The Complete History of the Darksaber
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for several Star Wars shows, movies, and comics.
Few weapons in Star Wars carry the Darksaber's significance. Held by Jedi, Sith, Mandalorians, and Imperials, the weapon holds a unique place in shaping the universe's history, stretching across a millennium of galactic events. But how, exactly, did the weapon gain such significance?
For new and experienced Star Wars fans alike, tracing the Darksaber’s path can be confusing. Many hands have held the weapon across numerous battles, duels, and events in the Star Wars universe, and understanding how it fell into those hands isn’t simple without consuming a significant amount of Star Wars content. Others may ask why they should care about the Darksaber at all, questioning its relevance to the greater Star Wars story.
Fear not, though, for that is where One with the Fandom comes in.
This article is a complete history of the Darksaber. It explains not only who possessed the Darksaber throughout its history, but also the events, conflicts, and power struggles behind how each holder came to possess the weapon. You will learn how the Darksaber shaped Mandalorian culture and became involved in events beyond Mandalorian history, highlighting its importance in the Star Wars universe.
From Creation to the Clone Wars
It all began with Tarre Vizsla. Over 1,000 years before the Age of the Rebellion, Vizsla became the first Mandalorian accepted into the Jedi Order. Mending his new identity as a Jedi with his Mandalorian heritage, he created the Darksaber - a black-bladed lightsaber with a shape resembling traditional swords and a hilt made of Mandalorian beskar. In his hands, the Darksaber became a symbol of power for House Vizsla and the Mandalorian people, allowing Tarre Vizsla to become Mand’alor - the sole leader of the Mandalorians.
But then Tarre Vizsla died, and the Darksaber’s status became as tumultuous as any part of Mandalore’s violent history. After his death, the Jedi kept the Darksaber in the Jedi Temple; however, near the end of the Old Republic, House Vizsla raided the Temple and reclaimed the Darksaber for the Mandalorian people. Mandalore rallied under the Darksaber, allowing its holder to claim absolute authority over its people for hundreds of years.
Years before the Clone Wars, though, Mandalore’s identity shifted following a brutal civil war. Forgoing its militant history for pacifism, the New Mandalorians, led by Satine Kryze, ushered Mandalore into a new era of peace, reform, and progress. The “Old” Mandalorians, who preferred Mandalore’s warrior past, found themselves no longer welcome on Mandalore following their defeat in the civil war, forcing them to either conform to new ways or leave their home - many chose the latter.
One such loyalist to the old Mandalorian culture was Pre Vizsla, leader of Clan Vizsla and descendant of Tarre. Publicly, Pre Vizsla feigned loyalty to Duchess Satine Kryze and gained her trust. In secret, however, he worked to undermine her. Along with other shamed Old Mandalorians, he formed Death Watch, which aimed to overthrow the Duchess and return Mandalore to its militant culture through violence and fear.
Those Mandalorians loyal to its past flocked to Death Watch’s promise to restore the old ways. But what truly bolstered Pre Vizsla’s status as the hero of the Old Mandalorians was his ownership of the Darksaber. In their minds, and his, Pre was the true leader of Mandalore in the way Tarre Vizsla was. Notably, one such believer of Pre’s vision was Bo-Katan Kryze - sister of the Duchess. She lacked her sister’s pacifist ideals and remained an adherent to the old ways.
Eventually, with the backing of Count Dooku and the Separatists, Pre Vizsla revealed himself as Death Watch’s leader and denounced Duchess Kryze’s rule. However, Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with the Jedi and the Republic, thwarted Vizsla and Dooku’s plans to overthrow Duchess Kryze. Shamed by his failures, Vizsla led a deteriorating Death Watch into hiding, vowing revenge on Count Dooku for abandoning their plans. Despite owning the Darksaber, Pre Vizsla’s claim to the throne diminished rapidly, left with only a small band of followers.
Closer to the end of the Clone Wars, the exiled Vizsla refocused his and Death Watch’s efforts back into overthrowing the New Mandalorians. During the initial reestablishment of these efforts, he came across Sith Lords Maul and Savage Opress. Finding that their interests aligned, Vizsla entered Death Watch into an alliance with Maul and Opress. Maul vowed to help Vizsla control Mandalore; Vizsla vowed to help Maul destroy Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Knowing they would need considerable resources to overthrow Duchess Kryze, Vizsla and Maul set about building an army via the criminal underworld. Through tact, threats, and outright violence, including some delivered by the Darksaber, they established the Shadow Collective - an alliance of some of the largest criminal syndicates in the galaxy. Vizsla finally had all of the pieces he needed to end Duchess Kryze’s rule.
As they carried out their scheme to paint Duchess Kryze as an incompetent leader and Death Watch as heroes, Vizsla began planning his rule. Knowing Maul intended to use his leadership of Mandalore as a base for his new criminal empire, Vizsla decided he would betray Maul, Oppress, and the other members of the Shadow Collective as soon as he gained power. His primary goal remained to return Mandalore to its militant past, with himself as its sole ruler.
With Duchess Kryze deposed, Pre Vizsla declared himself Mand’alor; however, his rule would prove short-lived. He carried out his plan to betray Maul and Opress, imprisoning them. Unfortunately for Vizsla, the two Sith easily escaped their confinement and returned to the throne room. Knowing Mandalorian customs, Maul challenged Vizsla to a duel, which Vizsla could not decline if he wished to establish himself as a true Mand’alor.
With the Darksaber in hand, Pre Vizsla entered lightsaber combat with Maul. Though Vizsla held his own against the Sith Lord, Maul eventually wore him down and disarmed Vizsla of the Darksaber. Vizsla accepted his defeat, and Maul used the Darksaber to behead him. Maul raised the Darksaber above him, declaring himself the saber’s holder and ruler of Mandalore. Most of Death Watch knelt before him; however, several, including Bo-Katan Kryze and her Nite Owls, rejected his rule and fled.
The Darksaber became an instrument of Maul’s vengeance. Having lured Obi-Wan Kenobi back to Mandalore, Maul killed Satine Kryze in front of him with the Darksaber. Maul’s ascent to power on Mandalore drew the attention of his former master, Darth Sidious. Maul used the Darksaber to duel Sidious, though he lost, and Sidious took Maul captive until his Mandalorian allies freed him and allowed him to regain possession of the Darksaber.
Maul’s escape, however, was exactly what Sidious and Count Dooku wanted, as they hoped he would lead them to Nightsister Clan Mother Talzin. Eventually, he did exactly that. After skirmishes with both Separatist forces and the Jedi, which required further use of the Darksaber, Maul travelled to Dathomir with his feigned ally Count Dooku in tow. Maul brought Dooku before Talzin to use him as a sacrifice to regain her physical form, but Sidious and General Grievous’ arrival interrupted the ritual.
Talzin took possession of Dooku’s body and joined Maul in dueling Sidious and Grievous, but they were eventually overwhelmed. Talzin sacrificed herself to allow Maul time to escape Dathomir, which was under a full-scale Separatist attack. Maul returned to Mandalore with those still loyal to him, where a Republic invasion force led by Ahsoka Tano, Commander Rex, and Bo-Katan Kryze eventually captured him.
During the Reign of the Empire
Maul escaped captivity at the end of the Clone Wars during the Great Jedi Purge. As the Empire gained control of the galaxy, Maul worked to reestablish his criminal empire. Notably, after retreating from Dathomir, Maul stopped using the Darksaber and used his red double-bladed lightsaber instead. At some point, however, Maul returned to Dathomir, where he displayed the Darksaber inside a Nightsister lair alongside several other relics of his past.
Later during the Empire’s reign, Maul became acquainted with the young Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger. Maul hoped to turn Bridger to the Dark Side and manipulate him into serving his interests. After several interactions with Bridger and the rest of the Ghost crew, Maul forced Bridger to join him on Dathomir for a ritual to learn of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s location. Unbeknownst to Maul, Bridger’s master, Kanan Jarrus, and the Mandalorian Sabine Wren tracked them to Dathomir.
After Maul and Bridger learned of Kenobi’s location on Tatooine, Nightsister spirits appeared from an altar and confronted them. Jarrus and Wren arrived and attacked the spirits; however, the spirits immediately possessed them and began attacking Bridger and Maul. The possessed Wren took hold of the Darksaber and began dueling Bridger with it. Bridger, having been abandoned by Maul, freed Wren and Jarrus from their possession before destroying the Nightsister altar with both his lightsaber and the Darksaber.
Before leaving Dathomir, Sabine Wren noticed the Darksaber lying on the ground. Recognizing its significance, she collected it; however, her troubled past with her Mandalorian family made her reluctant to wield it, so she gave the Darksaber to Kanan Jarrus for the time being. Still, her fellow Ghost crew members and the Mandalorian Protector Fenn Rau encouraged her to take possession of it and become the Mandalorian leader, so she begrudgingly agreed to learn how to use the Darksaber.
Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger oversaw Wren’s lightsaber training using training sabers. Initially, her emotions made it hard to make progress, so Jarrus refused to allow her to train with the Darksaber. Wren felt that her past left her unworthy to bear the responsibility of the Darksaber. She once helped the Empire build weapons that could target Mandalorian beskar armor. Eventually, she left the Empire out of guilt, and her family, forced into an alliance with the Empire, labeled her a traitor.
With Jarrus and Bridger’s help, Wren learned to overcome her feelings and became comfortable using the Darksaber, even gaining the upper hand over Jarrus during their sparring. Reassured, Jarrus, Bridger, and Rau vowed to help Wren use the Darksaber to gain the Mandalorians’ loyalty and free her family from the Empire’s grip. They immediately devised a plan to travel to Clan Wren’s home planet Krownest so Sabine could try to regain her family’s trust.
Upon arriving on Krownest, though, they quickly learned how unwelcome Sabine Wren was, as Clan Wren fighters immediately attacked their ship, causing it to crash-land. Wren’s peers briefly fought Clan Wren’s warriors on the ground; however, hostilities ended when Wren’s brother Tristan revealed himself as the warriors’ leader. The siblings reunited, and he led Wren and her companions to the Wren Stronghold.
Sabine Wren met with her mother, Ursa, and showed her the Darksaber. Publicly, Ursa chastised Sabine for aligning with the Rebellion and dismissed the Darksaber as anything more than a symbol. Privately, however, Ursa admitted Sabine saved herself by leaving the Empire and confessed she entered Clan Wren into an alliance with the Empire only to prevent its destruction. She also informed Sabine that her father, Alrich, was alive as an Imperial hostage.
Ursa Wren disputed Sabine’s ownership of the Darksaber, as she did not earn it in combat. Sabine argued that holding it was enough of a claim, but Ursa warned her that merely holding it wasn’t the real challenge - it was keeping it. Regardless, Sabine asserted that Mandalore needed a true ruler to unite its people against the Empire. Sabine urged her mother to join the Rebels in reclaiming Mandalore, choosing to show her faith in Ursa by handing the Darksaber over to her.
Sabine’s trust in her mother soon came under its first true test. As Sabine sparred with her brother, Tristan, he confided that their mother planned to hand the Darksaber, Kanan Jarrus, and Ezra Bridger over to Viceroy Gar Saxon, the Empire’s installed governor of Mandalore and one of Maul’s former followers. Sabine rushed to confront her mother in the stronghold’s throne room; however, Saxon and his Super Commandos had already arrived.
Inside the throne room, Ursa Wren, despite Sabine’s protests, tossed the Darksaber to Saxon. Ursa demanded that Saxon spare Sabine in exchange for the Darksaber and the Jedi, but Saxon claimed that Clan Wren harbored Rebels and had become a threat to the Empire. Saxon ordered Clan Wren’s execution; however, Fenn Rau reached the throne room just in time to return the Jedi their lightsabers, sparking a skirmish between the Jedi and Clan Wren against Saxon’s soldiers.
Saxon, wielding the Darksaber, tried to kill Ursa, but Ezra Bridger threw his lightsaber to Sabine, allowing her to block Saxon’s attack. Saxon and Sabine’s fight spilled out of the stronghold, where they entered into a duel - Saxon with the Darksaber against Sabine with Bridger’s lightsaber. Sabine defeated Saxon, but broke Mandalorian tradition by refusing to kill him. Before he could be taken prisoner, Saxon attempted to shoot Sabine in the back, but Ursa Wren killed him first.
Sabine’s claim to the Darksaber now stood stronger, having won it through combat, as did her relationship with her family. Despite these developments, Sabine insisted she did not want to become Mandalore’s ruler, but she promised she would help unify the Mandalorians against the Empire. With Gar Saxon replaced by his brother, Tiber Saxon, Mandalore entered into a new civil war between the Imperial-backed Clan Saxon and Clan Wren with their allies.
Sabine Wren wielded the Darksaber throughout the civil war, rallying many Mandalorian warriors to her cause. She led several missions against the Empire with the Darksaber, including one to rescue her father from imprisonment on Mandalore. The rescue attempt nearly failed; however, reinforcements from Bo-Katan Kryze and her Nite Owls saved Wren and her allies. Wren offered the Darksaber to Kryze, who declined, believing she had already failed to lead the Mandalorians.
Eventually, the Empire deployed the Duchess against Sabine Wren and her people - the beskar-targeting superweapon she helped design. Bo-Katan Kryze became furious after learning of her involvement, so Wren offered to help lead an attack to destroy the weapon aboard Tiber Saxon’s Star Destroyer to make amends. Their attack succeeded after Wren used the Darksaber to destroy the Duchess, causing a chain reaction that destroyed Saxon’s Star Destroyer and ended the Empire’s occupation of Mandalore.
Gideon's Fury and Djarin's Quest
After liberating Mandalore from Tiber Saxon and the Empire, Sabine Wren again asserted that Bo-Katan Kryze was Mandalore’s rightful leader and that its most prominent clans would follow her. This time, Kryze accepted the Darksaber, vowing to lead Mandalore in honor of her sister Satine Kryze. Clan Wren led the other Mandalorian clans in pledging their allegiance to Kryze’s rule, while Sabine Wren returned to the Rebellion.
Sadly for Bo-Katan Kryze, though, her rule would be anything but a success, as the Empire would eventually return to Mandalore not to control it, but to destroy it. Led by Imperial Security Bureau officer Gideon, the Empire launched a genocidal campaign against the Mandalorians. The Great Purge of Mandalore culminated in the Night of a Thousand Tears, where the Empire used fusion bombs to decimate Mandalore’s domed cities and landscapes.
Hoping to end the Empire’s assault, Bo-Katan Kryze agreed to surrender and hand the Darksaber over to Gideon; however, Gideon betrayed his word to end hostilities and took the Darksaber for himself. After the Rebellion defeated the Empire, Gideon, now a Moff, continued wielding the Darksaber while leading his own Imperial remnant. Once, Gideon used the Darksaber to free himself from his crashed TIE after the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin brought the ship down.
Moff Gideon, whose plans included cloning experiments involving Force-sensitives, eventually captured the Mandalorian Foundling and former Jedi Youngling Grogu from under Din Djarin’s care. Gideon brought Grogu to his command ship and placed him in a cell. He used the Darksaber to intimidate Grogu, asking him if the weapon reminded him of his past.
Meanwhile, Din Djarin plotted to rescue Grogu. He contacted Bo-Katan Kryze, who hunted Moff Gideon in the hopes of reclaiming the Darksaber and becoming Mandalore’s leader once again. Kryze’s trail on Gideon had gone cold, so Djarin’s plan to locate him was a mutually beneficial goal. Djarin and Kryze, joined by Nite Owl Koska Reeves, bounty hunters Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, and New Republic Marshal Cara Dune, embarked on an assault on Gideon’s Class 546 Cruiser after discovering its location.
As the rest of the strike team took control of the cruiser, Din Djarin headed for Grogu’s cell, where he found Gideon holding the ignited Darksaber over Grogu. Gideon feigned an offer to Djarin to take Grogu before attempting to strike Djarin’s back with the Darksaber; however, Djarin’s beskar-plated jetpack deflected the attack. Djarin armed himself with his beskar spear and entered into a duel with Gideon.
Djarin and Gideon dueled in the hallway outside of the prison cell. Though Gideon briefly gained the upper hand, Djarin ultimately defeated Gideon and disarmed him of the Darksaber. Djarin freed Grogu and led the captured Gideon to the ship's bridge, which the rest of the strike team gained control of. Inside, Djarin attempted to hand the Darksaber to Kryze, but she refused to accept it. Gideon explained that the Darksaber must be won in combat and that the weapon now belonged to Djarin.
Before the debate over the Darksaber’s owner could continue, Gideon’s Dark Trooper combat droids attacked the group. Jedi Luke Skywalker arrived in an X-Wing and landed in the cruiser’s bay. He defeated the Dark Troopers, introduced himself to Djarin’s group, and took Grogu to train him as a Jedi. Djarin kept the Darksaber and returned to bounty hunting. Kryze, dejected after failing to regain the Darksaber, retired to Kryze Castle on the planet Kalevala after losing her followers’ loyalty.
After some time, Din Djarin sought out the remnants of his Mandalorian tribe, the Children of the Watch, who dispersed after helping him on Nevarro. His search led him to the Glavis Ringworld space station, where he accepted a bounty on the Klatoonian butcher Kaba Baiz in exchange for information on the covert’s location. Djarin fought Baiz and his workers with the Darksaber; however, his inexperience with the weapon caused him to injure himself. Still, Djarin defeated Baiz and delivered his head to his employer.
Armed with new information, Djarin found Mandalorian symbols directing him to the covert’s location on the space station, where he reunited with the tribe’s Armorer and Paz Vizsla. They treated his wound, and Djarin presented the Darksaber to the Armorer, who informed him of the weapon’s history. She chastised Bo-Katan Kryze’s leadership of Mandalore, claiming Kryze’s failure to earn the Darksaber turned the weapon into a curse for their people and led to their downfall at the Empire’s hands.
The Armorer tested Djarin’s Darksaber prowess in a sparring session. Noticing his struggles with the blade, she told him he focused too much on fighting the weapon rather than his opponent, which made it feel heavy. Proficiency with the weapon took mental fortitude more than physical strength. Paz Vizsla also noticed Djarin’s struggles and challenged him for possession of the weapon his ancestor forged, saying fate had brought the Darksaber before him.
Despite Din Djarin’s difficulty wielding the Darksaber, he narrowly defeated Vizsla and maintained possession of the weapon. After the duel, the Armorer asked Djarin if he had removed his helmet. When Djarin confessed he had, the Armorer declared that he was no longer Mandalorian and labeled him an apostate. She also said that the only way for Djarin to regain his Mandalorian status was to bathe in the Living Waters beneath the Mines of Mandalore, which were believed to have been destroyed during Mandalore’s purge.
Djarin then came to Boba Fett’s aid on Tatooine against the Pyke Syndicate. In the Battle of Mos Espa, Djarin used the Darksaber against Pyke Scorpenek droids, although the droids’ shields deflected Djarin’s attacks. During the battle, Djarin reunited with Grogu, who chose the Mandalorian path over continuing to train with Luke Skywalker as a Jedi. With Djarin and Grogu’s help, Fett’s gotra pushed the Pykes out of Mos Espa and strengthened Fett’s position as its Daimyo.
Reclaiming Mandalore
Din Djarin and Grogu left Tatooine and traveled to an unknown planet housing the Children of the Watch covert. Meeting with the Armorer, Djarin showed her a Mandalorian inscription he obtained from a Jawa, offering potential evidence that the Mines of Mandalore survived the Empire’s bombings. With the Armorer’s blessing, Djarin resolved to travel to Mandalore in the hopes of bathing in the Living Waters for redemption.
Following a brief stop on Nevarro and a skirmish with Gorian Shard’s pirates, Djarin visited Bo-Katan Kryze on Kalevala. He told her his plan to travel to Mandalore and bathe in the Living Waters. Kryze believed Mandalore had become poisoned and dismissed the Mines of Mandalore’s mysticism, but told Djarin that the mines sat under the former domed capital of Sundari. Determined, Djarin left Kryze for Mandalore, promising to see if the planet was truly poisoned.
Djarin, Grogu, and R5-D4, an astromech droid Djarin bought to test Mandalore’s air quality, landed on Mandalore near Sundari. Djarin sent R5 out first but soon lost contact, so he exited his ship and searched for the droid. His search led him into a cave, where he defeated a group of Alamites with the Darksaber. After finding R5 and determining Mandalore’s air was safe, he collected Grogu and ventured into Sundari in search of the Mines of Mandalore.
Din Djarin and Grogu traveled deep under the ruined capital city’s Civic Center, seeking out the path into the mines. Along the way, a cyborg scavenger mech captured Djarin and disarmed him of the Darksaber, though the cyborg tossed the weapon aside. Grogu tried to save Djarin with the Force, but the cyborg spotted him before he could. He evaded capture and returned to their ship, where R5 flew him back to Kalevala so he could gain Bo-Katan Kryze’s help rescuing Djarin.
Kryze and Grogu returned to Mandalore, where he led her to Djarin’s location. Kryze defeated another group of Alamites before finding Djarin just as the cyborg prepared to siphon his blood. Kryze collected the Darksaber and used it to defeat the cyborg. After freeing Djarin and returning the Darksaber, Kryze led him to the entrance of the Mines of Mandalore. Inside, she guided him to the Living Waters, which, according to a plaque, were once a Mythosaur lair before Mandalore the Great tamed it, giving rise to the Mandalorian skull signet.
Din Djarin entered the Living Waters and began reciting the Mandalorian Creed, but he stepped too far into the water and plummeted into the pool's depths. Kryze immediately dove in after him and found him on the water’s floor. As she brought him back up, Kryze saw a Mythosaur, which the Mandalorians considered extinct. After returning to the surface, Kryze affirmed Djarin’s atonement and asked if he saw anything in the water, but he denied it. Djarin collected some of the Living Water, and he, Grogu, and Kryze left Mandalore.
As the trio departed Mandalore onboard Kryze’s ship, Imperial remnant TIE Interceptors attacked, forcing them to flee to Kalevala so Djarin could retrieve his N-1 Starfighter. They eliminated some of the attackers and escaped Kalevala, but TIE Bombers destroyed Kryze Castle. Needing somewhere to hide, Djarin and Kryze traveled to the planet housing the Children of the Watch’s covert. Djarin advised Kryze to keep her helmet on to avoid any confrontation with the tribe.
Paz Vizsla confronted Djarin and Kryze at the covert’s hideout, denying them entry as apostates. Djarin asserted that he and Kryze had both bathed in the Living Waters, offering the flask of water he collected as proof. Vizsla allowed them in to meet with the Armorer, who confirmed Djarin’s flask contained the Living Waters. The Armorer declared that Djarin and Kryze were Mandalorians once again and allowed them to stay with the covert. Eventually, Kryze confided in the Armorer that she saw a Mythosaur, which she claimed was a vision.
The tribe joined Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze in helping Greef Karga fend off Gorian Shard’s pirates on Nevarro. As a reward, Karga offered the tribe a vast tract of land on Nevarro to resettle on. Following this victory, the Armorer placed her faith in Kryze’s ability to reunite all Mandalorian tribes, declaring it time to retake Mandalore. Hoping to convince her former followers to join their union with the Children of the Watch, Kryze and Djarin visited the planet Plazir-15, where Axe Woves led the group as the planet’s mercenary protection.
After solving a malfunctioning battle droid mystery, the planet’s rulers gave Djarin and Kryze access to Woves and his group’s location. Kryze asked that Woves return their fleet to her command, but he refused, asserting his position as its leader. Kryze challenged Woves to a duel, which she won; however, Woves still resisted her leadership, as she did not possess the Darksaber, and argued that she should challenge Djarin instead. Djarin, though, soon removed the need for that possibility.
He pointed out that Kryze defeated the cyborg that captured him on Mandalore, making the Darksaber rightfully hers. Woves agreed, and Djarin relinquished the Darksaber to Kryze. Kryze ignited the blade, once again the rightful ruler of her people. Djarin and Kryze returned to Nevarro with Woves and the rest of the fleet to regroup with the Children of the Watch. During a feast, Kryze asked for volunteers to scout out Mandalore’s surface before relocating settlers. Djarin, Grogu, Woves, Paz Vizsla, Koska Reeves, the Armorer, and several others volunteered.
The Mandalorian fleet moved into Mandalore’s orbit, and the scout team descended to the surface led by Bo-Katan Kryze. They planned to locate the planet’s Great Forge and set up a perimeter around it, establishing a safe zone for settlers. Soon after their mission began, the team found a group of Mandalorian Great Purge survivors, who reaffirmed their loyalty to Kryze and joined the expedition to the Great Forge. As they approached their target, a large trinitaur attacked them, but they managed to escape into the ruined Great Forge.
Before they could settle inside the Great Forge, though, a wave of beskar-clad Imperial Armored Commandos attacked the team. The Mandalorians fought the Imperials off and forced them to retreat; however, the fleeing Imperials led them into a trap within a secret underground Imperial Remnant base. Cut off from his comrades, Commandos captured Din Djarin just as Moff Gideon, who had escaped New Republic custody, arrived and ordered them to disarm Djarin.
Gideon now wore a full suit of beskar-infused Phase 4 Dark Trooper armor, claiming that Mandalore would live on through him as he built an army to conquer the galaxy. The base operated as Gideon’s headquarters as he attempted to clone an army of Force-sensitive soldiers. After ordering his forces to destroy the Mandalorian fleet in orbit and take Djarin away, Gideon demanded that Kryze hand over the Darksaber. Instead, Kryze used the Darksaber to cut a hole for the Mandalorians to escape through.
As the others fled, Paz Vizsla held off the Imperials alone. He fought off many of the attackers, but ultimately fell when a trio of Imperial Praetorian Guards arrived. Meanwhile, Djarin, with Grogu’s help, escaped his captors. Axe Woves also warned the Mandalorian fleet of the Imperial ambush in time to prevent its destruction and instructed them to send reinforcements to the planet. The Mandalorians regrouped and, led by a Darksaber-wielding Bo-Katan Kryze, launched an assault on Gideon’s base.
While the battle raged throughout the base, Din Djarin and Grogu fought Moff Gideon and the Praetorian Guards. Gideon initially prevented Djarin from protecting Grogu from the Praetorians, but Grogu used his Force abilities to stay out of their reach. Once Kryze arrived with the Darksaber and took Gideon’s attention, Djarin defeated the Praetorians with Grogu’s help. Kryze dueled Gideon, who wielded an electrostaff, in what would be a fateful confrontation for the Darksaber.
Kryze struggled to withstand Gideon’s attacks, whose Dark Trooper armor gave him immense strength and invulnerability. Gideon offered Kryze a warrior’s death if she surrendered the Darksaber. Kryze swung at Gideon, but he grabbed her saber-wielding hand. With his increased strength, he crushed the Darksaber’s hilt in Kryze’s hand, destroying the fabled weapon and Mandalorian symbol of power. Gideon taunted Kryze, saying that with the Darksaber gone, she had lost everything and that Mandalorians became weak without their trinkets.
Kryze retorted that Mandalorians were stronger together, and Din Djarin and Grogu returned to the fight against Gideon. With their numerical advantage, they disarmed Gideon just as Axe Woves piloted a light cruiser into the Imperial base, causing a massive explosion. The blast consumed Gideon, but Grogu created a Force shield to protect himself, Djarin, and Kryze. With Gideon’s forces defeated, Mandalore once again belonged to its people.
A New Future
Despite the Darksaber’s destruction, the Mandalorians rallied behind Bo-Katan Kryze. In a ceremony, Kryze ignited the Great Forge, symbolizing her ascent as Mandalore’s true leader. Having atoned for her past mistakes by reclaiming her people’s home, Kryze earned her place as Mand’alor. She accomplished something that those before her, including her sister, could not: For the first time in many decades, Mandalore had a single, undisputed leader.
In their conquest to reclaim their home, the Mandalorians learned that their unity made them stronger than any symbol, weapon, or creed. The Darksaber, despite its history as a symbol of Mandalorian power, ultimately produced more division than it solved, becoming a bane of Mandalorian strength rather than a conductor. Perhaps the Darksaber’s destruction will spark a brighter future for the Mandalorians; one built on unified identity rather than fractured symbolism.
This is the Way.
Comments