Warning! Potential spoilers for Star Wars Adventures #3 by Shane McCarthy and Megan Levens!
Darth Maul's plans in the latest Star Wars comic will have massive ramifications for The Mandalorian. Little has been revealed about the Great Purge of Mandalore. What limited information fans have at their disposal is quite substantial. Of course, the obvious takeaway is that the pivotal event culminated in the Empire's eventual removal of the Mandalorians from their planet of Mandalore. The most compelling glimpse into this dark history derives from the scant few words uttered by Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian. What's so intriguing about his particular recollection is the name of a rather bloody siege he mentions in passing. It even stands out more so than the reason why the battle received the rather impressive name it did: the Night of a Thousand Tears.
IDW Publishing is now laying the foundations that will eventually lead to that tear-filled slaughter of Mandalorians in Star Wars Adventures #3, written by Shane McCarthy with art by Megan Levens. The story documents the very early days of Darth Maul's preparations to eventually launch what will be known as the conquest of Mandalore, a sham takeover of the pacifist New Mandalorian government made possible by his criminal alliance called the Shadow Collective. While never stated directly, Darth Maul mentions that he is looking for soldiers to aid him on Mandalore, and it can be assumed that these soldiers will make up his syndicate.
Throughout the issue, the Sith Lord participates in an elaborate deceptive ploy where he convinces a crime family that they have successfully managed to capture him, while, in reality, he has just staged his brief incarceration to get on the inside. The reason for this is that he views them as a potential complication that could hinder his overthrow of Mandalore. And he feels that the planet would serve as an effective base of operations that would aid him in his quest to get back at Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for slicing him in half during The Phantom Menace. Therefore, the family needs to be eradicated.
Although Maul's siege transpires at the end of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Empire would later take over where Maul left off to launch its military operation that would eventually lead to the Great Purge, and, in turn, the Night of a Thousand Tears. The Great Purge led to the death of nearly all Mandalorians, save for a few who escaped like Din Djarin and his tribe. But all of this was predicated on Maul's original takeover of the planet. After Maul's occupation of Mandalore, the resulting siege laid the groundwork for the Empire to eventually move in and establish military control over the planet. Resistance to the Imperial rule in turn led to the Empire's decision to carry out the Great Purge.
The siege of Mandalore and the subsequent Purge are still in the future for Maul in the current pages of IDW Publishing's Star Wars Adventures. But the former apprentice of Darth Sidious has gotten the ball rolling on a major Star Wars event that will have huge ramifications in the future. Darth Maul says it best when he tells his comrade Savage, "There is much to be done."