Star Wars: The Mandalorian star Katee Sackhoff is addressing the rumors of her character, Bo-Katan Kryze, having a romantic attachment to Din Djarin, aka “Mando.” The two Mandalorian characters met in The Mandalorian Season 2, but were staunchly divided in their beliefs about Mandalorian culture. When Din won the coveted Darksaber in battle, it caused a competitive rivalry between her and Din. By the end of The Mandalorian Season 3, Din and Bo were firmly united as allies, leading the surviving Mandalorian people in a campaign to reclaim Mandalore from Moff Gideon and his Imperial remnant forces.
So, is romance simmering between Mando and Bo-Katan? According to Katee Sackhoff, the fascination with “shipping” characters is a standard part of fandoms, these days – best not to get too hung up on it:
“I think that there’s probably just as much speculation in the shipping of The Armorer and Bo-Katan,” Sackhoff joked to The Direct. “I think that anytime you put a woman and a man on screen together, it’s bound to happen. I think that that’s just one of those things, that speculation that people enjoy. But no, nothing more than just joking around between myself and Brendan Wayne at work, so no.”
“Brendan Wayne” is one of the stunt doubles who plays Din Djarin/Mando in The Mandalorian, in lieu of actor Pedro Pascal, who mostly provides voiceover dialogue and only physically appears onscreen for key scenes. The Mandalorian Season 3 outtakes included a playful moment during a tense scene on a boat, broken up by Sackhoff and Wayne (the latter dressed as Mando) sharing an unscripted faux kiss through Mando’s helmet:
“They is definitely an outtake where Brendan Wayne grabbed my face and kissed me through the Mando helmet,” Sackhoff explained. “It was quite funny. Brendan Wayne is one of the men that wear the suit. And it was really fun.”
That kiss gag led to speculation that there were actual versions of the boat scene where Bo-Katan and Mando did in fact kiss. The two characters are having a heart-to-heart conversation in the scene, prior to a major battle with Gideon. In some other TV shows or films, it would’ve been the sort of moment where two characters with romantic tension between them finally share a charged kiss. However, Katee Sackhoff makes it clear that The Mandalorian isn’t that kind of show, and there are no deleted scenes hiding the romantic angle:
“There were no scenes that I remember being cut, and if they were cut, there probably is a good reason for it,” Sackhoff said. “I know that sometimes some scenes get shortened, and you know, and that’s probably [because of] runtime.”
(Photo: Lucasfilm)
The Mandalorian Season 4 will arguably find Bo-Katan in her strongest era of leadership on Mandalore, while Din Djarin presumably gets back to his old ways of being a bounty hunter. Could romance be in their future? Doesn’t seem like that is the way – but you never do know…
Star Wars: The Mandalorian is streaming on Disney+.
