Gilamar Skirata
The most important step is always the next one
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a text on an outsider's view of Mandalore
- Image Credit: "Boba Fett", by AldoK
- Links:
Mandalorian Resource Wars - The Seven Day War
- Vode An
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Media Name: Iron Heart: Examining the Life, History, and Culture of Mandalore
- Format: Holobook and physical Flimsi Book
- Distribution: Inter-Planetary
- Length: Long
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Author: A self proclaimed Mandalorian Historian by the pen name of Reiko.
- Publisher: The University of Coruscant
- Reception: The book was well received in history circles for its impressive amount of sources and dialogue. As Mando'a was rarely heard outside of Mandalorian Space it was also well received by professors of linguistics for its break down of verb usage and other wordy things. Among younger Mandalorians, many thought that the person who wrote it couldn't be Mandalorian because what they had put in the book was "fake" or that no self-respecting Mandalorian would sell their history for credits. There were Mandalorians that enjoyed the book, the biggest endorser of the book being ex-Mand'alor Gilamar Skirata.
Iron Heart was a holobook written by an anonymous Mandalorian under the pen name of Reiko just prior to the Seven Day War on Mandalore. Within it, the author described the oral history of Mandalore, essentially filling in the blanks most data records had on the system after the Gulag Plague. The book was a massive collection of primary sources such as holomail between Mandalorians during the Gulag Plague, helmet audio recordings (in the physical edition it was included on a data chit), old Mandalorian star charts, and copies of physical media such as the Supercommando Codex. The book also held first hand accounts of battles, daily life, life advice, and other bits from various Mandalorians across the galaxy. After each piece or section, Reiko gave their thoughts and attempted to analyze and synthesize the material in an ongoing narrative of Mandalorian history from the Sith Imperial Civil War (as even going that far back accounts were shoddy at best), to present day and the destruction of Mandalore.
Throughout the book they refer to the idea of being a Mandalorian as "The Iron Heart" as both things meant a variety of different things to a variety of different Mandalorians. They mainly attribute the split between Mandalorian ideologies to the lack of a coherent, stable history as even before the Gulag Plague much of Mandalorian history was oral. She uses Mandalore as the easiest example as examining the entire diaspora of Mandalorians, such as those on Echoy'la and those that for generations had never even set foot on Mandalore, would have been too difficult a task for a single book.
While examining the homeland itself, Reiko described the dichotomy between the Mandalorians that lived in "Old Mandalore", which they describe as the non-domed cities, mostly in the Northern hemisphere, and those that lived and grew up in "New Mandalore", those Mandalorians that lived in the domed cities that dot most of Mandalore's Southern White Deserts. Here they take heed to mark the Old Republic for their treatment of Mandalore during the Mandalorian Excision and the drastic effect the event had on the Mandalorian diaspora, but does not condone the actions of their ancestors either. In discussing the differences on the homeworld, Reiko highlights the dress, mannerisms, and even the way of speaking Mando'a (or lack thereof) as potential fault lines in the Mandalorian Culture. It is here they say that it is where the "Iron Heart" keeps Mandalorians together and from warring with each other, but it is also the thing that keeps them apart, similar to the item of the same name that keeps the torso plates on beskar'gam in place, while keeping them just slightly apart.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Iron Heart was published by The University of Coruscant and authored by a Mandalorian historian that went by the pen name of Reiko. While the university often did not publish books that were done under a pen name, the editor, Saren Bith pushed for the work to be released. In the Introduction, Reiko highlights that the reason they wanted to get the book out to everyone in the Galaxy was because for so long the Mandalorians had been depicted in the media as simple minded fools or military geniuses when really they were no different from any other people or culture, even if some proclaimed otherwise. They also wanted something that their people could read and hopefully come to grips with their differences and use it to help rebuild after the destruction of Mandalore where the author said they lost their family and their arm. A physical book was published in limited numbers through a Mandalorian publishing office that was under the MGA, a popular sports and news holo station.
