'The Mandalorian' Season 2: The Darksaber Will Play A Key Role In The New Season, Says Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito picked up an Emmy nomination yesterday for his work on the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian, where we last saw his Moff Gideon character holding an ancient weapon known as the Darksaber. Anyone who watched the series without first watching the Star Wars animated shows probably saw that glowing black blade and thought, "Cool, a new lightsaber!" But fans of the animated shows lost their minds, because the weapon actually has a deep history behind it.
In a new interview, Esposito explains how the Darksaber will factor into the show's second season, essentially confirming that fans of this show won't need to do any extra homework to figure out what the heck the story is behind that special blade.
"You'll see more of the Darksaber, you'll get the explanation of this ancient weapon to the modern world, a collapsed world," Esposito told Deadline. "Where did this saber come from and how was it revived? It's a key in our second season, which will be back sooner than later. [The Darksaber] is a key to Moff Gideon's past, which possibly has a lot to do with where he comes from and his desire to build a planet and bring it back together."
That's good news for casual viewers of The Mandalorian who aren't interested in diving into two full animated series to get the proper context for this weapon. The detailed mythology of the Star Wars franchise can sometimes be a lot to take in for audience members who don't spend all day obsessing over the franchise's smallest details, so I'm glad to see that showrunner Jon Favreau and his right-hand man Dave Filoni recognize that and are planning to explain the Darksaber's importance in the text of this show rather than expect people to figure it out on their own.
As for exactly how it will factor into the plot, we're guessing it has something to do with the fact that Katee Sackhoff has been cast as a live-action version of Bo-Katan, a Mandalorian warrior she voiced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. The Darksaber was left in her hands with the hopes that she could unite the Mandalorian clans...but somehow, it ended up in Moff Gideon's hands.
Esposito has previously talked about how he's ready to really use the weapon on the show, mentioning that he's destroyed a few of them on the set.
The Mandalorian season 2 is expected to hit Disney+ sometime in October 2020.