Arreyel joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. However, after the establishment of the Galactic Empire, Arreyel fell into disfavor with Emperor Sheev Palpatine and the planet fell into a steep economic depression and had little chance of recovering due to lack of resources.
In 3 BBY, the Apprentice Legislature was presented with four systems, including Arreyel, to be considered as a site of an academy of aeronautical engineering and design. Leia Organa of Alderaan championed for the planet to be chosen, but was later devastated to learn they had been maniuplated into an Imperial plot. The planet had a powerful radiation source under its crust, and Organa suspected the Legislature's decision gave them cause to run intensive scans, in which the Empire found the radiation it thought there. The Empire planned to build planet-wide factories, and gave the residents six weeks to evacuate with no compensation.
Arreyel first appeared in Leia, Princess of Alderaan, a 2017 young adult novel written by Claudia Gray that was released as part of Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.