, Djarin stated to Kryze that he was going to the Mines of Mandalore to atone for his transgressions in the eyes of the Children of the Watch, an orthodox religious faction of Mandalorians that followed the Way of the Mandalore. Djarin also stated that he would atone by bathing in the Living Waters, a ceremonial ground located in the Mines of Mandalore which, according to Mandalorian Creed, could redeem a Mandalorian apostate who took of their helmet. Kryze told Djarin about the mines and how there was nothing special about them, prompting Djarin to state how Kryze said that the curse on Mandalore was a lie. Kryze then told Djarin where the mines were leading to Djarin and Grogu to leave the castle to go to the mines.
Grogu along with the R5 series astromech droid R5-D4 later returned to the castle in Djarin's N-1 starfighter to seek the help of Kryze in saving Djarin, who was captured by a cyborg scavenger on Mandalore in an attempt to take his blood. After Kryze had misunderstood that Djarin had returned to the castle and realized that Djarin was in trouble, she immediately proceeded to her Kom'rk-class fighter parked at the castle. She left the castle in her starfighter with Grogu and R5-D4 to go to Mandalore and save Djarin.
Kryze managed to save Djarin who later bathed in the Living Waters. Kryze, Djarin, R5-D4, plus Grogu then left Mandalore to return to Kalevala. While en route in Kryze's fighter, they were pursued by at least six TIE/IN interceptors, all from Gideon's Imperial remnant, and engaged in a dogfight near the castle. 
Kryze continued evading enemy fire while Djarin jumped from the ship's lower bay to reach the castle's landing platform to get his N-1 starfighter for additional firepower. As one of the TIE interceptors fired on the landing platform in an attempt to destroy the N-1 starfighter, Djarin managed to power up his ship and get airborne. With the aid of Djarin's starfighter, the pair engaged and destroyed all six TIE interceptors pursuing them. Despite that, three TIE/sa bombers arrived soon after and bombed the castle. Enraged, Kryze attempted to destroy all three bombers. However, Kryze could only destroy one TIE bomber before reinforcements in the form of TIE interceptors arrived. Forced to flee, Djarin, including Kryze left the planet and jumped into hyperspace. They later arrived on a planet where the Children of the Watch were based.
==Behind the scenes==
Kryze Castle was first revealed in the trailer for The Mandalorian Season Three on January 16, 2023. It later made its first appearance in "Chapter 17: The Apostate" of the television series The Mandalorian, which aired on Disney+ on March 1, 2023. The castle was first identified as Kryze Castle in the audio description for "Chapter 19: The Convert" episode that released on Disney+ on March 15, 2023. However, the capitalization of Kryze Castle is conjectural. It was later identified as Kryze Fortress. The location of the castle was filmed at Neist Point on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Artists Ryan Church and Brett Northcutt created concept art of the exterior and the throne room of the castle. Concept art of Kryze sitting on the throne in the castle was done by artist Seth Engstrom. In one set of concept art by Northcutt, the throne room inside the castle had no vases. In another set of concept art by Engstrom, Kryze is depicted as sitting on a throne with animal fur and a piece of clothing. The cushions on the throne were depicted as having a navy blue, light green, and dark brown–like pattern. One set of concept art by Northcutt showed Kryze at a viewing deck overlooking the sea. One of the pictures created by Church showed two Kom'rk-class fighters on the right and left-hand side of the castle.
==Appearances==
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*The Mandalorian – The Graphic Novel of Season 3
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*Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Castles
Category:Destroyed locations
Category:Kalevala locations
Category:Mandalorian enclaves
Category:Outer Rim Territories structures
Category:Residential buildings