“Our people are scattered, like stars in the galaxy. What are we? What do we stand for?”
Those words spoken by Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to Grogu in the trailer for season three of The Mandalorian neatly sum up the direction this next chapter will take.
As you may recall, The Book Of Boba Fett saw the duo reunite, but Djarin’s choices here had severe repercussions as it involved betraying the oaths he had long lived by.
As a result, he is now estranged from the group of Mandalorians that raised him, named The Tribe, which are part of The Children Of The Watch religion.
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The third season of the hit show, which returns to our screens tomorrow, will therefore see not only how Djarin copes with this, but how Grogu factors into that journey as well, especially now that The Mandalorian has embraced him as family.
It’s an adventure that will see our pair encounter many Mandalorians, which is something that the trailers have been heavily teasing.
One of these Mandalorians of course is portrayed by Katee Sackhoff, who reprises her role of the fan-favourite Bo-Katan Kryze after making her live-action debut as the character in the prior season.
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Speaking to Zavvi, Sackhoff stated that Djarin’s breach of the Mandalorian culture and principles has created friction within the group, particularly between him and Bo-Katan.
But as the actor also teases, Mando isn’t the only character with whom Bo-Katan has a tense relationship, revealing that there are wider conflicts:
“With her relationship with Mando, it’s complicated. We will have to see how they handle it as obviously it’s getting handled in some way.
“I believe I saw online that some people think that they should just get married – and you never know, there are so many options.
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“But also, we know right off the bat based on The Book Of Boba Fett that Bo and the Armourer don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye as well.
“With all of these Mandalorians coming together on the show, you can expect that there will be some sort of hashing out of whose way is the right way – we will just have to wait and see though what happens with that.”
All of this isn’t exactly a surprise given that the last season revealed that the Mandalorians have fractured as a result of the Great Purge.
Djarin was definitely shocked when Bo-Katan told him that he belongs to a “cult of religious zealots that broke away from Mandalorian society”.
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It is therefore Bo-Katan’s aim to bring the Mandalorians back together under her rule, but Sackhoff admits that she is unsure whether her character is currently ready to be that leader:
“Therein lies the big question – I just don’t know if she’s ready. I think that’s one of the things about being a leader – I think that sometimes the reluctant leader is the best leader.
“The people who make a career out of it at times aren’t the best people. But I have no idea, so I guess we’ll have to figure that out.”
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One person standing in Bo-Katan’s way here is Djarin himself, which only further increases the friction between the two.
As we previously learnt, the Mandalorians traditionally believe that whoever wields the Darksaber is the rightful ruler of their home, Mandalore.
However, you must win the powerful weapon in ritualistic battle against the current owner, which presents somewhat of a problem for Bo-Katan.
During the finale of season two, we saw Djarin become the new rightful wielder of the Darksaber after defeating the villainous Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) in battle.
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Whilst he offers it up to Bo-Katan in that episode, she refuses to take it, being aware that it would be a violation of tradition and the rules.
However, as fans of animated show Star Wars Rebels will know, Bo-Katan has previously accepted the Darksaber as a gift, with fellow Mandalorian Sabine Wren handing it to her with the belief that Kryze is the leader that they needed at that time.
Therefore, the question is: what has changed? Why did Bo-Katan accept the weapon there but not in The Mandalorian?
It’s a crucial point Sackhoff confirms will be addressed: “Everyone who saw the end of season two knows the predicament that she finds herself in.
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“Bo firmly believes that the only way to rule the Mandalorian people is by possessing the Darksaber. And she wants to rule, she believes she is the right person to do that.
“For fans of Clone Wars and Rebels, we have seen Bo accept the Darksaber as a gift before, so the real question people should be asking themselves during season three is ‘what is different? Why did she accept it once before but isn’t doing so now?’
“Something has changed, something in her has changed. She is a very different person and there’s a reason why she didn’t accept it – we’ll have to figure that out.”
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We may soon see Bo-Katan reunite with her former ally Sabine as upcoming TV show Ahsoka will see the live-action debut of the character, with actor Natasha Liu Bordizzo taking on the role.
And there is of course the possibility that Sabine will pop up in live action sooner than that as the character could make a cameo in season three of The Mandalorian.
Sackhoff plays it coy when asked if an on-screen reunion is coming: “So, here’s the amazing thing about all of this: Dave Filoni [creator/director of the animated shows] has so many beautiful characters in his head and they all, as far as we know, exist in this timeline at this point, so I don’t think anything is off the table.
“But that is way above my pay grade – I haven’t the foggiest clue!”
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It is more likely that we will see Bo-Katan reunite with another of her former collaborators before we see her next to Sabine on-screen again.
Whilst both Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) appeared in the second season of The Mandalorian, they didn’t share any screentime together.
Our hope is that changes with season three, which is a sentiment Sackhoff shares: “Oh my gosh, absolutely!
“I love the relationship between Ahsoka and Bo-Katan, it’s something we have seen grow and change over the seasons.
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“Where we see it end at the conclusion of Rebels and Clone Wars, it’s a very different thing from where it started.
“I love Rosario, she and I would love to work together – I’m speaking for both of us there!”
It will be interesting to see where Bo-Katan and Ahsoka’s relationship could go next given their complicated, lengthy history.
Making her debut in 2012 during the fourth season of Clone Wars, Bo-Katan has long been a fixture in the Star Wars world, having complex bonds with many other fan-favourite characters like Ahsoka.
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Having portrayed the character from the very beginning, Sackhoff has been in the role for over a decade now, admitting that Bo-Katan is very much a part of her soul.
The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau therefore regularly consulted with Sackhoff whilst making season three, with the actor having a significant impact when it came to shaping Bo-Katan’s story.
She explained: “One of the most beautiful things about this experience is how collaborative it is.
“I have said that I just know Bo at this point – I have played her and lived in her shoes for so long, I do believe that I know her better than anybody else now.
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“I have talked to Dave [Filoni] ad nauseum about her, so I know so much about who she was and where she was before we even met her in Clone Wars.
“So, when I sit down with Jon [Favreau] to talk about the day and what it will look like, we always discuss where Bo has been and where she is going.
“One of the things that he has been so receptive to is when I talk to him about what Bo will do in a moment.
“Sometimes it’s not what he thinks or what he wants, but that’s the beautiful thing about Jon, he trusts me to take her where I want to take her.
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“We try many different levels with her and ultimately find the right place. That is such a collaboration – sometimes there can be a lot of ‘stand there’ and ‘say this’, but this is not like that.”
Despite knowing the character inside out, Sackhoff is open about the fact that she is still uncovering new layers of Bo-Katan every single day.
In fact, this is what excites her the most during filming: “One of the things that I love about her is that she’s an incredibly complicated woman.
“She’s had such a tumultuous life and so I’m always discovering new things about her, based on the new scripts or a new emotion that comes up, maybe even in the middle of the scene.
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“There’s actually one this season – I was filming it and had the intention of going in one direction, but the scene took me a different way.
“I allowed myself to go in the direction the emotions were taking me and it was a very different place than I had ever known Bo to live – but that’s part of the joy of playing her and working with this amazing team.”
Where Bo-Katan goes next exactly, Sackhoff isn’t revealing anything precise, holding her cards close to her chest.
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However, she does emphasise that fans should be excited for what promises to be the biggest and most epic season of The Mandalorian yet:
“Fans should expect an epic season. It’s very big, much bigger than before, there are a lot of Mandalorians. It’ll be a great season and I think the fans will be very happy!”
We can’t wait – as Bo-Katan and Mando themselves say, this is the way!
The Mandalorian Season 3 debuts on Disney+ on 1st March.
