The season 1 finale of The Mandalorian has a big reveal at the end. We have all the info on the villain’s mysterious weapon Darksaber for you.
Warning, spoilers for The Mandalorian: As if the reveal of baby Yoda wasn’t exciting enough, series creator, screenwriter and showrunner Jon Favreau smuggled a very specific item into Season 1 of The Mandalorian, which is revealed in the very last seconds of the finale.
When does The Mandalorian Season 3 start on Disney+? Will baby Yoda return? And what does the plot revolve around?
We’re talking about a Darksaber, the weapon that villain Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) conjures out of a cape after saving himself from his crashed TIE Fighter. This is not the first time the Darksaber has appeared in the Star Wars universe. It was already seen in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
The Mandalorian: The Darksaber explained by Moff Gideon
But what exactly are we dealing with here? The Darksaber (in the original Darksaber) is an ancient, unique lightsaber that has a black, flat blade with a white sheen. It’s an unusual sight that truly stands out from the rest of the lightsaber assortment in the Star Wars films.
The Darksaber was made by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian Jedi. After his death, it became the property of the Jedi Order, which kept it in the temple on Coruscant. However, in the wake of the fall of the Old Republic, members of House Vizsla empowered themselves with the weapon to unite Mandalore and strike down their enemies.
Very early on, the Darksaber became not only a powerful tool of war, but also an important symbol for the Mandalorians. It also played a decisive role in the Clone Wars. Pre Vizsla, for example, held it in his hands when he rebelled against Duchess Satine, who was committed to Mandalore’s peaceful future.
The Darksaber passes into the hands of Darth Maul
Pre Vizsla, on the other hand, saw the Darksaber as a chance to return the Mandalorian people to their proud warrior roots, and went into battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also used the weapon against Darth Maul, but lost the duel, after which the former Sith Lord declared himself the rightful owner of the Darksaber.
Maul even used the Darksaber to fight his former master, Darth Sidious. Many years after the events of The Clone Wars, he also encountered the crew of the Ghost from Star Wars Rebels. At this point, the Darksaber changed hands again: young Ezra Bridger used it to fight the Nightsisters on Dathomir.
Eventually, however, the weapon passed into the hands of Sabine Wren, also a member of the Ghost crew and a native of Mandalore. As part of the Wren clan, she had connections to House Vizsla and could thus lay claim to the Darksaber. She was later trained in its use by Ezra and the Jedi Kanan Jarrus.
The Mandalorian brings back the Darksaber
However, returning to her family and freeing Mandalore turned out to be tricky stops on the Darksaber’s long journey through Star Wars history. At the end of Star Wars Rebels, Sabine hands the weapon over to Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine’s sister. As a result, the divided clans of Mandalore join her in the resistance against the Empire.
Enter Moff Gideon: After we learned in Season 1 of The Mandalorian that the Mandalorian people had retreated underground after a major defeat, the villain suddenly appears with the Darksaber in his luggage. He certainly didn’t pick it up by chance somewhere.
On the contrary, Moff Gideon lets it be known that he personally was not entirely uninvolved in the downfall of the Mandalorians. Based on the history and significance of the Darksaber, it looks quite like he carries it with him as a trophy. Once again, the weapon has fallen into the wrong hands and we can be curious to see if it can be reclaimed.
