What was the Siege of Mandalore in Ahsoka?

In the fifth episode of Ahsoka, “Shadow Warrior,” the titular ex-Jedi faced her past in the most literal way possible, reliving several of the most decisive battles of the Clone Wars through the power of the mysterious World Between Worlds. One of the skirmishes that Ahsoka revisited was the Siege of Mandalore, a fierce engagement that doubled as the explosive climax of nearly every long-running plotline in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Here’s everything you need to know about the Siege of Mandalore.

Why Was The Siege of Mandalore So Important?

In many respects, the Siege of Mandalore is the event that Star Wars: The Clone Wars spent most of its runtime building up to. The world of Mandalore holds special meaning in the Star Wars series’ overarching mythos as the birthplace of the Mandalorian people and warrior culture. During the Clone Wars, a civil war broke out between Mandalore’s ruling pacifist government, led by Obi-Wan’s old flame Duchess Satine Kryze, and a splinter sect of fundamentalist admirers of Mandalor’s imperialistic past, the Deathwatch.

While Satine and the Jedi, particularly Ahsoka, managed to thwart Deathwatch’s attempts to seize control of Mandalor, the situation took a drastic turn for the worse when Deathwatch allied with Palpatine’s former apprentice, Darth Maul. With Maul’s help, Deathwatch managed to overthrow Sabine and conquer Mandalor. Unfortunately, Maul betrayed Deathwatch almost immediately, assassinating Sabine and Deathwatch’s leader, Pre Vizsla, before seizing the throne of Mandalore for himself.

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Enraged by Maul’s betrayal, Sabine’s estranged sister and ex-Deathwatch member Bo-Katan organized a resistance against Maul and the Deathwatch soldiers who sided with him. Knowing she couldn’t overthrow Maul by herself, Bo-Katan reached out to Ahoska, who’d recently left the Jedi Order and asked her to help her petition the Jedi Council for aid.

While Anakin is preoccupied with another campaign, he allows her to lead the 501st Clone Legion into battle against Maul, even gifting her a pair of new lightsabers. During the bloody skirmish that follows, Ahsoka engages Maul in a one-on-one duel, in which the former Sith Lord reveals the truth about Palpatine and his plans for Anakin and the Republic. Moments later, Order 66 was issued, and what was shaping up to be a triumphant turning point in the Cloen Wars became a grim prelude to the rise of the Galactic Empire.