When the Great Purge was first introduced in The Mandalorian, it was revealed that quite a few Mandalorians had survived the ordeal by adapting the Sith’s greatest lesson. Prior to The Mandalorian, Mandalore’s history post-Star Wars Rebels was utterly unknown in canon, making it a pure tragedy when it was revealed that countless Mandalorians had perished at the hands of the Empire. Not only that, but the planet had also been laid to waste, causing Mandalorians to, in the words of Din Djarin, scatter “like stars in the galaxy.”

The Mandalorians, however, are far from the first group in Star Wars to have their homeworld and their people destroyed in such a manner. Thousands of years before, the Sith were also thought to have been extinct after they were defeated in the Jedi-Sith War, which made their reemergence in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace a surprise for the Jedi Order. The Sith, however, found a way to survive, even in small numbers – and this is a lesson the Mandalorians not only learned, but also embraced, and perhaps did so even more successfully.

The Mandalorians’ Secrecy Was Their Survival After The Purge

Hiding Their Location & Their Numbers Kept The Mandalorians Alive

The key to survival for the Mandalorians after the Purge was keeping both their location and their numbers a secret. This was seen most prominently with the Children of the Watch, the faction that Din Djarin is a part of in The Mandalorian. In season 1, episode 3 “Chapter 3: The Sin,” Paz Vizsla reveals that they were only allowed above ground one at a time to conceal their numbers, to which the Armorer responds directly with “our secrecy is our survival.” Keeping themselves hidden was the only way they could rebuild their people and their society in peace.

The Sith Survived In Secret For Thousands Of Years Before Then

The Rule Of Two Helped To Hide Their Numbers

This is exactly how the Sith operated after the Jedi-Sith War, though they had to take even more extreme measures. The Rule of Two was established, with one master and one apprentice, to not only hide their numbers and their reemergence, but also to stave off the power the Sith craved. They existed solely in these pairs for thousands of years before it was time for them to make themselves known again, which, of course, happened with Darth Sidious and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

The Sith also had another powerful tool in their arsenal to conceal their survival and their presence: the Force. The Sith were able to mask their presence in the Force to keep the Jedi from sensing the darkness that surrounded them, which kept them concealed at all times. This was seen most recently in The Acolyte with the Sith assassin Mae (Amandla Stenberg), who was able to walk into a Jedi Temple on Olega without being sensed because of her ability to cloak herself in the Force. This is what helped to keep the Sith hidden for so many years.

The Mandalorians Also Learned How To Operate Together In Secret

The reason why the Mandalorians were perhaps better at the Sith’s own game than them is because they were able to maintain bigger groups in secrecy, since there were no power cravings they had to dance around. The Children of the Watch on Nevarro were just one of the many groups of Mandalorians who survived the Purge, with Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls being another example. Some Mandalorians even survived on Mandalore itself for countless years, living right underneath the Empire’s noses.

This ability to operate together in secret is why the Mandalorians were able to survive the Purge and come out on top, unlike the Jedi after Order 66. Admittedly, the Jedi were under more aggressive pursuit following Palpatine’s order, with the Imperial Inquisitors coming after them and hunting them down. Still, beskar hunters and more also existed after the Purge, as seen with Gor Karesh in The Mandalorian season 2 – and yet the Mandalorians continued to survive because of their communities. The Jedi remained on their own for the most part, which prevented them from doing the same.

Both the Sith and the Mandalorians survived by staying secret in their groups, even if the Sith’s groupings were much smaller than the Mandalorians’. This secrecy worked in both their favor, as the Sith eventually did get the reemergence they sought, and the Mandalorians got to reclaim their homeworld in The Mandalorian season 3. While the two groups still vastly differ on a number of accounts, this Sith lesson was clearly learned and used by the Mandalorians in The Mandalorian, and it’s no doubt the reason why they lived to see their homeworld’s reclamation.