While The Book of Boba Fett gave us plenty of major reveals and action-packed sequences involving the titular bounty hunter, there's no denying that it felt more like a trailer for The Mandalorian Season 3, especially when it comes to the final three episodes. While it would appear that Grogu has returned to the show (having never actually gone, when you think about it), one of the big questions is regarding Bo-Katan Kryze. Is she friend or foe?
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Bo-Katan is best known for her appearance in animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars and its follow-up Star Wars: Rebels, but has quickly made a name for herself in live-action too. So let's take a look at Bo-Katan's past and present, and try to determine whether Din Djarin should be worried that he's in the possession of the Darksaber...
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars
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We first meet Bo-Katan in The Clone Wars Season 4. The Mandalorian is a member of a terrorist cell known as Death Watch, and sister to Mandalore's Dutchess Satine Kryze (though they're both estranged from one another due to their political beliefs). Bo-Katan believes in returning her homeworld to its "ancient warrior ways", and is more or less a villain during her earlier episodes in The Clone Wars.
It isn't until disgraced Sith Lord Darth Maul executes her sister and seizes the throne of Mandalore, that Bo-Katan begins to side with the Jedi - Ahsoka Tano, to be specific. Bo-Katan winds up helping Ahsoka towards the very end of the Clone Wars, helping to remove Maul from power and restoring peace to her planet (temporary, of course, with Order 66 imminent at this point).
While Bo-Katan starts out as a villainous type in the animated show, there's no denying that she's one of the heroes by the curtain-call.
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Star Wars: Rebels
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Set 14 years after The Clone Wars, Rebels follows a group of resistance fighters who become the spark that lights the fire that will eventually bring down the Galactic Empire. While she has much less time on this show, Bo-Katan makes an appearance, however, she doesn't show up until Season 4's "Heroes of Mandalore". After leaving her homeworld, the Mandalorian teams up with the titular rebels to destroy a Mandalorian weapon.
Ultimately, fellow Mandalorian Sabine Wren (who will be appearing in the upcoming Ahsoka series in live-action, played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo) gives the Darksaber to Bo-Katan so that she can rule Mandalore, which is currently under Imperial occupation. As you probably know, the Darksaber grants its owner the power - and the right - to rule Mandalore, and being from House Kryze, an old Mandalorian family, Bo-Katan believes she has that right.
Exactly what happens between Rebels and The Mandalorian Season 2 is unknown, because, by the time she teams up with Din Djarin, she is no longer in possession of the Darksaber.
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The Mandalorian Season 2
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Having voiced her in both The Clone Wars and Rebels, Katee Sackhoff brought Bo-Katan Kryze to life in live-action in The Mandalorian Season 2. She first appears in "The Heiress", in which she, along with her fellow Nite Owls, Koska Reeves and Axe Woves, save Din Djarin and Grogu from Quarren pirates. In this episode, we learn that Bo-Katan and her people view Din Djarin and his as a sort of cult, that his way is not the way.
Bo-Katan returns for the epic finale "The Rescue", in which she helps the Mandalorian battle the Empire in an attempt to rescue Grogu. However, Din Djarin inadvertently wins the Darksaber from Moff Gideon in battle, and we learn that the Mandalorian can't simply hand it over to Bo-Katan, who has been after it this whole time, hence her interest in this rescue mission, as the saber must always be won through combat.
This is left as a cliffhanger, as we can see that Bo-Katan wants the saber from Din Djarin. It begs to question how this will play out, especially considering they're both allies.
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The Book of Boba Fett
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Unfortunately, Bo-Katan is one character who doesn't show up in The Book of Boba Fett, though there are plenty of other major cameos, including Din Djarin, Grogu, Peli Motto, R2-D2, Ahsoka Tano, the Armorer, and Luke Skywalker. Nevertheless, Bo-Katan's ears must have been burning, because there is plenty of talk about her in the episode "The Return of the Mandalorian", which is basically a secret pilot episode for The Mandalorian Season 3.
When Din Djarin meets the Armorer, he asks her about Bo-Katan and the Darksaber, which he's still in possession of. The Armorer describes Bo-Katan as a "cautionary tale", explaining that she comes from a powerful family, and once wielded the Darksaber fraudulently, having not won it in combat (as Sabine Wren simply gave it to her). While we don't learn how she ended up losing the saber, the Armorer doesn't paint her in the best light.
We also learn that while the saber can of course be handed over to Bo-Katan, it must be truly won through combat, else the "winner" will be seen as a fraud by their people.
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The Mandalorian Season 3
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Bo-Katan has been confirmed to be returning for The Mandalorian Season 3, and it's possible that she will become Din Djarin's new adversary, though we expect it to be a little bit more complex and interesting than that. We know that Moff Gideon is pretty much out of the picture because in The Book of Boba Fett, it is said that he has been arrested by the New Republic and will likely face execution.
But the question still remains - is Bo-Katan a hero or a villain? Well, if the answer was either one, that wouldn't make her a very interesting character. And it's fair to say that the most interesting villains aren't really villains at all - they're adversaries to our main heroes. So if that's what we're calling villains now, then yes, Bo-Katan will definitely pose a problem for the Mandalorian in Season 3.
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