WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian,” streaming now on Disney+.
Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett was a surprise because it pushed the pause button on Boba Fett, choosing to focus on Din Djarin instead. Acting like an hour-long trailer for Season 3 of The Mandalorian, the episode gave fans an update on the titular Mandalorian since last season’s finale. Amongst other things, fans were happy to see that he was still in possession of the Darksaber. However, wielding it proved more difficult than expected.
The episode opened with Mando collecting a bounty and using the ancient lightsaber to perform a brutal kill. In the process, though, he wounded himself — so Mando traveled to a ringworld where he made contact with the Armorer to treat his wounds. While there, the Armorer also tried to train him with the Darksaber, but again, he couldn’t handle it. All he could say was that it felt heavier with every swing.
From a practical perspective, all lightsaber blades are essentially weightless, but a gyroscopic effect makes them feel heavy to an untrained wielder. Combine that with the unbalanced weight of the hilt, and many people look quite clumsy trying to wield a saber. But they’re not just dead weight. Kyber crystals power lightsabers, and those special crystals are essentially sentient in the Force.
Thus, in order for wielders to effectively use a saber, they have to connect with its crystal and align themselves with it for a common purpose. The Armorer may not have known all of the details about Kyber crystals, but she could easily see that Mando was using his strength to fight against the Darksaber. The two were in conflict, making the blade feel much heavier.
One theory that explains why the Darksaber felt so heavy to Mando was because of his emotional baggage and conflicted mind. Since he was worried about Grogu, he wasn’t putting his full energy into connecting with the blade. While that theory isn’t necessarily wrong, there’s even more to the story, because many other people with emotional baggage have successfully wielded the ancient weapon.
Like every other lightsaber, the Darksaber possesses some sort of sentience. So the problem wasn’t just Mando fighting against the “weight” of the saber; the blade was consciously fighting against him. Whenever someone unworthy took the Darksaber contrary to the Creed, it cursed their efforts — like it did with Bo-Katan and the Night of a Thousand Tears. The Darksaber was definitely aware of its wielder, and it definitely didn’t approve of Mando.
The reason why was quite simple: he tried to give it away immediately after winning it in combat. That was a problem because the Darksaber carries Mandalorian cultural significance. It represents leadership, and its wielder holds the privilege and responsibility of commanding the planet of Mandalore. When Mando tried to give it away, he shunned that responsibility, proving himself unworthy. That’s why the Darksaber itself was opposed to serving Mando — because Mando had no desire to serve the good of Mandalore. To keep the weapon, he’ll have to start serving his people, rather than himself. Otherwise, the Darksaber will continue to fight against him until it passes to someone more worthy. And that change of purpose, or the Darksaber falling into other hands, could easily be the basis for The Mandalorian Season 3.
To see if Mando can prove himself worthy of the Darksaber, watch The Book of Boba Fett, streaming now on Disney+ with new episodes every Wednesday.
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