The Mandalorian season 3 explores the Empire’s horrific Great Purge of Mandalore, hearkening back to the Empire’s comparable attacks in the Legends continuity. Din Djarin’s long-term goal for the season is to return to Mandalore and restore his status as a true Mandalorian in the Living Waters beneath the planet’s mines. The Galactic Empire’s devastation of the planet, however, has rendered this task seemingly impossible, as Mandalore’s already-ravaged surface was further razed during the Night of a Thousand Tears.
The first episode of The Mandalorian season 3, “Chapter 17: The Apostate,” sees Din Djarin discuss the state of the Mandalorian homeworld with the Armorer. During the Great Purge of Mandalore, the Empire’s war machines reduced Mandalore’s surface to glass, leaving the planet uninhabitable. In the Star Wars Legends timeline, many worlds suffered the same fate upon incurring the Empire’s wrath, with the practice even having a specific code within the Imperial Navy. In the current canon, the Empire’s bombardment not only wiped out much of Mandalore’s population, but also destroyed the cultural and ancestral home of the Mandalorian people.
Star Wars Legends Saw The Empire “Glass” Entire Worlds
In the Legends continuity, the Empire’s practice of rendering a planet inhospitable through orbital bombardment was known by the naval code of “Base Delta Zero.” The code originates from the Republic Navy, with the practice being used as a last resort during the Clone Wars against Separatist worlds with underground contingents of droid forces. The fact that the Republic knowingly reduced entire planets to glass shows how far it had fallen by the events of the Clone Wars. Once Palpatine’s totalitarian coup transformed the Republic into the Empire, however, Base Delta Zero was used far more frequently.
Base Delta Zero allowed the Imperial Navy to bombard a planet into glass in a matter of hours with relatively few warships. While the tactic was typically used on worlds that Imperial ground forces failed to subjugate, it was also employed as an excessively cruel punishment for rebellious planets. Two notable examples of Base Delta Zero are the Caamas Firestorm during the first year of the Empire’s reign and the Bombardment of Oben by Thrawn before he became a Grand Admiral.
The Empire’s Destruction Of Mandalore Is Especially Dark
Bombarding a planet into glass is arguably a slower and more painful alternative to the Empire’s various planet-killers, and while Mandalore’s purge in canon is no better or worse than any other planet’s destruction, The Mandalorian shows its horrific effects on the survivors. Mandalorian culture originates on Mandalore, and while not all true Mandalorians are native to the planet, the world remains their most important cultural center. The Mandalorians are closely tied to Mandalore, a world that was already devastated by generations of full-scale war, so the Empire’s glassing of the planet’s surface is easily one of the cruelest actions of the regime.
