Star Wars: Who Is Tarre Vizsla?

SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers follow for the fifth episode of The Book of Boba Fett, "Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian." In this surprising The Mandalorian interlude to The Book of Boba Fett, we see Din Djarin searching for and eventually finding what remains of his tribe. There are only him, the Armorer, and another named Paz Vizsla. Paz takes a particular interest when he notices that Din is wielding the Darksaber. The Armorer takes the opportunity to remind viewers of the Darskaber's history. Now a symbol of leadership among Mandalorians, the Mandalorian Jedi Tarre Vizsla, of Paz's clan, created the weapon, according to legend. So who is this Tarre Vizla?

Unfortunately, we don't know too much about Tarre yet, despite him being such a fascinating figure. As a child during the Old Republic, Tarre Vizsla became the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi Order. He rose from a Padawan to eventually become a Jedi Knight, creating the Darksaber with its oddly-shaped black blade and strange properties.

In an unusual move for a Jedi, Tarre returned to Mandalore to lead Clan Vizsla, the Darksaber becoming a symbol of his authority and power. Eventually, he became the Mand'alor, leader of all Mandalorians. How or why this happened is unknown. Did he fall to the dark side? Or perhaps the Jedi approved of this play for political power? After all, Old Republic history includes tales of the Mandalorian-Jedi War, a series of conflicts between the two factions. The Mandalorians' first encounter with Jedi inspired them to design armaments specifically designed to counter their abilities, like their vambraces and beskar armor that could withstand lightsabers. It could be that the Jedi thought having one of their knights leading the Mandalorians would prevent another such conflict, but fans can only speculate for now.

Sometime after Tarre's death (the means of which are also a mystery), the Jedi came to possess the Darksaber and housed it in the Jedi Temple until, during the fall of the Republic, members of House Vizsla reclaimed it in an attempt to reunite Mandalore. The Mandalorians built a statue of Tarre on Mandalore in his honor. Later, the Empire desecrated the memorial by building an outpost on top of it. Upon returning to Mandalore, the Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren destroyed the outpost, returning the statue to its former glory.

The rest of Tarre's story remains unknown, but with as much focus on the Darksaber lately, it could only be a matter of time before we learn of its origin. Who knows? With the exact timeline of Tarre's life being vague, perhaps his story will come to light as part of Star Wars: The High Republic, especially as the next chapter of that saga goes even further into Star Wars' past.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments. The Book of Boba Fett debuts new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.