The Mandalorian Season 3 Has An Intriguing Insight Into Bo-Katan's Family
This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 2.
After a quick detour to meet Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) on Tatooine, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Grogu make their way to Mandalore for the very first time. Initially, Din had plans to find a unique part so that he could revive IG-11 (have we not learned from the sins of "The Rise of Skywalker?"), but with a lack of options, he deploys a cowardly droid with a bad motivator Peli sold to him, R5-D4. After saving R5-D4 from attackers, Din makes a revelation — the air on Mandalore is breathable.
As gorgeous as the desolate ruins of Mandalore are, Din will soon find out that the planet is not any less dangerous. After some exploring, Din is captured and held hostage by a horrifying cyborg creature, leaving Grogu to go return their ship alone and chart a course for Karbala, asking for the help of Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). After helping Din defeat his robotic captors, Bo-Katan decides to accompany Din on his search for the pure waters of Mandalore.
Along the way, Bo-Katan takes in her environment and starts reminiscing on some of her memories growing up in Mandalore. Opening up to Din and Grogu, she shares some insight into her father, Duke Adonai Kryze, the initial successor of Mandalore before her half-sister, Satine Kryze. Based on what we know about the Kryze family in the current canon so far, what does the new information Bo-Katan given us about her father in this episode mean?
A political divide splits the Kryze family
Unfortunately, not much is known about Duke Adonai Kryze (even his Wookiepedia entry is short) but we can glean a few details based on the backstory and the relationship between Bo-Katan and the Kryze royal family. We do know that Adonai Kryze died fighting in the Great Clan War, also known as the Mandalorian Civil War — which was a battle between the internal clans of Mandalore and their beliefs on how to practice the culture of their people. After Adobai died in combat, Satine took over the Mandalore throne and ruled as a pacifist.
Bo-Katan eventually became estranged from the Kryze family for her radical political beliefs. In Great Clan War terms, she's categorized as an "Old Mandalorian." This group believes in restoring Mandalore to its old warrior ways and preserving its ancient culture. The "New Mandalorians" would eventually win the war, and Satine would take control of the Mandalore throne.
Yes, we've seen Bo-Katan mainly fight alongside our various heroes in the franchise, notably including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka against Darth Maul's occupation of Mandalore in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," but she always has had her own agenda in the end. In Din's case, Bo-Katan joining forces with his crew last season meant having allies to find and defeat Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and retrieve the Darksaber from his possession, which would help her revive and lead the remains of Mandalore and its displaced clans.
Will we learn more about Bo-Katan's family history in season 3?
In the latter half of this week's "The Mandalorian", while Bo-Katan examines the wreckage and thinks back to her father, she describes him as a "great man" who "died protecting Mandalore." This makes things a little more explicit — despite whatever their relationship was, Adonai and Bo-Katan were fighting on the same side. Ironically, despite expressing much frustration over the in-fighting between Mandalorian clans, Bo-Katan looks up to her father in admiration.
Bo-Katan Kryze has always been a supporting character that made appearances every now and then in the cartoons, but this season of "The Mandalorian" promises a larger role for the character as Din and Grogu delve deeper into the depths of Mandalore in live-action. It's entirely possible we might learn even more about the Kryze family history and the political extremes that tore them apart.
As mentioned, Bo-Katan and Satine are only half-sisters, so there's also the possibility we may learn more about their separate origins as well. Perhaps Adonai Kryze isn't even Bo-Katan's father at all, or there is some special reason why she has adopted his politics over Satine's pacifist philosophy? Only time and the war-torn remains of the planet Mandalore holds the answers.
"The Mandalorian" season 3 airs new episodes on Disney+ every Wednesday.