Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan Kryze played a much larger role in The Mandalorian season 3 than we expected, becoming a central figure in the hit Star Wars TV series.
For years, fans have argued that Din Djarin was destined to become ruler of Mandalore as the rightful wielder of the Darksaber. Instead, he gave the blade back to Bo-Katan with the evil Moff Gideon (or one of his clones if the theories are correct) later destroying it. After the villain's defeat, and by the time the show ended, the Princess had united her people on their home as the new leader of the restored Mandalore.
As rumours continue to swirl that Pedro Pascal's time as The Mandalorian's lead star is winding down, speculation continues to run rampant about Bo-Katan eventually taking his place as the titular "Mandalorian."
During a recent interview with The Direct (via SFFGazette.com), Sackhoff weighed in on the possibility of the baton being passed to her from Pascal's helmeted warrior.
"No. I think there's always going to be a lot of speculation in this fandom. You know, I think it's one of the reasons why people love this fandom so much. And they love this universe so much that a lot of times it allows just enough ambiguity for people to interpret things the way that they want to interpret them. And out of that there is the ability to have a lot of misinformation get out, or just, you know, wishful thinking."
"And I think in this situation, I think that the story of the Mandalorians and the story of Bo-Katan needed to be told, I don't believe in any way that it was taking away from Din [Djarin's] story, nor was that ever the intention. And you know, Pedro and I aren't in charge of who gets to lead the show [laughs]. This is Din Djarin's show, it will always be Din Djarin's show."
Season 3 of The Mandalorian ended with something of a soft reboot for the show which suggested the plan moving forward might be for Din and Grogu to embark on the sort of self-contained adventures which made those early episodes such a hit.
Where that leaves Bo-Katan is hard to say, though Sackhoff did recently hint at her return in season 4. However, we'd bet on it being a one-off cameo to catch us up on Mandalore's status rather than as a character who makes recurring appearances from start to finish.
It largely hinges on where the show goes from here, though we're expecting Bo-Katan to be front and centre - alongside Din and The Child - in Dave Filoni's highly anticipated Heir to the Empire movie featuring all these small screen characters assembling to battle Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The Mandalorian season 4 doesn't have a confirmed premiere date but likely won't return to Disney+ until late 2024/early 2025.