‘The Mandalorian’: Katee Sackhoff on the Impact of Bo-Katan’s Tragic Backstory
In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Katee Sackhoff discussed Bo-Katan’s fragile mental state at the start of The Mandalorian season 3 and how much she enjoys playing a character with a complex backstory, which we’ll recap quickly as we get ready to meet back with her in the new episodes.
For those fans who may not have spent much time with Star Wars animation, Bo-Katan has a rocky history, starting with her involvement in the Death Watch, a radical Mandalorian sect that committed acts of terrorism against the Mandalorian government during The Clone Wars. Death Watch is virtually dissolved at the end of The Clone Wars, and a part of what remained eventually evolved into Din’s clan, the Children of the Watch (which may have made her snide remarks to Din in Chapter 11 eyebrow-raising, if not slightly hypocritical, considering her instrumental role in the parent clan’s rise to power).
Bo-Katan’s time with Death Watch put her at direct odds with her sister, Duchess Satine, who ruled Mandalore during The Clone Wars. Satine implemented a pacifist culture in an attempt to install peace on a planet that has rarely experienced it. This peace was short-lived, and the ensuing conflict caused by Death Watch would eventually lead to Satine’s murder, an event that Bo-Katan witnessed.
Bo-Katan’s moral compass continued to swing wildly, leaping from terrorist organization to altruistic leader before the Empire assumed control. Her unchallenged acceptance of the Darksaber in Rebels seemed like a virtuous turning point at the time, but her disregard for Mandalorian tradition may have contributed to the Night of a Thousand Tears and the Great Purge that followed.
Sackhoff commented on the scale of Bo-Katan’s tragic backstory and what this means for her mental state when we meet her in season 3:
“I think that she has lost everything. Everything that she thought she wanted, everything that she has fought for so long, is gone. And I think that’s where we find her; in this place [that’s] almost an “all is lost” moment. I think she’s probably questioning everything she’s done since the moment we met her over 10 years ago, and the means by which she went about getting to where she’s at.”
This description certainly fits the shot we see of Bo-Katan sitting in what appears to be an empty throne hall in the trailer. Asked whether we will explore Bo-Katan’s animated history in season 3, Sackhoff responded:
“We do get to touch a little bit on her emotional journey this season, which is really really fun for me. I love complicated characters, and her backstory is so incredibly rich with complication, a lot by her own design. So I think there is a lot of deep, heavy thought and atonement going on in her mind.”
In a separate interview with TV Insider, Sackhoff elaborated on how Bo-Katan’s choices have impacted the character we see in season 3 of The Mandalorian:
“[…] Everything that happened to Bo in Clone Wars and Rebels and season 2 of The Mandalorian has created the woman we’re going to see in season 3. She’s very different from who we’ve seen in the past.”
Does this mean that Bo-Katan is no longer seeking to rule Mandalore? Has she laid down the proverbial blaster in favor of a more peaceful path? I doubt it!
Wherever Bo-Katan’s story goes in season 3, it’s clear that we will see her reckoning with the mistakes she’s made in the past; letting Din win the Darksaber from Moff Gideon in season 2 being counted among them. We’ll begin to see how things shake out in just a few hours.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
