Kryzes and Saxons
Throughout The Clone Wars, Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore is contrasted against her sister, Bo-Katan Kryze. The conflict between the two Kryze siblings reflects the conflict between two aspects of Mandalorian culture. Satine, the established ruler, is a progressive and pacifist who wants to distance Mandalore from its old, warlike ways. Bo-Katan is a traditionalist, aligned with the Death Watch movement that wants to return Mandalore to its warrior past. On multiple occasions, characters remark on the dramatic dissimilarity between Satine and Bo-Katan. "You're nothing like your sister," Ahsoka remarks to Bo-Katan in "Old Friends Not Forgotten" (The Clone Wars 7.9).
In Rebels, the dynamic between the Kryze sisters is echoed in the contrast between two brothers, Gar and Tiber Saxon. In "Heroes of Mandalore: Part 2" (Rebels 4.2), Grand Admiral Thrawn – like Ahsoka commenting on the dissimilarity between Satine and Bo-Katan – observes this difference. "You're different than your brother," he tells Tiber. "How would Gar Saxon feel about you betraying your heritage?" Gar, like Bo-Katan, is a traditionalist who prizes the old ways of Mandalore. Tiber, like Satine, is a progressive who wants to chart a new course for his people and their culture: "I have evolved. Mandalore must evolve with me."
It is fitting, then, that Tiber attacks Bo-Katan with a weapon named "The Duchess" after Satine. The Duchess attacks Mandalorians through their Beskar armor, a physical manifestation of their warlike culture; as Thrawn tells Tiber, it "strikes at the very heart of your people's tradition," which echoes the complaint leveled against Satine's government by Mandalorian traditionalists like Bo-Katan. At the end of "Heroes of Mandalore," Mandalorian tradition wins out: the Duchess is ultimately defeated not when Sabine Wren uses it against Tiber, but when Bo-Katan refuses to use it because "it's not our way."
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Characters: Bo-Katan Kryze / Duchess Satine Kryze / Gar Saxon / Tiber Saxon
Shows: The Clone Wars / Rebels
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Concepts: Mandalorians / siblings / tradition / war and peace
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