Summary

• Beskar is a sought-after metal in Star Wars with the power to repel lightsabers and blasters, making it invulnerable to most attacks.
• The Empire plundered Mandalore for beskar during the Great Purge, but never used it due to the lack of skilled armorers.
• Moff Gideon managed to craft beskar armor despite the Empire's failures, likely using ancient Mandalorian techniques on Mandalore.

The Mandalorian brought beskar to the forefront of Star Wars, cementing it as one of the coolest and strongest metals in the galaxy. Used to craft Mandalorian armor, beskar has the ability to repel both lightsaber slices and blaster fire, rendering the wearer invulnerable to most attacks. For this reason, beskar is one of the most sought-after materials in the galaxy; even a small camtono of beskar was enough for people to shed blood over. But despite being one of the strongest subtances in Star Wars, beskar has one major flaw that adds to its uniqueness.

The vast majority of beskar—the pinnacle of Mandalorian culture—was stolen from the Mandalorians in the Night of a Thousand Tears. Sometime between 4 ABY and 5 ABY, near when Return of the Jedi takes place, the Empire decided to sack Mandalore and bomb the planet to smithereens. Millions of Mandalorians were killed for the sake of setting an an example for other strong star systems who might think about challenging the Empire. At the same time, the Empire plundered Mandalore for all it was worth, seizing most of their precious beskar. Yet what they actually did with the metal is surprising.

The Empire Never Used The Beskar Looted In The Great Purge

The Empire obliterated Mandalore and stole its beskar, yet it never actually utilized the metal in a meaningful way. It’s likely they had enough beskar to outfit a small army of Imperial troopers, or even plate a small ship to make it indestructible. But because the Great Purge of Mandalore happened after the Empire’s fall, it’s possible there weren’t enough Imperials left to bother making something out of the beskar. In the end, they melted what they’d stolen into simple bars and stamped each of them with their own Imperial symbol. They wasted it by not using it.

The fact the Empire didn’t use the beskar from Mandalore shows why the Client (Werner Herzog) was so willing to give it back to Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin in The Mandalorian season 1. Unlike other Imperials, the Client wanted the beskar back in the hands of a Mandalorian, rather than see it gather dust in the corner of an Imperial warehouse. To the Client, the beskar was little more than a fancy decoration with a dark story behind it. But to Mandalorians like Din Djarin and the Armorer, it was a precious resource for their armor.

The Empire Couldn't Find An Armorer Who Could Shape It

In Star Wars: 100 Objects, Kristin Baver states: “the Empire had difficulty finding an armorer capable of shaping the metal into its strongest form.” In reality, it wasn’t that the Empire didn’t want to use the beskar to bolster their forces; they couldn’t use it. Try as they may, they never found anyone among their scientists and smiths who could properly shape beskar. After all, this was a metal that had been the exclusive property of the Mandalorians for millennia. Mandalorians had spent centuries refining the techniques needed to craft armor and weapons out of beskar.

In a darkly ironic twist, when Moff Gideon ordered the Purge of Mandalore, he ended up incinerating the only people who knew how to use the metal he’d stolen. Shortly after the deed was done, he must have realized the true defeat in what was meant to be his greatest victory. The Imperial smiths could not figure out how to shape beskar, leaving Gideon stuck with the strongest metal in the galaxy with no way to use it. Therefore, he melted the beskar into bars and stamped them with the Empire’s symbol to spite the memory of the Mandalorians.

Who Shaped Moff Gideon's Season 3 Beskar Armor?

While Star Wars: 100 Objects explains why the Empire couldn’t use beskar, it fails to explain how Gideon crafted his Mandalorian armor in The Mandalorian season 3. The most likely answer is that Gideon was able to find ancient documents that helped him forge Mandalorian armor on Mandalore. This would explain why it was necessary for him to set up his base on the same planet he’d destroyed, since he realized it was the only way to use the beskar he’d stolen.

Star Wars has explained why the Empire wasted the beskar taken in the Purge, but it still needs to show how Gideon managed to craft his own beskar armor. In all likelihood, his armor may not have even been as strong as it could’ve been had a Mandalorian smith made it. So, while he mockingly tried to replicate their armor, he ultimately failed to account for the centuries of technique that went into making true Mandalorian armor. Thankfully, the Armorer preserved these techniques for future Mandalorians in The Mandalorian to learn.