Din Djarin/Mando obtained the coveted Darksaber in The Mandalorian season two, but it’s Bo-Katan Kryze who deserves to lead her people.
The Darksaber is a symbol of power for Mandalore and for the terrorist splinter group known as Death Watch. The mighty weapon was forged by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian Jedi. This broke precedent because the Mandalorians and Jedis were longtime enemies because of their difference in principles; the Mandalorians were conquerors and Jedis fought for peace. Tarre returned to Mandalore with the Darksaber and was named leader. After Tarre’s death, the Darksaber was kept in the Jedi Temple until Mandalorians from House Vizsla raided the temple and took it back, and officially formed the Death Watch.
A mythology has been built around the Darksaber. With it, a warrior can command a legion of Mandalorian warriors, and whoever is able to defeat the wielder of the weapon is then able to claim it. This is how Mando achieved it. In The Mandalorian season two finale, Mando and his team board Moff Gideon’s ship to save Grogu. Moff fights the Mandalorian with the Darksaber, but he’s defeated by Mando, thus making Mando the new owner of the Darksaber.
Bo-Katan was part of the team that went with Mando, and she was disappointed because her main mission has been to reclaim the Darksaber after she lost it to Gideon during the Seige of Mandalore. Mando offered her the weapon; he had no intention of leading Mandalore, but Bo-Katan declined it because that wasn’t how things were done. She needed to defeat Moff Gideon in battle to claim it as her own.
During the Clone Wars series, Bo-Katan was part of the Night Owls, a sub-group within Death Watch who sought to take Mandalore back from the pacifist government and from her own sister, Duchess Satine Kryze. Death Watch, led by Pre Vizsla (a descendent of Tarre Vizsla), partnered with Darth Maul who formed the Shadow Collective criminal network. Death Watch staged an attack on Mandalore using the criminals to make Death Watch seem like the heroes, but Darth Maul turns on Pre Vizsla to gain complete control.
The two dueled, and it ended with Pre Vizsla’s head getting lightsabered off. Bo-Katan refused to follow Darth Maul because he was an outsider, and with her leader gone, she escaped with her Night Owls, which led to a Civil War and Darth Maul killing Duchess Satine. Bo-Katan and her Night Owls left the planet to search for help and she finds Ahsoka Tano. Bo-Katan returned to Mandalore with Ahsoka and clone troopers and reclaimed the planet. Bo-Katan became the leader.
Tragedy struck again when Order 66 happened and the clone troopers became Imperial forces, and she refused to follow the Empire’s rule and was forced to leave. Bo-Katan would later find Sabine Wren, an engineering student from Clan Wren. The beskar-destroying weapon she created was used by the Empire, so she destroyed the machine and left the planet. Sabine joined a rebel group, found the Darksaber on Darth Maul’s planet of Dathomir, and learned how to use it for the purpose of becoming Mandalore’s true leader.
Sabine fought the Imperial ruler of Mandalore and won, reuniting with Clan Wren who was in opposition to the Empire. Bo-Katan returned at this point, and Sabine offered Bo-Katan the Darksaber, but Bo felt unworthy of it after her previous failure. Bo-Katan worked with Sabine who was able to use the machine made to destroy beskar against the Storm Troopers, and Sabine offered Bo-Katan the Darksaber. This time, she accepted it for her sister, her clan, and all of Mandalore.
For many years, the Darksaber needed to be won by force, but that hasn’t served Mandalore well. This Mandalorian warrior philosophy has led to civil wars and their eventual demise, so expecting that tradition to continue would be to learn nothing of the past. The person who’s most worthy for the Darksaber, and thus Mandalore, shouldn’t be chosen through violence because that’s how Darth Maul rose to power — instead, it should be a democratic decision. This is the lesson Bo learns when she honors her sister Duchess Satine, and Mandalorians bend the knee to her.
It’s also unclear how Moff Gideon got the Darksaber from Bo-Katan. It’s hard to believe he beat her in a fair fight, and it proves again why gaining the weapon through power isn’t a good idea. Mando doesn’t want to lead Mandalore — he’s more like Jon Snow in this way — whereas Bo-Katan cares deeply about leading Mandalore and has learned important lessons after having fought through so many battles. She’s seen what happens when power corrupts, and she saw how her sister tried to lead the planet toward pacifism. She’s made mistakes in her life, but more importantly, she’s learned from them and can therefore avoid making the same ones.
In The Mandalorian season three, episode two, “The Mines of Mandalore,” Mando returned back to Mandalore with Grogu and the astromech droid R5 to redeem himself by bathing in the Living Waters underneath the mines. Mando gets into trouble, has a hard time using the Darksaber, and gets trapped by a mechanical monster. Grogu has to fly to Bo-Katan’s castle on Kalevala to save Mando. She uses the Darksaber against the mechanical monster, and she wields it with ease to defeat it and free Mando. The difference between their skill in using the Darksaber is wide.
Bo-Katan takes the Darksaber seriously and she’s more than earned the right to wield it. She tells Mando in the previous episode that he should lead Mandalore, but he’s more concerned about earning his Mandalorian status back, and it demonstrates her selflessness. Their partnership proves they’re much stronger together and their philosophies balance each other out. Perhaps that’s what Mandalore needs most, not just a single ruler, but rulers who can come together and do what’s right for everyone.
