The Star Wars universe gave us the mystical Force, and made us imagine a galaxy far, far away with strange aliens and amazing vehicles, but it is also home to some amazing creatures. No, not aliens, but strange creatures who well, stood out. Jabba the Hutt kept a pet Rancor, while Boba Fett managed to escape the Sarlacc attack, and then there are the Porgs, who, as cute as they are, are apparently part of Mandalore’s cuisine.
But a creature that has been heavily teased is the Mythosaur, and for the first time in Star Wars live-action, fans finally get a glimpse of the legendary behemoth, deep beneath the Living Waters in the mines of Mandalore, in episode two of The Mandalorian season three.
Warning: Minor spoilers for episode 2 of The Mandalorian season 3 ahead.
Read at your own risk.
If you were just as shocked as Bo-Katan to see that the mythosaur is not (pun intended) a myth, you’re not the only one. Though we only got a brief glimpse of the creature, we’re hopeful that the mythosaur will reappear once more. Hopefully with our beloved Din Djarin riding it because that would be epic.
Until then, here’s all you need to know about the great mythosaur. You know, just in case it appears again. Our money says that it will.
What is the Mythosaur?
Mythosaur this, mythosaur that – what exactly is it?
A Mythosaur is a large beast that lived on the Outer Rim planet of Mandalore. It is so big, it is said to be on par with the scale of a small city. Its most notable feature – aside from its sheer size – is its skull. The mythosaur’s skull features large tusks that curved inward toward the creature’s jaw. It also has slanted eye sockets and long teeth. If you can’t seem to imagine it in your head – picture a giant dragon-looking creature with tusks and no wings.
Despite being an incredibly threatening creature, ancient Mandalorians learned how to tame and ride the mythosaur. In season one of The Mandalorian, Kuiil teased Din Djarin for not being able to ride his blurrg and pointed out that his ancestors used to ride mythosaurs. Even though the Armorer later mentioned in The Book of Boba Fett that these creatures are simply legends, plenty of others believe otherwise. Guess seeing is believing for some people – but history never lies!
The Mythosaur and Mandalore
Star Wars canon may not have much to say about the mythosaur but there is much we can learn about these creatures just from the history of Mandalore itself.
Mythosaurs were once apex predators who ruled their world. Unfortunately, when the Mandalorian Taung, led by the warrior known as Mandalore the First arrived in an attempt to conquer the world for their own, the predators very quickly went into the endangered list. These creatures were hunted as a test of strength and in time, were driven to extinction.
Though extinct, the mythosaur lived on as a legendary figure in Mandalorian mythology and became a big part of the culture. Their bones were turned into weapons such as the mythosaur axe, which used sharpened plates of bone arranged into the shape of a fan atop an elongated pole grip. These axes were often considered as ceremonial weapons but were also used by Mandalorian Crusaders in combat.
Most importantly, the mythosaur skull became a symbol for the people of Mandalore. The rigid bone of a mythosaur’s sternum was carved into a ceremonial mask for the Mand’alor aka ruler of Mandalore, Mandalore the First. This ceremonial mask was later passed down for generations whenever a new person came to claim the title of Mand’alor. Canderous Ordo was the last known leader to wear the mythosaur-bone mask, but even after the use of the ceremonial mask fell out of practice, the skull remained as a sigil and symbol in Mandalorian society that is commonly used to decorate Mandalorian armour, equipment and banners.
Where have we seen it before?
We have seen the mythosaur – well, more accurately the mythosaur skull sigil – plenty of times in Star Wars. Most famously, before The Mandalorian came around, we saw the skull on Boba Fett’s armour. And before you go “Boba Fett is a Mandalorian?!” no he’s not – read here to find out why. We also saw the mythosaur skull as a necklace pendant that Din gave Grogu in season one.
We’ve seen the skull sigil scattered around here and there in The Mandalorian seasons one and two but we finally saw the real thing in season three! Now, if you didn’t read our spoiler warning at the start of the article, that’s on you because we finally got our first glimpse of the mythosaur in episode two of season three of The Mandalorian and boy, it is MASSIVE. Bo-Katan and Din Djarin look like insects in front of it – and that’s just in comparison to its face and not the rest of its body yet!
As mentioned, this is only a short glimpse of what we hope will be a big debut in the later episodes of The Mandalorian. Afterall, now that Din and Bo-Katan know that Mandalore’s air is not toxic and that their home planet has not been completely destroyed, it’s only a matter of time until one of the two take try to take back Mandalore and reunite all the clans once more.
It’s not The Mandalorian without action too. At some point there will be a greater evil than the pirates we meet in episode one who will come after Din and his beloved green son Grogu where maybe, just maybe, a mythosaur will be used in combat or battle. Fingers crossed!
The Mandalorian is now available on Disney+. New episodes air weekly on Wednesdays.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
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