The Mandalorian Season 3 Repeats Star Wars’ Order 66 Retcon

The Mandalorian season 3 is finally here, bringing with it somewhat of an Order 66-like retcon in reference to the Great Purge of Mandalore.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1.The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1 has somewhat retconned the notion of the Great Purge of Mandalore, as Lucasfilm did with Order 66 after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The Great Purge was first mentioned in the pilot episode of The Mandalorian, referenced as the genocide the Empire committed against Mandalore and its people. Given the immense power of the Mandalorian people, the Empire committed this assault in order to ensure that no one could ever control the factions of Mandalore.

As the Empire figured out for themselves, the Mandalorians are a proud people that would have never wholly accepted Imperial rule. The Great Purge, also referred to as the Night of a Thousand Tears, was then committed, with its shadow looming over each season of The Mandalorian thus far. However, with The Mandalorian season 3, episode 1, it was revealed that the scale of the Great Purge did not necessarily result in the near-extinction of the Mandalorian people, akin to the retcon of Order 66’s results in the years since Revenge of the Sith.

Related: The Mandalorian Season 3 Cast Guide: Every New & Returning Character

Star Wars Has Retconned The Mandalorian Purge Like It Did Order 66 Jedi Survivors

Initially, the Great Purge of Mandalore was positioned as an event that all but wiped out the Mandalorian people. Throughout The Mandalorian season 1, the only known Mandalorians were the Children of the Watch cult that resorted to hiding on far-off planets to escape the Empire. However, with The Mandalorian season 2 came the reintroduction of Bo-Katan Kryze to the Star Wars universe after her appearance in both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Now, The Mandalorian season 3 shows even more Mandalorians as members of the Watch, alongside references to Bo-Katan having “forces” that seemingly retcons the severity of the Great Purge.

This resembles Order 66 from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. At the time of that film’s release in 2005, only two Jedi were known to have survived Order 66 in canon: Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Since then, however, Lucasfilm has reversed the severity of the Jedi extinction by revealing significant characters such as Ahsoka Tano, Caleb Dume, Cal Kestis, and Grogu also survived the attempted Jedi purge.

Why Is Lucasfilm Backing Down From The Scale Of The Purge & Order 66?

The reversal of the Great Purge and Order 66 begs the question of why Lucasfilm reduced the scale of such massive events in the Star Wars galaxy. The simple answer is story potential. Rather than having only a handful of Mandalorians present post-Return of the Jedi and only two Jedi survivors after Order 66, there is much more room for intriguing stories if more people are shown to have survived the horrific events.

Without this reversal, the immensely high story potential of The Mandalorian and the fascinating depictions of post-Order 66 Jedi would not have been possible. Fan-favorite characters like Ahsoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume, and Cal Kestis would not have existed to have their well-received stories told. In terms of The Mandalorian, the set-up of Din Djarin or Bo-Katan uniting the scarred, broken people of Mandalore after the Purge would not have been feasible had Lucasfilm not reversed the severity of the Night of a Thousand Tears.

More: Which Book Of Boba Fett Episodes The Mandalorian Appears In

New episodes of The Mandalorian release every Wednesday on Disney+.