The Crucible was a Paladin-class corvette that had a work area with many drawer storage compartments, in which Professor Huyang kept all the parts necessary to construct a complete lightsaber, with the exception of the unique kyber crystals that formed the heart of the weapon. By stepping up onto crates, Huyang could reach the higher compartments to search for parts as needed.
At the time of the Clone Wars, its inner doors still featured the previous emblem that was in use by the Jedi Order when the vessel was constructed.
The rest of the ship included a hold, a training room, a filtering system, and an extensive ventilation underneath the hallways. The ship also possessed an emergency power fail-safe.
The Crucible dated back to the days of the Old Republic, used to bring Jedi younglings from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to the sacred world of Ilum, where they would discover their kyber crystals through a ritual known as The Gathering. After retrieving their crystals, the students would learn from Huyang, an ancient droid who would assist in the creation of their lightsabers.
The Crucible arrives on Ilum
During the Clone Wars, six Jedi younglings, Petro, Ganodi, Byph, Katooni, Zatt, and Gungi, were selected to travel in the Crucible to Ilum to take part in The Gathering. When they returned to the ship, Huyang helped the younglings determine the styling of their individual lightsabers. Then, the professor found appropriate hilt casings and any other stylized parts, then provide the inner workings for assembly. A holographic diagram of a lightsaber's exploded view was continuously on display as a guiding blueprint, while the younglings' Jedi escort Ahsoka Tano and Huyang supervised the build process. Huyang would also perform the final inspections of the new weapons, and inform the younglings whether or not there was more work to be done.
When the ship was attacked by pirates, they took Tano hostage, leaving the younglings, Huyang, and R2-D2 left onboard. They would follow the pirates to the planet Florrum to rescue Tano. However, when they tried to escape, the Crucible was destroyed by one of the pirates' WLO-5 battle tanks. Following the invasion of Florrum, Hondo Ohnaka and the surviving pirates would salvage the wreckage of the ship.
The design of the ship was based on the ancient Jedi Defender-class Corellian ships from the Legends video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to concept artists David Le Merrer and Russell G. Chong, the Crucible was known as the New Horizon during the design phase. The ship would have been the main ship that the younglings would use in a proposed The Clone Wars spin-off, which was thought of by George Lucas just before the selling of Lucasfilm Ltd. to The Walt Disney Company.
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 31
- Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 72
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 77
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
- "Before the dark times…" — Star Wars - The Official Magazine 101