WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian,” streaming now on Disney+.
In the epic finale of The Mandalorian Season 2, Din Djarin won the legendary darksaber in combat without realizing its significance to the people of Mandalore. Though Bo-Katan Kryze gave some background to the Great Purge of Mandalore in "Chapter 11: The Heiress," it wasn't until The Book of Boba Fett "Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian" that Din and the show's viewers learned another side of the story. According to Mandalorian creed, in the hands of some individuals, the darksaber could behave as a curse.
Returning to The Armorer after accidentally injuring himself with the weapon while retrieving a bounty, Din admitted only that he knew posessing the darksaber gives the wielder power to lead all of Mandalore. Taking the blade from him, The Armorer told the full story of the darksaber -- how it was crafted by a Mandalorian Jedi over a thousand years ago, making it a one-of-a-kind relic worthy only to those who win it in combat.
When Din asked The Armorer about Bo-Katan, she warned him that the former ruler of Mandalore was the victim of an alleged curse brought upon her by obtaining the darksaber unofficially. According to the Armorer, Mandalorian creed states the darksaber must be won, not gifted, and Bo-Katan did not win it in a duel. Therefore, for as long as she possessed the blade, it brought nothing but misfortune to her and the people of Mandalore.
It was unclear whether or not The Armorer was speaking from official Mandalorian legends or obtained her knowledge from stories told through the Children of the Watch after Mandalore's destruction. In her version of the story, Bo-Katan was "a cautionary tale" and never deserved to hold the darksaber in the first place.
However, The Armorer can be viewed as an unreliable narrator if her status as a descendent of Death Watch is considered suspicious. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Death Watch was depicted as a terrorist organization whose leader's family happened to have held onto the darksaber for generations. Children of the Watch is an offshoot of Death Watch, and Bo-Katan's possession of the darksaber could have easily looked like a betrayal to the group. It would make sense that from The Armorer's perspective, the darksaber's curse was completely preventable.
Star Wars: Rebels told the story of Bo-Katan obtaining the darksaber from Sabine Wren, wrapping up the weapon's arc in the series with Bo-Katan raising the saber and vowing to unite the clans of Mandalore to avenge the death of her sister, Duchess Satine. The next time the saber appeared in the timeline, it was shown in the hands of Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian "Chapter 8: Redemption." It hasn't been fully explained exactly how Bo-Katan lost the darksaber, but The Armorer calls the end of her rule over Mandalore "a tragedy." However, members of Children of the Watch are very set in their ways, as evidenced by The Mandalorian's abrupt dismissal upon confessing he'd broken the creed by removing his helmet. To The Armorer's covert, breaking the creed is unforgivable.
Bo-Katan may have also broken the creed when she claimed the darksaber, but from her point of view, she sought to rule Mandalore for the right reasons. The "curse" brought upon her very well could have just been the Empire operating with the same cruelty that led to the destruction of Kamino and Alderaan. The Mandalorians struck a major blow to Imperial forces, so the Imperials retaliated with the full strength of their regime.
The Armorer seems to think that despite Din winning the darksaber in combat from not one but two opponents, the weapon still has the potential to bring misery and destruction to future Mandalorians who might find themselves in possession of it. Now that he has betrayed Children of the Watch in her eyes, he, too, could face the darksaber's curse.
The Book of Boba Fett is now streaming on Disney+.