The Mandalorian Season 3 Just Offered A Stunning Look At A Corner Of Star Wars Lore
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the second episode of "The Mandalorian" season 3.
The Mines of Mandalore hold a secret much larger than the living waters or the fact that Mandalore's air is still breathable. Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin learn the hard way that there are other things alive in the deep parts of Mandalore. There are the amalites, creatures that used to live in the far-off places of Mandalore. There's that bizarre cyborg that captures Din, but the most surprising thing they find is underwater.
Din Djarin, excited to complete the quest for his redemption, steps into the living waters of Mandalore and sinks like a stone, his armor too heavy for him to swim. Bo-Katan follows him into the water with her jet pack, hoping to save his life and get him out of there. As they try to escape the water together, they come face to face with an unexpectedly large creature known as a mythosaur.
This is a big deal to Mandalore.
The legend
"The songs of eons past foretold of the mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore," the Armorer told Din Djarin in "The Book of Boba Fett," offering a telling bit of foreshadowing to this week's episode of "The Mandalorian."
Mythosaurs have been thought to be extinct for generations, hunted and tamed by the ancient Mandalorians, starting with the first Mandalore. No one was truly expecting to find one hibernating in the living waters of Mandalore, but why not? Din Djarin's journey has been nothing but surprising. And in the first season, Din Djarin was shamed by Kuill for not being able to ride a blurrgs. "You are a Mandalorian," Kuill said. "Your ancestors rode the great mythosaur!"
The iconography
The iconography of the mythosaur has been ingrained in the Mandalorian culture. The first place we saw a mythosaur skull was on the Mandalorian armor of Boba Fett, though Fett does not claim to be a Mandalorian. This sigil has been seen all over Mandalore across the Star Wars canon, on capes and armor, and in relation to all things Mandalorian. If you wanted to go see a mythosaur skull in person — albeit a tiny one — you could see one at Dok Ondar's inside Black Spire outpost.
Their skulls and the symbol of their skulls have been prominent in "Star Wars" storytelling since almost the very beginning.
But we've never seen one alive before. That is until this episode of "Mandalorian." Will this prove to be a situation where it causes Din Djarin more problems? Or will those problems be Bo-Katan's as she tries to wrest control back of her planet?
Only time will tell.
"The Mandalorian" is currently streaming on Disney+, new episodes are released on Wednesdays.