Is Bo-Katan a true Mandalorian now in ‘The Mandalorian’ season 3?

There have been some big developments in season three of The Mandalorian. In a move no one saw coming, Bo-Katan has officially become a member of the Children of the Watch, and this could lead to something big.

Bo-Katan met Mando/Din Djarin in season two on planet Trask, and they got off on the wrong foot when he saw her take off her helmet. As a Child of the Watch, his creed demands that a Mandalorian is to never take off their helmet and he tells her as much. Bo-Katan confirms she is a Mandalorian and that her armor has been in her family for three generations. She goes in even harder on Mando by claiming that Mando is in a cult of zealots who follow the old way, but the two put their differences aside and team up to take on the Imperial Gozanti freighter and defeat Stormtroopers along with an Imperial captain. 

This made it clear the two don’t see eye to eye when it comes to what being a Mandalorian means, and the Armorer also didn’t think too fondly of Bo-Katan, calling Bo-Katan a cautionary tale and that she laid claim to ruling Mandalore based on her royal blood and the Darksaber. This was given to her by Sabine Wren and wasn’t won by creed. Bo-Katan came from a mighty house, but in the Armorer’s opinion, she lost her way and her rule ended in tragedy. The Children of the Watch sect remained on Concordia during the Great Purge.

After Bo-Katan saves Mando from an insectoid creature in the mines of Mandalore, she takes him to the Living Waters and he bathes to redeem himself after having taken off his helmet in season two. He’s taken under and Bo-Katan dives in to save him — consequently bathing in the Living Waters as well. On her way back up, Bo-Katan sees the Mythosaur, the symbol of Mandalore believed extinct, and she returns Mando to the surface, though she’s not ready to admit what she saw.

They leave Mandalore and fly to Kalevala, leading to Bo-Katan’s castle, but they’re attacked by TIE Interceptors who destroy Bo-Katan’s ancestral home. Mando thinks quickly and brings Bo-Katan to seek shelter amongst the Children of the Watch at a Mandalorian covert. She’s first greeted coldly, having come from a fallen house, but when the Armorer learns that Bo-Katan bathed in the Living Waters and hasn’t taken off her helmet, all is forgiven and she’s welcomed into the sect just like that.

The definition of a “true” Mandalorian is different depending on who you ask. Mando, Bo-Katan, and Boba Fett will all have different interpretations, but Bo-Katan’s reaction to her initiation is very telling. Despite her opposition to the Children of the Watch, she seems to be open to joining them at this point. She no longer has anyone to lead in season three, and she’s been living in solitude on Kalevala until Bo-Katan jumped in to save Mando. Bo-Katan has also seen a Mythosaur with her own eyes, an accomplishment that no other Mandalorian can boast about at this time, and it could open her heart to believing that these Mandalorian myths might be more factual than she thought.