The Book of Boba Fett saw Mando wielding the Darksaber in anger for the first time but his use of the weapon was hampered as it got increasingly heavy with every move, something which continues into season 3 of The Mandalorian.
*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian season 3*
Since Din Djarin took possession of the legendary Darksaber in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, he has struggled to use the weapon properly with The Book Of Boba Fett showcasing how he found the sword increasingly heavy to use with each move.
Now, the second episode of The Mandalorian season 3 has landed on Disney+ and continued to highlight how difficult the fabled blade is to use as Mando made heavy work of an encounter with several creatures while later in the episode, Bo-Katan – who has owned the weapon before – seemed to wield the weapon with ease.
Mando’s struggles with the Darksaber
In the opening scene of The Book Of Boba Fett episode 5, we pick up Mando’s story as he is hunting down his latest bounty, a Klatooinian butcher named Kaba Baiz.
After giving Kaba the option of being brought in warm or cold, Mando is forced to fight his way out of the situation and in a moment that undoubtedly left fans cheering, he ignites the Darksaber and gets hacking away with it.
But it’s not all plain sailing as Mando is far from a master with the blade, grazing his own leg with the Darksaber in the skirmish, leaving him limping around until he gets treatment.
Later on in chapter 5, Mando takes part in a sparring session with the Armorer and he notes that the weapon seems to be getting heavier with each move.
In the second episode of The Mandalorian season 3, we see Din Djarin wielding the blade again as he fights off several Alamite creatures as he explores the ruins of Mandalore.
While Mando comes out of the encounter victorious, he once again struggles to master the weapon and very nearly topples over a nearby cliff face.
Why is the Darksaber so heavy?
In The Book of Boba Fett, the Armorer picks up on Din’s struggles by accusing Mando of fighting against the blade rather than with it.
She also explains that Mando’s mind is distracted and it is showing through his use of the Darksaber.
What the Armorer fails to tell Mando, however, is exactly what he should be doing differently in order to master the blade.
In one of the Darksaber’s other appearances in the Star Wars franchise, notably Star Wars Rebels’ third season, we are given a much more comprehensive explanation about why this particular blade is so troublesome to use.
In the episode Trials of the Darksaber, young Mandalorian Sabine Wren is training to use the ancient weapon and has guidance from the Jedi, Kanan Jarrus.
After initially training with sticks, Sabine is instantly taken aback by the Darksaber, noting that “It’s heavier than I thought.”
Kanan explains why this is the case much more helpfully than the Armorer by saying: “Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You’re not fighting with a simple blade as much as you are directing a current of power.
“Your thoughts, your actions, they become energy. They flow through the crystal as well, and become a part of the blade.”
To put that Jedi pearl of wisdom more simply, the Darksaber requires a strong connection with its user and if the person holding it is distracted or worrying about slicing their own arm off, the blade will not cooperate as it should.
For Mando, we find him struggling with his identity in The Book Of Boba Fett and season 3 of The Mandalorian after he is declared an apostate for removing his helmet.
That coupled with his time spent apart from Grogu left Din Djarin in a period of considerable turmoil and the Darksaber clearly knows it.
Once he is able to come to terms with his new situation and gets more familiar with lightsaber combat in general, the Darksaber should become more of an ally than a hindrance as we’ve seen so far.
Bo-Katan wields the blade in The Mandalorian season 3
While Mando may be finding it hard to master the Darksaber, episode 2 of The Mandalorian season 3 showed how the weapon should be used.
After Din Djarin got into difficulty with a cyborg creature in the Mines of Mandalore, Grogu traveled back to Bo-Katan’s castle in Mando’s N-1 Starfighter and managed to persuade her to help.
The former ruler of Mandalore used the weapon to defeat the mechanical creature and made the confrontation look like child’s play as she sliced off robotic legs with ease.
This comes from the time when she possessed the Darksaber itself after Sabine Wren presented her with the weapon back in Star Wars Rebels.
However, the fact that the weapon was not won in combat is what led to Bo-Katan’s downfall and why she’s lost her followers as season 3 gets underway.
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are available to stream now on Disney+.
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