Editorial: Does Din Djarin Have What It Takes To Wield the Darksaber?
The Darksaber is a much-desired weapon in the Star Wars galaxy. Ever since the death of Pre Vizsla, the weapon has bounced from one owner to another over the course of several decades. Currently, it is owned by our favorite Mandalorian, Din Djarin, and appears set to shape his destiny, but is he up to the task?
Before I delve into this, I should note that this editorial contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett. If you haven’t seen that episode yet, please go watch it and come back later!
The Mandalorian‘s season 2 finale left us all wondering what happened in the immediate aftermath. Did Din Djarin have another fight with Bo-Katan, and if so, did she win back the Darksaber she so desperately craves? If they didn’t, then would Din be forced to reckon with his unwanted destiny of reclaiming Mandalore and spearheading the rebuilding of Mandalorian culture? His latest appearance in The Book of Boba Fett suggested they did not fight for ownership of the blade, or if they did, then Din won the duel.
Din still owns the Darksaber and frequently wields it in battle, but it seems he has no intention of becoming the Mandalorian messiah. It makes you wonder whether he will still be in possession of it by the end of The Mandalorian season 3. I wonder this because the Darksaber is key to the future of Mandalore and Mandalorian culture. It seems that the upcoming Disney+ shows (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and whatever they’re doing with that Rangers of the New Republic show right now) are all gearing toward a final battle to retake Mandalore for the Mandalorian people, with the owner of the Darksaber leading the charge. At the very least, that seems to be how The Mandalorian will ultimately end.
Whoever wields the Darksaber is key to the future of the Mandalorians. Din does seem the most likely to spearhead this movement, but there are two other candidates to this destiny.
Din’s chances of holding onto the Darksaber likely revolve around The Mandalorian‘s ongoing theme of identity and what it means to be a Mandalorian. In season 1, he is often tempted to leave behind the life of a Mandalorian, whether it be to stay and protect a fishing village on a backwater world, or to return to a life of misdeeds with a group of criminals. By the end of the season, he even removes his helmet in front of a droid, but he technically breaks no rules, so his sense of honor and status as a Mandalorian remains intact.
In season 2, Din is confronted by three other important characters wearing Mandalorian armor who either don’t follow the Deathwatch creed that he was raised on or aren’t even Mandalorians at all. By the end of the season, he seems to understand that you can wear the armor and take your helmet off and still retain the honor and noble qualities that a Mandalorian should possess. You don’t need to be a member of Deathwatch to be a good Mandalorian.
In The Book of Boba Fett, Din clearly hasn’t decided what he is going to do with the Darksaber. His priority appears to have been to find the Armorer from season 1 and return to his old covert. He is then exiled from his original family after he admits he removed his helmet in front of others, and now seems to have no other purpose than keeping an eye on Grogu.
Theoretically, leaving Deathwatch behind should free him up to push ahead with his newfound destiny as wielder of the Darksaber. He certainly doesn’t want to give the weapon up anymore, so why not live up to its legacy? We see that it won’t be as easy as that, as Din’s relationship with the blade is difficult. The Armorer points out that he is “fighting against the blade”, rather than working in harmony with it. This suggests to me that, right now, he is not ready to lead the Mandalorian people. Only someone capable of mastering the blade can do that.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian will likely work this into the show’s theme of identity. Can Din Djarin be the savior of the Mandalorians? In order to do that, he will have to work out whether he still is a Mandalorian now that his covert has exiled him. His hero’s journey will likely involve him overcoming various obstacles to reach the point where he possesses the self-belief in his own status as a Mandalorian to truly be comfortable wielding the blade (though a bit of lightsaber training with Luke Skywalker or Ahsoka Tano wouldn’t hurt either).
It’s possible that he could follow the path of Sabine Wren however, realizing that he is not meant to wield the Darksaber after all. This would still fit the show’s theme of identity, as it is possible for Din to identify as a Mandalorian without being the messianic figure that the Darksaber demands. Admitting that is not a failure, just an acceptance of his place within his culture.
Bo-Katan would certainly be supportive of this (though it would still mean she’d have to beat him in single combat to win the Darksaber). However, it appears that the Darksaber is not her destiny either. While she admirably rebelled against Darth Maul’s occupation of Mandalore, and later against the Empire’s, she was unable to live up to the title of Mandalore. She didn’t win the blade in combat and ultimately led her people to ruin, as the Night of a Thousand Tears showed.
That wasn’t her fault, but then, when she had a second chance to claim the Darksaber properly, she failed and could only watch as Din won it instead. This would suggest that Bo-Katan is not the one to lead the Mandalorian people to glory, as much as she may want to. If she was, then surely she would have seen some kind of lasting success by now. Her personal failure in the finale feels like a sign that she is not meant to rule.
Sabine Wren is another outlier to wield the Darksaber, as we have seen her wield the weapon skillfully in the past. Like Bo-Katan (and unlike Din), she is comfortable with her identity as a Mandalorian. However, she didn’t want the responsibility of leading her people and gave the blade away. Would an older and wiser Sabine feel more comfortable taking up the mantle?
It has only been rumored that Sabine will be returning in a live-action capacity in a future Disney+ show other than Ahsoka, so nothing is confirmed here. But if she does return and become part of this larger story, it will be interesting to see whether Sabine’s attitude towards the Darksaber has changed or not. If it has, she could prove a better alternative as Mandalore than Din.
Ultimately, I think Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are most interested in Din’s journey, which makes him the most likely candidate to fulfill the Darksaber’s destiny, but it would certainly be interesting if they wanted his hero’s journey to culminate in another way instead. Perhaps the Darksaber will change hands one final time before Mandalore is reclaimed by its people. We probably won’t find out until The Mandalorian eventually ends, but it’s fun to think about until then.
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
