After Din Djarin managed to defeat the current holder of the Darksaber, Moff Gideon, using his Beskar Spear, he became the new Ruler of Mandalore under mandalorian tradition. Mando of course had no interest in this title however, and offered to pass the Darksaber back to Bo-Katan Kryze, who was the holder before Moff Gideon stole it. Bo-Katan however refused to accept the ancient black weapon, because she had not won it in single combat from Din Djarin.
So why did Bo-Katan refuse to accept the Darksaber from Mando, when he accepted it as a gift from Sabine Wren during the Mandalorian Civil war, without defeating her in combat?
I’m going to breakdown some reasons on why Bo-Katan might not have accepted the Darksaber and why she probably made the wrong choice accepting it from Sabine.
So during Star Wars Rebels, Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren managed to Steal the Darksaber from former Sith Lord, Darth Maul, inside of his lair on Dathomir. Maul was of course the ruler of Mandalore and the holder of the Darksaber during the Clone Wars, until he was captured at the Siege of Mandalore, and eventually lost interest in his little Mandalore adventure, storing the Darksaber on Dathomir.
After stealing the black blade from his lair, Sabine became the holder of the Darksaber, and eventually fought in the Mandalorian Civil war on Mandalore, where a Group of Mandalorians who aligned themselves to the Empire, and were led by Tiber Saxon, had control of Mandalore. These imperial Mandalorians utilized a horrific and terrifying weapon known as “The Duchess”, which would melt any Mandalorian within it’s range inside of their own Beskar Armor. The weapon was developed by Sabine Wren herself during her time at the imperial Academy, making it a painful reminder of her past.
During the Mandalorian Civil War, Sabine Managed to destroy the Duchess with the help of Bo-Katan, and soon after Gifted the Darksaber to her, as Sabine didn’t believe she was the one to lead. Bo-Katan accepted the ancient blade, and united all of the Clans of Mandalore together under her rule.
So why did she accept the Darksaber from Sabine, but refused to accept it from Din Djarin in the Mandalorian?
The first major reason for her refusal to accept the Dark blade could be that she absolutely regrets not following Mandalorian tradition the last time, and will never to do it again. It’s very possible that Bo-Katan now considers her action of taking the Darksaber without a fight a horrible error, because of her failure as Leader of Mandalore that followed soon After she took it from Sabine.
After Bo-Katan took the darksaber from Sabine without a battle, we know that the complete destruction and slaughter of the Mandalorian people took place under her rule. Under her rule, the Empire managed to steal the Darksaber from the leader of Mandalore, and begin the Great Purge, where the home of the Mandalorian people was glassed, and suffered intense orbital bombardment, before going even further and having their entire supply of Beskar stripped and stolen from the planet. By any measure, this is a complete and utter failure of Bo-katan’s leadership.
Maybe she feels that she wasn’t worthy to hold the Darksaber at all after letting her people fall to the Imperial Purge, and now having to go deep into hiding, tucked away in hidden Mandalorian Coverts around the Backwater planets of the Galaxy.
It’s also possible that she was unable to keep control and unity of the other Mandalorian clans that she united at the end of the Mandalorian Civil war because some of them started to question her claim to the Darksaber and the rulership of Mandalore. It’s possible that soon after the end of Star Wars Rebels, where she brought all of Mandalore together, things started to crack, and the other clans began to lose faith in her leadership, questioning how she can rule without having earned the Darksaber fairly. The imperials probably even continued to plant doubt among the other Mandalorians clans about Bo-Katan’s rule, probably leading them to splinter.
If this is the case, maybe now that she lost the Darksaber to Moff Gideon, she feels that if she wants to ever rule again and earn it back, she has to do it “the right way” and follow Mandalorian tradition. And if the clans did splinter off soon after she united them, she will definitely need to earn their respect back. To do this, gaining the darksaber correctly is probably one of the only ways.