The Mandalorian Season 2 finale reveals fate of the Darksaber, what it means for Star Wars' future

Much like it has been all season long — and some of the last — The Mandalorian's second season finale took the chance to drop a few more major plot twists, setting up more questions for fans to mull over as the Disney+ show heads into the long wait before the start of Season 3.

SPOILER ALERT: What you are about to read discusses the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. Continue at the risk of being spoiled.

One of these twists featured a big plot point in the final episode, revolving around none other than the infamous Darksaber. which had made its first appearance at the end of Season 1, and most recently a few episodes ago as Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) used it to threaten the now captive Baby Yoda Grogu.

As stated a few times in this episode, whoever has possession of the deadly weapon — a one-of-a-kind dark bladed lightsaber — lays claim to the throne of Mandalore, thus making it a hot commodity among the Mandalorian people, many of whom want to reclaim their planet. Since its creation at the hands of Jedi Tarre Vizla, the sole Mandalorian to ever be inducted into the Jedi Order, the Darksaber has had a few different owners, even finding itself in the hands of two Mandalorian's at one point: Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren, and Bo-Katan Kryze, the latter since having made the jump to live-action, where she's portrayed by her original voice actor Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica).

The latest owner of the Darksaber is Moff Gideon, which fuels Bo-Katan's desire to track him down. Only as the events of the episode reveal, there's a lot more to laying claim to Mandalore than just being in possession of the saber. You must also be the one to have rightfully won it from the previous owner, ideally in combat, as it's the story behind its possession that gives it value.

Unfortunately for Bo-Katan, this means that Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), the titular Mandalorian and series lead, is now the new owner of the Darksaber, having fought and defeated Gideon in his quest to rescue Grogu. And he doesn't really have the option to yield the blade to Bo-Katan either — despite trying a few times — as she would be considered a "pretender" and not a true heir, which makes Din the new heir to the throne of Mandalore, and all that ensues with it. At least for now.

Credit: Lucasfilm 

Of course, as we've seen throughout the season and the episode itself, Din has no interest in reclaiming his adopted homeworld, he simply cares about Grogu and reuniting him with his people. However, with the Child now off studying under a Jedi Master, it frees Din up to take up other causes — like helping Bo-Katan and the rest of her clan take back Mandalore.

But even if they do prove successful, it still leaves the matter of the Darksaber itself, with Bo-Katan presumably having to fight Din in order to claim it from him, though as we see with Din and Gideon, just because they do fight doesn't mean she has to kill him, just simply best him and choose to spare his life. Interestingly enough, there is precedent in the past, with the aforementioned Sabine having convinced Bo-Katan to take up the saber and lead their people after herself having been in possession of it for a while, a transfer that hadn't required any combat between the friends and allies. Perhaps, this is something Bo-Katan could change should they eventually take back Mandalore. After all, Star Wars is about change.

Needless to say, all these questions and more will be answered when the series returns and definitely over the course of it, as Esposito (Gideon's actor) previously revealed, the show is planned as far as its fourth season, with executive producers Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) looking to expand the universe of this world further beyond the realm of further spinoffs.

The Mandalorian has been renewed for a third season. You can stream the first two on Disney+.