The Mandalorian Season 3 Premiere Explains How Bo-Katan's Grand Plan Went Wrong

Contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" Season 3 Episode 1, "The Apostate"

The third season of "The Mandalorian" seems intent on making every single member of the titular people jump a whole bunch of hurdles. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) is on a quest to reclaim his honor as a Mandalorian, but keeps bumping into a billion side quests. His old Mandalorian faction has to deal with a giant space gator attack literally minutes into the first episode. However, none of them have as raw a deal as Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff).  

Poor Bo-Katan seemed to have it all sorted out in "The Mandalorian" Season 2, but come "The Apostate," we see her sulking alone in her fortress on Kalevala, with no troops, no plans, and no particular affinity toward the protagonist. Fortunately, the episode takes time to explain where her allies disappeared, and what happened to her great plans. Here's how everything went wrong for Bo-Katan. 

The reason Bo-Katan has resigned herself to lounging on her throne and throwing shade at the only visitor she's clearly had in a while is simple. As the formerly formidable Mandalorian leader tells Din, the fact that he ended up in the possession of the Darksaber meant that Bo-Katan's authority was as good as undermined when she returned without it. As such, her dearly won ships and allies are now scattered into the galactic wind, taking mercenary jobs wherever they can.

The situation seems to sow the seeds of a showdown between Bo-Katan and Din. As the events of "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" have informed us, Din is the current, largely unwilling owner of the Darksaber, and thus technically the standing Chosen One for Mandalorians (despite, ironically, not being one himself, at least as far as his sect is concerned). The only way Bo-Katan could potentially reclaim the supposedly cursed blade in a way her people would accept is by killing Din in combat. 

While there still appears to be a form of begrudging respect between the two characters, and Bo-Katan is perfectly willing to point Din to the next destination on his quest despite her current humbled state, it may very well be that she'll eventually decide she has no choice but to bring him down to accomplish her own mission. Whether this happens and how remains to be seen, but for now, Bo-Katan's weakened state means she might just be desperate enough to take on Din at some point during "The Mandalorian" Season 3.