‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3: The Backstory You Need to Know

For decades, the only Mandalorian Star Wars fans knew about was Boba Fett. Played by Jeremy Bulloch in Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back, Fett developed a cult fandom long before the rest of the franchise dove into the history and people of Mandalore. Several comics and books filled out his character until the prequels presented another Mandalorian to join him: his father, Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), introduced in Episode II—The Clone Wars as the model for the clones themselves.

The popularity around these characters was built partially on the fact that they were very mysterious and all that fans had of this cool, ancient warrior race. While the animated series did a lot of heavy lifting when it came to educating fans on Mandalore and its people, it wasn’t until The Mandalorian that canon started incorporating more and more of the planet’s (and its people’s) lore and history, much to Fett fans' delight. (Boba Fett is even a recurring character, played by Morrison.)

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For the Mandalorian fans who haven’t kept up over several years on why the planet of Mandalore matters so much, it can get confusing, especially as the new season of The Mandalorian is bringing Mandalore back into the forefront. If you need a refresher on the complex history of Mandalore to help lead you into Season 3 of The Mandalorian—or never watched The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, where a lot of this important backstory comes from—we got you covered.

The Mandalorian history you need to know going into Season 3

The Mandalorian Season 3’s trailers so far have shown glimpses of the destroyed planet of Mandalore. While it’s the first time in live-action Star Wars media that we’ve seen the planet, it’s not the first time that it’s shown up in canon, which is how we know so much of its history.

We’ll get to why it’s completely wrecked by the time Season 3 starts, but the planet was inhabited by the Mandalorian race. However, a decade or so before Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom Menace occurred, the Mandalorian Civil War broke out between two groups: those known as the New Mandalorians and more militant factions.

The New Mandalorians wanted to move toward a pacifist way of life and leadership, whereas the other portion of the planet wanted to stick to their traditional, warrior ways. The peace movement won out, forcing the Old Mandalorians into exile, while a smaller terrorist group called Death Watch was exiled to the planet’s moon, Concordia. The result of this war put Duchess Satine Kryze (Anna Graves), the sister of Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), into power as the nation’s leader.

This part of the planet’s history was told in other media, mostly in reference books like Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy, Ultimate Star Wars, and the magazine Star Wars Helmet Collection. It’s also mentioned in passing in a handful of The Clone Wars episodes.

But Duchess Satine’s first appearance on screen comes in Season 2 of The Clone Wars, in the post-civil war episode “The Mandalore Plot.” This is also where we meet Pre Vizsla (Jon Favreau), the leader of Death Watch, the militant splinter group of radical Mandalorians. They’re set on overturning Satine, which turns into a series-long plot to do so. That is, until Season 5 of The Clone Wars, when Pre Vizsla joins forces with Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) to take Mandalore from Satine. This not only results in Duchess Satine’s death, but also in the dictatorship of Maul over the planet.

In Season 7, Bo-Katan Kryze—who left Death Watch when she didn’t like the way the group was heading, especially once a non-Mandalorian took over their planet—asks Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) for help in seizing Mandalore. While Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) can’t help (they have to save the “kidnapped” Chancellor, setting up Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith), Ahsoka gets her own battalion of clone troopers to fight alongside Bo-Katan and her sect of Mandalorians against Maul, retrieving the planet. After they win, Mandalore is put back under the rule of a Mandalorian (Bo-Katan).

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However, this doesn’t last long, as the Jedi Purge (aka Order 66) happens as Ahsoka is heading back to Coruscant. This leads to the Empire becoming the fascist regime we know and hate today. All planets fell under the Empire’s rule, and imperial troops occupied the planet. They instated Gar Saxon (a former commander of Maul’s on Mandalorian, voiced by Ray Stevenson) as governor of Mandalore, and he ruled the planet’s clans for years into the regime.

After a Mandalorian resistance came about well into their rule, the Empire decided to destroy the planet. This led to the Great Purge of Mandalore, which killed the majority of Mandalorians, and caused any remaining ones to hide “like sand rats” throughout the galaxy, as Paz Vizsla (Jon Favreau) told Mando in The Book of Boba Fett.

Why does Bo-Katan now have an issue with Din Djarin?

All of that is to say: The Mandalore we’re going to see in The Mandalorian Season 3 is ravaged by war, destruction, and genocide. It already was destroyed by the years-long Mandalorian Civil War, which is why, in The Clone Wars, we see that the cities of Mandalore are in domes. But the near-destruction of the whole planet left it fully uninhabitable, as Mando said in Season 2.

So, why is he even going to Mandalore? After removing his helmet, a big no-no for Children of the Watch—the religious “cult” or faction of Mandalorians that he is a part of—Mando, aka Din Djarin, must atone for this wrongdoing. The only way to do so is to go to the planet as a pilgrimage of sorts, as the Armorer (Emily Swallow) told him in “Chapter 5” of The Book of Boba Fett. And as the trailers showed, Bo-Katan is already there, waiting and ready to get the Darksaber back.

Speaking of: At the beginning of The Mandalorian, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) had the Darksaber. This is a weapon created by the first Mandalorian-Jedi, Tarre Vizsla, and whoever wields it is the leader of the Mandalorian people; that’s why Darth Maul had it at one point. Now that Mando has defeated Moff Gideon and possesses the weapon, Bo-Katan is determined to get it back via combat (how the sword is supposed to be won). That way, she’ll control the planet. It doesn’t help that she already had an issue with Din Djarin’s faction of Mandalorians, the Children of the Watch, believing them to be a cult.

While we don’t have confirmation (yet) whether Children of the Watch is in any way connected to Death Watch, which Bo-Katan was once a part of, the group was definitely exiled like the radical, militant group. But instead of waging war against the New Mandalorians, they kept to their religious ways and beliefs underground, in hiding.

What should I watch to catch up on all this backstory?

That was a lot, and sometimes it’s hard to really get a good grasp on what’s going on only through words. If you want a more visual way to learn the history of Mandalore, and the backstory that the newest season of The Mandalorian is going to stand on, these five episodes or arcs of Star Wars media will carry you through. (You can stream them all on Disney+.)

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The Clone Wars Season 5, episodes 14-16

This Season 5 arc of The Clone Wars shows the beginning of the end for Mandalore. We see Pre Vizsla’s play to align Death Watch with Maul, resulting in Maul taking over the planet. We also see the heartbreaking death of the fierce Duchess Satine (the only person Obi-Wan Kenobi ever loved romantically, so much so that he would have left the Jedi Order for her).

The Clone Wars Season 7, Episodes 9- 10

Going off of that arc, the next time we see Mandalore is during the famed “Siege of Mandalore” arc in the seventh, final season of The Clone Wars. This is when Ahsoka Tano and her battalion of clone troopers come to Mandalore’s aid to displace Maul from his dictatorship. It features the throne room that we’re likely going to see in The Mandalorian Season 3, which is where Ahsoka and Maul’s intense battle takes place. Even though Bo-Katan and Ahsoka succeed, as we know, the Empire occupies the planet hours later.

Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Episode 15

This episode of Star Wars Rebels showcases the story of the Darksaber’s history within Mandalorian culture. We learn how House Vizsla stole it back from the Jedi Temple to reinstate it as a Mandalorian tradition. This is also where we learn the legend of the Darksaber belonging to the leader of Mandalore, which stopped with Sabine Wren giving it to Bo-Katan instead of losing it in combat (which the Children of the Watch saw as a curse that led to the Great Purge).

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Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Episode 16

This episode of Star Wars Rebels is a great way of seeing just how many clans and houses there are of Mandalorians, along with how spread out and different they can be. Sabine Wren goes to her home planet of Krownest and speaks Mando’a, an ancient Mandalorian dialect. This is also the episode where Sabine gives Bo-Katan the Darksaber, as mentioned above.

The Book of Boba Fett Season 1, Episode 5

This episode is a bit more recent, and it’s the only non-animated episode on this list. But if you didn’t watch The Book of Boba Fett but want to watch the new season of The Mandalorian, you’re going to be very lost as to why Grogu is back with Mando and where Mando even got the directive to head to Mandalore anyway. It happens in “Chapter 5” of this series when the Armorer finds out about Mando’s helmet disgrace and Mando fights Paz Vizsla for the right to the Darksaber blade.

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