SPOILERS comply with for The Mandalorian Season 3’s second episode.
In The Guide of Boba Fett’s fifth episode, the Armorer advised Din Djarin, “The songs of eons previous foretold of the Mythosaur rising as much as herald a brand new age of Mandalore.” With the tip of the second episode of The Mandalorian Season 3, it feels just like the prediction of the Armorer and the songs from the historical past of Mandalore would possibly simply be coming true.
As we noticed at that episode’s conclusion, the Mythosaur is not any delusion in any respect, however slightly a large creature, slumbering beneath the dwelling waters of Mandalore, and now woke up by the disruption attributable to Din Djarin and Bo-Katan.
So what’s a mythosaur and why is it necessary to the legend of the Mandalorians? And why does its return probably imply large issues for the way forward for Din Djarin?
Tales of Outdated
“You’re a Mandalorian! Your ancestors rode the nice mythosaur!” – Kuiil
Mythosaurs and their iconography have featured prominently within the historical past of Mandalorians for the reason that first hints of their appearances in Star Wars storytelling. The mythosaur cranium is one thing that may be seen on Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor – even when he doesn’t declare to be a Mandalorian – as early as The Empire Strikes Again.
In keeping with the legends, the primary Mandalorians tamed these beasts and rode them, regardless of mythosaurs being gigantic creatures far harder to deal with than a blurrg.
The sigil of the mythosaur cranium might be seen on many Mandalorians, featured on their capes and armor. It’s an omnipresent and necessary image of their tradition and an important story from their historical past. You’ll be able to see the traditional cranium of a particularly small mythosaur in particular person at Dok-Ondar ’s store on Batuu if you happen to occur to be visiting the galaxy’s edge.
Mythosaurs went extinct sooner or later, or so it was believed. In Star Wars Legends tales (extra on these beneath), some stated they have been hunted to extinction by the alien Mandalore the First and his Taung warriors, with their chief’s identify then getting used within the aftermath to call the planet they’d conquered. Others inform of a cataclysmic occasion on Mandalore that worn out the mythosaur. Regardless, no matter drove them to this supposed extinction appears to have missed or forgotten not less than one in all their quantity, as Din Djarin found within the waters beneath Sundari.
The Mythosaur Rises…
and a Chief Too?
With the rise of the mythosaur comes a complete host of recent prospects for Bo-Katan and Din Djarin. Each of them have been within the water and found it existed collectively. And if the tales of the resurgence of the mythosaur will result in a brand new period for Mandalore are true, who precisely will lead them, assuming the scattered Mandalorians can as soon as extra reunite on their planet? The chief of Mandalore — though the pacifist authorities throughout the time of Duchess Satine and the New Mandalorians skipped this step — tends to be the one who wields the Darksaber.
Bo-Katan had beforehand been in possession of the Darksaber, and was thought of the Mandalorian chief for a time, however now Din has the Darksaber and Mandalorian custom calls for it solely change arms by fight – a rule Bo-Katan ignored as soon as earlier than however refuses to disregard once more. There’s already rigidity between Bo-Katan and Din because of this, so will the importance of the resurgence of the mythosaur trigger a higher rift between the 2 of them? Solely time will inform.
The Legends Aspect
Within the non-canon Legends tales, a mythosaur — or not less than its stays — first appeared within the unique Star Wars comedian from Marvel in difficulty #69, written by David Michelinie and drawn by Gene Day. Launched in 1982, the difficulty came about in a Mandalorian amusement park often called the Metropolis of Bone, which was constructed across the skeleton of a mythosaur (although it was solely in later tales that we’d study the identify of the creature). The comedian was set between The Empire Strikes Again and Return of the Jedi, and noticed Leia Organa and the Mandalorian Fenn Shysa releasing Mandalorian slaves from their imprisonment by an Imperial garrison stationed contained in the mythosaur’s skeletal construction.
Within the Star Wars Legends tales, together with conflicting tales of the mythosaur’s demise and whether or not Mandalore the First precipitated it, mythosaur bones have been used to make weapons by the Mandalorians – axes with fanned blades atop a pole. There was additionally a conventional masks constituted of a mythosaur cranium that the chief of Mandalore wore. Whether or not both of this stuff or different facets of earlier mythosaur-related tales will likely be introduced into The Mandalorian stays to be seen.
New episodes of The Mandalorian debut Wednesdays on Disney+.
Bryan Younger is an award-winning creator, filmmaker, journalist, and comics author. He is written for retailers starting from StarWars.Com and The Huffington Publish to Syfy and /Movie. His newest novel is BattleTech: A Query of Survival.
