For almost three seasons, Emily Swallow’s The Armorer has been one of the most reliable presences in The Mandalorian. This battle-hardened warrior is essentially the religious leader of Din Djarin’s covert, with all the Mandalorians under her respecting her opinions, smithing skills, and willingness to stride into combat wielding her two helmet-cracking hammers.
As of yesterday’s penultimate episode, many have started wondering whether we’re about to get a major heel turn. The episode was called “The Spies,” the character was behaving somewhat unusually, and she ducked out of visiting the Great Forge (surely her life’s ambition) just in time to avoid Moff Gideon’s ambush. All very suspicious, but would this character actually ever side with the man who destroyed Mandalore?
Swallow has given an interview to DiscussingFilm in which she goes into detail on the character, and perhaps drops a hint at what’s coming next week. One key aspect of season three is going deeper into Mandalorian culture, and Swallow thinks now is the right time:
“I think we’re ready for it. The fans have so many questions, and rightfully so. But I’m so glad that they’ve held off on it. It’s been so interesting to see the tensions that have come up knowing that a lot of those questions are hanging in the air and knowing that people want answers to them – but also knowing that it’s so much more interesting when you have to wait.”
She also said she’s delighted her character has become a mainstay of the show:
“They called me to tell me that they wanted me to come back for that episode of The Book of Boba Fett and I was thrilled. When I got the script for that one, it was so heavy with all of this lore and I wanted to make sure I knew what of that information was new and what of it was supposedly canon.
So I got on a zoom call with Jon and Dave [Filoni], and they said ‘We’re setting up some stuff for season three here, and you’re going to be in a lot of that.” They said it so casually, I was like “Wait what?”
As for her future, Swallow is keeping her lips sealed, but dropped a comment that reads quite ominously for her future:
“Oh, boy. What do I want to say that won’t give anything away? Well, I hope that people will see that there is value and allowing yourself to be uncomfortable and in listening to opinions that are challenging to you and working through that discomfort.”
As much as The Armorer siding with Moff Gideon would be a devastating twist we’re still not sure it makes a lot of sense. After all, she’s been focused on restoring Mandalorian culture, which was all but shattered by Moff Gideon himself, and he’s currently perverting it for his own ends. Then again, maybe in another light, he’s now the best hope to put Mandalorian culture back on top.
The Mandalorian season three finale will air on Disney Plus on April 19.