Takeover of Mandalore / Legends In the year 20 BBY , the Mandalorian Death Watch allied with the Sith Lords Darth Maul and Savage Opress , launching a coup against the New Mandalorian government in an attempted takeover of Mandalore . Together , the Death Watch and the Sith assembled an army of criminals , from Black Sun and the Pyke Syndicate to the foot soldiers of the Hutt Cartel s , all coming together as a coalition known as the Shadow Collective . In order to undermine the rule of the New Mandalorian leadership , the Collective ' s criminal element was ordered to attack New Mandalorian territory across Mandalore — including the New Mandalorians ' capital city of Sundari — in order to sow panic and chaos , only for the Death Watch to arrive as rescuers , saving the people from the offworld attackers . The Shadow Collective ' s plans succeeded , and Pre Vizsla was able to dethrone the New Mandalorian leader , Duchess Satine Kryze , and replace her as Prime Minister and self - titled " Mand ' alor " . However , Vizsla ' s ambitions led him to betray his Sith allies and have them imprisoned . While in prison , Darth Maul came across the former Prime Minister of the New Mandalorian people , Almec , and elected to use the disgraced leader to replace Vizsla . Breaking free of his incarceration , Maul stormed the Sundari Royal Palace with his apprentice and Almec in tow , challenging Vizsla to a duel for leadership . Honorbound , Vizsla accepted , and the two combatants fought ferociously through the throne room , but ultimately it was Maul who proved victorious , slaying Vizsla and taking his place as leader of Death Watch . Installing Almec as the new Prime Minister , Maul secured a puppet ruler to lead the New Mandalorians while keeping his presence in the background a secret to the populace at large . Prelude . While traveling through the galaxy , members of the radical Mandalorian splinter - faction known as the Death Watch came across a derelict escape pod drifting above the planet Florrum . Upon boarding the craft , Death Watch discovered the unconscious bodies of the Sith Lord Darth Maul and his apprentice Savage Opress ; at the word of the group ' s leader , Pre Vizsla , the two Zabraks were brought aboard one of Death Watch ' s " Kom ' rk " - class fighters — Vizsla ' s personal vessel , the " Gauntlet " — and taken back to the Death Watch ' s encampment on the swamp - covered moon , Zanbar . There , Death Watch attended to the Sith ' s injuries before Vizsla invited Darth Maul to talk , during which the two found they had a mutual enemy in the form of the Jedi Order , with Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi equally despised by both men . Upon that shared animosity , Maul and Vizsla founded an alliance in pursuit of mutual benefit : the Sith would aid Death Watch in deposing Duchess Satine Kryze of the New Mandalorians , while Death Watch would assist the Sith in their plans to punish Kenobi for his actions against Maul a decade prior . Together , Death Watch and the Sith set out to assemble an army of followers , beginning their search at a fortress on Mustafar belonging to the leaders of a branch of the Black Sun crime syndicate . Negotiations with the syndicate branch ' s Falleen leaders were quick to sour , leading Savage Opress to kill them while Maul recruited the organization ' s Captain of the Guard , Ziton Moj , who authorized an alliance in the fallen leaders ' stead . Back on Zanbar , with freshly gained supplies and a battalion of Black Sun foot soldier s in tow , Pre Vizsla and Maul were approached by Lom Pyke , leader of the Coruscanti spice - dealing Pyke Syndicate . Having caught word of Maul ' s intentions to raise a force of criminals , the Pykes moved to willingly join the growing assembly , and were readily welcomed by Death Watch and the Sith . With their newest allies , Death Watch set out for Nal Hutta , where Maul spoke before an assembly of the Hutt Ruling Council . The five assembled leaders of the Hutt kajidics responded hostilely to Darth Maul ' s demands and his refusal to offer any credits for the Hutts ' services , ordering a team of bounty hunters — Sugi , Dengar , Embo , and Latts Razzi — and a cadre of Hutt servant soldiers to kill the offending visitors . The Sith and Death Watch forces overwhelmed the Hutts ' minions and hired mercenaries , however , killing Oruba the Hutt and pursuing Jabba Desilijic Tiure to his palace on Tatooine , where Jabba and Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo agreed to join forces with Maul ' s criminal assembly at blasterpoint . The Hutt families contributed Nikto enforcers to the enterprise , and the Collective traveled back to Zanbar to make final preparations for the coup . Though Death Watch and the Sith now had an army with which to act , known in total as the " Shadow Collective , " tensions between Maul and Pre Vizsla began to emerge as the Sith Lord revealed his plans to use the Mandalorian homeworld of Mandalore as a power base from which he could conduct an underworld empire of his own . Vizsla ' s own ambitions extended no further than Mandalore and the downfall of the pacifist New Mandalorian regime , and so he began making preparations to betray Maul and his brother , Opress , once his goals were met . Likewise , Maul suspected Vizsla ' s inclinations toward treachery and began planning for the time when he would turn on the Mandalorian in kind . Despite their mutual misgivings , Maul and Vizsla assembled the leaders of the Shadow Collective on Zanbar , where they made plans to attack the New Mandalorians ' domed capital city of Sundari with the Collective ' s criminal element , terrorizing the populace at the hands of Black Sun and the Hutt Cartel , before sending in the Death Watch to act as saviors against the invading gangsters . With their plans made and their troops mobilized , the Shadow Collective set out for Mandalore . The takeover . Peace under siege . Landing on Mandalore at the shipping docks of Sundari , under the guise of merchant vessels transporting shipments of spice , Pyke Syndicate thugs and Black Sun foot soldiers ambushed members of the New Mandalorian police force from shipping containers believed to be carrying the smuggled goods . The criminal contingent overpowered the police and customs officials , violently subduing and imprisoning the New Mandalorians and their droids in shipping containers , securing control of the docks . In Peace Park , in the shadow of the destroyed Memorial Shrine , Black Sun soldiers and Pyke gunmen under Ziton Moj opened fire on the crowd , killing police and civilians alike in an indiscriminatory manner aimed at causing panic . And at the Mandalore Banking Center , Lom Pyke led a team to attack and rob the facility , using the combat prowess and Force abilities of Savage Opress to carve through the police defenders and enter the bank . Within short order , the Shadow Collective ' s operatives had overwhelmed Sundari ' s defenders and overran Duchess Satine Kryze ' s forces throughout New Mandalorian territory across the desert regions of Mandalore in which the New Mandalorian people made their home . The concerned New Mandalorian citizenry gathered in the plaza outside of the Sundari Royal Palace demanding action , prompting Duchess Kryze to issue a statement to her people asking for calm in the face of the criminal attacks , and urging them to resist the temptation of violence . Amidst Kryze ' s entreaties to the public , the Death Watch appeared over the square , lead by Pre Vizsla . Though Kryze was quick to blame Death Watch for the attacks , Vizsla denied any wrongdoing and pledged his support to the people , decrying Kryze and her administration for its inability to protect the New Mandalorians . Winning favor with the angry crowd with his words , Vizsla and his cadre of Death Watch soldiers departed the palace to enact the second phase of the Shadow Collective ' s plan . A detachment of Death Watch soldiers struck at the Black Sun and Pyke gangsters holding the docks of Sundari , securing the area after arriving in force . The rogue Mandalorians freed the grateful hostages from their confines in the docks ' shipping containers and apprehended the offworld criminals . Deeper into the city , Pre Vizsla ' s lieutenant and the Death Watch ' s Sergeant at Arms , Bo - Katan , engaged the foot soldiers of the Shadow Collective alongside her personal unit , the Nite Owls . Capturing the criminals with fibercord whip s , the Nite Owls led the subdued horde of thugs away at blasterpoint while Bo - Katan assured the frightened citizens nearby that they would be safe now , assurances that were met with thanks and approval . Outside the Mandalore Banking Center , as Savage Opress and the Pykes fled the pillaged facility , Pre Vizsla confronted the Sith apprentice in a staged lightsaber duel as his troops secured the other thieves . Overcoming Opress before the eyes of the police , Vizsla disarmed his opponent and turned him over to the officers ' custody . For their actions against the Shadow Collective , the people of Sundari were vocal in their praise of Death Watch , and with the popular support of the New Mandalorians , Pre Vizsla marched into the Royal Palace to confront Duchess Kryze . Refusing to allow her Royal Guard to engage the Death Watch intruders due to her strong pacifistic beliefs , Kryze peacefully submitted to Vizsla , conceding to the apparent will of her people . The deposed duchess was imprisoned along with her supporters in the New Mandalorian government , including Prime Minister Armatan , while Vizsla flaunted the captured leaders of the crime syndicates before Sundari ' s citizens as his prisoners and a symbol of his own worthiness to rule . Vizsla installed himself as the new Prime Minister , and took up the title of " Mand ' alor " of the New Mandalorian people . The Sith betrayal . Shortly after Pre Vizsla ' s rise to power , Darth Maul traveled to the Sundari Royal Palace to meet with the new " Mand ' alor " and discuss the Shadow Collective ' s future . However , with his own goals already met , Vizsla turned on Maul and refused to aid the Sith Lord in moving against the other neutral systems over whom the New Mandalorian state held sway . Maul was captured , and shown off to the people of Sundari as the last of the criminal element that had attacked the New Mandalorian capital during a speech in which Vizsla revealed his intentions to remilitarize the New Mandalorian populace . Maul was then taken to prison , and jailed alongside his apprentice . Maul had expected Vizsla ' s eventual betrayal , and the Zabrak Sith had already planned to have Vizsla replaced by a more malleable servant . Freeing themselves from their cell , Maul and Savage Opress walked the prison complex until coming upon the incarcerated former Prime Minister of the New Mandalorian people , Almec . Deciding Almec would play favorably into his plans , Maul freed the disgraced politician , and departed the prison for the Royal Palace . Storming the throne room with Opress and Almec at his back , Maul issued a challenge to Vizsla of single combat , with the winner assuming the right to lead . Honorbound by the ancient warrior codes he sought to revive , Vizsla could not refuse the challenge and , drawing his heirloom Darksaber , engaged Maul in a duel . The two combatants fought fiercely , with Vizsla employing every tool and weapon with which his Mandalorian armor was equipped — from jetpack and flamethrower , to blasters and a fibercord launcher — but ultimately it was Maul who emerged victorious . Defeated , Vizsla was slain by Maul , who claimed the fallen warrior ' s Darksaber and his leadership over Death Watch . Yet while much of the radical Mandalorian faction knelt before their new leader , Bo - Katan and a number of other soldiers refused to serve a non - Mandalorian leader , fleeing the palace under heavy fire from those who were loyal to Maul . With Vizsla gone , Darth Maul reinstated Almec as Prime Minister , a puppet ruler who served Maul in secret while providing the people with a public face of leadership . Aftermath . Upon his return to office , Prime Minister Almec addressed the people of Sundari , informing the citizens that Pre Vizsla was dead as he blamed Duchess Kryze for his murder . Almec also stated that it had been Vizsla ' s last wish that Almec succeed the Death Watch leader as Prime Minister , and decreed that the New Mandalorians would indeed re - embrace the Mandalorian warrior traditions . On the order of Darth Maul , Almec set out to assemble a new hand - picked administration , and maintained Mandalore ' s neutrality in the Clone Wars . The deposed former duchess , Satine Kryze , was able to briefly escape jail with the aid of her estranged sister Bo - Katan , and nephew Korkie Kryze , managing to send a message to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with word of the Shadow Collective ' s takeover before being recaptured . At the news , Kryze ' s former lover Obi - Wan Kenobi traveled to Mandalore in an attempt to free Kryze — unknowingly doing as Maul had planned — only for his efforts to fail . The Jedi Master was captured and taken before Maul , where Kryze was stabbed and killed in front of Kenobi in revenge for Kenobi cutting the Sith Lord in half and leaving him for dead ten years prior . Though Maul intended to have Kenobi imprisoned so that he would be forced to live hopelessly with his grief , the Jedi Master was rescued by Bo - Katan and escorted out of Sundari amid a violent struggle between the Mandalorian super commandos loyal to Maul and Bo - Katan ' s forces . Kenobi was rushed offworld aboard a " Kom ' rk " fighter , while the Dark Lord of the Sith , Darth Sidious arrived in Sundari to engage his former apprentice , Darth Maul . Maul and his own apprentice , Savage Opress , faced off against his former master , but Opress was eventually slain and Maul subdued by Sidious ' powerful Force lightning , though Maul was spared in order to serve the Dark Lord ' s own future purposes . Behind the scenes . The Shadow Collective ' s takeover of Mandalore first appeared in " Star Wars " canon in " " , a young - reader novel published by Scholastic on January 1 , 2013 . The novel adapts the events of four episodes from the of the television series " " , including " Revival , " " Eminence , " " Shades of Reason , " and " The Lawless . " The later three episodes of this four - part story arc depict the planning and execution of the takeover . The issue of the " " magazine , published by De Agostini in 2014 , officially identified the conflict as the " Takeover of Mandalore , " though other sources illustrate that the Death Watch ' s coup only secured the sect localized control .