Star Wars: The Night of a Thousand Tears, explained

Mandalorians have been the focus of a lot of Star Wars media over the years, but The Mandalorian has greatly expanded the lore around the culture and its people. For a long time, a big canon gap existed surrounding Mandalore: What happened between the Siege of Mandalore and the beginning of this new show?

Season 3, as well as The Book of Boba Fett, shed new light on what happened to scatter so many Mandalorians across the galaxy. The event became known as The Night of a Thousand Tears, though it was also sometimes referred to as the Mandalorian Purge. The Empire was responsible for the tragic day in Mandalorian history, but thankfully, some survivors were able to recount the events so that they would not be forgotten. Here’s what really happened that day — and why it happened.

Why did the Empire attack Mandalore?

In Season 4 of Star Wars Rebels, Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan, and other Mandalorians embarked on a dangerous mission to rescue Sabine’s father from imperial capture. In the process, they ended up eliminating the major Empire presence on Mandalore.

After this, Bo-Katan was able to claim leadership over Mandalore, which had been under imperial rule up to that point. While this was a major victory for the rebels and Mandalorians, it would result in major consequences not too far into the future for the entire Mandalorian civilization.

What happened during the Night of a Thousand Tears?

In retaliation against the Mandalorian people, the Empire descended upon the planet’s capital city of Sundari. In an effort to protect her people, Bo-Katan surrendered to Moff Gideon in exchange for the Mandalorians being spared. The city and many lives were destroyed anyway, and Gideon left it all in ruins with the Darksaber in his possession.

For a long time after this, it was assumed that Mandalore had become inhabitable and that returning to the planet — after the survivors had fled off-world — would be dangerous. This turned out only to be partially true.

Why did people return to Mandalore after it was destroyed?

Season 3 of The Mandalorian involved Din Djarin accompanying Bo-Katan on a quest to gather Mandalorians and head back to Mandalore. When Din and Grogu arrived on the planet, they realized that it wasn’t inhabitable at all. Hostile in some ways, maybe. But all was not lost. The Mandalorian people, who hadn’t had a home for years, could have one again.

There were many reasons for the Mandalorians to reclaim their home, but the most important may be that these people had a right to take back what belonged to them, what had been unfairly and violently taken from them years before. Taking a stand against the Empire burned them once — unfortunately literally — and doing so again was their way of finally saying, “No more, and never again” to a regime that had held the entire galaxy captive for decades.

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