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“I think that when she meets Axe, there’s pain there with him,” Kassianides tells Den of Geek over Zoom. “I think he cares deeply, they have a deep history these two. And it’s quite evident in the performance, which we gave in the episode in terms of it’s not just about violence and fighting, it’s within the two of them, but it’s also about how they come together and what they talk about. And I think his loyalty means a hell of a great deal to her.”
Ultimately, Bo-Katan much challenges Axe to reclaim her clan and its fleet of ships. Not because she’s necessarily looking to assert dominance, but because she knows that combat is the easiest way to get through to another Mandalorian. Axe and Bo-Katan’s fight is emotionally charged, with every swing channeling the shared history of loss that these warriors have been through since the Great Purge.
“I think that he lost, I imagine that,” Kassianides reveals. “Actually, part of my backstory, which we talked through, he went through a lot of pain, I think he lost loved ones. I like to say that you see that in the performance, I think there’s a depth there, you know, within that pain, which is multifaceted, which I’m eager to explore more. And I hope you get to see that.”
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Bo-Katan is finally able to talk to Axe after gaining the upper hand, but he’s still reluctant to believe in a united future for Mandalorians. He presses her to fight Din to reclaim the Darksaber, but Bo-Katan reveals why she hasn’t fought harder to take it from him, insisting that “enough Mandalorian blood has been spilled by our own hands.”
For a brief moment, these two warriors are at a standstill. Without the Darksaber, Bo-Katan will never be able to truly lead the Mandalorians back to their homeworld. As Katee Sackhoff explained, Bo-Katan has made a choice to do things differently than she has in the past, which is why she won’t fight Din for the blade, even if it means giving up on her dream to lead a united Mandalore once again. It’s what pushes Axe to return the clan to a life of bounty hunting, working for the highest bidder and wandering the galaxy without a home. Bo-Katan’s given up in Axe’s eyes, so why should he continue on her mission?
“Like many people in this season, the initial long held belief is that there is no Mandalore, that there’s nowhere to go back to, that this was a pipe dream,” Kassianides says. “I just think that what’s great about this season is that you’re meeting people that hold on to their histories in different ways. And I think that when they come together, Bo certainly has to convince [him to] overcome those belief systems.”
