The story of the darksaber is a complex history.
From its creation by the first known Mandalorian Jedi, to its destruction by Moff Gideon, it
was seen as the one symbol that could unite all the Mandalorian clans.
But it’s only in recent times that it really gained notoriety as the divine right to lead
the Mandalorian people.
With such characters as Maul, formerly Darth Maul, and Moff Gideon possessing the weapon
of the Mand’alor, it’s no surprise that this symbol of leadership needed to be destroyed.
Let me explain.
Maul raises the crackling black blade and drops it.
Pre Vizsla is gone, and the darksaber is now in the hands of the non-Mandalorian Maul.
This is the first time a non-Mandalorian or aruetii has possessed the blade with the intention
of leading the Mandalorian people.
Not just leading them but ruling them.
Maul is also the first to own the blade who didn’t have the interests of the Mandalorian
people at heart.
To Maul, the dark saber was just another step toward proving to his former master, Darth
Sidious, that he deserves to be at his right hand again, and it was a tool to exact his
vengeance on the one who took his legs and cost him his power as a Sith Lord, Obi-Wan
Kenobi.
Maul knew the Mandalorians wouldn’t accept an outsider as their rightful ruler.
So, he put in place a puppet leader…Prime Minister Almec.
But this was of no real concern to the former Sith Lord, as his grand scheme was finally
beginning to come together.
As arrogant as Pre Vizsla was, and even though his ideas were not the popular ones, his intentions
were to return Mandalore to its warrior traditions.
Concerned with the way the Mandalorian people had become soft through their most recent
pacifist leader, Satine Kryze, Pre Vizsla worried that Mandalore had become vulnerable.
With the Clone Wars raging on, both the Separatists and the Republic were always looking for new
allies in their fight.
Being a sovereign world, Mandalore was now exposed to attack from either side.
If Mandalore were to be attacked, in their current state they would certainly fall.
The Republic and the Mandalorians shared a treaty that had lasted 100 years at this point.
But the Republic was always looking for new ways to occupy planets.
And Mandalore would be a powerful planet to control.
In order to remain sovereign, through the Clone Wars and beyond, the Mandalorian people
would need a strong defense, and having the darksaber in hand was Pre Vizsla’s symbol
of strength to lead them to the next era of unification.
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With the death of Pre Vizsla came an unprecedented time for the darksaber.
Or rather, an alteration of its true purpose.
Before Maul, the darksaber had been in the possession of House Vizsla for generations.
But there was only one Vizsla who owned the darksaber and led the entirety of the Mandalorian
people.
And that was the darksaber’s creator, Tarre Vizsla.
The first known Mandalorian Jedi.
After Tarre Vizsla’s death the darksaber was kept in the Jedi Temple.
As was custom.
When a Jedi would fall, their lightsaber, or the darksaber in this case, was either
taken to a Jedi temple and stored, or kept safe by the Jedi closest to the fallen.
Lightsabers weren’t really an heirloom to be passed down…until Anakin Skywalker’s
lightsaber was passed down to Luke Skywalker.
But then again, there aren’t many accounts of Jedi having children to pass them down
to.
But the darksaber had become a different kind of lightsaber.
Just as Mandalorian armor was passed down from generation to generation, once members
of the Vizsla name freed the darksaber from the confines of the Jedi temple, the darksaber
held the same tradition.
The darksaber changed hands quite a few times to successors of the Viszla name.
However, since the Clone Wars, it has bounced around to non Viszlas, and even non-Mandalorians,
by means of Darth Maul, Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Moff Gideon.
By the end of the Mandalorian season 2 and into the Mandalorian season 3, the darksaber
resided with our Mandalorian hero, Din Djarin.
Since the Clone Wars, the dark saber had become the symbol of leadership for centuries.
But now it’s gone.
The decision to destroy the darksaber was the correct decision on the part of the writers
of the Mandalorian series.
And there are many reasons why destroying the darksaber was necessary.
The first reason is the obvious.
Just because someone may be strong enough to take the darksaber from its current owner,
it doesn’t make them fit to lead an entire planet.
There is so much more that goes into this kind of role than whether they can fight.
How are they with foreign policies?
DO they know anything about finance or social programs?
Are they good tacticians and do they listen to advisors?
These are all things that a leader should be proficient at.
The second reason kind of goes hand in hand with the first.
As long as the darksaber exists, someone will challenge the owner.
And again, just because they have physical strength it shouldn’t be the sole reason
for leading.
But I suppose that’s how usurpation goes.
It goes on in our own world from the highest seats of power to the lowest in street wars.
But Mandalorians should evolve past that with their sense of honor and their creed.
If they are in fact Mandalorian, one of the tenants is to follow the Mand’alor.
Not usurp their title.
And the current structure shows the Mandalorians are evolving past that sort of behavior.
In the future…who knows.
Then there is the karma factor.
if you believe in that sort of thing.
Look at all the bad that has come with the darksaber since Maul decided to take it.
Mandalorians had become split into even more factions that caused yet another Mandalorian
Civil War.
Then, Mandalore became occupied by the Republic, and later the Empire.
Mandalore was then decimated by the Empire and the Mandalorian people almost completely
wiped out.
A lot of bad has happened in such a short time.
The root cause…the darksaber.
Some say it was cursed.
Whether it’s a curse or karma there’s no real difference in this case.
The dark saber was never intended to be the symbol of leadership upon its creation.
Even after it was removed from the Jedi temple, it was only passed down from Vizsla to Vizsla
not Mandalorian leader to the next in line.
It was only used to lead House Vizsla and Death Watch.
Not to lead the entire Mandalorian people.
In all instances, if things had gone as they had been, Paz Vizsla would have been the rightful
owner of the darksaber anyway.
And we all know what happened to him.
With his death, the darksaber should have either been locked away, or destroyed with
the Kyber crystal given to a Jedi for safe keeping.
If the darksaber’s history had continued on the path of its history.
Even though House Viszla held the dark saber for about 1009 years, only one of those carrying
the Viszla name was the rightful leader of Mandalorian people…Tarre Viszla.
That means no other Vizsla had ruled with the dark saber over the Mandalorian people.
However, Vizslas had always been in charge of Death Watch, the political organization
that believed Mandalorians should return to their roots as warriors, not pacifists.
Even one of the most notable of Death Watch leaders, Tor Vizsla, the adversary to Jango
Fett, wasn’t the leader of the Mandalorian people.
It was Jaster Mereel…then Jango Fett.
Since Tarre Vizsla’s death, Maul had been the only one to use the darksaber as a symbol
of divine right.
It’s only been for the last 32 Star Wars years that it has been used as a symbol of
power and authority over the entirety of the Mandalorian people.
A short period when you factor in the age of the weapon.
But this isn’t the sole reason the dark saber could be considered obsolete.
Since Tarre Vizsla’s death, House Viszla, and really all of Mandalore, has had a distrust
of the Jedi order and all Force wielders.
Even waging war on them a time or two.
When we get to Pre Vizsla, he tells Obi-Wan Kenobi, “this lightsaber was stolen from
your Jedi Temple, by my ancestors during the fall of the Old Republic.
Since then, many Jedi have died upon its blade.
Prepare yourself to join them!”
The very opposite the dark saber was created for.
I mean, why would a Jedi…a good Jedi who never turned to the dark side, create a weapon
to use against his own order?
Even a millennia later, and Especially when he turned it in after he no longer saw a use
for it.
So, this means the blade has not been used at it was intended for centuries.
In fact, it has been killing members of the Jedi Order…the same order it was created
through.
Let’s move on to the Mandalorian series for a moment.
Din Djarin gained possession of the darksaber through beating Moff Gideon in single combat.
During the journey to get to the Imperial leader, Din Djarin has created a clan of two,
Clan Mudhorn.
In that clan is Din Djarin…and Grogu, a Force sensitive Jedi in training before the
fall of the Jedi Order.
They developed a special bond.
Such a special bond that Mando encountered two others of the Jedi order.
Ahsoka Tano, who was formerly a Jedi Padawan under Anakin Skywalker’s tutelage, and Luke
Skywalker, a Jedi and son of Anakin Skywalker and Padawan to Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Both encounters were favorable to the Mandalorian bounty hunter, with the latter even taking
Grogu on as an apprentice and swearing his life to protect the 50-year-old man toddler.
What does this have to do with the dark saber though?
Everything!
The Mandalorian is moving in a direction that MAY mend the wounds between Jedi and Mandalorians.
With Din Djarin front and center and showing compassion for the Force sensitive Grogu and
allowing his foundling to go off with a Jedi to be trained.
With the darksaber being created by a Jedi, then used as a weapon to kill Jedi, by House
Vizsla, the status symbol will not be favorable for the diplomacy of the two groups.
It is actually a slap in the face to the Jedi for a Mandalorian to use it as a symbol of
authority, after using it to kill its members..
Made by a Jedi to use for peace and protection, then taken by those wanting power and used
to kill members of the very order that dedicate themselves as defenders of the peace.
Ironic
But is that reason enough to destroy the blade?
Why not just hand it off to the new generation of Jedi to keep safe as a relic of their order?
Tried, tested, stolen from the Jedi Temple Vault.
Not gonna work I’d also say any Jedi that knows what the dark saber is, would NOT want
it in their collection.
I know I wouldn’t want to hold onto a weapon that killed many of my friends and colleagues.
Let’s also not forget the fact that any rogue Mandalorian would go after the blade
and kill its current owner to obtain it.
But…is this enough to destroy the blade?
Maybe…but not entirely.
My next point is its actual use.
Not only was it used to kill Jedi, but it was used to kill Mandalorians as well.
The very people they claim to lead with the blade was being used to murder those they
considered their subjects.
It was divisive, to say the least.
It caused factions to split from Mandalorian society and create their own rules, hence
the creation of Death Watch.
No, I’m not saying Death Watch was formed because of the dark saber.
But the dark saber was used as the symbol of the organization’s leader.
Not to mention, it was only passed down in succession to one house…House Vizsla.
The blade was front and center during more wars with Mandalorians than peace by uniting
the Mandalorian people under one leader.
But is THIS enough to destroy the dark saber?
Sure is, but there is still more.
Let’s look at those who have possessed the blade.
Tarre Vizsla…a great Jedi and leader of the Mandalorian people.
But he didn’t use the darksaber as a symbol of his rule.
It was his character that united the Mandalorian people.
Again, if the children’s stories are to be believed.
It wasn’t until centuries later that someone claimed it as their symbol of divine right…Maul!
But how many Mandalorians honored him as the leader of the Mandalorian people, just because
he had the dark saber?
Other than his supercommandos, who were formerly Death Watch?
None!
In fact, he placed Prime Minister Almec as the figure head leader of Mandalore, so there
wouldn’t be an uprising against a non-Mandalorian leader.
Let’s not forget, the Mandalorian people recognized Almec as leader due to his status
under the former leader, Duchess Satine Kryze…Almec was the next in line of succession had anything
happened to her.
It was a smart choice on Maul’s part.
But Almec was recognized as the leader by the people of Mandalore without carrying the
dark saber.
Okay, moving on…Sabine Wren also possessed the darksaber.
She didn’t even consider herself the leader of the Mandalorian people.
In fact, she gave it to her own mother and was betrayed by her.
Eventually, she gave it to Bo-Katan Kryze, who actually was seen as the leader of the
Mandalorian people for a short time, until the Empire came in and took the darksaber.
Which leads me to Moff Gideon.
Was he seen as the Mandalorian leader, just because he had the darksaber?
Nope.
In fact, Din Djarin didn’t even know who he was.
Had Gideon been the undisputed leader, Din Djarin’s organization, the Children of the
Watch would have told him about it…or at least the dark saber’s divine power.
Din Djarin didn’t even know what the darksaber was.
And he’s in his 40’s…well old enough to have heard other Mandalorians discuss it.
And that brings me to Din Djarin.
Does anyone see him as the undisputed Mand’alor?
Nope!
In fact, he was kicked out of his own covert, the Children of the Watch for removing his
helmet.
Bo-Katan Kryze also didn’t recognize him as her leader.
Then there is Bo-Katan Kryze.
And this time it’s different.
Yes, she used the darksaber to unite some of the Mandalorian clans.
But it was ultimately her merit that Mandalorians continued to follow her.
So, when you boil it down to its simplest terms, only two Mandalorians that we know
of have been recognized as the divine leader of Mandalore, while holding the blade.
Tarre Vizsla, and some 1000 years later, Bo-Katan Kryze.
The darksaber has never been recognized as a symbol of divine right…only by a few outside
House Vizsla.
So, with its creation by a Jedi, then its use to kill members of the same order.
The deaths of many Mandalorians by those who have wielded it, and the fact it has not been
recognized by all of Mandalorian society…it has no place in existence anymore.
It has divided more than it has unified.
And not just with the Mandalorian people, but throughout the galaxy.
The darksaber needed to be destroyed, not wielded.
There is one Mandalorian artifact that COULD be seen as the symbol of divine leadership…the
mask of Mandalore…I will get into that in another video.
What do you think?
Should the darksaber have continued to be the symbol of divine right throughout Mandalorian
culture?
Or was it a good decision to destroy it?
Leave a comment below.
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