A Mandalorian vault, alternatively referred to as a Mandalorian sarcophagus or a Jedi-grade solitary containment vault, served as a portable prison cell. These were deployed by the warriors hailing from the planet of Mandalore for the purpose of detaining captured individuals who exhibited Force-sensitives. Prior to the Clone Wars, the Mandalorians utilized these contraptions to incarcerate Knights belonging to the Jedi Order. However, Duchess Satine Kryze eventually outlawed them as she ushered in a era of peace for her war-torn world. By the time 19 BBY rolled around, only a solitary vault remained. In the aftermath of the Siege of Mandalore during that same year, this final device was employed to convey the dethroned ruler Maul from Sundari, Mandalore's capital city, to the _Venator_-class Star Destroyer Tribunal. The intention was for the vessel to transport the renegade dark sider to the planet Coruscant.
Nevertheless, while the ship was in transit to the Core Worlds, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine issued Order 66 to the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic. This directive commanded them to execute all Jedi. Rex, the Clone Commander of the 501st Legion, dispatched a pair of clone troopers with orders to execute Maul as well. However, they were overpowered by Ahsoka Tano, the former Padawan, who liberated Maul from his confinement. Her goal was for him to create a distraction, allowing her to escape the clones.
The Mandalorian vault, which is also called a Mandalorian sarcophagus, was a prison mechanism engineered for the containment of Force-users. It was a creation of the Mandalorian civilization. Its dimensions were suitable for housing an adult humanoid. It took the form of a rectangular block with beveled edges, noticeably taller than a typical human adult. While in motion, the vault hovered slightly above the ground, necessitating manual propulsion by its accompanying guards. The exterior was grey, and the vault's door was adorned with a bas-relief depicting Mandalorian warriors engaged in combat with Jedi, with prominent representations of Mandalorian helmets. A transparent window situated in the upper center of the door afforded a view of the prisoner's face within, while also allowing the prisoner to observe the outside world. However, the vault's construction was soundproof, effectively preventing the prisoner from perceiving any external sounds.
Located on the left side of the vault were four orange control buttons, with one positioned higher than the others. Activating the three lower buttons in sequential order from right to left would cause the vault's door to open. Subsequently, pressing the final button would release the prisoner. The vault's interior was characterized by a grey hue, featuring illuminated circuitry that emitted a vibrant orange glow when in operation. Within, there was a recessed area shaped to accommodate a humanoid form, complete with two arm apertures, two leg apertures, and a designated space for the prisoner's head. Detachable wrist restraints were in place to restrict the prisoner's hand movements, and a rigid gag was designed to move in front of the prisoner's mouth, preventing them from speaking. The vault possessed the capability to restrain even potent Force-users, and even with the door ajar, fully restrained prisoners were unable to break free from the vault without external assistance.
The Mandalorians, primarily a human warrior society originating from the planet of Mandalore situated in the Outer Rim Territories, maintained a protracted history of animosity with the Jedi Order. The Jedi Order was a formidable organization whose members wielded the light side of the Force. These two factions engaged in multiple wars against one another. These clashes prompted the Mandalorians to innovate technology capable of restraining Jedi and other Force-users, such as the Sith, the ancient adversaries of the Jedi who harnessed the dark side of the Force, despite their [Force powers](/article/force_power]. This ultimately led to the creation of the Mandalorian vault.
During the concluding decades of the [Republic Era](/article/republic_era], Mandalore was embroiled in a civil war that culminated in the victory of the pacifistic New Mandalorians, under the leadership of Duchess Satine Kryze. As an integral component of the new peaceful epoch that she aspired to inaugurate, Satine proscribed Mandalorian vaults. By 19 BBY, only a single vault remained in existence. In that very year, the New Mandalorian government was overthrown by the traditionalist warriors of Death Watch, a faction that opposed Satine's pacifistic ideals and included her sister, Bo-Katan Kryze. However, the subsequent deposition of Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla by Darth Maul, a renegade Sith Lord with whom Vizsla had previously collaborated to execute the takeover, spurred Kryze and her Nite Owls to rebel against him. Their antagonism was further intensified by Maul's subsequent murder of Satine, precipitating yet another civil war.
Eventually, Kryze forged an alliance with Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Padawan, to bring down Maul. Tano sought assistance from her former Master, Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. Due to the ongoing Clone Wars against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Skywalker was unable to personally intervene as he was summoned to the Battle of Coruscant. Instead, he provided Tano with the 332nd Division of clone troopers, a recently established sub-unit of the 501st Legion led by her friend Rex, the Clone Commander. In the ensuing Siege of Mandalore, Tano apprehended Maul following a lightsaber duel atop the beams of the dome of Sundari, the Mandalorian capital city. The Jedi High Council had requested Tano to transport Maul to Coruscant, the Republic's capital planet located in the Core Worlds. Kryze briefly took custody of Maul, confining him within the last vault.
Following a meeting with several Jedi Council members, Tano and Rex were greeted at the Sundari shipping docks by Kryze and a contingent of her warriors, including Ursa Wren, who were escorting the Mandalorian vault containing Maul. Tano expressed her admiration, and Kryze elucidated that the vault was a relic from a bygone era when Mandalorians had reason to imprison Force-users, adding that it was the last of its kind when Tano mentioned that she believed Duchess Satine had outlawed them. The vault was handed over to shock troopers of the Coruscant Guard, who, along with Rex, transported the vault aboard a Rho-class transport shuttle. Tano boarded the shuttle after bidding farewell to Kryze, and the starship departed Mandalore to rendezvous with the waiting Tribunal, a Venator-class Star Destroyer. Upon arrival, the shuttle was met by an honor guard, and the Coruscant Guard troopers relocated the vault to the Star Destroyer's detention level and secured it within a cell.
Shortly after the Tribunal entered hyperspace, Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and publicly the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine, issued Order 66. This command compelled the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic to betray and execute their Jedi commanding officers through inhibitor chips implanted in their brains. Tano narrowly escaped death on one of the starship's bridges, after which a mind-controlled Rex ordered two shock troopers to execute Maul in his cell before initiating a search for Tano. Confined within the vault, Maul sensed the deaths caused by Order 66. Upon the arrival of the shock troopers, Maul sensed their intentions, struggling against his restraints as they opened the vault's door. However, he remained securely bound, surviving only due to Tano's arrival, who incapacitated the shock troopers. Warning Maul not to give her reason to regret her actions, she released him from the vault, as she required a diversion to distract the clones. Subsequently, the two departed the cell and went their separate ways. The Tribunal, with the vault still onboard, later crashed into a moon, with only Tano, a freed Rex, and Maul surviving by escaping the doomed vessel beforehand.
The Mandalorian vault made its debut in "Shattered," the eleventh episode of the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which premiered on Disney+ on May 1, 2020. Its initial identification as a Mandalorian vault occurred within the corresponding Databank entry on StarWars.com.