Who has the Darksaber now in The Mandalorian season three?

This season has seen many major events. Mandalorian. After our hero Din Djarin took a bath because he’s a dirty, Filthy Apostate (boo! and rejoined the loving embrace of his fellow Mandalorian cultists, the season dedicated an entire episode to exploring the bureaucratic banality of evil and the “difficult” (not ThisIt is a difficult (and not easy) question to ask whether AllThe space Nazis Bad, and hey, even everyone’s favorite big furry Lasat star pilot from Star Wars Rebels, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, showed up in the fifth episode! Everyone loves Zeb

Another major upset occurred at the end of this week’s episode, “Guns for Hire,” that spells big movements for the future of Mandalore. Let’s talk about the mythosaur in the room.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 6, “Guns for Hire.”]

Bo-Katan Kryze was the leader of the Nite Owls Mandalorian group and is now the leader of all of Mandalore. Who could’ve seen that coming?

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A little history about the laser sword: The Darksaber, a black-bladed lightsaber, was invented by Tarre Vizsla. He is the first Mandalorian to be inducted into Jedi Order. The Darksaber was passed down through the generations of Vizsla’s family and used to unite the warring factions of Mandalore under one banner. The rightful heir of the Mandalore throne is the person who wields the Darksaber. However, to obtain the weapon one must either kill or convince the former wielder to surrender. However, as seen in “Guns For Hire,” there appears to be a loophole in the rules of that particular urban legend.

When I wrote about Bo-Katan and the Darksaber weeks ago, I erroneously stated that she took possession of the weapon in the second episode of this season, “The Mines of Mandalore.” As several commenters on that article stressed to point out, I was wrong, there actually was a brief scene in which Din Djarin is seen clipping the Darksaber back on his belt after being rescued by Bo-Katan. For misleading readers, I apologise for stating that BoKatan owned the famed Mandalorian-forged Lightsaber.

This is what I will do NotI am sorry for my mistake. My argument is still valid, even though it was wrong. Bo-Katan, who rescued Din Djarin form the creepy Phil Tippett monster, became the Darksaber’s true owner. As we see at the end of this week’s episode, it appears that even Din himself seems to agree with that argument.

“While exploring Mandalore, I was captured and this blade was taken from me,” Din tells the former members of the Nite Owls on Plazir-15. “Bo-Katan rescued me and slayed my captor. I was defeated by the enemy she defeated. Would this blade then not belong to her?”

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The Nite Owls appear to agree, with Axe Woves — their just-defeated leader — verbally acknowledging the veracity of his argument. Bo-Katan receives Din Djarin’s blade and activates it before the episode ends. This episode did reveal a vital piece of information that was obfuscated in “The Mines of Mandalore:” that Din himself You already knew Bo-Katan used the Darksaber in order to rescue him from the bowels Mandalore. Din is now safe. You already knewShe was the rightful heir of the weapon, but she still preferred to keep it with her all the time. Dick move!

Moff Gideon remarked in the series finale that “…” Mandalorian’s second season, “The Darksaber doesn’t have power; the story does,” and if no-one is around to witness the story, it’s just the same as if the story never happened. But with Din having been conscious enough to testify to that story, Bo-Katan’s path to claim the throne of Mandalore and unite the fractured Mandalorian tribes is now finally clear. She needs to return to Mandalore to tame the mythic Mythosaur and begin planning her coronation. Simple!

At the end of the day, I think we can all agree on one thing: The “rules” regarding the Darksaber are murky at best and absolute ad hoc bullshit at worst. It’s just one of those rules that bends to fit the story, like Leia having memories of her mother in The Return of the JediWhen Revenge of the Sith shows Padmé’s death right after giving birth, or Poe Dameron’s infamous “Somehow, Palpatine returned” line from 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The third season Mandalorian so far has taught us anything it’s that the best thing and the worst thing about Star Wars is that its creators — in this case executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni — don’t ReallyDo not have a plan, and they are doing it all blindly.