The Mandalorian season 2 episode 3 offered a bridge to bigger and better things: starting with a series introduction to a major Star Wars character, Bo-Katan.
Katee Sackhoff makes her series debut playing a fellow Mandalorian to our titular hero – read on for everything you need to know about the crucial character.
Who is Bo-Katan?
Bo-Katan Kryze is a female Mandalorian, seen previously in animated spin-off series The Clone Wars and Rebels. Her sister is Satine, the ruler of the Mandalorian homeworld, Mandalore. The pair don’t get along so well, leading Bo-Katan to join Death Watch, the radical Mandalorian group – and aiming to take control of Mandalore.
Bo then reluctantly teamed up with Darth Maul (The Phantom Menace baddie) and his brother Savage Opress, to do so – before eventually aligning with the Light Side of the Force and Jedi Ahsoka Tano in order to defeat Maul. She was then offered the title of Regent by the Jedi, but refused to accept the honour.
Describing Bo-Katan’s whereabouts pre-Mandalorian, the Star Wars wiki says: “During the Republic’s occupation of Mandalore, the government reorganised into the Galactic Empire, and a new wave of violence claimed the planet. In 2 BBY, Clan Wren of Krownest chose to resist the Empire, leading the Imperial loyalists of Clan Saxon to fight them.
“These actions threw Mandalore into another civil war. During the war, Kryze encountered Countess Ursa Wren and Sabine Wren of Clan Wren, who were seeking a Mandalorian worthy of wielding the Darksaber and claiming the title of Mand’alor. With the Wrens’ approval, Kryze took the weapon and rallied the support of several Mandalorians.”
In the new episode, she immediately breaks the Mandalorian code by removing her helmet when she turns up, getting off to a rocky start with our eponymous hero.
Where have we seen her before?
She made her debut appearance in animated spin-off Star Wars: The Clone Wars – with Sackhoff voicing the character too. Bo-Katan starred in nine episodes, and was then also seen in anthology book The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark.
The season four debut of Star Wars Rebels, ‘Heroes of Manadalore’ then saw the return of Bo-Katan. In this episode, Bo was bestowed with the Darksaber weapon, before she lost it during The Great Purge when the Empire tried to eradicate the last of the Mandalorians, and it was then handed over to Moff Gideon, played by Giancarlo Esposito in The Mandalorian.
What does Bo-Katan’s return mean for ‘The Mandalorian’?
The appearance of Bo-Katan at this point in the series points to an upcoming face-off with Gideon to reclaim the darksaber, alongside Mando – but she’ll probably knock heads with her metalhead mate too. Bo-Katan is on a path to finish what she started when it comes to the Empire, and she won’t be stopped now.
Whether The Mandalorian decides to divert from The Clone Wars and Rebels story to fit Bo-Katan into a brand new future remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure though, the stakes are only going to get higher as this season develops.