Bo-Katan Kryze was a Mandalorian human female who was the leader of the Nite Owls and a lieutenant in Death Watch, a terrorist group, and later during the Imperial Era, became Mand’alor. During the Clone Wars, Kryze’s sister, Satine, ruled as the Duchess of Mandalore, and Kryze sought to undo her pacifistic teachings, believing that Mandalore should take pride in its martial history. After Governor Pre Vizsla of Concordia was publicly exposed as the leader of Death Watch, the splinter group was exiled from the Mandalore system. In 19 BBY, Kryze and Vizsla discovered the Sith Lords Maul and Savage Opress. With the Sith, they plotted to reclaim Mandalore, and through Maul’s planning, united several criminal syndicates to form the Shadow Collective. Launching a takeover of Mandalore, Satine’s rule was overthrown, and Vizsla took control of the planet.
However, Maul challenged Vizsla, and the Sith Lord defeated him, taking the throne and appointing Prime Minister Almec as a puppet leader. Kryze and a group of Mandalorian loyalists refused to recognize Maul’s rule, and they liberated Satine from the royal prison, contacting Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for help. Due to Mandalore’s neutrality, Kenobi was forced to come alone, and he was captured by Maul, who then killed Satine. When Kenobi was brought to the prison, Kryze and her rebels freed the Jedi, and Mandalore was swept into a civil war as Maul’s forces fought to reclaim him. Before Kenobi left the planet, Kryze requested that the Galactic Republic be informed of the events, hoping that a Republic invasion would result in Maul’s death. Less than a year later, Kryze’s desire was fulfilled, and the Republic laid siege to Mandalore, driving Maul from the planet. She then became Lady of House Kryze and Regent of Mandalore. However, she lost her position when she refused to follow the newly appointed Galactic Emperor Palpatine, and Clan Saxon took over.
During the Republic’s occupation of Mandalore, the government reorganized into the Galactic Empire, and a new wave of violence claimed the planet. In 2 BBY, Clan Wren of Krownest chose to resist the Empire, leading the Imperial loyalists of Clan Saxon to fight them. These actions threw Mandalore into another civil war. During the war, Kryze encountered Countess Ursa Wren and Sabine Wren of Clan Wren, who were seeking a Mandalorian worthy of wielding the Darksaber and claiming the title of Mand’alor. With the Wrens’ approval, Kryze took the weapon and rallied the support of several Mandalorian clans, uniting them to fight against the Empire.
Sometime after the Great Purge, Mandalore was left devastated and Moff Gideon had come into the possession of the Darksaber. Around 9 ABY, Kryze formulated a plan to reclaim the weapon from the Moff and return to Mandalore. On Trask, Kryze joined fellow Mandalorians Axe Woves and Koska Reeves to hijack a shipment of weapons aboard an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser. Before assaulting the transport, however, Kryze, Woves, and Reeves rescued unknowing member of the Children of the Watch Din Djarin and the Force-sensitive youngling Grogu from a fishing boat. With Djarin’s help, they successfully managed to steal the weapons and capture the Gozanti cruiser they were being transported in for use in reclaiming Mandalore.
Later, Djarin recruited Kryze and Reeves to help him rescue Grogu, who had been captured by Moff Gideon and was holding him aboard his light cruiser. The group formulated a plan to assault the vessel and, with the help of Reeves, Fennec Shand, Carasynthia Dune, and Boba Fett, Kryze successfully captured the light cruiser‘s bridge. Djarin soon returned with Moff Gideon in stuncuffs, having rescued Grogu from his holding cell, and holding the Darksaber, thereby making him the rightful ruler of Mandalore. Kryze refused to take the Darksaber from Djarin, despite him willingly relinquishing it to her, in staunch accordance with Mandalorian tradition.