Takeover of Mandalore

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 Cartels, 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.

Text and facts from the “Takeover of Mandalore/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.