**Spoilers for “The Mandalorian” Season 2 Episode 3**
It finally happened. After months of speculation, reports, and casting rumors, Bo-Katan Kryze has made the jump from animation to live-action in the latest episode of “The Mandalorian,” and with her, the story seems to finally kick off.
READ MORE: ‘The Mandalorian’ Launches Second Season With Confident, Action-Packed Episode [Review]
We knew going into the second season of the Disney+ show that Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) was going to try and find other Mandalorians in order to learn about the Jedi and deliver The Child to them. Well, despite the first two episodes being mostly detours, episode three actually delivered, as Din Djarin gets in trouble with some Quarren pirates and is saved from drowning by a group of Mandalorians. Among them, is Bo-Katan, making her live-action debut and portrayed by her original voice actor, Katee Sackhoff. Not to dwell on the moment, the show quickly throws another key piece of lore to us when Bo-Katan and her companions all take their helmets off, to Din Djarin’s shock.
The question of why the titular Mandalorian won’t take off his helmet, despite multiple seasons of “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” showing Mandalorians walking around freely without helmets, has puzzled “The Mandalorian” viewers since the show premiered last year. Bo-Katan seemingly gives an answer, which also raises plenty of questions. “You are a Child of the Watch,” she tells Djarin. “A cult of religious zealots that broke away from Mandalorian society” whose goal is “to re-establish the ancient way.” Though we get no further explanation of what that means, it is highly likely that they are referring to the Death Watch, a terrorist organization that opposed Mandalore’s pacifist government at the time of the Clone Wars, and teamed with Darth Maul at one point, and fought in the Siege of Mandalore at the end of “The Clone Wars.”
This may set Din Djarin off on a journey of self-discovery, as he confronts his own ideas of what a Mandalorian is, his extremist ideology, and whether he truly belongs with his people. After all, he wasn’t born on Mandalore, but was adopted into this creed, so knowing it is only a small group of Mandalorians that are as devoted to The Way as he is will surely affect him. The episode also fills us in on what’s happened to Mandalore since we last saw the planet in “Rebels,” where Bo-Katan had used the Darksaber to unite the clans and rule Mandalore. As we heard in Season 1, a battle between the Empire and Mandalore erupted, dubbed the Great Purge, and annihilating most Mandalorians.
The Darksaber is a black lightsaber we saw at the very end of Season 1, in the hands of one Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). The weapon has a long and important history for Mandalorians, serving a purpose similar to Excalibur, giving whoever wields it the right to rule. Though we don’t know how Gideon got his hands on the black lightsaber yet, Bo-Katan interrogates an Imperial officer in the episode who hints at a history between Gideon and Bo-Katan. In interviews, Esposito has hinted that the Darksaber is of huge importance to the show, and that we’ll see more of it, possibly even its origin. So it seems that this episode is not just a pitstop on Din Djarin’s way to find the Jedi, but the first step in a larger story about reclaiming Mandalore, and how the Empire stripped the planet of everything it had to offer, including its most precious cultural artifacts.
And finally, the episode ends with Bo-Katan telling Mando to go look for one Ahsoka Tano, confirming all reports that the fan-favorite character will also make her live-action debut this season. We’ll see what role Ahsoka has to play, but given her friendship with Bo-Katan, and how they both fought together during the Siege of Mandalore, we’re getting strong hints that the show is building up towards another huge battle on Mandalore. After all, Esposito also teased that there will be lightsaber duels in the show, and Ahsoka is the one that uses lightsabers, while Bo-Katan would be highly motivated to reclaim her home planet from the Empire. The question is, will Din Djarin be involved? And will Baby Yoda?