This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1.The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1 set Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin on a quest to the planet Mandalore - and revealed the surface is believed to be completely uninhabitable. The history of Mandalore is one of conflict and division, with the warlike tribes eventually united by Tarre Vizsla - the first Mandalorian-Jedi, wielder of the legendary blade of leadership known as the Darksaber. Tragically, the Mandalorians suffered particularly during the Empire's reign, with the Empire ultimately driving them from their homeworld.
The story of the Mandalorians has always drawn inspiration from the Jewish diaspora - the idea of a people scattered like seeds in the wind, their homeland taken from them by force. Viewed through this lens, The Mandalorian season 3 is the beginning of a quest to reclaim the homeland; Din Djarin must travel to Mandalore in search of redemption. There, it is likely he will accept the mantle of leadership he unwittingly stumbled into when he took the Darksaber from the Imperial warlord Moff Gideon. But this quest will be a dangerous one; both the Armorer and Bo-Katan Kryze believe Mandalore's surface has been rendered inhospitable and uninhabitable.
The Empire (& Years Of War) Destroyed Mandlore's Surface
Mandalore was always a harsh and unforgiving world, and its inhabitants survived by building their cities within bio-domes in the Mandalorian deserts. The Mandalorians only thrived because of the unique properties of beskar, a tough metal that could be forged into armor resistant to the desert winds. It is no coincidence Mandalorian cities were built atop beskar mines, with the most notable being the Mandalorian capital of Sundari.
Wars between the Mandalorian clans had leveled vast tracts of Mandalore's surface, but matters were made far worse when the Empire attacked in the Great Purge of Mandalore. The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1, "Chapter 17 - The Apostate," revealed the planet's surface had been crystallized by an Imperial orbital bombardment. This idea calls back to the old Star Wars Expanded Universe (now dubbed Legends), where the Empire's most severe orbital bombardments were said to "glass" a planet.
Is Mandalore's Surface Really Poisonous?
In Legends, "glassing" was the Empire's worst atrocity. Most attacks are relatively surgical, focused on a target location, but "glassing" is indiscriminate. Star Destroyers would hover over a planet's surface, bombarding every inch until there was nothing left. The Mandalorian Purge was worse than viewers had ever believed because the Empire - knowing how important their homeworld was to the Mandalorians - sought to render it absolutely unusable. A relentless bombardment would incinerate every trace of life - every animal or vegetable. The surface would be fused into a crystalline form, until it was impossible for anything to grow there again.
Curiously, though, shots from The Mandalorian season 3's trailer hint the Empire's tactics were not successful on Mandalore - likely because of the unique properties of beskar. One shot shows Din Djarin and Grogu flying towards what is clearly the capital city of Sundari, which lies in ruins. Glassing should so level a city that there is no trace of it left, and yet some of the structures survive. This suggests Mandalore was actually a harsh and unforgiving enough environment to partially survive the Empire's attack.
What We Know About Mandalore's Role In The Mandalorian Season 3
Beskar is strong enough to stop lightsabers, so it makes sense it would also be able to resist an Imperial orbital bombardment. In The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1, Din Djarin reveals he has found a fragment of crystal suggesting Mandalore is not irrecoverable - crystal from Mandalore fused to an inscription of some kind. Nothing should have survived the Empire's glassing of Mandalore, meaning the very existence of this inscription suggests the Empire was not successful in destroying the planet. Din Djarin therefore believes it is possible to travel to Mandalore, and perhaps even to enter the mines of Mandalore in search of redemption after he removed his helmet. He must bathe in the living waters of Mandalore to be reborn.
Little is known about the living waters of Mandalore, although there's been speculation they could be tied to a Mandalorian Force vergence of some kind. The term "living waters" is drawn from the Old Testament, speaking of the Spirit of God transforming a barren wasteland into a new paradise, and as noted Star Wars has always drawn on Jewish history and lore when shaping the Mandalorians. Given that is the case, the inclusion of this term hints The Mandalorian season 3 will be about far more than Din Djarin's personal redemption. Rather, it will be about the redemption of the entire planet Mandalore.
The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1 is streaming now on Disney+. New episodes release Wednesdays.