Who is Bo Katan? The Mandalorian character who previously appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Bo-Katan Kryze is shaping up to have a major presence in The Mandalorian season 3. If you're not up to speed on the animated shows, you might be wondering just what's going on with the history of this key Star Wars character – and, well, that's where we come in. 

Spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3, Clone Wars, and Rebels follow...

So, who is Bo-Katan? First introduced in The Clone Wars series, Bo-Katan was the sister to the Mandalorian homeworld's ruler, Satine. Unfortunately, the two didn't play nice – with Bo-Katan joining the radical Mandalorian group Death Watch, as a means to return The Mandalorian race to its more battle-heavy heritage.

Death Watch ended up joining forces with a certain Darth Maul – to Bo-Katan's disgust. Eventually, though, she reluctantly allied with Maul and his brother Savage Opress to help take over her home planet, Mandalore. 

Ultimately, Bo-Katan's conflicted feelings won and she found herself aligned with the light side of the Force and a certain Ahsoka Tano to help take down Maul (read about the Siege of Mandalore through the link).

Later, Bo-Katan was replaced by the Empire as leader of Mandalore, and, in Star Wars Rebels, she came in to contact with a fellow Mandalorian, Sabine Wren, who helped unite the clans of Mandalore and rebel against the Empire. 

Then, Bo-Katan had the legendary Darksaber weapon bestowed upon her by Sabine. Crucially, though, Bo-Katan didn't win the Darksaber in combat – which the Armorer believes doomed Mandalore. This might be the case, as The Great Purge, where the Empire practically wiped out the Mandalorians and all-but destroyed Mandalore, soon happened and Moff Gideon took the Darksaber from Bo-Katan. 

Of course, if you know where The Mandalorian sits in the Star Wars timeline, a lot of that is ancient history. Decades have passed – Bo-Katan is at least 50 in The Mandalorian season 3 – but she's continuing her trajectory in her fight to finish off the Empire. 

There are some problems, however – as we learn in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 1, the Mandalorians backing Bo-Katan abandoned her when they discovered she no longer had the Darksaber. Din Djarin won it from Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian season 2 finale, and, after what happened last time, Bo-Katan would not accept it from Mando when he tried to hand it over. 

After The Book of Boba Fett, Din also seems reluctant to give the weapon up, so how this will play out is anyone's guess. 

The Mandalorian continues on Disney Plus weekly, and you can keep up to date with our The Mandalorian season 3 release schedule. 

For more on the new episodes, see our exclusive interview with Jon Favreau, which touched on Grogu's Jedi journey, breaking the internet, and if season 4 will be the end, as well as what Pedro Pascal had to say about Mando and Grogu's bond and the "epic" third season.