The Mandalorian: Who Is Bo-Katan Kryze?

Spoiler warning for the events of The Mandalorian Season 2.

Season 2 of The Mandalorian so far has been a treat for fans due to its multiple connections to the Star Wars universe. Mandalorian Din Djarin and The Child’s fun and exciting episodic adventures across the galaxy have treated viewers to appearances from Timothy Olyphant As Cobb Vanth and Temuera Morrison as old man Boba Fett (likely, but unverified) to name a few.

The latest episode – ‘The Heiress’ – revealed another appearance that was not only incredibly epic but created some momentum on the broader story arcs of the season.

In ‘The Heiress’ we see our hero Mando reunite Frog Lady with her husband in Trask. There he meets with a Quarren who offered him passage to meet a group of his people. It didn’t take long for viewers to learn that this was simply a ploy to kill him (and The Child) and steal Beskar steel from his armour.

Just when it seems like Din Djarin is finally meeting his end, he was saved by three Mandalorians in quite possibly the coolest Mandalorian action scene we’ve ever seen. Once the enemies have been defeated, the three Mandalorians did the unspeakable – they removed their helmets. Whilst the shock sets in (with Din Djarin and with viewers), one can’t help but recognise a familiar face, and a familiar name – Bo-Katan Kryze.

Played by Katee Sackhoff, Bo-Katan has been a fixture in both The Clone Wars and Rebels animated cartoons, and this marks the character’s live action debut, played by non other than the actress who brought the character to life in the first place.

InThe Clone Wars, Bo-Katan worked with Count Dooku and Darth Maul to restore their people’s warrior natures, before being betrayed by Darth Maul, who took control of their home planet of Mandalore. In The Clone Wars, she had a sister named Satine who was later killed by Darth Maul and a nephew Korkie who is also believed to be dead. This leaves Bo-Katan as the last of her clan.

In Rebels, Bo-Katan was tied to Sabine Wren, the main character of the series, who had possession of the famed Mandalorian weapon, the darksaber. By the end of Rebels, Sabine had believed Bo-Katan to be a worthy warrior of the weapon. Bo-Katan reluctantly wielded the saber and the last we knew, she was in possession of it…until Moff Gideon came along and surprised us with the darksaber at the season one finale of The Mandalorian. How the darksaber fell in the hands of Moff Gideon still remains a mystery but one thing is for certain – Bo-Katan wants it back so that she can rule all of Mandalore.

Bo-Katan’s appearance in ‘The Heiress’ sparked a number of debates as to how old she actually is. Of course, with 40-years-old actress Sackhoff voicing the characters in the previous shows and making a live-action debut, Bo-Katan appears to be 40-years old. But does the math add up?

Bo-Katan is loosely linked to Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars and Ahsoka was 14 years old when she became a Jedi Padawan. Given how the Clone Wars ended in 19 BBY and The Mandalorian taking place in 9-10ABY, Bo-Katan would’ve been around for 28 years – almost three decades! With Bo-Katan believed to be in her 20s in The Clone Wars, it would mean that Bo-Katan is now in her late 40s to early 50s, obviously years away from Sackhoff’s actual age.

Regardless of how old she actually is, it is clear that Bo-Katan hasn’t lost any of her skills over the years. She’s tactical, aggressive and is a raging badass when fighting off stormtroopers. All her skills combined made Din Djarin look like a child, which isn’t false at all given how Bo-Katan fought in the Clone Wars and Din Djarin was saved by the Death Watch during the wars itself.

Bo-Katan’s introduction weaves in greatly with the larger story of The Mandalorian. With Moff Gideon still as one of the biggest antagonists of the series, we might see more of Bo-Katan as she and her Nite Owls take the fight to Gideon and attempt to rightfully take back the darksaber in season 2.

New episodes of The Mandalorian land every Friday on Disney+.