This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7.The Great Purge has been introduced to Star Wars canon thanks to The Mandalorian, but while many Mandos were killed, many survivors have been confirmed. First mentioned in The Mandalorian season 1 premiere, the Great Purge has been referenced several times throughout the show's run. The concept of the Great Purge was that the Empire realized they would never be able to truly rule Mandalore or its people, and so instead wiped them out.
As a result, the Great Purge acted as the Mandalorian equivalent of Order 66, in which most of the Jedi Order was killed. That may have been before the Empire rose to galactic power, but the net result is more or less the same: removing a powerful opposition, and sending what's left of their people fleeing across the galaxy, reduced to hiding in the shadows. This has been explored through The Mandalorian including season 3 episode 7, revealing more survivors of the Great Purge than was first thought.
Din Djarin & Grogu
The center of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin is the audience's entry point to the Great Purge, and to understanding more about Mandalorian history and culture as a whole. A child during The Clone Wars, Din was rescued from a Separatist attack by a member of Death Watch, a Mandalorian group who believed in their old warrior traditions. Din was raised as a Child of the Watch, subscribing to the Way of the Mandalore.
As revealed in The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7, the Children of the Watch were hidden away on Mandalore’s moon of Concordia during the Great Purge. This allowed them to survive the Empire’s assault, including Din. This led to the various hidden coverts of the Children of the Watch seen throughout The Mandalorian’s three seasons, explaining how both the Watch and Din survived the Night of a Thousand Tears. In terms of Grogu, the Foundling is now seen as an honorary Mandalorian in the eyes of the Watch, meaning he is technically a retroactive survivor of the Great Purge as he was alive when the atrocity took place.
The Armorer
Like Din Djarin, the Armorer is a member of the Children of the Watch, acting as the group’s spiritual leader. Unsurprisingly, she's shown to be a skilled warrior, and has much greater knowledge of galactic history than Din Djarin, informing him of the ancient order of sorcerers viewers know as the Jedi. While much of the Armorer's backstory is unknown outside of her role in the Children of the Watch, she was the one to reveal how she and her followers survived the Great Purge, by being safely hidden on Concordia.
Paz Vizsla
Another member of the Children of the Watch who survived the Great Purge, Paz Vizsla is depicted as being the Mandalorian among them who was most deeply affected by it. As shown by his confrontation with Din Djarin in The Mandalorian season 1, he has a deep-seated hatred for and distrust of the Empire and anything to do with them after the reveal that Mandalore was all but destroyed by the Empire while Paz survived with his tribesman on Concordia.
This was again revealed in The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7, with Paz showing his disdain for the Empire’s attack on Mandalore. When flying above the planet, Paz remarked that he was not aware of how bad of a state Mandalore was left in. This proves that, while many Mandalorians lost their lives during the Great Purge, the Children of the Watch were somewhat unaware of its effects on the planet as a whole as evidenced by Paz who heroically gave his life in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 7's ending.
Bo-Katan Kryze
Having previously appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, Bo-Katan Kryze made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 3, "Chapter 11: The Heiress", playing the titular role. Bo-Katan, like the members of the Tribe in season 1, references the Great Purge, although this time with stronger implications that she was very active during it. Thanks to the events of Star Wars Rebels, Bo-Katan was awarded the Darksaber and became the Mandalore, the leader of the Mandalorians which played a significant part in Bo’s experience during the Great Purge.
As was revealed in The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7, Bo-Katan was present on Mandalore when the attack began. As a means of saving her people, Bo-Katan surrendered to Moff Gideon, resulting in him taking the Darksaber from her. Gideon, however, betrayed Bo. After promising that the people of Mandalore would be safe should she surrender, Gideon continued with his genocide and all but decimated the Mandalorians.
Koska Reeves
Introduced alongside Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 3, Koska Reeves is another confirmed survivor of the Great Purge, although less is known about her at this stage. Clearly a highly-trained and skilled warrior, it's likely that she's been with Bo-Katan as a member of her Nite Owls ever since the Great Purge happened, perhaps becoming a member when the ranks of Mandalorians were depleted. Like Bo-Katan, Koska has no issues with removing her helmet, rather than subscribing to the Way of the Mandalore like the Children of the Watch do. She also similarly has the trademark blue beskar armor, further marking her affiliation.
Axe Woves
The third of the Mandalorians to appear alongside Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves in The Mandalorian season 2, once again little is known about Axe Woves' backstory. However, as with Koska, it can be assumed that he has been with Bo-Katan either since or shortly after the Great Purge, which likely necessitated them sticking together more closely. The Nite Owls is traditionally an all-female group, so Axe seemingly isn't an official member, but he nonetheless works closely with them and has well-established relationships with both Bo-Katan and Koska.
Axe Woves’ journey has been developed somewhat in The Mandalorian season 3. While not confirming exactly how he survived the Great Purge, Axe reveals to Paz during season 3, episode 7 that he was on the planet when the attack began. This is likely a great source of trauma for Axe and solidifies his reasoning for rejoining Bo-Katan in reclaiming Mandalore.
Sabine Wren
Few Mandalorian characters have been as well fleshed-out as Sabine Wren, who was among the main characters of Star Wars: Rebels. Born into the noble Clan Wren, Sabine once claimed the Darksaber for herself, taking it from Gar Saxon, before ultimately choosing to pass the weapon to Bo-Katan, making her the true leader of the Mandalorians. This was just before the onset of the Galactic Civil War, which explains why Bo-Katan was the leader of Mandalore when Gideon attacked the planet.
While Sabine hasn't appeared in The Mandalorian thus far, her survival of the Great Purge was confirmed by the end of Star Wars: Rebels, which showed her after the Battle of Endor. Since that was the fall of the Empire, and the Great Purge took place when the Empire was in power, then she must have survived. The reality is that Sabine’s new family in the Ghost crew established in Star Wars Rebels was likely a large factor as to why she survived the Purge, as she was likely not present on the planet at the time due to her Rebellion activities taking precedence over her somewhat turbulent Mandalorian loyalty.
Boba Fett
Revealed as a true Mandalorian Foundling in The Mandalorian season 2, Boba Fett is another character who survived the Great Purge. From what has been revealed about the Great Purge thus far, it seems the event was largely centered on the planet of Mandalore itself, which isn't somewhere Boba Fett would have frequented. As shown in the original Star Wars trilogy, Boba worked as a gun for hire rather than involving himself in the politics of Mandalore, something that subsequent appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have reiterated with Boba flying solo as the Daimyo of Mos Espa.
Mandalorian Civilians Survived On The Planet's Surface
One of the revelations of The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7 was that some Mandalorians managed to survive the Purge on the planet's surface. As Din, Bo-Katan, Grogu, and the other Mandos land on the planet to search for the Great Forge, they are confronted by a sail barge of sorts, hosting a group of surviving Mandalorians. Two of the Mandalorians are played by Charles Parnell and Charles Baker, revealing that they somehow survived the initial bombing and began scouring the surface to survive. It will be interesting to see if any further survivors of the Great Purge are revealed going into The Mandalorian's season 3 finale and season 4.