The Mandalorians are without a doubt one of the most well known cultures in all of Star Wars. Ever since the first appearance of Boba Fett, fans have been fascinated with this armoured group of warriors. If you're familiar with Mandalorian lore, you'll know that throughout the ages, Mandalorian leaders have used the title Mand'alor. There are many famous ones like Jaster Mareel and Boba Fett, but today we'll be looking at a lesser known one, one with an interesting in and out of universe story.
That Mandalorian is Spar, Mand'alor the Resurrector, leader of the Mandalorian Protectors!His story starts shortly after the Battle of Naboo in 32 BBY. Born and created as ARC Trooper Alpha-02 with the nickname of Spar, he was bred and rigorously trained to be one of the Clone Army's best soldiers. Unknown to the Kaminoan clone masters though, was that Alpha-02 was one of the rare percentages of abhorrent clones, leading him to have more free thinking and independence than his fellow ARC Troopers.
After years of training went by, he would one day hear of the exploits of Jango Fett and would experience the genetic memory of the bounty Hunter's life. The flash of memories, mixed with his faulty DNA would make Spar want to escape Kamino and become a bounty hunter like Fett. In about 24 BBY, with the help of his friend Mij Gilamar, a member of the Cuy'val Dar, Spar would leave Kamino aboard the Slave I with Jango and set out to start his new life.His bounty hunting profession would be cut short though as two years after his escape from Kamino, Jango Fett would be killed on Geonosis. Fett's death, being the current Mand'alor, meant that the Mandalorians no longer had a central leader, besides the New Mandalorian pacifist Duchess Satine. Spar took it upon himself to travel to Mandalore and rally what warriors he could, forming the Mandalorian Protectors. Spar would align himself then with the Confederacy of Independent Systems and fight against the Republic on many fronts.
Before the Protectors could make their presence fully known, rumors began to spread that the Mandalorian Supercommandoes had returned and that the son of Jango Fett was leading them (something which some of Spar's Mandalorians like Fenn Sysha actually believed). The Protectors would participate in many battles during the Clone Wars, like at Zaadja, Null, New Holstice and more.
At some point later in the war the Protectors took over MandalMotors, a Mandalore based company which produced starships and droids. Under the Protectors' control, MandalMotors would create the new BL Battle Legionnaire Droid which would fight alongside Spar and the Protectors. In 20 BBY, with the fall of Duchess Satine and the New Mandalorians to Darth Maul and his Shadow Collective, Spar was able to rally more support from former Death Watch members and become Mand'alor the Resurrector. With a new leader, and growing forces, it seemed nothing could stop the return of the Mandalorians. That all changed though in 19 BBY, when Palpatine decided he no longer had need for the Protectors. On a mission to Norval II, Spar was ordered by Darth Sidious himself to capture Padme Amidalla. Spar and his Protectors arrived only to land in the middle of a trap set by Republic forces. The Protectors were decimated, all wiped out save for three warriors: Fenn Shysa, Tobbi Dala, and Spar.
The three managed to return to the planet Mandalore and Sysha would try to convince Spar to take up being Mand'alor again. Spar would refuse, and instead seek out a serum which would counteract his accelerated clone aging. The quest would ultimately fail, and he would flee for the Extrictarium Nebula where he began to go mad. Years later in about 10-11 ABY,
Boba Fett's daughter Ailyn Vel would find Spar, and thinking he was her father, killed him.
Spar originally appeared in the original Marvel Star Wars comics where he was said to be Boba Fett. In the comic (issue #68) the Mandalorian Fenn Sysha recalls working under Boba Fett during the Clone Wars and being betrayed by Palpatine on Norval II while trying to capture Leia Organa. Now, we know how differently the Clone Wars turned out, so the story was retconned by authors Abel G. Pena and Karen Traviss to fit better within the EU canon.
The name Spar and the part about him escaping Kamino actually come from a different source, a role-playing sourcebook called Geonosis and the Outer Rim. The stories were put together, creating a solidified backstory for the character. Y’know, with all this Mandalorian history we’re going through, I’ve got an itch to listen to the Republic Commando theme music, so I’m going to go do that. Vode An!
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