Summary

• The Mandalorian Civil War in Star Wars Legends led to the rise of legendary fighters like Jango Fett and the Death Watch.
• Jango Fett and the Death Watch's conflicts shaped Mandalorian culture, with the Supercommando Codex guiding warriors.
• The modern Star Wars canon hints at Jango Fett's involvement in the Mandalorian Civil Wars, but any other details remain unclear.

A major event in the history of the Death Watch, a villainous faction in various non-movie materials, are tied to the Mandalorian Civil War.

While he views himself as a humble mercenary, Jango Fett is the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter (rivaled only by his son, Boba Fett), who became a key figure in Palpatine and Count Dooku’s sinister machinations during the prequel era. The Death Watch, which originated in Jango Fett: Open Seasons by Haden Blackman and Ramón F. Bachs, plays significant roles in popular TV shows in the modern Star Wars canon, such as 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian. As shown in the Star Wars Legends continuity, the two were enemies during the Mandalorian Civil War.

The Mandalorian Civil War In Star Wars Legends

For most of the Mandalorian culture’s history in the Star Wars Legends continuity, the renowned warriors were famous for their legendary fighting prowess and infamous in equal measure for their brutality. After the Mandalorian-Ithullan War nearly made the Ithullan species extinct, there was a growing demand among Mandalorians for major reforms. Over a century later, Jaster Mereel would become the Mand’alor and implement these reforms. Before ing the Mandalorians, Mereel was a Journeyman Protector of Concord Dawn – an agricultural planet in the Mandalore sector. After killing a corrupt superior officer on principle, Mereel was exiled from the Journeyman Protectors.

Although many Journeyman Protectors are Mandalorians, the two organizations are separate.

In his position as the Mand’alor, Jaster Mereel wrote a manifesto titled the Supercommando Codex, which contained hundreds of guidelines intended to restore honor to the Mandalorian clans and reform the culture into one of principled mercenaries. Mereel looked to the ancient and largely forgotten Canons of Honor from the earliest points in Mandalorian history for inspiration, combining them with the Resol'nare (six key rules of Mandalorian culture). Unfortunately, there was a contingent of Mandalorians who disagreed with Mereel’s Supercommando Codex. Under the leadership of Tor Vizsla, these dissenters formed the terrorist group known as the Death Watch.

Forming a Mandalorian sub-faction called the True Mandalorians, Jaster Mereel went to war with Vizsla’s terrorists, with his homeworld of Concord Dawn eventually becoming the site of a major battle. It was during this battle that the Death Watch would murder a young Jango Fett’s parents and take his older sister hostage, though Jango himself escaped and promptly ed Jaster’s True Mandalorians. Jaster Mereel and Jango Fett (now Mereel’s adopted son) would battle the Death Watch again on Korda Six, though Mereel was betrayed by one of his officers, Montross, who abandoned Mereel, leaving him to be killed by Vizsla.

Montross was exiled from the Mandalorians and Jango Fett would succeed Jaster Mereel as the Mand’alor, but the Mandalorian Civil War was not over. On the Outer Rim planet Galidraan, the Death Watch, who colluded with the Governor of Galidraan, massacred civilians and framed the True Mandalorians as the perpetrators, leading the Jedi Order to send a task force led by Count Dooku to battle the Mandalorians. Every True Mandalorian died fighting the Jedi in the ensuing battle, save for Jango Fett, who became one of the last of Jaster Mereel’s sub-faction.

Jango Fett would strike back at Vizsla and the Death Watch, however, recovering his armor and hunting down the terrorist leader before killing him on Corellia. For all the carnage of the Mandalorian Civil War, the conflict did not end conclusively. The Death Watch outlived Vizsla, albeit far smaller and weaker (and fearful of incurring Jango Fett’s wrath again), and Jango Fett would become a bounty hunter, not using his authority as the Mand’alor again until the formation of the Republic’s Clone Army. Jaster Mereel’s Supercommando Codex would remain a central set of guidelines for future Mandalorian warriors, however.

What We Know Of Mandalore's Civil War In Star Wars Canon

Little is known about the modern Star Wars canon’s iteration of the Mandalorian Civil War. The Mandalorian season 2 confirmed that Jango Fett is a true Mandalorian like his initial Legends iteration and mentioned that he fought in the “Mandalorian Civil Wars.” This suggests that an approximation of the original Legends version of the Mandalorian Civil War occurred in the modern canon, but no other details are mentioned. The modern canon has yet to introduce its equivalent to the Supercommando Codex, and it is unknown if Jango Fett was once the Mand’alor like he was in the Legends continuity.

Boba Fett’s chain code implies that Jango Fett’s mentor was still Jaster Mereel in the modern Star Wars canon.

The Death Watch & Din Djarin's Mandalorian Cult Explained

While the modern Star Wars canon has not revealed many details about the Mandalorian Civil Wars, it has prominently featured its reimagined version of the Death Watch. The Death Watch remains a brutal group of reactionary terrorists, yet they were created in response to a new Mandalorian entity: the New Mandalorians, a pacifist faction formed by Satine Kryze. The Death Watch would be divided into two factions during the Clone Wars, one led by Darth Maul and the other by Siege of Mandalore.

While many Mandalorian sub-factions did not agree with the New Mandalorians’ pacifistic ways, most viewed the Death Watch for what it was: a murderous, power-hungry group of traitorous terrorists. The honorable Mandalorian Protectors held such views of the Death Watch, and the Children of the Watch, who adhered far closer to the oldest Mandalorian tenets, were similarly dismissive of the Death Watch – whose adherence to Mandalorian traditions wasn't honest. Fascinatingly, Din Djarin was rescued by the Death Watch as a child during the Clone Wars, but ended up ing the Children of the Watch, as his Star Wars story reveals.