The Mandalorian season three, episode six, “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” changed the rules of the Darksaber (again), and fans aren’t impressed. The Darksaber first showed up in The Mandalorian in season 2, when it was revealed to have been taken from Mandalore by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) during the Purge of Mandalore. However, it was established that the Darksaber could be claimed if one bested the current wielder in combat, leading Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to become the rightful owner of the sword after defeating Gideon in battle.
Of course, this rule didn’t really make sense because Star Wars Rebels saw characters like Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) finding or being given the Darksaber instead of winning it in combat. So, The Book of Boba Fett explained this by saying that you can technically wield it without winning it traditionally, but you’ll be cursed if you do. This is why Kryze, who initially sought to win the Darksaber from Gideon, refused the sword after Djarin offered it to her.
However, he offers it to her again in “Guns for Hire” and pulls a technicality out of his butt by explaining that he was defeated by the Cyborg in “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore,” and that Kryze’s rescue of him and defeat of the Cyborg makes her the Darksaber’s rightful owner by some kind of tortured transitive property loophole. Now, considering that some might blame the entire fall of Mandalore on Kryze’s initial nontraditional acquiring of the Darksaber, you’d think the Mandalorians might be a little skeptical. Instead, they all agree that this new rule makes sense and deem Kryze their new leader. Fans, though, aren’t so sure what to make of this development.
The Mandalorian Darksaber twist draws Elder Wand comparisons
Now, the Darksaber has always drawn comparisons to the Elder Wand in the Harry Potter franchise. After all, the Darksaber is a mysterious one-of-a-kind artifact associated with power and difficult to master that must be won in combat. Meanwhile, the Elder Wand is a mysterious wand believed to be the most powerful of all that is difficult to master and will only connect with a wizard who has won it in a duel. They’re practically the same thing.
The Elder Wand caused many fan debates when it seemingly changed its rules to make Harry Potter the rightful owner of the Elder Wand. The rules were that one acquired ownership of the Elder Wand by defeating the previous holder of the wand in a duel. However, Draco Malfoy was able to become the owner because he disarmed the current owner, Albus Dumbledore, which allowed Severus Snape to kill Dumbledore. Then, the story takes it a step further by making Potter the rightful owner of the Elder Wand because he disarmed Malfoy of a different wand at some point in time while the Elder Wand was hidden far away in Dumbledore’s grave, and that counted as “defeating” him. Now, The Mandalorian is also being accused of creating similar confusing loopholes to give Kryze ownership of the Darksaber.
Fans react to The Mandalorian’s Darksaber twist
Fans were a bit divided on whether the Darksaber is like the Elder Wand. Most pointed out that this whole idea of the Darksaber needing to be won in combat is largely just superstition. Hence, it’s not the same as a quasi-sentient wand choosing allegiance to a specific owner. Still, though, many agreed that it followed a similar pattern of using an unconvincing technicality to conveniently change the rules to whatever the writers want at a given moment, and that it wasn’t a very good decision on the part of the show’s writers.
Meanwhile, regardless of rules and Elder Wand parallels, many fans just thought that the whole twist was ill-conceived. After all, we were all waiting for some intense battle between Kryze and Djarin, just for him to end up handing it over to her without a fuss, despite the conflict that had been set up. As a result, fans were left asking why Dajarin even had the Darksaber in the first place. He decided not to pursue the leadership of Mandalore and didn’t even get a good duel with Kryze out of it. Also, what’s he going to do now—just step back and watch Kryze be a leader because he just handed his last responsibility over to her? Is this because he took over Book of Boba Fett, so now Kryze is taking over his show?
Of course, some have pointed out that it was obvious Kryze was going to get the Darksaber back at some point. Djarin never wanted the Darksaber, and he never showed an interest in leading Mandalore as Kryze did. Ultimately, he wanted what was best for Mandalore and saw that Kryze was a better person than him to lead them, given he could barely wield the Darksaber and had such limited knowledge of Mandalore. Hence, the problem isn’t really that he no longer has the Darksaber, but that Kryze acquired it in such an unexciting and unconvincing manner.
(featured image: Disney)
