Kalevala was a planet located in the Mandalore system, within the Mandalore sector of the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. It was the homeworld of House Kryze, the prominent Mandalorian political family who ruled as Dukes and Duchesses of Kalevala. As such, it was the birthplace of Duchess Satine Kryze, leader of the New Mandalorians, and the seat of power for her sister, Bo-Katan Kryze, after the Great Purge.
Kalevala was a terrestrial planet in the Mandalore system, a star system it shared with Mandalore, the homeworld of the Mandalorians and center of Mandalorian Space. It was positioned at the coordinates O-7 on the Standard Galactic Grid, relatively near the Hydian Way trade route. The rainy world was covered by grass-swept hills and plains, broken up by rock formations and the planet's various oceans.
Long before the Clone Wars, ancient Kalevalan ocean cruisers were used to traverse the various oceans on the planet. This history was reflected in the work of Kalevala Spaceworks, which built the Coronet, a custom made Nau'ur-class yacht with an upper section designed to closely resemble these ancient ships.
Kalevalan natives Duchess Satine Kryze and Prince Tal Merrik occupied high posts in the New Mandalorian government
House Kryze was based on Kalevala, and it was was later the homeworld of Duchess Satine Kryze, leader of the New Mandalorians. Kalevala was also the homeworld of Prince Tal Merrik, who represented Kalevala in the Senate of the Galactic Republic by the year 21 BBY, up until his death that same year. Shortly afterwards, the Death Watch, a traditionalist splinter group that opposed the New Mandalorians, was responsible for a bombing on Kalevala that killed Deputy Minister Jerec. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine used this bombing as justification for a proposed Republic intervention on Mandalore, though Duchess Satine argued against the proposal on the floor of the Galactic Senate.
Though Mandalore itself was laid waste by the Galactic Empire in the Night of a Thousand Tears, other parts of Mandalorian space like Concordia and Kalevala apparently escaped the destruction. During the New Republic Era, Lady Bo-Katan Kryze retired to Kryze Castle on Kalevala after abandoning her efforts to reclaim the Mandalorian homeworld.
Kryze Castle located on Kalevala.
Around 9 ABY, the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, along with the Foundling Grogu, visited Kryze on Kalevala to find out the location of the Mines of Mandalore; there, Djarin hoped to redeem himself in the eyes of the Children of the Watch, a cult of Mandalorian zealots, by bathing in the living waters of Mandalore. On their return from the living waters, Bo-Katan and Din Djarin found Kryze Castle under attack by TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers. The attack had been ordered by Moff Gideon, whose Imperial remnant was secretly headquartered on Mandalore. Together, Bo-Katan and Din Djarin were able to fend off the attack, though Kryze Castle was destroyed.
Concept illustration of Kryze Castle on Kalevala by Ryan Church
Kalevala was first mentioned in the opening news reel of "Voyage of Temptation," the thirteenth episode of the canon animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars second season, which originally aired on February 5, 2010. The planet was originally introduced in the Star Wars Legends continuity in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, a three-volume 2008 reference book edited by Bob Vitas. The world first appeared onscreen in "Chapter 17: The Apostate," the season three premiere of The Mandalorian, filmed at Neist Point on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
There are two known pronunciations of Kalevala. In "Voyage of Temptation," the world's name was pronounced "Kall-vah-lah," while in the subsequent episode, "Duchess of Mandalore," it was instead pronounced "Kah-lay-vah-lah." In "The Apostate," Din Djarin uses the latter pronunciation. In The Star Wars Book, Kalevala is misspelled as "Kalavela."