Ep 87: Star Wars: The Mandalorian Tutorial

Topic: Star Wars: The Mandalorian Tutorial

 

This week, Per Mom’s request, we begin the topic of The Mandalorian .  It’s a series that has been touted some years ago, but has morphed over time in to something completely different, and we’re going to do something different as well.  Instead of start from the past and going forward, we need to instead, start from the end and get to the beginning of Mandalorian  lore and culture.  To better understand our topic.

 

 

Boba Fett

To truly understand why the Mandalorian even exists, is really to begin back at the beginning with the original Bounty Hunter and what spawned the Series, Boba Fett.

 

Boba Fett first seen in ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’, a two hour special that came out during Christmas, and seen as an animated character during one of the segments.  His next appearance was in Star Wars V, Empire Strikes Back, as among various other Bounty Hunters sent to hunt down the Millennium Falcon.  He appears in only a hand full of scenes, less than 10, and spoke only 4 times in total:

 

“As you Wish.”

“He’s no good to me Dead.”

“What if he doesn’t survive?  He’s worth to me.”

“Put Captain Solo in the Cargo Hold.”

 

By the time of Star Wars VI, Return of the Jedi, where is first actually named by another character, he was even fewer scene and never said anything, outside of a scream upon his famous death of falling into the Sarlacc Pit.

 

Despite the character’s apparent death, he seemingly survived and made his way to various ‘Legend’ media, including books, comics, and video game series, where he continued to be an anti-hero and occasional villain depending on the story.  The character’s cult like following, despite the limited time on film, that lasts less than 5 minutes in total, has him a fan favorite, and is what spawned the Mandalorian  name and concept. 

 

Originally, Mandalorian  was just the name of his armor, which was set to be a Commando style all white trooper, known as a Super Trooper, alongside Storm Troopers.  The idea eventually became a bounty hunter and a single individual, named Boba Fett.  Additional Lore Element began being developed in media, which included the world of Manadolore, the world of the Mandalorian s, which were now a race of people. 

 

 

Jango Fett

The next seen Mandalorian  is Jango Fett, Boba’s father.  Boba himself is an unmodified clone of Jango Fett, with Jango Fett being the genetic template for what would be the Clone Trooper, and be the name for the eponymous Clone Wars.  Despite being in only one film, he has far more scene than his son Boba, and is considered a major antagonist during Star Wars Clone War.

 

Behind the scenes, the fan favorite nature of the character led to his inclusion in the second Prequel movie.  Boba Fett’s armor comes from his father, who after dying, is taken up by Boba in memory of his father, albeit, recolored in to the green and red armor instead of the steel and blue accent look. 

 

 

Extended Media, Legends

With Disney purchasing Lucas Films, they rebranded all created material in the Star Wars extended media as being non-canonical, eliminating hundreds of authors work that has shaped the Star Wars universe and the stories in this world.  All new material was dubbed ‘Legends’.  While most of this became non-canonical, some of the history and world building has bled in to the new canon of the Star Wars franchise.

 

From this Legends content, it included that

 

 

 

Clone Wars

A good portion of lore and world building outside of the Legends series was developed during the Clone War Tv Show.  Clone Wars, not be confused with the movie, was a CG Tv Show that took place between the when Episode 2 and 3, which followed Obi-wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano, the padawan(Apprentice) to Anakin Skywalker, during the intervening years of the war.  The TV show spent a good bit of time, following the Republic and developing the world. 

 

Because the TV Show came out between 2008 and 2014, much of the lore regarding Mandalore and the Mandalorian s were pieced together from the now Legends material, and fleshed out by the show’s creators.  Upon purchase, Disney moved anything that wasn’t directly produced by Lucas Arts as Legends material, with Clone Wars being considered Canon, including all the content regarding the Mandalorian.   A follow up TV Show called Rebels, continued the stories from Clone Wars, with a young Mandalorian warrior name Sabine Wren being a part of the main cast.

 

 

 

Mandalorian Lore:

Mandalorians are a group of warriors, namely hailing from the Planet of Mandalore.  Their people were feared as some of the most skilled and powerful warriors in the galaxy, outside of Jedi.  Starting from their homework, they eventually took over other neighboring planets and their prowess and renown spread from the Outer Rim of planet and eventually to the Inner Rim of Planet, with many Mandalorians becoming mercenaries and bounty hunters.

 

Upon reaching the Inner Rim of planets, the Mandalorians found the Jedi, who gave them their first major challenge in centuries.  In order best the Jedi, they developed new weapons and created their now famous armor that they are known for.  Now with the ability to fight the Jedi, Madalorians became even more feared through the galaxy, including by Jedi, and the two participated in various wars in the galaxy over the next few millennia.  

 

However, the Jedi and Mandalorians were not always enemies.  One example is Tarre Vizsla, a child of Mandalore that was taken as a child to become a Jedi.  As a Jedi Tarre Vizsla was taught the ways of the Force, but continued to distinguish himself by creating his own variant of the Lightsaber, the ‘Darksaber’. At some point, Tarre Vizsla was given the title of “Mand’alor”, the sole ruler of Mandalore and a renowned figured in their society.  After his death, family members would eventually take up the Darksaber and unite the various clans of Mandalore into one proper state, led by House Vizsla. 

 

Despite unifying the various clans of Mandalore, various Mandalorian Warlords appears and continued fighting their own enemies, along with themselves in a bid for supremacy.  Eventually, the long wars with the Jedi ended when fighting on Mandalore triggered a cataclysmic event that transformed much of the planet’s lush forests and oceans in to a sea of white deserts, forcing Mandalorians to constructed domed cities to live in.  Devastated by their loss, the Mandalorians retreated to their home sector, and ended much of their conquests, as they sought to rebuild their homeworld. 

 

Just prior to the events of Episode 1, a Civil War would break out on Mandalore, with one group of Mandalorians seeking unity and pacifism, led by Duchess Satine Kryze, while another wanted to return to their old ways of conquest, dubbing themselves Old Mandalorians.  Eventually those seeking pacifism won out, exiling the Old Mandalorians to a local moon.  Mandalore would develop in to a peaceful society, and eventually even joined the Galactic Republic in between then and the events of Clone Wars.  By the time of the Clone Wars, Mandalore, along with 1500 other systems banded together, with Satine, to create the Council of Neutral Systems, a coalition that sought to stay out of the conflict and take a neutral stance on the fighting between the Republic and the Separatists.

 

Unknown to Satine and Mandalore, the Old Mandalorians was revised in to Death Watch by their leader Pre Vizsla.  He wanted to bring Mandalorians back to their original glory and worked together with the Separatists and Count Dooku to do so.  Death Watch launched various attacks on Galactic Republic strong holds, and event attack Mandalore itself, believing that their actions would spark a resurgence in Mandalorian ways.  Following attacks by Count Dooku’s forces, Death Watch appeared and offered the Mandalorian people new leadership and protection from the invading Separatists, which led to Satine Kryze being imprisoned and Pre Vizsla taking over Mandalore.  What followed was a series of stories in Clone Wars that saw Darth Maul return and take control over Death Watch, which led to Maul killing Satine, and eventually leading to Darth Sidious to visiting Mandalore to collect his former apprentice. 

 

With Darth Maul taking control over Death Watch, a separatist movement, led by the sister of Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan Kryze, sought to remove Death Watch from leadership of Mandalore, calling the Galactic Republic for aid.  This eventually led to the Siege of Mandalore, capturing Darth Maul and ending the rule by Death Watch.  While Bo-Katan was named Regent for the planet, under the new rule of the Galactic Empire, she refused to do the Empire’s bidding and was exiled from Mandalore.  Following this, the planet became a training ground for new military cadets.

 

By the time of Rebels, Mandalore is fully controlled by the Empire, with Mandalore developing troops and weapons to be used against those opposing the Republic.  Rebels would follow the exploits of a Resistance cell, aided by one Ahsoka Tano, as the liberated Mandalore and returned leadership to Bo-Katan.  However, by the end of the series, the Empire began a Purge of Mandalore, killing most of the Mandalorian populous and melting their famed Beskar armor into ingots.  Few clans escaped the plans and spread themselves amongst the galaxy, hiding and trying to just survive.

 

 

 

 

 

Mandalorian Armor

All Mandalorians are best known by the armor they wear, which strikes fear amongst the galaxy.  Known for their T-shaped visors on their helmets that obscure their face, the armor itself was outfitted with various built in features, including darts, flame throwers, and even Jet Packs.  Most Mandalorians further armed themselves with additional blasters, such as rifles, heavy repeater blasters, and simple pistols.

 

The armor itself was made from a material known as Beskar, a nearly indestructible metal that could deflect blaster bolts and even stop a light saber from cutting through it.  While Beskar was available for Mandalorians prior to the Purge of Mandalore, it’s since become a rare and valuable commodity in the galaxy.

 

 

Darksaber

The lightsaber created by Tarre Vizsla, it’s unusual in the sense that the blade itself is black and glassy in color, and is projected as a straight blade, similar to a Katana, unlike the rounded blade of a lightsaber.  The saber is considered a prized possession of the Mandalorians, and its owner is considered the rightful ruler of Mandalore, bestowing the title of Mand’alor on to the anyone who holds it.  Mandalorian custom says that you must defeat the current owner in combat in order for ownership to pass to you.  Any other form of acquiring the saber would be considered illegitimate, and unrecognized by the Mandalorian people.

 

After Tarre Vizsla’s death, the saber was returned to the Jedi Archives, before being stolen by house Vizsla and returned to Mandalore.  The saber would continue to be held by the leader of House Vizsla until Pre Vizsla was defeated by Darth Maul, who then became its owner.  After Darth Maul fled Mandalore in order to help his mother, the Dark Saber was hidden on Dathomir, before being found by Sabine Wren and used during by herself during the events of Rebels.  The saber would eventually given by Bo-Katan, in memory of her sister.  Bo-Katan would lose the saber during the events of the Mandalore Purge, where its fate remains unknown.

 

 

 

 

Time Setting for The Mandalorian

When watching The Mandalorian, the point in Star Wars time is roughly 5 years after the events of Episode 6.  Remnants of Empire still exist, as former leaders, programmed Storm Troopers, and various hardware still exist in the universe, with each Leader trying to carve out their leadership over the remains of the Empire.  They are in hiding for the most, but are being snuffed out by the New Republic, as they attempt to secure the galaxy following the Empire’s and Emperor’s defeat.