Image via Disney/Lucasfilm
The galaxy far, far away is getting a bit bigger. On May 12, Slashfilm announced Battlestar Galactica actress Katee Sackhoff will join the expanding cast of The Mandalorian’s second season playing the live-action version of Bo-Katan Kryze, Mandalorian warrior. The casual watcher will be excited to see a beloved genre actress drop into another significant sci-fi franchise, but dedicated fans know that Sackhoff’s character is of key importance: Bo-Katan has played a critical part in the last two Star Wars series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series.
On the surface, Sackhoff’s involvement—along with the casting of Rosario Dawson and Temuera Morrison—points to some heavy-hitting actors joining the smash-hit show. But by taking a deep dive into Star Wars history, one can get a better understanding of The Mandalorian’s possible future. That's why we wanted to make sure those of you who might not be up on this expansive universe—or for folks who are looking to just get reacquainted before The Mandalorian's Season 2 return. Here's a look at everything you need to know going into Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
[Ed note: Spoiler warning not just for The Mandalorian’s first season, but for the entirety of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and all of Star Wars Rebels.]
Who is Bo-Katan Kryze, and why does she matter?
Bo-Katan Kryze’s history within the Star Wars universe is, well, nothing short of complicated. We’re introduced to her in The Clone Wars Season 4 episode “A Friend in Need,” as a commander for the radical Mandalorian splinter group Death Watch. Despite the planet’s martial past, Mandalore has entered into a period of pacifism under the rule of Duchess Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan’s very own sister. With the Clone Wars raging, Death Watch and its leader Pre Vizsla look to force a takeover and return Mandalore to its warrior ways. However, Duchess Satine—with a little help from Obi-Wan Kenobi—pushes back Death Watch’s initial effort to overthrow the government.
Pre Vizsla later looks to get an advantage over Satine by forging a partnership with the former Sith Lord Darth Maul. Maul, who actually survived the events of The Phantom Menace (trust me, it’s far more compelling in its execution than it sounds on paper) has garnered considerable power and influence by uniting the galaxy’s crime families like an intergalactic Michael Corleone. Vizsla’s plan works a little too well. Sure, Maul helps topple Satine, but then he kills Vizsla in single combat, claiming the Mandalore throne, and taking the famed Darksaber (more on that in a bit) for himself. In short: Never trust a Sith. Bo-Katan declares she’ll never let an outsider be the rightful ruler of Mandalore and flees into hiding.
As seen in the final episodes of The Clone Wars, Bo-Katan recruits former Jedi Ashoka Tano to help her oust Maul in exchange for becoming part of the Galactic Republic. Ashoka and her clone army are successful in their mission, leaving Bo-Katan as the ruler. But this victory is short-lived, as just moments after, Order 66 is unleashed and Mandalore would soon become part of Emperor Palpatine’s Galactic Empire.
Set a few years before A New Hope, Star Wars Rebels reveals Palpatine has offered the Mandalorian throne to Bo-Katan, but she had refused and was deposed. Bo-Katan, with help from Mandalorian Sabine Wren, is able to rally the remaining Mandalorian clans and houses to assert her rule over Mandalore. Sabine, the current holder of the Darksaber after reclaiming it from Maul, passes it to Bo-Katan as a symbol of her total leadership in this new period of Mandalore history.
What is the Darksaber?
Throughout Star Wars history, the Mandalorians and Jedi were often at odds with one another, leading to massive battles. In fact, everything about the Mandalorians—from their fighting style to the design and material of their famed armor—was designed to be an effective countermeasure against the lightsaber-wielding magicians. However, these tensions subsided for a brief amount of time when Tarre Vizsla (Pre Vizsla’s ancestor) was inducted into the Jedi Order. During this time, Tarre sought to distinguish himself from his Jedi peers by crafting a special weapon: the Darksaber.
Similar in appearance to a katana, the Darksaber is the first black-bladed lightsaber and has a decidedly different looking hilt. At some point, Tarre became the sole ruler of Mandalore. This position becomes known as the Mand’alor—a title which Bo-Katan would later accept when Sabine gave her the saber. The Darksaber is eventually reclaimed by the Jedi after Tarre’s passing and kept in the Jedi Temple. Not content with this, members of House Vizsla eventually break into the Temple and reclaim the blade for themselves. From this point forward, the Darksaber becomes a symbol of unity for the Mandalorian people and is deeply respected by them all.
You might also recognize the Darksaber as the weapon Giancarlo Esposito’s dastardly Moff Gideon ignited as he stood atop the wreckage of his TIE fighter at the end of The Mandalorian’s first season.
What does all of this have to do with Season 2 of 'The Mandalorian'?
Two key events from the first season of The Mandalorian are important to remember: Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin is notably told the beskar steel he receives as payment was gathered during an event known as the “Great Purge,” and the remaining Mandalorians are largely underground and out of sight as a result. The casting of Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, Moff Gideon’s possession of the Darksaber, and mentions of the “Great Purge” lead me to hypothesize we’re going to see just how tragically things end for Bo-Katan and her native Mandalorians during a flashback in Season 2.
This kind of closure is in line with producer Dave Filoni’s other Star Wars projects. As the showrunner for both The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, Filoni has been known to pay off dangling plots years down the line (many lingering questions from Clone Wars were satisfyingly concluded in Rebels). While Filoni isn’t the head honcho on The Mandalorian (that duty falls to Jon Favreau, who also voiced Pre Vizsla in Clone Wars), he is an executive producer on the show, meaning there’s some precedent for folding animated characters into a new story.
But Bo-Katan and the fate of Mandalore is just the tip of the Darksaber. Ashoka Tano, soon to be played by Rosario Dawson, is looking more and more like the thread that will tie three different Filoni-related stories together. Given Ashoka’s storied history with Mandalore, the journey she embarks on with Sabine at the end of Star Wars Rebels, and the rumor that Boba Fett isn’t the only character that actor Temuera Morrison will play, it seems like Ashoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian might be used as grounds for a spinoff focused on Filoni’s favorites.
From the outside looking in, Filoni and Favreau seem hell-bent on having their cake and eating it, too. We’ll soon see if The Mandalorian is built to fully withstand an impending burden of expectation.