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In Season 2 episode 5 of The Mandalorian, we see Din block a lightsaber with his arm. Is it ever explained anywhere how Beskar armor is strong enough to block a lightsaber?

Numerous times during the movies we see a lightsaber cut through a solid blast door with ease. If this is the case, how does a thin layer of Beskar armor deflect it?

Laurel
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Brandon
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    It was quite difficult to cut through blast door. Poor Qui-Gon wasted a lot of time and still didn't open it. So, I guess beskar is similar, just that normal output from lightsaber is not enough to melt it - energy gets dissipated too fast for the metal to reach melting point. – Mithoron Nov 19 '21 at 01:40
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    See this answer to "Is there any material which cannot be cut by a lightsaber?". – Mithoron Nov 19 '21 at 01:40
  • Note that in most cases when the question is ‘how does X stop a lightsaber?’, the answer has usually been either ‘it dissipates heat absurdly well’ or ‘it has ray shields’. I don’t think there’s ever been an official explanation for beskar though. – Austin Hemmelgarn Nov 19 '21 at 12:25
  • If old George thought his movies would change the world, he might have paid more attention to the details. – Tony Ennis Nov 19 '21 at 19:31
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    For a counter-argument, you may with to read M. Windu, "Field Notes from the Battle of Geonosis: The Critical Omission of Bevors from Mandalorian Armor", reporting field experience of successful attacks versus Mandalorian armor. A popularized synopsis appears here. – Eric Towers Nov 20 '21 at 00:25
  • @EricTowers They think there that Fett's armor was beskar, but there's no indication it was. – Mithoron Nov 20 '21 at 01:28
  • Could you turn that round and explain why Mandalorian Armour shouldn't be invulnerable? – Robbie Goodwin Nov 20 '21 at 22:19
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    @RobbieGoodwin: Because super-hot plasma should be able to melt any solid material. (Or burn or vaporize, if that happens first when transferring huge amounts of heat into it.) Star Wars is supposedly set in our universe (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away), although this wouldn't be the only case of things working in ways that are inconsistent with our understanding of physics. (e.g. banked turns in space; I'm not talking about "magic" such as force powers) – Peter Cordes Nov 21 '21 at 03:31
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    It's literally plot armor. – Organic Marble Nov 22 '21 at 02:45
  • @PeterCordes If it's inconsistent with our understanding of physics - or, simply, Organic Marble's "plot armour" - why is that not sufficient, in the Star Wars universe? – Robbie Goodwin Nov 22 '21 at 19:32

2 Answers2

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In the current Star Wars canon, Beskar, also known as Mandalorian iron, is an alloy used in Mandalorian armor, notable for its high tolerance to extreme forms of damage. The metal was durable enough to withstand a direct blaster shot and could repel lightsaber strikes.

From the Star Wars Databank:

BESKAR Mandalorian armor forged from beskar can withstand blaster bolts, nearly impenetrable protection that made the warrior class difficult to defeat at the height of their power. After the fall of the Empire, the nearly indestructible steel is harder to come by. https://www.starwars.com/databank/beskar

Durability — the ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage — is a common property of metals, and beskar is a metal which has extremely high durability.

By the time of your questioned S2 E5 episode, the Mandalorian has managed to fashion portions of his armored suit out of beskar. This allowed the Mandalorian to deflect the lightsaber strike.

As to your other point, blast doors are not typically made from beskar. Consequently, we see numerous times during the movies where a lightsaber cuts through a solid blast door with ease. Because this is the case, the standard blast door could benefit from a thin layer of beskar armor to deflect lightsabers if such an attack is anticipated. However, by the time of the movies (OT & ST), both lightsabers and beskar are relatively rare.

Silly but True
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    Also worth noting that later in Mandolorian S2 there are indications that a lightsaber could destroy Besar (being vague to avoid spoilers) if given enough time. – Arcanist Lupus Nov 19 '21 at 05:02
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    It wouldn't be cost efficient at all to layer ALL blast doors with Beskar. The chance for a jedi or sith to show up at your doorstep is a risk so low, no reasonable manufactorer would consider protecting against it. Especially after order 66.. – Mixxiphoid Nov 19 '21 at 08:37
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    @Mixxiphoid To that point, the median number of lightsabers in Star Wars movies is 2. – AmiralPatate Nov 19 '21 at 11:17
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    “I can see you’re a man who values security, and I can really see you can’t live without your replica Mindharp. Let me show you our next class up. For just $9,999,999,999,999.99 credits more, we’ll beskar-plate the door with a 0.04 oz per sq.ft. Surface treatment…” – Silly but True Nov 19 '21 at 12:34
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    Also from Mandalorian, Beskar armor also appears to attract blaster bolts (which it absorbs, harmlessly). Stormtroopers firing at Mando go from their usual (lack of) accuracy in completely missing their target, to precisely hitting him, but only in those locations that have the armor. – Michael Richardson Nov 19 '21 at 16:27
  • If Beskar is so good, how come we never heard of it during the 9 (11?) Star Wars movies? – Eric Duminil Nov 19 '21 at 16:39
  • @MichaelRichardson Lol! “I’m activating my plot shield.” – Silly but True Nov 19 '21 at 16:56
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    @EricDuminil You might not have heard of it, but you absolutely saw it onscreen in both Jango’s and Boba’s armors in current canon. – Silly but True Nov 19 '21 at 16:58
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    @SillybutTrue: Okay. Was it made clear that Beskar is a wonderful material, though, or did the armors just looked different than stormtroopers'? – Eric Duminil Nov 19 '21 at 17:02
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    @SillybutTrue "in the armor that was Jango's then Boba's" – Caleth Nov 19 '21 at 17:11
  • How Beskar is carved for armour production in the first place? I assume it involves a tool that is even more powerful than a lightsaber? I'm not sure what it is. – Jimmy Yang Nov 19 '21 at 18:15
  • @JimmyYang It's cast in a single piece. – BillThePlatypus Nov 19 '21 at 18:20
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    @JimmyYang It’s cast and forged. This is actually occurs and is seen in the Mandalorian series. – Silly but True Nov 19 '21 at 18:23
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    Without digging into Legends (where it is far more explicit), there are references to old wars between Mandalore and the Jedi (referenced in Clone Wars, vaguely in Rebels, and in the final episode of season 1 of The Mandalorian). This suggests Mandalorians therefore developed their armour (as well as other kit, like their vambraces) specifically to help them fight Jedi. – GeoffAtkins Nov 19 '21 at 18:52
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    @EricDuminil The properties of Jango’s & Boba’s armor wasn’t any significant focus of the referenced films. There has been ample backstory in the EU tie-ins for this over the years, though. – Silly but True Nov 19 '21 at 18:55
  • @SillybutTrue: additionally, there's no need to actually Beskar-plate the blast door - if the person you sell it to happens to find out the hard way that their blast doors were, in fact, not Beskar-plated, there's a pretty good chance they won't get to file a complaint. Nor will the Jedi or Sith that took them down file a complain on their behalf. – Alexander The 1st Nov 21 '21 at 06:19
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    @AlexanderThe1st That's a bit like saying car manufacturers don't actually need to add the safety features they say they're adding, because chances are the driver won't be around to make a complaint. That may be true, but others will certainly notice and either not buy from you, or seek retribution/justice. – brads3290 Nov 22 '21 at 01:45
  • @brads3290: It will, fair enough, fail any possible inspection before a Jedi or Sith comes up; that's fair - but given how rare Beskar is, you'd likely find yourself at more risk by plating the blast doors - someone will try to strip the Beskar off of it, so you'd have the same issue, only being out the investment into Beskar. – Alexander The 1st Nov 22 '21 at 06:02
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    @AlexanderThe1st I presume anyone with need and anticipation to not just have a blast-door to begin with but also the need and ability to beskar-plate it against Jedi or Sith infiltrators, would have some ability to somewhat enforce against its theft. – Silly but True Nov 22 '21 at 09:52
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Beskar is a Fantasy Metal and also serves as Unobtainium:

In fiction, especially fantasy, a metal is shiny stuff with wonderful properties like super strength, lightness, magic resistance and so on, often not resembling any of the metals found in the periodic table. (...) Beskar (...) [is] more or less the local version of adamantium.

So, strictly speaking, there is no in-universe explanation for how the mandalorian armor does stop a lightsaber. It is made from Beskar. But why does Beskar resist a lightsaber?

For more lightsaber-resistant materials from the Star Wars universe see Cortosis, Phrik, Ultrachrome and Songsteel.

marianoju
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