Siege of Mandalore

"Ahsoka Tano. I fought by her side from the Battle of Christophsis to the siege of Mandalore."

- Rex

The siege of Mandalore occurred at the planet Mandalore during the Clone Wars. Clone Captain Rex of the 501st Legion was part of the Galactic Republic forces that participated in the conflict alongside former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. The Republic's successor state, the Galactic Empire, eventually claimed control of Mandalore and occupied the world, establishing an Imperial Academy there.

Prelude
"Go back to your Republic and tell them what has happened.''" "That would likely lead to a Republic invasion of Mandalore." "''Yes, and Maul will die. But Mandalore will survive. We always survive."

- Bo-Katan Kryze and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Mandalore's neutrality during the pan-galactic Clone Wars ultimately failed to stem the violent history of the Outer Rim world. Over two years into the war, the Sith Lord Darth Maul utilized his criminal organization known as the Shadow Collective to conquer Mandalore, dethroning the dominant regime of the pacifistic New Mandalorians. However, Maul's takeover of the Mandalorian Death Watch led one of the splinter group's lieutenants, Bo-Katan Kryze, to form the Mandalorian Resistance, a rebel cell that opposed Maul's leadership.

As part of a campaign against Maul's loyal super commandos, Kryze rescued Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi from Maul's captivity. Before Kenobi left Mandalore, Kryze told him to inform the Galactic Republic of the state of the embattled planet, believing that a Republic invasion would result in Maul's demise. Maul, meanwhile, was confronted and later captured by his former Sith Master, Darth Sidious.

Even though Maul escaped from Sidious's custody, he remained absent from Mandalore. The Mandalorian Resistance kept the Republic apprised with intelligence regarding the world, including the fact that Prime Minister Almec, the puppet leader whom Maul had installed during his coup, maintained ties to the Shadow Collective. For their part, Jedi Generals like Kenobi and Mace Windu were determined not to let Mandalore fall to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. To that end, Kenobi and Windu led an offensive against Maul and his Shadow Collective; however, Maul remained at large.

The siege
The Siege of Mandalore happened, Ahsoka Tano and Rex were there.

Aftermath
In the end, the Galactic Empire, which replaced the Republic, gained control of Mandalore and occupied the world, erecting a local Imperial Academy to train cadets for its nascent military. The Empire also outlawed the Mandalorians' mercenary practices, though it paid off certain groups like the Protectors of Concord Dawn in exchange for their loyalty.

Behind the scenes
"The untold story of the end of The Clone Wars would have centered on the tensions on Mandalore and would have left the planet in a certain condition."

- Lucasfilm Creative Executive Pablo Hidalgo

The siege of Mandalore was first mentioned in "The Lost Commanders," the premiere episode of the Star Wars Rebels television series' second season. The episode, which was written by Matt Michnovetz, aired on October 14, 2015.

The siege of Mandalore was planned to be the focus of the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the television series that preceded Star Wars Rebels. That story arc was written by Michnovetz&mdash;who, at the time, served as the series' Head Writer&mdash;and would have concluded the show's eighth and final season. Yet, the episodes were not completed prior to the series' cancellation in 2013. Michnovetz thus included the mention of the event in "The Lost Commanders" as a reference to the unreleased series finale.

In March 2014, after the cancellation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Series Supervising Director Dave Filoni released a number of his sketchbook pages, which depicted concept art from some of the series' unfinished episodes. One of the images was titled "Ahsoka Appoints Bo-Katan As Provisional Leader," implying that Bo-Katan Kryze had a role in the "siege of Mandalore" story arc. Moreover, Series Writer Brent Friedman stated that another of Filoni's sketchbook pieces that depicted Darth Maul was also generated for the same story arc.

Following the release of the Rebels Season Two finale "Twilight of the Apprentice" in March 2016, Filoni revealed more information about The Clone Wars series finale, which revolved around the possibility that Tano would rejoin the Jedi Order. While working with Bo-Katan Kryze, Tano would have found that Maul had returned to Mandalore, which he still ruled via proxy through Prime Minister Almec. Kryze and Tano would have contacted Obi-Wan Kenobi and Tano's former Master, Anakin Skywalker, both of whom agreed to support their mission to capture Maul. Yet, before they could execute their plan, Jedi Grand Master Yoda would have recalled Kenobi and Skywalker to the Republic capital of Coruscant to rescue Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, tying into the opening events of the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

In his and Kenobi's absence, Skywalker would have assigned Captain Rex and his contingent within the 501st Legion to help Tano retake Mandalore. Alongside Kryze's Mandalorian allies, Tano and Rex would have targeted Mandalore's capital city, Sundari, thus beginning the siege. Tano would have engaged in a direct confrontation with Maul, leading to their later familiarity with each other in "Twilight of the Apprentice." Furthermore, concept art indicated that Tano would have appointed Kryze as the provisional leader of Mandalore. Nevertheless, "Twilight of the Apprentice" revealed that Maul escaped capture and went into hiding, eventually ending up on the planet Malachor.