Kudo III was a terrestrial moon of Kudo, located in the Kudo system within the Corvair sector of the Inner Rim Territories. It had a population of the Kudon species. During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems enslaved inhabitants of a Kudon village in a battle droid foundry.
The Galactic Republic learnt of the foundry through rumors that the Separatists purposefully leaked, preparing to destroy it. Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, conflicted about the potential deaths, infiltrated the foundry alone, discovering the Kudon slaves. Skywalker freed the slaves, preventing their deaths and saving the Republic from the backlash that the factory's destruction would have caused.
With a terrestrial surface and a breathable atmosphere, Kudo III was one of at least three moons that orbited Kudo, located in the Kudo system within the Corvair sector of the Inner Rim Territories. While Kudo III appeared to be covered in green landmasses and oceans, the area around the droid foundry constructed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems was rocky and barren.
By 22 BBY, the Confederacy of Independent Systems occupied Kudo III, establishing a foundry for battle droids. Rather than automating the factory, they chose to gas a village and enslave its Kudon inhabitants to work in it. After Galactic Republic forces came under attack by Separatist droid starfighters in the sector, they searched for the source of the droids.
The freed Kudon revolt against their enslavers.
As a trap for the Republic, the Separatists leaked rumors of the Kudo droid foundry, hoping that the Republic would destroy the facility and cause the deaths of the Kudon slaves. Once the Republic's intelligence division learnt of the foundry, Admiral Wullf Yularen believed that an orbital strike would sufficiently destroy it. Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, who had assisted in the previous skirmish, was concerned about the Kudon casualties.
Skywalker changed the Republic's plans, landing nearby and entering the foundry alone. He discovered that the Kudon were being enslaved rather than choosing to work for the Separatists, as the Republic had formerly thought. His past as a slave led him to attack the B1-series battle droids guarding the machinery, freeing the Kudon, who fought back against the Separatists who had enslaved them.
The Separatist droid foundry on Kudo III
The Confederacy of Independent Systems had established a droid foundry on Kudo III, but its slaves were set free during Skywalker's infiltration of the facility. The foundry was located far from any other structures, though a Kudon village existed on the moon.
Kudo III appeared in Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker 1, a comic written by Jody Houser, penciled by Wilton Santos and Cory Smith, and published on February 6, 2019. The 2023 reference book Star Wars: Timelines refers to Kudo III as a planet.
- Star Wars: Timelines