The Mandalorian Secretly Acknowledges A Huge Obi-Wan Kenobi Tragedy

This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, episode 2.The Mandalorian season 3 secretly acknowledges a huge tragedy in the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Set several years after the events of Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian season 3 is shining a light on the evils of the Empire. The planet Mandalore was ravaged by the Empire in an event known as the Purge of Mandalore, or the Night of a Thousand Tears. A planetary bombardment, using turbolasers and fusion bombs, fused the very surface of Mandalore into crystal. The Mandalorians were scattered like stars in the galaxy, their morale broken. Some clung to the ancient ways, desperately attempting to sustain their culture after this tragedy, but others seem to have lost faith completely.

The story has also focused on the fall of the Mandalorian House Kryze, once the royal house of Mandalore. Its last survivor is Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze, a character who seems to have now effectively become a co-star alongside Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin. According to Bo-Katan, she is the last of her line; the once proud House Kryze has been wiped out, a fitting symbol of the fate of Mandalore itself. When Din Djarin visited her fortress on Kalevala, he found Bo-Katan alone, despairing. Though he does not know it, the fate of House Kryze is tied to the Jedi as well as the Mandalorians – as Bo-Katan notes in The Mandalorian season 3, episode 2.

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Bo-Katan Is Right About Jedi Working With Mandalorians In The Past

The ancient war between the Jedi and Mandalore left a cloud over relations between the two groups for centuries, but Bo-Katan is right to remember occasions when they worked together. Bo-Katan herself worked with Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and most notably Ahsoka Tano; but she is most likely remembering other occasions involving Kenobi. He first became involved in Mandalorian affairs when he was just a Padawan, and he and his master Qui-Gon Jinn were sent to prepare Duchess Satine from assassins. The mission took a year, and Obi-Wan came to care deeply for Satine. He later admitted he would have left the Jedi if she asked him to, but both were too bound by their sense of duty.

Obi-Wan returned to Mandalore many times, especially during the Clone Wars, and it was clear he and Satine still loved one other. This ended in tragedy, however, when the feud between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul spilled over to Mandalore. Duchess Satine was killed by the former Sith apprentice as an act of revenge, leaving Obi-Wan heartbroken. Duchess Satine, of course, was Bo-Katan’s own sister – a sister she had never really gotten on with, given their different political persuasions.

Bo-Katan May Hint At The Reason For Her Conflict With Satine

The Mandalorian season 3, episode 2 may actually hint at the reason Satine and Bo-Katan clashed so much during their lives. In another conversation, Bo-Katan remembers her father, and recalls that he died in defense of Mandalore. Her father lived according to the Way of Mandalore, and it’s possible his death had a profound impact on his daughters. Satine, perhaps, saw it as a tragedy and a waste, becoming a pacifist. In contrast, Bo-Katan resolved to honor her father by living after his pattern. Although this is only theoretical, it would fit with both characters as seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

It’s possible Mandalore would never have fallen had the Kryze sisters not turned on one another. Bo-Katan sided with the Death Watch, a group dedicated to restoring the ancient ways who even attempted to kill Bo-Katan’s sister – and who ultimately helped Darth Maul conquer Mandalore. The conflict in House Kryze weakened Mandalore, turning the people against one another, leaving them weakened – with catastrophic results, as seen in The Mandalorian season 3.

New episodes of The Mandalorian release Wednesdays on Disney+.

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