The Mandalorian Season 2 is back on track with Chapter 11 “The Heiress.” It majorly veers away from the antics of the second episode, Baby Yoda gobbling down the alien Frog Lady’s egg and Mando facing off against a monster who appears to have no connection whatsoever to the larger plot. Its latest episode is all business. Mando finally “finds” other Mandalorians and another Star Wars character with a rich, enticing history in the franchise is introduced, making way for an upcoming fan-favourite character.
Without giving away much of the details, it is already known that “The Heiress” was going to see the next leg of Mando, Baby Yoda, and the Frog Lady’s rather bumpy journey to the planet Trask, where the latter is united with her husband. And as per their deal, he directs Mando to where he can find more information about other Mandalorians in hiding.&
But surprisingly, even though he is shown to be blessed with acute intelligence and quick reflexes, Mando isn’t able to see the crystal-clear trap of betrayal up until the last moment. The episode takes a not-so-unexpected twist when the squid-like aliens, another Star Wars creature known as Quarren, feed Baby Yoda to a horrifying mamacore and try to drown Din Djarin to get their hands on his priceless Beskar armour.&
Just then three Mandalorians land and blast away the Quarrens as well as save The Child and Mando. But unlike Mando, they have no qualms about removing their helmets. While two of them are new characters, their leader has appeared many times in the Star Wars universe, the fearless Bo-Katan Kryze who has been a major character in the animtated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. And interestingly, marking her first live-action appearance is Katee Sackhoff who also voiced the character in the animated shows.&
She was first seen in The Clone Wars as a member of the estranged section of the Mandalorians known as Death Watch. She is also the sister of Duchess Satine Kryze, the then-ruler of the planet Mandalore, thus making her the by-default heiress of the throne after her. But as they could never lessen their differences, Bo-Katan ended up joining the radical group with plans of restoring the Mandalorian’s traditional heritage.&
Bo-Katan was the loyal lieutenant to the Death Watch’s leader Pre Vizsla but she had her reservation when the group ended up joining hands with Darth Maul and sister Savage Opress to take over Mandalore. Her fears weren’t baseless as Maul double-crossed them, killed Vizla, and took the throne for himself, leaving Bo-Katan to align herself with Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano to take him down in the Siege of Mandalore, a feat they ultimately achieved.
Why is Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian?
In The Mandalorian‘s Chapter 11, Bo-Katan is hunting for the weapons held in an Imperial ship but it is soon revealed that she is actually on the hunt for the Darksaber, the symbol of Mandalorian leadership before she goes back to rule Mandalore. As per the Star Wars timeline, the Darksaber’s first appearance was in The Clone Wars in the hand of Pre Vizsla, from whom it was taken by Maul to assume leadership of the Death Watch and Mandalore.&
Though Maul was defeated, the Darksaber was taken from him by Sabine Wren, a descendent of the Vizsla clan, who bestowed it upon Bo-Katan with the responsibility to unite the Mandalore’s clans and get it back from the claws of the Empire in Rebels.&
It is known that she lost the legendary weapon during the Great Purge and as The Mandalorian Season 2 establishes, it is now under the protection of Moff Gideon, though how he got his hands on the same are details that are yet to be revealed. And while Bo-Katan earlier had a sneaking suspicion that he has the Darksaber, “The Heiress” confirms it. Though this is the first time that we have heard the term “Darksaber” on The Mandalorian, it has already been shown before, in the Season 1 finale where Moff Gideon uses it to cut himself out of his fallen TIE Fighter.&
It is more than likely that Bo-Katan, Mando, and Gideon will again cross paths. the Mandalore’s heir is now gunning for Moff, who is after The Child. And though another expected Clone Wars character doesn’t appear in this episode, their name being subtly uttered sure does set up a promising future for the character’s upcoming live-action debut. And combined with the expected reappearance of Bo-Katan in further episodes, rest assured that it is going to be nothing short of amazing.