We’re nearly halfway through the third season of The Mandalorian, and whatever’s next in store for Din and Grogu is unclear at the moment. Having completed Din’s quest for redemption in the eyes of the Mandalorian creed, it seems like the duo is merely waiting for the next big conflict to arrive now. It’s safe to assume that it will involve a mind-wiped Dr. Pershing and the devious Elia Kane in some capacity, as well as the unrelenting, vengeance-driven Moff Gideon, but exactly what will happen next remains to be seen.
However, it looks like the galaxy’s favorite father-son duo will have a surplus of backup this time around. With the Armorer’s collective of Mandalorians welcoming both Din and Bo-Katan back into the enclave, the clan are as united as ever; a development that no doubt caused a smile to form under the helmet of the weapon-forging favorite.
The golden-domed leader of the enclave remains one of the show’s most enigmatic characters, ever-steadfast in the decisions she makes as the overseeing glue of the galaxy’s remaining Mandalorians. Star Emily Swallow was happy to dissect her character’s intentions and true characterization in an interview with SlashFilm, including her insistence on upholding the Way of the Mandalore, which is relatively all that Mandalorians have left as far as their culture goes.
“I’d like to think she is somebody who upholds what is sacred and what is true. She’s the one who’s sort of been the heart and the soul of the Mandalorian people and reminding them what has held them together. The creed is something that many of them have felt not worth holding to, but through everything that’s happened, it is the thing that has held most of them together, and it is the thing that has seemed most true to them.”
She also pointed out how the Armorer wasn’t afraid of any conflict or hardship that arose from the space she occupies, which we saw in the non-hostile, matter-of-fact way she handled the news of Din’s breaking of the creed.
“I said, ‘I didn’t do anything to him.’ That was a creed, that was an oath that he had willingly taken. Then he willingly made the choice to remove his helmet. When you make a choice, there are consequences. That doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing. We learn so much from going against decisions that we’ve made … he maybe didn’t fully weigh the pros and cons of that decision in the moment, but he knew there would be consequences.”
As the uncontested figurehead of this enclave, one might wonder how her death would affect the state of the surviving Mandalorians, and how that might subsequently create brand new conflicts for Din and co. to go up against. It’s a tragic possibility, to be sure, but with rumors of a civil war being tossed around, the Armorer’s death just might be the inciting incident that that event would need.
The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney Plus, with new episodes of the third season releasing every Wednesday until the season’s conclusion on April 19.