Mandalorians: who are the deadly warriors of Star Wars?
But who are the feared Mandalorians?
The birth of the Mandalorians
Back in the days of The Empire Strikes Back, the idea was born of a special commando of soldiers equipped with hi-tech armor full of incredible weapons, originally from of the planet Mandalore. The idea was not explored in the cinema, despite the sketches prepared by Joe Johnston, and the only prototype armor was repainted becoming the hallmark of one of the key characters of the Star Wars myth: Boba Fett.The idea of the Mandalorians, however, did not die, but was waiting to find a new definition. Within the novel inspired by The Empire Strikes Back (written by Donald F. Glut), the Mandalorians were presented as a kind of lethal and evil warriors, defeated by the Jedi during the Clone Wars. The popularity of Boba Fett, however, made it necessary to delve into the character's past, and the Expanded Universe became the ideal way to reveal Fett's personality, also introducing his Mandalorian origin, using the armor worn by the character as a pretext.
When it came to inserting the Mandalorians into the new Canon, it was precisely the ideas that appeared in the Expanded Universe that defined the guidelines for this entrance. Dave Filoni and George Lucas wanted to bring the Mandalorians to the new Star Wars within the animated series The Clone Wars, in the second season. Some of the solid points of Mandalorian history were considered valid, but to give more structure to the Canon it was decided to create a new vision of the Mandalorians, relegating much of the known myth of the Mandalorians within the Legends, that is what once was the Expanded Universe.
Filoni intended to make the Mandalorians a warrior caste with a Nordic flavor. Following this idea, the armor of Boba Fett and its angularity was taken as the basis of the Mandalorian design, transforming it into the basis of Mandalorian aesthetics and culture.
Filoni and Lucas' belief was to make the Mandalorians a caste of warriors, not a band of stragglers with some special weapon. Following this principle, the Death Watch is imagined as a united military body, complete with a uniform similar to a uniform, helping to maintain the uniqueness of Boba Fett's armor.
Before The Clone closes Wars, he had imagined showing the siege of Mandalore during the Clone Wars, with the invasion of the troops of the Republic, just before the appearance of the Empire.
The Mandalorian society
The Mandalorian culture is deeply stratified, with a leader at the top, known as Mand'alor, under which the Protectors operate, who carry out his orders. The division into castes of the Mandalorian society is made by the Houses, large agglomerations of clans that share an ideal. The Mandalorians have developed a social order strongly influenced by their martial prowess. Hand-to-hand combat is an essential part of the growth of young Mandalorians, which is associated with a strict code of honor that governs their relationships, to the point that it can also be used to settle personal disputes or old rashes between clans. The cultural obsession with individual combat has been a driving force for Mandalorian society, which on several occasions has chosen to confront lethal adversaries such as the Jedi Knights.The Mandalorians' distinctive trait is their armor, characterized by the helmets with the T visor. Mandalorian armor was born as a weapon against the Jedi at the time of the dawn of the Old Republic. The numerous devices installed in the armor include jetpacks, magnetic boots, tactical displays, and gloves equipped with rocket launchers and flamethrowers. Starting with armor, the Mandalorians developed an advanced fighting style that made them a fearsome opponent of the Jedi. Already ruthless fighters, the Mandalorians began introducing training routines that included a mix of hand-to-hand, ranged combat and individual combat techniques. These capabilities were combined with the technological potential that made it possible to introduce the use of devastating weapons inserted in the forearms of armor. The fighting abilities of the Mandalorians, born to counter the Jedi, became the hallmark of what became the most feared warrior caste in the galaxy.
Though renamed for their fighting prowess, the Mandalorians were one society which included numerous artists. Mandalorian expressive art is a sort of cubism, in which hard lines and rigid angles prevail, which in the architecture, in the cut of the clothes and in the shape of the vehicles takes the form of hexagons and diamonds. Figurative art, however, remained the best expression of Mandalorian artistic talent, used to create impressive murals in which the great battles won by the lethal warriors of Mandalore were narrated.
The highest authority of Mandalorian society is the Mand 'alor, a figure who embodies the founding principles of the Mandalore society: honor and strength. To interpret his will and act as an intermediary with the different clans, there are the Protectors, who also have the role of keeping the power of the Mand'alor under control. The figure of the Mand'alor was particularly important to Mandalorian society during the Old Republic, especially thanks to the figure of Tarre Vizla, the only Jedi of Mandalorian origin, who returned to Mandalore to unify the clans and bring unity and strength to his world.
The first appearance of the Mand'alor title is in Tales of the Jedi: The Sith Wars 1: Edge of the Whirlwind, the first chapter of the comic series published by Dark Horse Comics that narrated the events of the war between the Jedi and the Sith. This series became Canon when it was mentioned as part of the second series of The Clone Wars.
Mandalorian history
The origin of the fame of powerful warriors of the Mandalorians has ancient origins, prior to their birth of the Galactic Republic itself.Originating from a planet of the Outer Rim, Mandalore, these warriors have always based their society on principles of honor and war value. Not content with the wars fought on their planet, the Mandalorians soon began to look to the stars as an ideal battlefield, in which to fulfill their desire to expand their domains. It was thanks to a group of enterprising Mandalorians, the Crusaders (Crusaders), that this drive for conquest came to life, leading to the annexation of neighboring sectors and planets that became Mandalorian strongholds, such as Concord Dawn and Krownest. Over the centuries, the Mandalorians clashed with other galactic powers, such as the Republic or the Empire, often losing important territories, but Concord Dawn and Krownes always remained firmly in the warriors of Mandalore.
The expansionist thrust of the Crusaders led them to turn their gaze also to the planets of the Inner Ring. When the Mandalorian threat turned to the territories of the young Galactic Republic, the resulting conflict pitted two of the galaxy's deadliest warrior castes: Mandalorians and Jedi.
The Jedi Knights, as guardians of the Republic, they took the front line to stop the Mandalorian advance. The first clashes between the two armies were won by the armies of the Republic, thanks to the use of the Force by the Jedi, a weapon that took the Mandalorians totally by surprise. Convinced not to give in to defeat, the soldiers of Mandalore appealed to their martial expertise, and began to develop new weapons and strategies that could contain the powers of the Force and bring the fight back to equal ground. Thus it was that essential parts of the future Mandalorian arsenal were born, in particular the famous armor, which became the very symbol of the Mandalorians.
To counter the war skills of the Jedi and their use of the Force, the Mandalorians learned to exploit each weapon to the maximum, developing a new form of combat in which the weapons and capabilities of the new armor were essential. In short, the Jedi found themselves having to face an enemy capable of standing up to them, to the point of subverting even the outcome of battles considered already won. The Mandalorians began to hunt down the most powerful Jedi on the battlefield, defeating them and being recognized across the galaxy as the only fighters capable of defeating the mighty Jedi Knights. The rivalry that arose between the Jedi and the Mandalorians became legendary and lasted for generations, becoming the stuff of legends, but it was also a proof of mutual respect and admiration. The great battles between the Jedi and Mandalorians were portrayed in the royal halls of Sundari, the capital of Mandalore, and in the palaces of the nearby moon of Concordia.
There were also moments of relaxation between Mandalorians and Jedi, possible thanks to each other's esteem as warriors gained on the battlefield. It also came to the entrance of a scion of one of the most powerful clans of Mandalore, the Vizla House, within the Jedi Order. Tarre Vizsla became a mighty Jedi, and it was he who created one of the most powerful lightsabers in history: the Darksaber. Tarre, after a long stay as a Jedi, decided to return to his native Mandalore, where he assumed the role of ruler, or Mand'alor, becoming a symbol for his people. Upon his death, the Jedi recovered the Darksaber, which was kept in the Jedi temple of Coruscant until the last days of the Old Republic, when the heirs of House Vizsla stole it from the temple, making it a symbol with which to unify the Mandalorian clans and restore unity to Mandalore.
Despite the achieved unity of Mandalore by the Vizsla clan, Mandalorian society was so founded on constant confrontation and struggle that soon the Mandalorian temperament brought chaos back. New warlords led their counties in constant battles with the Jedi and other clans, bringing devastation to Mandalore. The final confrontation between the Mandalorians and the Jedi took place on the homeworld of the fearsome warriors, leaving it devastated and deserted.
Following this tragedy, the war between the Mandalorians and the Jedi ended. Mandalore's condition gave Mandalorian society a new boost, which led it to abandon the expansionist drive of conquest to focus on rebuilding. The legendary adaptability of the Mandalorians resulted in the struggle for survival on their own world of origin, with the construction of immense city-domes, such as the capital Sundari.
Some of the clans chose to go and conquer the neighboring worlds, like Krownest, while the Protectors decided to establish their base on the Concord Dawn moon. In this period of reconstruction, the Mandalorians isolated themselves from the rest of the Galaxy, while the Jedi helped the young Galactic Republic become one of the dominant forces of the universe. But the belligerent spirit of the Mandalorians led them to face each other again, giving rise to a Civil War.
Shortly before the invasion of Naboo, a rift was created in Mandalorian society. A faction known as the New Mandalorians sought to lead the Mandalorians towards a less warlike mentality, under the leadership of the Duchess Satine Kryze, whom they opposed nostalgic for the times of the Crusade, who instead wanted to return to make conquests in the galaxy. The Republic, to control the situation, sent the Jedi Qui-Gonn Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who for almost a year watched over Duchess Satine, protecting her from attacks and conspiracies.
During the Clone Wars, the governor Pre Vizsla, heir to the legendary Tarre Vizsla, seeks to revive the Mandalorian culture by creating the Death Watch. Vizsla intends to ally with Count Dooku and the Separatists, hoping to spark a reaction from the Republic and become a hero in the ensuing confrontation. Vizsla's plan fails and the Mandalorian tries to plot against Dooku, eventually allying himself with Darth Maul's Shadow Collective, with the intention of gaining the support of the great clans of Mandalore. Discovered a plan by Vizsla to eliminate him, Maul kills the Mandalorian, becoming the leader of the Death Watch.
The Senate of the Republic, worried about the situation on Mandalore, sends Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate. After being captured by the Mandalorians, Obi-Wan managed to escape and warn the Senate of the danger lurking in the Mandalorian rebellion. Maul, led by the Death Watch, was captured and arrested, but his faithful Mandalorians released him. Following the ensuing Siege of Mandalore, power was entrusted to Bo-Katan Kryze, who was overthrown by the Saxon Clan when they refused to side with the Empire when the Republic fell.
During the era of 'Galactic Empire, Palpatine established a puppet government entrusted to the Saxon clan. Gar Saxon became the Imperial Viceroy, while also continuing to be one of the special commandos of the Imperial Navy. Instead, the Protectors of Mandalore, led by Fenn Rau, remained true to the ideals of the Old Republic, which they had served during the Clone Wars by training clone troops. Rau was one of the few survivors to escape the extermination of the Protectors when Saxon decided to remove the only obstacle to his rule over Mandalore, an action that prompted the former leader of the Protectors to join the Rebellion.
Later these events, Sabine Wren came into possession of the legendary Darksaber on Dathomir. At the urging of Fenn Rau, Sabine began training with the Darksaber, to become Mandalore's new symbol of unity against the Empire. A troubled period of clashes and machinations began that led to a new Mandalorian civil war.
The Wren clan became the hub of a unit of the Houses that intended to rebel against the empire. During these years of fighting, Sabine Wren led a series of attacks on imperial troops with her companions, undermining Saxon's authority. Eventually, the rebel troops led by the Wren clan managed to gain control of Mandalore, with the help of the Rebellion. At the end of this civil war, Bo-Katan Kryze received the Darksaber from Sabine, becoming the new Mand'alor and unifying all the Mandalorian clans.
The Mandalorian
The myth of the Mandalorians is returned to be heard when Disney announced the series The Mandalorian, expected in the coming months on Disney +. It is not yet clear what the reference to lethal warriors will be, for now we only know that it will have as its protagonist a mysterious gunslinger, struggling with adventures in the galaxy, set between Return of the Jedi and The awakening of the Force.How to prove that you are a true Mandalorian? Maybe by building the Lego version of Slave I, Boba Fett's famous spaceship!
