The Mandalorian: The Fate of the Darksaber Ushers In a New Age for Mandalore

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian: Chapter 24! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out IGN’s review of the Season 3 finale.

The Mandalorian’s third season wrapped up the only way it could have, with Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze and the rest of our heroes waging all-out war against Moff Gideon and his Imperial forces. And though good triumphed over evil, victory didn’t come without a price in the Season 3 finale. The Darksaber has become the latest casualty in the war against the Empire.

What does the loss of this crucial Star Wars artifact mean for Mandalore? Is Moff Gideon truly gone now? We’ll get into what this all means for a potential Season 4 and the Ahsoka series later, but for now, here’s how the Season 3 finale ushers in a new age for Mandalore and its people.

The Destruction of the Darksaber

Din Djarin and Bo-Katan may have defeated Moff Gideon again, but that victory comes at a slightly higher cost compared to Season 2’s finale. Bo-Katan lost scores of loyal soldiers in Gideon’s surprise attack, and now the Darksaber itself has been destroyed. Even if the Armorer could have repaired the hilt after it was crushed in Gideon’s super-strong fist, we assume the massive explosion from the falling ship obliterated what was left. 

But, strange as it may seem, the destruction of the Darksaber may actually be a good thing. There’s a strong case to be made that the Darksaber did more harm than good as a priceless cultural artifact and symbol of authority. Gideon wasn’t wrong when he criticized Mandalorians for placing so much importance in “their trinkets.”

The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have all shown us how Mandalorians have historically been their own worst enemy. The planet has been wracked by centuries of civil war and bloodshed. Even when Mandalore began to pivot in a more democratic direction under Duchess Satine Kryze during the Clone Wars, the fanatical Death Watch was there to oppose her government. After the Clone Wars, Mandalore became divided into Imperial sympathizers like Gar Saxon and those Houses who resisted the Empire.

Through it all, the Darksaber has been the one artifact capable of unifying the people of Mandalore under a single leader. Or, at least, that’s the idea. But has this weapon really done much good for Mandalore and its people? It seems to divide Mandalorians rather than unite them. It gave Pre Vizsla the legitimacy he needed to oppose Duchess Satine during the Clone Wars. It only ever gave Bo-Katan a tenuous claim to Mandalore’s throne. And when it was taken by Moff Gideon, Mandalore’s people fell into disarray and scattered to the four corners of the galaxy. Rather than uniting against a common enemy, they gave up hope.

The Darksaber’s role in the saga of Mandalore hearkens back to the helmet of Mandalore in the Knights of the Old Republic games. In that version of the Star Wars mythos, the helmet serves the same role as the Darksaber – an artifact that grants the wearer the right to rule. Revan defeated Mandalore the Ultimate and hid the helmet, leaving the people of Mandalore beaten and rudderless. Again, as Moff Gideon points out, these characters place far too much significance on artifacts, leaving them poorly equipped to keep fighting when those artifacts are destroyed or stolen.

The destruction of the Darksaber may be the best case scenario for Bo-Katan and her people. Her claim to Mandalore’s throne is far stronger now than it was during the height of the Empire. More important than the fact that she happens to wield a particular saber, she led her people in a successful campaign against a much stronger enemy. She’s won back the support of both her own soldiers and the traditionalists in the Children of the Watch. And unlike before, her power and authority can’t simply be handed away.

Bo-Katan and Din have accomplished what no one else has for centuries – uniting their fellow Mandalorians under one banner. Even with the Darksaber gone, this world finally seems on the path to a brighter and more prosperous future.

Moff Gideon’s Fate 

Every season of The Mandalorian seems to end with Din defeating Moff Gideon in battle, only for Gideon to rise from the ashes and return again. In Season 1, we saw Gideon emerge from the wreckage of his TIE Fighter with the Darksaber in hand. In Season 2, Gideon was taken into New Republic custody, only for our heroes to learn in Season 3 that he escaped before being tried for war crimes.

That raises the question of whether Gideon is well and truly dead at the end of Season 3. Has his luck finally run out? Or will he cheat death yet again?

There are certainly clues to point to Gideon’s possible return. Though we see him consumed by an explosion, don’t forget that Gideon is wearing his indestructible Dark Trooper armor, helmet and all. It’s always possible the suit protected him from the worst of the blast. 

Then there’s the question of Gideon’s clones. We learn in Chapter 24 that Gideon’s cloning research centered around trying to create perfected, Force-sensitive copies of himself. Even as Brian Gleeson’s Brendol Hux is busy overseeing Project Necromancer and the efforts to clone Emperor Palpatine, Gideon is selfishly trying to transform himself into an immortal super-soldier. And if Gideon is to be believed, he and Dr. Pershing finally arrived at the secret of creating Force-sensitive clones. Din destroys all the clones before his battle with Gideon, but is it possible at least one survived? Who’s to say Gideon didn’t keep at least one backup clone safely stashed away in a different location?

It’s very possible we haven’t seen the last of Moff Gideon. He could easily return in Season 4 or Dave Filoni’s upcoming Star Wars movie, this time with Force powers to back up his already impressive arsenal. Battling a Force-wielding Moff Gideon clone could be the challenge that pays off on all of Grogu’s Jedi and Mandalorian training. 

For more on the future of the Star Wars franchise, find out what Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy had to say about the three upcoming Star Wars movies and brush up on everything announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023.