What Happened On Mandalore? The History Of The Star Wars Planet Explained
The planet Mandalore has been conquered and destroyed, but it remains one of Star Wars most important locations.
The most recent season of The Mandalorian heavily featured the planet of Mandalore, as Din Djarin and Grogu helped Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians reinhabit the planet. But what happened to the planet anyway, and why did the Mandalorians leave in the first place? While the show briefly touched on these points, those who haven’t seen Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels might be a little lost on the history of the planet — so we’re here to help.
So, we know that Mandalore is the home planet of the Star Wars warrior clan known as the Mandalorians. The Mandalorians have been around since the Old Republic era and even fought the Jedi and raided a Jedi temple during the fall of the Old Republic. Eventually, a Mandalorian named Tarre Viszla would be the first Mandalorian to join the Jedi Order in 1050 and forge the Darksaber as his weapon.
Mandalore would be ravaged by war for many years, and the Mandalorians would eventually construct domed cities to live in due to the inhospitable nature of the planet. Eventually, Duchess Satine Kryze, who was introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, would lead the planet under a pacifist regime and join the Galactic Republic. This was divisive, and a civil war broke out between the pacifists and the traditionalists of the planet.
The pacifist regime would win out and become the New Mandalorians, while the traditionalists were exiled to a nearby moon called Concordia. However, this time of peace on Mandalore was short-lived, as Darth Maul and a faction of exiled Mandalorians known as the Death Watch would overthrow the New Mandalorians during Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Bo-Katan Kryze, the sister of Duchess Satine, would lead a resistance force bolstered by Republic support to conduct a siege on Mandalore and take it back from Maul and the Shadow Collective.
Bo-Katan Kryze would be appointed as the new regent of Mandalore, but as you may have picked up by now, this peace was short-lived as well. A Mandalorian named Gar Saxon pledged his allegiance to the Empire and was appointed as the Viceroy and Governer of the planet after the Imperial forces occupied the planet, ending Bo-Katan’s short rule.
This would lead to yet another Mandalorian civil war, with Bo-Katan leading the resistance and uniting the clans under the Darksaber, which she obtained from Sabine Wren in Star Wars: Rebels.
If you thought that Bo-Katan getting the Darksaber and uniting the clans would be a happy-ever-after for Mandalore, then you may not have picked up on the pattern yet. Obviously, this new era of peace wouldn’t last for the planet, and the Mandalorians would face their greatest tragedy yet. The Empire clearly had enough of trying to deal with Mandalorians and would carpet bomb the entire planet in an event known as The Night of a Thousand Tears and The Great Purge of Mandalore.
This attack saw the Empire dropping fusion bombs across the surface of Mandalore, glassing the surface of the planet and killing millions of Mandalorians in the process. The remaining remnants of the planet would scatter across the galaxy, which is where we find the Mandalorians in the Star Wars Disney+ show The Mandalorian. Of course, the most recent season saw Bo-Katan work with Din Djarin to once again unite the remaining Mandalorians, defeat Moff Gideon, and take the planet back.
That’s pretty much the whole story about Mandalore up to this point. It’ll be interesting to see which direction Star Wars takes the planet now, but it seems likely that Bo-Katan’s troubles won’t be over quite yet. In any case, we can likely expect to see more of the planet when The Mandalorian returns for another season.
