Giancarlo Esposito promises that “The Mandalorian” season 2 will explain a lot more about how he ended up holding the Darksaber at the end of season 1…
There was a lot to like about “The Mandalorian” season 1 but the finale ended on a cliffhanger that pretty much guaranteed every hardcore “Star Wars” fan would return for season 2.
Following a battle to protect the child aka Baby Yoda, the Mandalorian made his escape while seemingly putting an end to Moff Gideon — one of the last relics of the Galactic Empire, who had been hunting for the asset since the season first began. As the episode came to a close, however, Gideon emerged from the wreckage of his TIE Fighter after cutting a hole in the hull with a weapon that was later revealed to be the Darksaber.
Longtime fans of “Star Wars” canon will recognized this weapon from appearances in animated series such as “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars: Rebels.” Gideon appearing with the Darksaber certainly caught more than a few people off guard and the man who portrays him says that mysterious weapon previously held by both a Jedi warrior and a Sith apprentice will play a major role in “The Mandalorian” season 2.
“You’ll see more of the darksaber, you’ll get the explanation of this ancient weapon to the modern world, a collapsed world,” Giancarlo Esposito said earlier this week when speaking to Deadline. “Where did this saber come from and how was it revived? It’s a key in our second season, which will be back sooner than later.”
The mythology surrounding the Darksaber dates back many, many years to its creation by Tarre Vizsla, who was the first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi order. The black-bladed weapon remained in the Jedi temple after Vizsla’s passing but members of his family ultimately stole the Darksaber during a conflict. The weapon continued to be passed down throughout the Vizsla’s family until Pre Vizsla was in possession of the Darksaber during the Clone Wars. He was eventually killed and the weapon was taken from him by Darth Maul — former apprentice to Darth Sidious who first appeared in “The Phantom Menace.”
Eventually a Mandalorian warrior named Sabine Wren took the Darksaber and made it her own while training under a Jedi Knight. She eventually handed over the weapon to Bo-Katan Kryze, who Sabine believed was the rightful person to lead in the Mandalorian uprising against the Empire.
How Gideon came to possess the Darksaber is one of many questions that will hopefully be answered during “The Mandalorian” season 2. Katee Sackhoff, who voiced Bo-Katan in the animated “Star Wars” series was cast to play the live action version of the character in “The Mandalorian,” which might help explain how the Darksaber passed from her hands to Moff Gideon.
“(The Darksaber) is a key to Moff Gideon’s past, which possibly has a lot to do with where he comes from and his desire to build a planet and bring it back together,” Esposito said.
Filming on “The Mandalorian” season 2 had already completed by the time the coronavirus pandemic shut down production so all of the episodes had already been completed. The show is expected to return for the second season on Disney+ this fall.
