Mandalorian Episode 4 Sets Up A Return to Mandalorian Glory Days
Is Bo-Katan truly a convert?
The Mandalorian Episode 4 was all about initiation. Episode 3, “The Convert,” followed Bo-Katan as she escaped her now-destroyed home with Mando and Grogu, settling in the Children of the Watch covert. Because she had previously saved Mando from the Living Waters of Mandalore and didn’t take off her helmet, she actually became an initiated member of The Children of the Watch.
In Episode 4, Bo-Katan hesitantly accepts her role in what she had previously referred to as a “cult,” following their customs, leading a rescue mission, and conversing with The Armorer. But in the end, she makes an interesting choice that could determine where the rest of this series goes.
After Bo-Katan rescues the newly-initiated Ragnar, Paz Vizla’s son, The Armorer praises her work for a group she barely knows, saying “You have honored your House and all of Mand'alor. You have done the highest honor of the Creed.” She notices Bo-Katan is missing one of her shoulder pauldrons and offers to make a repair.
The Armorer offers to repair Bo-Katan’s armor after she saves young Rangnar.
While in the forge, The Armorer asks if she should inlay the signet of the Nite Owls, her old unit from the days of The Clone Wars. Glancing at the decorative Mythosaur sculpture on the wall of the forge, she asks if she could get a pauldron with the signet of the Mythosaur. Apparently, the Mythosaur is the catch-all signet of the Mandalorians, since the prophecy says a Mythosaur rising up will herald a new age of the Mandalore.
By choosing this signet, Bo-Katan is combining her past life as mainstream Mandalorian leader and member of the Nite Owls and her new life as an accidental Children of the Watch initiate. Her initial prejudices keep getting proven wrong over and over again.
That said, she’s still not totally sold: not being able to take off her helmet is weighing on her, as evidenced by the dinner break we see her take. But maybe she’s willing to incorporate some more of the Way into her day to day life.
Bo-Katan swapped out one of her Nite Owl pauldrons for a mythosaur one.
The biggest motivator for this signet choice isn’t a feeling of belonging with the rest of the Watch, but an undeniably religious experience she had in past: seeing the Mythosaur in the Living Waters. When she tells The Armorer she saw one, her response is that it was merely a vision. But Bo-Katan doubles down, telling her that she truly saw one on Mandalore.
It’s hard to tell if The Armorer believes her — she is, of course, wearing a helmet — but her final response of “This is the Way” seems to signal that she knows the prophecy is coming into effect and that the Mandalorians will be united. After Bo-Katan’s invitation into the Watch, the unity has already started. Now, the two sects can join together and start to rebuild Mandalore into what it should be: a planet with a rich cultural population.
