The History Of Mandalorian Armor Explained
By Rachel Davis
Mandalorian armor doesn't just provide protection — it's also an heirloom because beskar can last for hundreds of years. As Sabine Wren once said, "The armor I wear is 500 years old. I reforged it to my liking, but the battles, the history, the blood all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian."
Traviss explained in Star Wars Insider that as a nomadic people, Mandalorians frugally invested much of their wealth into their armor and weapons. This was certainly practical because they could take their earnings with them.
Early in The Mandalorian, Mando receives a large payment of Beskar after delivering the Child — the most adorable version of a Yoda-like being in the galaxy — to his mysterious Imperial client (played by renowned director Werner Herzog). After Mando presents the beskar to the Armorer, she suggests that she can craft a full cuirass for him, plus "whistling birds," a type of mini-missile. The excess he donates to the foundlings, the orphaned children that the Mandalorians protect.
Catching up afterward with Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), head of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, Mando draws several stares over his shiny new threads, but he's really just following the investment strategy of ancient Mandalorians. Besides, Karga notes, the grumblers are just jealous they didn't get all that loot.
