The Great Purge
The Great Purge as we are told of in season one of The Mandalorian was a devastating event that occurred sometime during, or after, the Battle of Yavin — i.e., the original Star Wars film. It began after the Empire sought to strip the planet of its most precious resource, beskar, just as it had previously done with the kyber crystals of Jedha. The Mandalorians fought fiercely but were nearly wiped out by the Imperial war machine. In the aftermath of this annihilation, the survivors were forced into hiding. One of those surviving enclaves was The Tribe that Din Djarin belonged to.
It is also likely that Moff Gideon acquired the Darksaber — the artifact once belonging to the Mandalorian Jedi, Tarre Vizsla, and symbol of the Mand’alor’s power — during this conflict. Hopefully, season two of The Mandalorian will answer this and some of the other nagging questions that fans have.
In the meanwhile, we will be going further into the Mandalorians history and providing you with more in-depth information about this fascinating group of warriors.
For more on The Mandalorian, keep up with Dork Side of the Force.