Skip to main content

The Mandalorian season 3 episode 2’s legendary Star Wars beast, explained

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3 episode 2, The Mines of Mandalore.

Coming off its lackluster season 3 premiere, The Mandalorian has returned with an episode that helps put the Disney+ series back on track. The episode, titled The Mines of Mandalore, sends Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu to the surface of its eponymous, destroyed planet. His journey to the planet’s living waters takes a dangerous turn, however, when he is captured by a malevolent alien lurking deep beneath Mandalore’s surface.

Recommended Videos

Fortunately, Grogu is able to travel off-planet and bring Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) back to save Din. After she does, Bo-Katan takes Din directly to Mandalore’s living waters where she herself was once baptized as a princess. Din’s redemption ceremony is, unfortunately, interrupted when he is dragged underwater by an unseen force.

As Bo-Katan is in the midst of dragging him back up, she briefly sees the beast responsible for Din’s near-drowning: A massive, horned underwater creature that looks a bit like a mammoth. She sees, in other words, a living, breathing mythosaur.

The mythosaur in The Mandalorian season 3, explained

Din Djarin holds a mythosaur pendant in The Mandalorian.
Lucasfilm

Mythosaurs are legendary creatures in Star Wars lore.

The infamously gigantic beasts were first discovered on the surface of Mandalore in the Outer Rim and it’s said that they were eventually tamed and ridden by some of the first Mandalorians. However, the mythosaurs were believed to have gone extinct long before the events of The Mandalorian. Despite that fact, the mythosaur skull nonetheless became one of the most traditional and popular symbols of Mandalorian culture.

Taking all of this into account, it’s not hard to see why Bo-Katan is so shocked to come face-to-face with an actual mythosaur at the end of The Mines of Mandalore. The mythosaurs not only hold a major place within Mandalore’s cultural history but the creatures have also long been believed to be extinct.

What does the mythosaur’s return mean?

Lucasfilm

The mythosaur’s apparent return, notably, ties into one prophecy that has been uttered several times in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett by The Armorer (Emily Swallow). The prophecy in question claims that the mythosaur will rise back up and herald a new age of Mandalore.

There is, of course, no telling whether Mandalore will or could ever be rebuilt. However, the appearance of a mythosaur in episode 2 of The Mandalorian season 3 certainly suggests that there may be more to the prophecy regarding Mandalore’s future than anyone has previously believed. If so, that means a new age for Mandalore may be just around the corner.

That’s not the only mystery fans will have to wait to see be resolved. Now that a new mythosaur has appeared in The Mandalorian, viewers may also want to start speculating about who — if any — of the show’s characters will, much like their ancient ancestors before them, attempt to tame and ride the gigantic beast.

New episodes of The Mandalorian premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.

Alex Welch
Alex is a writer and critic who has been writing about and reviewing movies and TV at Digital Trends since 2022. He was…
The White Lotus season 3 finale, explained
A man and woman in summery clothes stand outside in The White Lotus season 3.

Well, that was something. The White Lotus concluded its third season with a supersized episode that tied up loose ends, terminated some characters' journeys, and sent others on to a new beginning. Set in Thailand, season 3 features an all-star cast and follows a group of characters staying at a luxury resort while dealing with personal issues, self-discovery, childhood trauma, and regret against the country's spiritual and religious background.
Although it remains one of the best shows on HBO, Season 3 of The White Lotus was more divisive than previous seasons — it was also longer, with eight episodes. However, it brought things to a satisfying conclusion in the final episode, which, like previous offerings from writer and director Mike White, featured the perfect blend of bittersweet losses for some characters and satisfying victories for others. Here is a full breakdown of what happened during the final episode.
What is The White Lotus season 3 about?

As previously mentioned, season 3 of The White Lotus is set in Thailand at the titular luxury resort and follows several characters during their week-long stay. The Ratliff family finds itself on a journey of self-discovery as the patriarch, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), finds out he's about to lose his fortune and possibly end up in prison. Meanwhile, three lifelong friends — Laurie (Carrie Coon), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) — go on vacation to reconnect but soon find themselves at each other's throats. The tortured Rick (Walton Goggins) travels to Thailand seeking closure for his childhood trauma, accompanied by his doting and much younger girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).

Read more
New Andor season 2 video teases monumental Star Wars event
A group of Star Wars characters stare on the poster in Andor.

The road to rebellion intensifies in Andor season 2.
Disney released a special look at Andor season 2, which features behind-the-scenes access to the upcoming episodes and interviews with the cast and crew. However, the most noteworthy moment occurs when the video cuts to Ghorman and spotlights a crowd of protestors chanting in unison against Imperial forces.

In Star Wars canon, Ghorman is the site of the Ghorman Massacre. In 2 BBY, Imperial forces open fire and slaughter a group of peaceful protestors on Ghorman. The harrowing events cause Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila to resign from the Senate and condemn Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Mothma's resignation and subsequent speech serve as a rallying cry for freedom and a launching point for the Rebel Alliance.

Read more
Josh Gad had to explain the Star Wars sequels to Mel Brooks while pitching Space Balls 2
Luke Skywalker with a blue lightsaber at the climax of The Last Jedi.

Space Balls has long been one of Mel Brooks's most beloved films, in large part because it lovingly parodies the Star Wars universe. In fact, that film has become so beloved in and of itself that a sequel is in the works from actor Josh Gad, who co-wrote the sequel script with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit.

In a recent interview on Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, Josh discussed development for the new film and explained that he had to do a lot of explaining for the 98-year-old comic legend. When Space Balls was released in 1987, the original trilogy was just a few years old, and in the years since, there have been eight new Star Wars movies that Gad had to walk through.

Read more