In the earliest episodes of The Mandalorian, viewers are introduced to The Children of the Watch — a group of Mandalorians led by the mysterious Armorer (Emily Swallow). When Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) first meets Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), he’s startled when the former Mandalorian leader removes her helmet so nonchalantly — a violation of the Creed he and the other Children of the Watch abide by. To Bo-Katan, Din and the rest of The Children of the Watch are a cult with a fanatical leader: the Armorer.
Introduced as a zealot who forges Beskar armor and says little more than, “This is The Way,” the Armorer takes a more central role in The Mandalorian Season 3. From her knowledge of the Darksaber and the Living Waters of Mandalore to her suggestion that Bo-Katan led the disparate Mandalorian factions, the Armorer's behavior has Star Wars fans theorizing that she's not only connected to Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) but the antagonistic Rook Kast from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, too.
Was The Armorer Working For Moff Gideon?
In the final episodes of Season 3, the Darksaber-wielding Bo-Katan Kryze leads a reconnaissance mission to the surface of Mandalore. Made up of both Children of the Watch and less traditionalist Mandalorians, the group discovers that Moff Gideon has a secret base on Mandalore, which is likely why the Imperial leader spread rumors about the planet being uninhabitable. Even more surprising, Moff Gideon and his battalion of Dark Troopers are outfitted in Beskar armor.
Refining Beskar into armor of such high quality takes experience. Revered by her covert for her forging skills, the Armorer is perhaps the only known person capable of making such armor. In the past, she has spoken fondly of The Great Forge on Mandalore — where the “air rang with the music of a hundred hammers." But would the Armorer really betray her people for access to the sacred site?
Is The Armorer A Bad Guy?
The most devout of the Children of the Watch, the Armorer has no qualms about exiling Din Djarin and others who disregard the Creed. But, when she believes Bo-Katan capable of uniting all Mandalorians — no matter their ideology — the Armorer bends the rules. It’s hard to believe the Armorer would instruct Bo-Katan to remove her helmet, or that she'd want to merge her cult with Mandalorians who don't follow the Creed.
During the mission to reclaim Mandalore, the Armorer bows out while the detail is en route to the Great Forge. Given her obsession with the Forge, it seems strange that she’d offer to leave with the injured — unless she knew about the Imperial remnant's impending ambush.
Why Does The Armorer Have Horns?
In addition to her distinctive red armor and furs, the Armorer trades the typical Mandalorian rangefinder — the targeting device on the helmet antennas — for horns. Suspiciously, Moff Gideon’s Beskar helmet features horns, too. Given that horned helmets have a history in Star Wars lore, the design feels intentional.
In The Clone Wars, Gar Saxon, a former member of Pre Vizsla’s Death Watch, sports a horned helmet. While attempting to reclaim Mandalore from the pacifist New Mandalorians, Pre Vizsla is usurped by Maul’s Shadow Collective, and killed. With the Darksaber in hand, Maul fancies himself Mandalore's rightful leader.
Death Watch, the splinter cell of traditionalist Mandalorians that lived in exile on the moon of Concordia, are of two minds. While some follow Maul, others — including Bo-Katan — won’t follow a non-Mandalorian leader, even if he wields the Darksaber. Gar Saxon sides with Maul, hence the horned helmet. While it’s unclear why the Armorer sports horns on her helmet, the history is undeniable.
Was The Armorer A Follower Of Maul?
Does this mean the Armorer was also a follower of Maul? There’s a strong possibility. The history of Mandalore is complicated. After years of war ravaged the planet’s surface, a pacifist movement of New Mandalorians — those who wanted to do away with their warring culture — rose up. Led by Duchess Satine Kryze, these peace-minded Mandalorians were eager to join the Republic.
However, the Old Mandalorians weren’t keen on giving up their warrior ways. These traditionalists were exiled to Concordia, the same moon where the Children of the Watch lived. Concordia's governor, Pre Vizsla, aimed to reclaim Mandalore and reinstate the old ways. A descendant of the Mandalorian Jedi Tarre Vizsla, Pre Vizsla used his ownership of the Darksaber to gain followers, reviving the splinter terrorist cell known as Death Watch. Struggling to reclaim Mandalore, Pre Vizsla allied with Maul, only to lose out the Sith and his secret Shadow Collective.
Who Is The Armorer? Theory, Explained
If the Armorer was around during Maul’s takeover, she would have likely been a member of Death Watch, given that the group's views align with her own. Even though Maul isn’t Mandalorian, it’s possible she believed so strongly in the traditions of Mandalore that she was willing to accept him as their leader because he won the Darksaber in combat.
If the Armorer simply follows the one who wields the Darksaber, that could mean her allegiance shifted to Moff Gideon once he took the Darksaber from Bo-Katan during the Great Purge. Not to mention, the Armorer's sudden change of heart about Bo-Katan came about just after the latter saved Din and became the Darksaber's rightful owner. So, if the Armorer is a former Death Watch member, have viewers seen her before? A popular fan theory posits that the Armorer is none other than Maul loyalist Rook Kast.
Is Rook Kast The Armorer In “The Mandalorian”?
A spiritual forerunner to the Children of the Watch, the fundamentalist Death Watch seems like a fitting group for the Armorer to hail from. When Maul led Death Watch during the Siege of Mandalore, Rook Kast was second in command to Gar Saxon, and pledged loyalty to Maul, even leading the group that later frees Maul from Imperial custody.
A power-hungry terrorist at best, Rook Kast had no problem allying with those who wrought pain and destruction on Mandalore. If it meant controlling Mandalore, maybe she would do it again — this time as the Armorer. Set well after the Siege of Mandalore, Solo: A Star Wars Story reveals that before Maul's death, he led a crime syndicate, the Crimson Dawn. If the former Death Watch Mandalorians remained loyal to Maul, perhaps they were part of the Crimson Dawn.
Although Gar Saxon is shot dead by Sabine Wren’s mother, Ursa, in Star Wars Rebels, it’s not known what became of Rook Kast. If she was Maul’s successor, Rook Kast might have transformed the syndicate into the Children of the Watch. Rook Kast’s alliance with Maul brought destruction to Mandalore, which seems to go against all the Armorer stands for, but maybe siding with Maul — and even Moff Gideon — was more appealing than joining the Republic. After all, traditionalist Mandalorians want self-rule above all else. It’s also possible that Rook Kast, who followed Pre Vizsla and then Maul, pledges herself to whoever wields the Darksaber, no matter what. That would not only explain an alliance with Moff Gideon, but her abrupt acceptance of Bo-Katan, too.
Mandalore’s history is marked by in-fighting, so it’s possible that the Armorer’s true ambitions have yet to be revealed. If she is Rook Kast, she would be a fitting enemy for Bo-Katan to draw arms against. They're both ex-Death Watch, and Bo-Katan tried to bring Rook Kast to justice during the Siege of Mandalore. Bo-Katan would be one of the few remaining Mandalorians to know Rook Kast's past, so a rematch would be quite the way to end things in The Mandalorian Season 4.
Whether the Armorer is actually Rook Kast, or just a Mandalorian harboring self-motivated (and nefarious) intentions, her evolution into the series' final-season antagonist would be a powerful way to close out Din Djarin's story. There's no better way for Din to reckon with his upbringing than by pitting him against the leader of the Children of the Watch. Despite being a devout follower of the Creed, Din has come to learn that those outside of the Armorer’s covert can be just as Mandalorian. If anything, the history of Mandalore proves that change isn't easy, though, at times, it is necessary.