The Great Purge of Mandalore has yet to be properly seen in Star Wars, despite the fact that it's a major event responsible for the scarcity of Mandalorians during the events of the original trilogy going forward. While it was referenced in seasons of The Mandalorian, it's never been shown at any point across the multiple films or television series. While this likely has to do with the lack of major characters being featured during the event, there is a potential that the Purge of Mandalore could now be shown in future Star Wars projects such as the upcoming season of The Mandalorian or even the new Book of Boba Fett coming later this year on Disney+.
Apparently, Order 66 and the Jedi Purge that predicated the rise of the Empire was only the first time the Empire decided to eliminate an entire group of warriors. Commonly known as the Great Purge, the Empire's slaughter of the Mandalorian people came in the years before the events of the first Star Wars film, after the Mandalorian clans had attempted to unite and rise up against their Imperial oppressors (as seen in the Star Wars Rebels animated series). As referenced by the Empire's Moff Gideon in the first season of The Mandalorian, the Empire determined to wipe out the world that it could no longer control, and the most destructive battle was known as the Night of a Thousand Tears. This is also where Gideon claimed the Darksaber as his own, which had been in the possession of Mandalore's leader Bo-Katan Kryze, who had been using the legendary and symbolic weapon to unite the Mandalorian clans under one banner.
The clans were then scattered after the Great Purge, explaining why the warriors are rarely seen as they had essentially been forced underground as a means of survival. Clearly, this was a rather large event in the Star Wars continuity, so why has it never been shown to audiences before? A big reason is its lack of major characters, as the only real "names" involved were Bo-Katan herself and Moff Gideon at some point. However, now that the second season of The Mandalorian saw Din Djarin winning the Darksaber in combat from Moff Gideon, it seems as though he and Bo-Katan may attempt to liberate Mandalore and unite the clans once more in the next season. If that's indeed the case, perhaps a flashback is in order.
The Great Purge of Mandalore was a major event that changed the face of the galaxy, and a demonstration of the Empire's might and ruthlessness. One could imagine the clans might have even joined the Rebellion in their shared goals of wanting the Empire gone. Instead, the Empire logically saw Mandalore as a threat and mercilessly wiped eliminated all Mandalorians, with survivors now viewing the planet as a cursed world that only brings death to those who venture there. Additionally, now that the second season of The Mandalorian has developed both Bo-Katan and Moff Gideon further, showing the Great Purge at some point with future projects now seems more than justified.
Regardless, it seems likely that Bo-Katan Kryze will be determined to liberate her planet and reunite her people in the future, even though Din Djarin winning the Darksaber did come as a surprise. If the third season of The Mandalorian does feature a return to Mandalore, a no-brainer for the series would be to finally show viewers what actually happened during the Great Purge and to provide more details as to how it all went so wrong for the most formidable warriors in the Star Wars galaxy.
