Introduction
In this, the second course on Mandalorian history we will examine the Mandalorians and their history after the War of the Fittest ended. It is no exaggeration to say that the Mandalorian society was essentially broken into a pale mockery of its past glory and then rebuilt into a stronger, more resilient, and more stable version of its past glory. As you will see, new groups sprung up within the Mandalorians at the extremes of traditional Mandalorian belief, creating a triangular power struggle between themselves and the more centrist forces that maintained a more “traditional” view. This struggle would not only change the face of Mandalorian culture, but that of the galaxy itself.
A Time of Change
In 730 BBY, the Mandalorians would once again enter a period of intense cultural change. The Republic grew alarmed at the rise of Mandalorian militancy and entered into a brief but devastating conflict against the Mandalorians. In the wake of this conflict a new cultural movement arose calling themselves the “New Mandalorian” faction. This faction disregarded millennia of warrior traditions and codes and espoused the belief that prosperity for Mandalore would come from being peaceful, neutral, and tolerant. They advocated pacifism so strongly that any Mandalorian that refused this new path and wished to carry on the warrior traditions was banished to Concordia, a moon of Mandalore. The “New Mandalorians” established their capital in the city of Sundari on Mandalore and also had a strong presence on the neighboring world of Kalavela. This betrayal and rejection of Mandalore’s traditional culture would be the catalyst for galaxy changing events.
Many Clans refused this betrayal of their cultural legacy and continued with their warrior traditions. These clans were responsible for the genocide of the Ithulan race, and at some point during this era Ranah The Nast became Manda’ lor of the remaining warrior clans. She took the name Mandalore the Destroyer and is famous for besieging the city of Luon. She offered the leader of the Luonese a chance to surrender which he refused, and then destroyed the entire city.
In 60 BBY, Jaster Mereel began attempting reintegration of Mandalorian society when he ascended to the position of Manda’lor. The Mandalorian people as a whole had been seeking reforms since the Ithulan genocide. To address the concerns and provide a framework for a unified Mandalore, Mereel created the Supercommando Codex. The Codex was intended as a guideline for the behavior of the Mandalorians that would allow them to remain warriors, while purging their culture of the more savage and dishonorable traits it had acquired. The followers of Mereel’s code called themselves the “True Mandalorians.” Mereel and his True mandalorians were opposed by Tor Vizsla and his faction who desired a further descent into savagery and advocated a galactic war of conquest. The remaining New Mandalorians could support neither side and remained neutral in the brutal and savage Mandalorian Civil War that ensued. This set the stage for a ideological conflict of epic proportions as the True Mandalorians sought to restore the traditional Mandalorian beliefs, now codified, while being opposed by the New Mandalorians’ pacificistic dogma, and the Death Watch led by Vizla who advocated a descent into barbarity and unreasoning aggression in place of the traditional Mandalorian honor based culture.
The Mandalorian Civil War
In 60 BBY shortly after the development of the Supercommando Codex, the Mandalorian Civil War began. It was essentially centered on ideology, with the True Mandalorian faction asserting that there must be at least limited rules for warriors and a code of conduct governing their affairs, while the Death Watch favored a more anarchic system and a much more aggressive stance toward conquering the galaxy. The New Mandalorians rejected both ideals and quietly assumed political influence and strengthened their ties to the Republic while the conflict between the Death Watch and the True Mandalorians escalated.
Jango Fett
In 58 BBY the Mandalorian civil war spilled onto the world of Concordia. It was here that Jango Fett watched his father brutally tortured by the Death Watch faction for hiding True Mandalorian soldiers from them during a conflict. Jango’s mother fired on the Death Watch interrogators and in the ensuing conflict both of Jango’s parent’s were killed by the Death Watch. Jaster Mereel, managed to rescue Jango before the Death Watch could kill him as well. Shortly afterwards, the True Mandalorian faction regrouped and eliminated the Death Watch soldiers who had interrogated Jango’s family as well as all other soldiers from the nearby garrison. Then in Mandalorian fashion, Mereel adopted Jango as his son and raised him.
By 52 BBY the True Mandalorians believed that they had neutralized the threat of the Death Watch faction. They then began operating as a mercenary army again. In a disastrous mission on Korda 6, Jaster Mereel was betrayed by his second in command and left for dead. Jango Fett however recovered his adopted father’s body and revealed the betrayal. The Mandalorian forces then killed the would be traitor and swore their allegiance to Fett, Mereel’s chosen successor. Thus Jango Fett became Mand’alor and the leader of the True Mandalorian faction. Fett would prove to be a figure that would change the course of Mandalorian history forever and bring Mandalorians back to a position of galactic prominence.
Fett, shortly after taking command of the True Mandalorians began a successful and systematic campaign against the Death Watch faction. However, the Death watch had a plan that would gain them revenge against Fett and unknowingly set the stage for galaxy changing events. The leader of the Death Watch, Vizsla set a trap for Fett and his faction on Galidraan. Conspiring with the governor of the planet, he led Fett into this trap. The True Mandalorians took a contract to help Galidraanian forces subdue rebel elements there. The Mandalorians arrived and made short work of the rebels, but while they were doing so, the governor in collusion with Vizsla contacted the Jedi Council for help claiming that the Mandalorians were slaughtering ‘political activists,’ as well as innocent citizens, and even children. To make this ruse believable, the Death Watch carried out the atrocities that were to be blamed on Fett and his True Mandalorians. When Jango learned of the governor’s betrayal, he confronted the governor alone and demanded to know the whereabouts of the Death Watch forces. It was too late however, and Jango was forced to flee an overwhelming force of Death watch soldiers to try and warn the Mandalorians about the incoming Jedi ships. Jango’s comm signal was unable to pierce the Death Watch jamming though, and he arrived back in his base camp at the same time as the Jedi strike team lead by then Jedi Master Dooku. In the ensuing conflict many Jedi were killed including 6 by Jango himself but the Mandalorians other than Jango were completely wiped out. Jango was sold into slavery and the Death Watch claimed victory in the conflict.
Jango spent several years as a slave on a spice freighter before being able to escape. Once he did so he hunted down Vizsla and killed the man in single combat to avenge his True Mandalorian comrades and claim victory for his faction. It was a pyrrhic victory though. The True Mandalorians were a shadow of what they had once been and unable to assume control of Mandalorian affairs and Jango himself had been scarred by the events and grew distant from his people and neglected his role as Mand’alor, becoming a bounty hunter. It also left Jango with an intense hatred of the Jedi for their role in the affair. This hatred, coupled with the reduction of size of the True Mandalorian faction would have galaxy shaking consequences later on. In this power vacuum the New Mandalorian faction stepped in and installed Duchess Satine Kryze as the leader of Mandalore.
In 22 BBY Mandalore was welcomed as a Republic member world under the leadership of Duchess Kryze of the New Mandalorian faction. Kryze’s government experienced mixed success. While several provinces flourished under the New Mandalorian rule, many areas outside those provinces were destitute and starved for funds, creating great inequality and injustice between the Mandalorians for the first time in history.
The Clone Wars
In 32 BBY Jango Fett was recruited by Darth Tyrannus to become the genetic template for a vast clone army for the Republic. Fett, strangely,agreed and stayed on as a military consultant, directing the training of the clones and passing on to them Mandalorian culture. He did this with the assistance of Mandalorian sergeants known as the Cuy'val Dar (Those Who No Longer Exist) that he had recruited. The name for the madalorian trainers came from the fact that due to the secrecy surrounding the clone army’s development, they had completely disappeared from the galactic scene and cut themselves off from the rest of Mandalorian society. Fett himself personally trained the ARC (Advanced Recon Commados) troopers, an elite version of the standard clone trooper . The clones’ armor and equipment were also designed by Fett, and contained Mandalorian flairs like the distinctive “t-visor” and the Mandalorian Kama in some uniforms. Jango also commissioned a clone of his own without any genetic modification and raised him as his son. This son, Boba, would go on to be almost as influential as his father. This initial army was a fearsome force and served as the primary fighting force during the Clone Wars. When the origin of the Clone army was revealed, many Mandalorians were shocked and wondered what Fett had been thinking and why he had done such a thing. Jango himself was killed in the initial battle of the Clone Wars on Geonosis by Jedi Master Mace Windu. His son Boba witnessed this and it caused him to gain his father’s hatred of the Jedi.
On Mandalore itself the New Mandalorian faction continued to rule during the Clone Wars and proclaimed Mandalore neutral in the conflict. There were several attempts by the Death Watch at this time to assassinate the ruling Duchess that were all foiled by the Duchess’s Republic allies and Jedi friends, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano. The Republic at one point was going to occupy Mandalore as ‘protection against the Death Watch plots against the Duchess. However, knowing that this would shift the population into being supporters of the Death Watch, Duchess Kryze refused. The Confederacy sent a fleet to defend against the Republic ‘occupation’ along with the Death Watch faction who had become allies of the CIS. The Seperatists and Death Watch engineered a series of events to discredit the Duchess with her Republic allies, but the plot was ultimately revealed and the Duchess maintained her position as leader of Mandalore. The New Mandalorian government however crumbled under the pressure of leadership and faced several scandals and internal corruption. Kryze’s rule ended quickly and was remembered as ineffectual and a low point in the history of Mandalore.
A clone trooper named Spar that had shown aberrant behavior, including recalling “memories” of Jango Fett’s, had deserted the Grand Army early in the war with the help of one of the Mandalorian advisors in Tipoca city. When he reached Mandalore, he met a local Constable named Fenn Shysa who was a member of the True Mandalorian faction. After Jango’s death Spar and Shysa embarked on a successful campaign to portray Spar as Jango’s heir. In 20 BBY Spar was named Mand’alor and due to the weakened state of the New Mandalorian faction after their disastrous rule. Spar assumed leadership of Mandalore. Spar threw Mandalorian support behind the Confederacy to oppose a Republic he viewed as oppressive and to oppose the Jedi whom he saw as morally bankrupt for their role in the crippling of the True Mandalorians on Galidraan and their willingness to lead a slave army of Mandalorian clones.
Spar also re-instituted the Supercommando Codex created by Jaster Mereel as the ruling “law” of behavior for Mandalorian warriors, and recreated the True Mandalorian Mercenary army, naming them “Mandalorian Protectors.” This new army of Supercommandos was 212 members strong and included people like Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala. The Supercommandos also instituted the armor the galaxy now identifies as “Mandalorian,” based on the armor worn by Jango Fett. Spar captured the Mandal Motors facility at the city of Keldabe for the Seperatists and put the Pursuer class enforcement ship into service as a Supercommando vehicle. Spar also commissioned the Seperatist droid factories to produce a run of one thousand BL series “Battle Legionnaire droids for his forces. This new Mandalorian army clashed with their clone counterparts in many battles and generally won the conflicts where they were employed or at minimum inflicted heavy casualties while suffering little of their own. The Mandalorian Protectors even managed to wipe out a significant portion of the Kamino cloning facilities.
The Mandalorian Protectors were ultimately undone by a betrayal. Darth Sidious who of course was also Chancellor Palpatine ordered the Protectors to Norval II to capture Padme Amidala. Sidious had set the mission up as a trap and under his alter ego of Chancellor Palpatine had Republic troops waiting to wipe the Protectors out. Only three men survived that trap, Fenn Shysa, Tobi Dala, and Spar. They returned to Mandalore where Spar stepped down from the position of Mandalore, though Shysa repeated tried to persuade Spar to reclaim the title. Shysa believed that without a Manda’ lor, the Mandalorians would appear weak and disorganized, a tempting target to the rest of the galaxy.
During the last year of the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine growing wary of the large army of clones that seemed more Mandalorian than loyal to his personal goals, initiated a new cloning program that produced far inferior clones, but did so in only a year. These clones were much more malleable and weak willed, as well as being far inferior soldiers. The new clones became the basis for the modern Stormtrooper legions. After the clones were ordered to execute Order 66 and exterminate their Jedi commanders, many began deserting the newly formed Galactic Empire and relocating to Mandalore. It was only then that Jango Fett’s plan became clear. By donating his genetic material and giving the Clone army its Mandalorian traditions and equipment, he had in one stroke destroyed the Jedi Order that had crippled his True Mandalorians and repopulated Mandalore with fighting men that shared the True Mandalorian culture.
The Dark Times
After the Republic transformed into the Empire, Imperial government appeared to ‘forgive’ the Mandalorians for their opposition to the Republic during the Clone Wars, and began offering them mercenary work and a large sum of credits to lease land on Mandalore for the construction of an Imperial garrison. Many Mandalorians opposed the construction of the garrison; however the clan chiefs met and it was decided to lease the land to the Imperials. As the Imperials began to arrive, the position of Mnada’lor was still vacant after Spar had stepped down. Fenn Shysa reluctantly took the position at this point, believing that a member of Jango Fett’s genetic bloodline was a better choice for the position of Manda’lor. Shysa did so mainly because he opposed the Imperial presence and felt the garrison had been a bad idea. He did acknowledge however that had the Mandalorians not taken the credits the Imperials would likely have arrived eventually and on far less friendly terms. Shysa believed this would have been disastrous for Mandalore which was still recovering from the corruption and economic ruin inflicted by Duchess Kryze and the military decimation of the Mandalorian Protectors.In the months prior to the Empire’s arrival a Mandalorian entrepreneur had become convinced of Mandalore’s viability as a suitable location for adventure vacations and constructed a replica of a large mythosaur skeleton. The mythosaur was a gigantic beast that the Mandalorians had hunted to extinction millennia ago and then had adopted its skull as their cultural emblem. This skeleton was intended to house a theme park for tourism. The park failed and never opened however the brother of its creator convinced the commander of the Imperial garrison forces that the skeleton was actually a sacred Mandalorian temple and sold the structure to the Empire. The ggarrison constructed its new headquarters within the skeleton as a message to the local Mandalorians, intending to intimidate them by occupying one of the Mandalorian’s sacred structures. The Mandalorians obviously found the situation hilarious.
The Death Watch was also on the rise once again under the leadership of Dred Priest. The Death watch were now shifted even more radically and espoused a creed of Mandalorian superiority and advocated regaining Mandalorian martial might through conquest. Ironically, these “superior” Mandalorians who advoicated “conquest,” served the Empire as vassals. The Empire offered exorbitant amounts of credits for exclusive mining rights to a region rich in beskar, the nigh invulnerable Mandalorian iron, and Priest was assisting in these negotiations. Priest however was found dead after being stabbed repeatedly when his Death Watch ties became known.
It was at this time that the Empire showed itself as a true potential threat to Mandalore. On the planet Gibadon a nano-virus called FG36 that had been developed by the Seperatists for use against the Fett genome clone troopers was released. The virus had never been perfected and was released in its unfinished state which completely wiped out all sentient life on Gibadon. A Mandalorian named Kal Skirata, who had served as one of Jango Fett’s Cuy’val Dar on Kamino grew alarmed by this action from Palpatine. Skirata already held Dr Uithan, the creator of the virus, and was using her to try and reverse the rapid aging the clones had been designed to undergo. He changed her focus to creating an immunogen for the FG36 virus. Uithan was successful and Skirata arranged, with the permission of Shysa, for the immunogen to be covertly released to the population of Mandalore, ensuring that the virus would never threaten the Mandalorian people.
As the Empire consolidated its holdings on Mandalore, Shysa organized a covert resistance group styled after the Mandalorian Protectors, in case the Imperial presence should ever turn from friendly to hostile. Shysa’s worry proved founded as the Empire’s foothold on Mandalore became a full fledged occupation. The Empire began strip mining vast sections of the planet for beskar to use in constructing and upgrading Imperial dungeon ships. The Imperials also enslaved large sections of the population in order to carry out these operations.The new Mandalorian Protectors led by Shysa fought against the Imperial occupation for nearly 20 years causing considerable damage and keeping the Empire from ever completely controlling Mandalore.
In 3 ABY Tobi Dala infiltrated the Imperial garrison to attempt to rescue some of his enslaved kinsmen. Dala was captured during this mission. Despite Dala’s capture, Shysa continued to fight and a bounty was placed on his head by the Empire. The bounty hunter Dengar arrived to attempt and collect the bounty on Shysa, but was captured by the Mandalorian forces. Shysa was attempting to broker an exchange of Dengar for Dala when Leia Organa arrived on Mandalore, seeking Dengar to investigate a rumor that Dengar had aided in the capture of her fellow Rebel leader, Han Solo. Organa tried to convince Shysa to turn Dengar over to her so she could take Dengar to the Alliance to Restore the Republic for questioning about Solo. Shysa however, refused to do so, because Dengar was his bargaining chip to secure the return of Dala. Organa then led Shysa away from the camp to seduce and incapacitate him by knocking him unconscious during a kiss. Organa then freed Dengar herself with the hopes that he would be grateful enough for her assistance to assist her in return with finding the whereabouts of Solo. Dengar double crossed Organa and betrayed her to the Imperials to collect the bounty on her head.
Shysa now recovered infiltrated the Imperial garrison and freed Organa from her cell. He made a deal with her that if she would help him free Dala, Shysa would help her capture Dengar and return him to the Alliance for questioning. Organa agreed and she and Shysa managed to free Dala. Shysa then enacted his greater plan and signaled for his Mandalorian Protectors to attack while simultaneously triggering a revolt among the enslaved Mandalorians that was overwhelming to the Imperial forces. Unfortunately during a conflict with the Imperial garrison commander, Dala was mortally wounded. As Shysa escaped with Organa, Dala stayed behind to sabotage the attempts at Imperial pursuit and caused an explosion that completely obliterated the Imperial garrison on Mandalore.
The Mandalorian people mourned Dala, but honored his sacrifice and celebrated their freedom. Manyu of the former slaves joined the ranks of the Mandalorian protectors and under the leadership of Shysa, the Mandalorians drove the forces of Grand Admiral Miltin Takel from their system and secured their independence from Imperial rule.
The Post Imperial Era
After the first death of Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star in 4 ABY, the Alliance of Free Planets, an interim government was created to usher in a new Republic and Mandalore became its ally. During this period, a force of extra galactic invaders known as the Nagai made their presence known and assaulted the Alliance forces and then allied with the reeling Imperial forces led by Lumiya a Sith Lord. The Nagai-Imperial forces began an all out assault on the Alliance and attacked several Alliance member worlds and Mandalore. On Mandalore Shysa attempted to turn back the forces solely with Mandalorian troops, but after several worlds near Mandalore fell, he accepted the help of Alliance forces to face this threat. After the Nagai invading Mandalorian space were defeated Hoojib telepaths revealed that the Nagai were about to attack the forest moon of Endor, the temporary headquarters of the Alliance.
Forewarned, the Mandalorians and Alliance forces managed to turn back the Nagai attack on Endor, but not without suffering serious losses. Then a new player entered the conflict, the Tof. The Tof were a race of conquerors that had virtually destroyed the Nagai in their home galaxy and that had finally succeeded in tracking them down. Initially the Allaince and Mandalorian forces were happy to see the Tof appear, but this happiness was soon dashed as it became clear that the Tof intended to destroy and conquer this new galaxy as they had their own. Facing this threat the Imperials, Nagai, Alliance and Mandalorians all banded together to fight the Tof with a unified front. The Sith Lord, Lumiya was furious at this, placing her personal vendetta against the Alliance above Imperial concerns and left to join the Tof war machine.
Slowly, the Tof began to be pushed back until the fighting reached Saijo, where the Tof Prince had established his headquarters. The Battle of Saijo was fierce and bloody degenerating into trench warfare on the ground and a prolonged space battle above. But the Tof were finally defeated. The Alliance shortly after formed itself into the New Republic, and offered the Nagai full membership along with the promise of aid in rebuilding Saijo as their new homeworld. The Nagai refused intent on returning to their home galaxy to reclaim their true home world, Nagi. Mandalore also refused membership in the New Republic and Shysa agreed to aid the Nagai in this and left our galaxy for a time along with a substantial force of Protectors to assist the Nagai in their struggle. After the liberation of Nagi, Shysa and his forces returned to Mandalore. Where though not members of the New Republic, they continued to aid them in military conflicts as allies.
In 21 ABY Shysa’s tenure as Manda’lor ended. Taun We an aging Kaminoan sought revenge against the last living Mandalorian supercommando that had devastated her world during the Clone Wars, Fenn Shysa. In order to accomplish this, she contracted with another Mandalorian, Boba Fett, to kill Shysa. Fett tracked Shysa to the Mandalorian world Shogun. A battle ensued where Fett was clearly defeating Shysa, but before he could kill Shysa, they were attacked by vicious local creatures. Shysa was severely wounded during that attack, saving Fett’s life. Shysa was too wounded to escape and still believed that a member of Jango’s bloodline should be Manda’lor. He secured a promise from Fett as his dying wish that Fett would assume the position of Manda’lor. Fett agreed reluctantly and shot Shysa as an act of mercy before escaping the remaining creatures. Honoring his word, Fett returned to Mandalore with Shysa’s helmet and assumed the psotion of Mandalore. Under Fett the Mandalorian Protectors became a mercenary army once again rather than one strictly for home world defense. So, 73 years after Jango Fett assumed control of the True Mandalorian faction, his son became Manda’lor and returned a now united Mandalore to the ideals of their forbearers.
Conclusion
In this course we have seen how the Mandalorians split into factions following the War of the Fittest and how that dissolution led to betrayal, economic disaster, and near conquest for the Mandalorian people. Only through determined efforts by men such as Jaster Mereel, Jango Fett, Fenn Shysa, and ultimately Boba Fett were the Mandalorians returned to a culture of honorable warfare and prosperity in line with their tradition rather than being destroyed as a culture or absorbed into a larger galactic faction. The Mandalorians continue to involve themselves in many galactic conflicts on many different sides. They serve in many armies, but ultimately they are Mandalorian, and apart, wherever their loyalties may lie in a conflict. This makes them a decidedly deadly culture to ignore or discount and is why even with the relatively small Mandalorian holdings the great powers of the galaxy still make sure to try to either enlist or neutralize the Mandalorians in any conflict.