Emily Swallow breaks down why the Armorer threw her weight behind Bo-Katan as the leader of Mandalore instead of Din Djarin in The Mandalorian. Although Din won the Darksaber at the end of season 2, the Armorer never treated him as the future leader of Mandalore, instead sending him on a quest to earn back his honor. However, in the fifth episode of The Mandalorian's third season, the Armorer announces that Bo-Katan will be the one to bring their people back together and retake their home planet.
After the Lucasfilm Showcase panel at Star Wars Celebration, Screen Rant spoke with Emily Swallow about The Armorer's game-changing decision in The Mandalorian. She explained what motivated The Armorer's decision to support Bo-Katan and how her thinking has evolved after spending time with the newest addition to the covert. Swallow also shared that Bo-Katan is someone who can bring the surviving Mandalorians together in a way Din Djarin never could. Check out Swallow's full breakdown below:
Emily Swallow: As opposed to Din removing his helmet, I think there's big differences in the backstory for them removing their helmets, and what they stand to gain by removing their helmets. A lot of people were so mad! They saw it as, "Oh, you let Bo take off her helmet, but you wouldn't let Mando take off his helmet." First of all, Mando was the one who decided that he wanted to go to the Mines of Mandalore. I never told him to do that; he wanted to go on that field trip.
But also, I think that the Armorer, thank goodness, is somebody who's thinking can evolve. She's someone who is open to new ideas, and I think that she has come to see along the way that as we've been divided for too long. As she says to Bo, all Mandalorians need to work together. She's seen that Bo has walked both worlds, and Bo has been willing to keep her helmet on while she's been in this particular covert. She's been willing to adhere to those rules and those guidelines, but she's also been accepted by the other Mandalorians without her helmet.
She sees her as someone who can perhaps bring the two of them together. Whether or not she can remains to be seen, because we don't know if she'll be accepted by those helmet-less Mandalorians anymore. But Bo is a natural leader; Bo wants to lead. We don't really know that Mando wants to be lead.
Why The Armorer Sees Bo-Katan As Mandalor's Rightful Leader
Bo-Katan had three major turning points that likely played a key role in changing the Armorer's view of her. When she decided to follow the covert's creed and keep her helmet on after bathing in the living waters of Mandalore, when she risked her life to save the foundling, and when she revealed to the Armorer that she had seen a Mythosaur in the living waters of Mandalore. The Mythosaur is a legendary creature to Mandalorians and was thought to be a creature of myths until Bo-Katan found one.
While Din did win the Darksaber in combat, he has never been a leader beyond the mindset of a general when recruiting a team to help him rescue Grogu. Din is a warrior, while Bo-Katan is a leader with hard-earned wisdom earned since the Clone Wars. Bo-Katan's respect for the covert's beliefs and the Armorer's position proves that she is exactly the leader that Mandalore needs.
When the Armorer told Bo-Katan to remove her helmet, it marked a monumental shift in her beliefs. No longer seeing this as a betrayal of what it means to be a Mandalorian, the Armorer understands now that Bo-Katan can bridge the gap between all the surviving Mandalorians, bringing them together. The Armorer sees Bo-Katan as the key to retaking their home planet, bringing their scattered people back together, and rebuilding their culture in the final episodes of The Mandalorian season 3.