The Mandalorian: what is Darksaber?
Appeared in the Disney series at the end of the episode Redemption, the Darksaber is now in the possession of Moff Gideon. Apparently, this dark-bladed sword also plays a central role in Bo-Katan Kryze's plan to free Mandalore from the imperial yoke. But why is Draksaber so important to Mandalorians?
The history of the Darksaber
To understand the importance of the Darksaber in Mandalorian society, we need to go back to the times of the Old Republic. During these remote ages, the Jedi, guardians and protectors of the Republic, often clash with the Mandalorians, the only warriors apparently able to stand up to them. Despite being on different sides, particularly during the Sith Wars, a form of particular respect developed between warriors in armor and the Jedi, born from having often faced each other in battle.A condition that allowed a Mandalorian child, Tarre Vizsla, to be welcomed among the Jedi, becoming the first of his reason to be trained in the ways of the Force, obtaining the rank of Knight. As is required of every Jedi, Vizsla also had to create her own lightsaber, but instead of following the traditional style of Jedi swords, the Mandalorian created a thin black blade, resulting in a true rarity.
The Darksaber, as expected, was not a drara weapon solely for its color, but other aspects contributed to making it unusual. Its blade, in fact, was shorter than the norm and had a shape more similar to that of a traditional sword, a peculiarity linked to its creator, who in making them kept in mind the typical prerogatives of a Mandalorian weapon: square hilt and a guard that protected the hand.
The crystal that animated the Darksaber was a kyber like the lightsabers of the Jedi, but this uniquely fed the sword, particularly affected by the emotions and thoughts of the user , influencing its power, to the point that in the most intense moments, the strong emotions of the owner could generate electric discharges along the blade.
When his people faced one of his cyclical conditions of civil war, Tarre Vizsla left the Jedi Order to return to Mandalore and attempt to unify all clans under one leadership. His attempt crowned a success, Vizsla became the Mand'alor and the Darksaber, his weapon, became a symbol of unity for all Mandalorians. Upon Vizsla's death, the Darksaber was taken into custody by the Jedi, who kept her inside their temple on Coruscant.
Dover remained for centuries, until the days of the Fall of the Republic. While on Mandalore the Duchess Satine Kryze and her clan sought to change the war tradition of the Mandalorians by routing them towards a peaceful society, some of the more traditional clans tried to prevent this transition. Leading these families was the Visla Clan, with Pre Vizsla at the top, commander of the Death Watch.
To overthrow the Kryze clan, Vizsla decided to rely on the ancient Mandalorian customs, and saw in the legendary Darksaber an essential element of his plan. Reason why, with a reckless action, Vizsla and her commandos stormed the Jedi temple and recovered Tarre's sword. In fact, possession of the Darksaber alone was seen by Mandalorians as a sign of power that made the wielding one worthy of leading all clans as Manda'lor.
During the Mandalorian Civil War, Vizlsa used the Darksaber , but once he took control of Mandalore he was confronted by Darth Maul, his ally, who defeated him and took over the Darksabar, taking control of Mandalore. Maul continued to use the dark-bladed sword even after his defeat on Mandalore, when Bo-Katan Kryze succeeded in ousting him. The Sith used the Darksaber in several battles, but ultimately the sword remained in the custody of the Night Sisters of Dathomir.
It was from these witches that Sabine Wren, a member of one of the vassal houses of the Vizsla, obtained the sword, during the early years of the Empire. As a symbol, the Darksaber had not been forgotten by the Mandalorians, and on the advice of Protector Fenn Rau, the young woman trained in its use under the guidance of the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus. Thanks to the use of this legendary weapon, Sabine was able to defeat the viceroy Gar Saxon, a member of a family linked to the Vizsla Clan and placed by the empire under the command of Mandalore.
Termianta this umpteenth internal struggle between Mandalorians, Sabine decided not to keep the Darksaber to herself, but entrusted it to Bo-Katan Kryze, who became the Manda'lor.
The birth of the Darksaber
Seeing the Darksaber in action, Star Wars fans can get a sense of familiarity with vibrol blades, weapons widespread in the late Expanded Universe, characterized by a sound vibrating and used for different purposes, thanks to their ability to penetrate usually resistant materials.When it came to developing this weapon, initially the thought of the writers was precisely to make it a vibrolama, but George Lucas imposed that a ' weapon that would have played such an important role had its own identity, thus eliminating the idea of vibrating blades. From this request from Lucas, a new weapon was developed that was unique and best represented the spirit of a Mandalorian who was at the same time a Jedi.
Reason why it was decided to transform the blade vibrator that animated the weapon into a lightsaber, making it unique and giving it a look and capabilities that had never been used before for other Jedi weapons. These studies led to the birth of the Darksaber, which made her debut in the twelfth episode of the second season of Clone Wars, Death Watch, where she was wielded by Prez Vizsla.
From this first appearance, Darksaber became a essential element of the Mandalorian culture, also becoming part of the continuity of Star Wars. To the point that when we started working on Solo: A Star Wars Story, when it was due to show, in the final scenes, Darth Maul was initially thought to have him draw his first lightsaber, seen in The Phantom Menace. Sam Witwer, voice actor for Maul in The Clone Wars, confided that they also considered other options, such as the Darksaber or the lightsaber used by the sith in the animated series. In the end, it was the very weapon wielded by Maul in The Clone Wars that appeared in the scene where Maul introduces himself to Qi'ra.
But Darksaber was destined to arrive in a live action production, which it happened in a series that makes Mandalorian culture its narrative basis: The Mandalorian.
The Darksaber in The Mandalorian
Appearing in Redemption, the Darksaber is now in the possession of Moff Gideon, the villain of the series, intent on getting his hands on the Child. The fact that such an important relic to Mandalorian culture is in the hands of an imperial officer suggests that Mandalore is also in the hands of a surviving faction of the imperial armies.As we saw in The Heir, Gideon is at the center of a manhunt because of the Darksaber, Intent on bringing his world back under Mandalorian rule, Bo-Katan Kryze intends to recover the precious weapon to be able to aspire to the role of Manda'lor, and his mission is to recover the Darksaber from the hands of Moff Giden.
We can therefore expect that in this second block of episodes of The Mandalorian we will be able to witness a clash between the Imperial Moff and Bo-Katan, a fight that has the future of Mandalore. A future that could also be written by discovering what has become of Mandalore in the years since the end of Rebels, when we saw the coveted sword in the hands of Bo-Katan.
In recent years, yes he knows that the Empire has raged against the Mandalorians, considered a threat to order in the galaxy and above all the possessors of the beskar, the mineral of which the Mandalorian armor is made. To achieve this, the Empire nearly extinguished the Mandalorians, forcing the survivors to take refuge in enclaves scattered across the galaxy, returning to their origins as mercenary soldiers.
Bo-Katan's arrival and presence of Darksaber in The Mandalorian reveal two promising elements to finally give a greater definition to one of the most fascinating cultures of the Star Wars universe.
On Disney + you can see all the first episodes of the first season of The Mandalorian, a series of documentaries on the subject and from October 30th watch the second season !! To subscribe to the Disney + Streaming service with either a monthly or annual discounted subscription you can use this link
