Mandalorian‘s finale pulls a major weapon from the Clone Wars series, and it’s definitely not something any of us saw coming.
Spoilers for the season 1 finale of The Mandalorian follow. Scroll past The Child at your own risk.
In the last moments of The Mandalorian episode 8, we see Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) use what appears to be a black lightsaber to but his way out of TIE Fighter wreckage. Well, that is exactly what he is using and it is known as the Darksaber. Not only is this a major recall to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated series, but it has a very long history with the Mandalorian people.
The Darksaber was forged by the first Mandalorian to ever become a Jedi, Tarre Vizsla, some one thousand years before the events of the original Star Wars movie. Following his death, the Jedi kept the Darksaber in their temple, but House Vizsla eventually stole it back and it was passed down generation after generation of the family.
In the waning days of the Clone Wars, it came into the possession of Pre Vizsla, the head of the Mandalorian Death Watch, a group of Mandos that still believed in the warrior ways of the old days. He eventually led a revolt on Mandalore and took over the world, only to be defeated by Darth Maul who then took the Darksaber for himself. He then lost it in a duel with Darth Sidious (the Emperor), but later regained it.
Then, during the time of the Rebels series, the Mandalorian Sabine Wren came to possess it. Following training with it, she eventually handed it over to Bo-Katan Kryze who would lead the Mandalorians against the empire.
Now, years later, we arrive at Moff Gideon. How exactly Gideon, an Imperial, came to possess the Darksaber is unknown, but seeing the ties it has to Mandalorian culture, it will clearly factor into season 2.
It’s also not too surprising it showed up in the series. as Dave Filoni – who created Clone Wars and Rebels – works on The Mandalorian, and series creator Jon Favreau actually voiced Pre Vizsla.
The introduction of the Darksaber was definitely a surprise, and we can’t wait to see where the Mandalorian takes us next with it.
