A brief history of Mandalore, The Mandalorian’s most important planet

Din Djarin is looking for redemption in the first episode of The Mandalorian season 3, and that quest leads straight to the Mandalorian home planet of Mandalore. We’ve been to Mandalore a few times so far in the Star Wars universe (at least the canon version of it), including in the Star Wars Rebels animated series and in flashbacks on The Mandalorian. But we still haven’t been able to get a full look at that planet, even in its devastated state, though the new season of The Mandalorian might change that.

In an interview with Polygon, director and executive producer Rick Famuyiwa explained that Mandalore is incredibly important to this season of the show and many of its biggest action beats will take place.

“The idea of ​​Mandalore, the story around it and the lore and the Great Purge and its effect on this society of people, both what they did in the animated series and what they’re referenced in the show, was very central,” Famuyiwa said. Polygon. “(It’s) part of the story hanging over it and what it all means, especially to these hidden Mandalorians in hiding. The place now takes on a certain context and a kind of attraction to the events that take place.”

With all its newfound importance to the story, here’s everything you need to know about Mandalore before Din Djarin and Grogu actually arrive.

What exactly is Mandalore?

Mandalore is an ancient planet and, along with its moon Concordia and another planet within the system, Kalevala, is the traditional home of the Mandalorian people and culture. Mandalore is also home to beskar, the super-durable metal from which Mandalor’s armor is made, which can only be found in a few select spots in the galaxy. The planet was also formerly home to a massive creature called a Mythosaur, who was supposedly tamed by a legendary Mandalorian warrior and whose skull is now the top of the Mandalorian.

What’s going on with the Mandalorian Civil Wars?

In addition to its precious metals and the warrior ways of its peoples, Mandalore was also known for the brutality of its civil wars. In fact, those wars were so frequent and horrific that most of Mandalore’s surface became inhospitable and the people were forced to live mainly in huge domed cities or underground.

Who ruled Mandalore?

In and around all these civil wars, Mandalore has always generally been ruled by specific family houses, clans or factions. Among them is the Kryze family, which Bo-Katan is a member of, but there have also been others such as the Shadow Collective, which was ruled by Darth Maul.

Image: Lucasfilm

What was the Great Purge?

The Mandalorians, unsurprisingly for a proud and traditional warrior nation, were very resistant to the attempted takeover by the Galactic Empire. So much so that they repulsed many Imperial attacks before the galaxy’s new overlords grew tired of the resistance and simply decided to stamp Mandalore out of existence (or close to it). To do this, the Empire carried out what the Mandalorians now know as the Great Purge, a mass genocide in which the entire surface of the planet was destroyed by heat during a bombing campaign known as the Night of a Thousand Tears, during which most of turned into glass. and crystal – completing the job of destroying the planet that Mandalorians themselves had accidentally done for hundreds of years.

This event more or less ended Mandalore’s time as one of the largest and most powerful planets in the galaxy.