The Mandalorian’s Mythosaur and Star Wars importance, explained

There’s a sense of foreboding in the opening of The Mandalorian episode 3. “Did you see anything alive?” Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) asks Din Djarin in the depths of Mandalore. He doesn’t know what she means, but we do.

Mandalorian Season 3 has only three episodes, but Disney Plus already gave Star Wars major shoutouts. lore. Of these, one of the biggest arrived last week in episode 2, “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore,” when Bo-Katan came eye-to-eye with a Mythosaur — a legendary creature never before seen on screen.

It’s enough to get a die-hard Star Wars fan’s pulse racing; however, casual viewers probably have a few questions. They will have basic queries (What is Mythosaur?) to more complex questions. These questions can be as simple as “What is a Mythosaur?” to more complex (Why are such huge beasties so important?” — luckily, we can answer them all.

This guide contains everything you will need to learn about Mythosaurs. It also includes their biology, and connections to Mandalorian society. It also touches on the Mythosaurs’ previous appearances in Star Wars canonical and adds all references to them into Mandalorian to date.

What exactly is a Mythosaur, and how can it help you?

Mythosaurs, as their name implies, are mythical beasts of immense size. They’re covered in dark yellow scales and have thick, hornlike tusks protruding from either side of their mouths. Although the Mythosaur in Episode 2 selected the Living Waters of Mandalore for its home, this species can also be seen underwater.

Legend has it that Mandalore The Great defeated a Mythosaur by fighting him. The Mandalorian warriors of the past followed his example and tamed this beast before riding it to battle. Unfortunately, the Mandalorians’ glorious, monster-mounted heyday didn’t last, and the Mythosaurs were considered extinct long before the events of Mandalorian.

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Mandalorian culture was affected by the Mythosaurs for a long time. Notably, Mandalore’s skull signet — the royal seal of the entire planet, basically — was inspired by the Mythosaur legend. The skull signet is such a strong part of the Mandalorians’ shared identity that it crops up everywhere, but especially in their clothing (there’s one on the shoulder pad of Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor, for example).

Mandalorian society’s veneration for Mythosaurs isn’t purely aesthetic, either — it’s mystical. These creatures form the basis of a prophecy about Mandalore’s fate and its inhabitants. But more is on. This later.

Are Mythosaurs mentioned in Star Wars stories before?

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Despite their significance to Mandalorian history and culture, Mythosaurs don’t actually show up in Star Wars stories all that often. Indeed, “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore” was the first time one of the camera-shy creatures appeared on screen. Prior to this brief cameo, Mythosaur sightings were limited to licensed media — most of which was produced before Disney hit the reset button on the saga’s “Expanded Universe” of books, video games, cartoons, and comics.

Memorably, Marvel’s classic Star Wars A comic series created a Mythosaur-replica skeleton as an enormous theme park attraction. Other, indirect references to authentic members of the species are present in other sources, most of them tied to the saga’s distant past, as depicted in the Tales of the Jedi Comics, and the Knights of the Old Republic They inspired games.

We have already mentioned that very little, if any of the material in this collection is part of the official canon. In 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced that it would be relegating almost everything except the Star Wars films. Clone Wars animated series to apocryphal “Legends” status. This is the result. Almost everything we previously knew about Mythosaurs didn’t mean squat.

The skull signet’s presence in canon movies and TV shows meant these quasi-kaiju probably still existed in this new, streamlined galaxy far, far away (a fact later confirmed via a licensed magazine). Their history, significance and what they looked like was up for discussion.

What does The Mandalorian have to do with the Mythosaur?

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For sci-fi fanatics, there are both Mandalorian And its spinoff series. Boba Fett’s Book, Many gaps have been slowly filled in in the revised mythosaur legende. The creatures’ presence is felt right from the jump, as they’re referenced in dialogue in Mandalorian’s first-ever installment, “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian.” In this episode, Din Djarin’s (Pedro Pascal) newfound ally Kuiil (Misty Rosas, voiced by Nick Nolte) name-drops “the great Mythosaur” and confirms that the ancient Mandalorians used the creatures as their trusty steeds in post-Disney canon, too.

For the rest of the year, things are quiet at the Mythosaur Front Mandalorian season 1 and all of season 2 (Boba Fett’s armor notwithstanding); however, Boba Fett’s Book They will soon be in the forefront of attention. The spinoff’s fifth episode, “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian,” includes a scene in which Din Djarin’s mentor, the Armorer (Emily Swallow), recalls how “songs of eons past foretold of the Mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore.”

This has sparked speculation. Mandalorian Jon Favreau, the creator of Mythosaur Unboxing Party in Season 3, was assisted by Dave Filoni, executive producer. As we now know, that was indeed the case, and a Mythosaur (or one of its peepers, at least) made its debut in the third season’s second episode. The oversized beast (justifiably) scares the living shit out of Bo-Katan before she jetpacks away — although, interestingly, it doesn’t lash out at her or the incapacitated Din.

Why the Mythosaur doesn’t attack is a mystery for now, but what does seem clear is that it will play a major role in what’s left of Mandalorian Season 3. Will Din, Bo-Katan, or any other Mandalorian warriors saddle up on the Mythosaur’s back? Do you know of any Mythosaurs left in Mandalore? universe? They will also usher in a new beginning for Mandalorian societies, just as was previously predicted. It will take time and patience. Mandalorian season 3’s five remaining episodes) will tell.