Until the end of The Mandalorian Season 3, many Star Wars fans — by design — weren’t sure whether or not they could trust Emily Swallow’s always-helmeted character. The Armorer was a villain, many claimed — secretly out to stand in the way of the ongoing quest of the show’s heroes. In many ways, the assumption was not wrong.
However, The Armorer was never meant to be considered a villain like Moff Gideon or the shattered remains of the Empire. She was something else entirely — and it actually made for a much more interesting, dynamic character throughout the series.
In storytelling, there is a difference between a villain and an antagonist. Every villain is an antagonist, but not every antagonist is a villain. Both oppose the story’s protagonist, or hero, but that doesn’t always mean they are out to harm or destroy the hero or their mission. Sometimes, an antagonist exists to make a hero’s strengths and weaknesses stand out more — and often times, by the end, the antagonist and the protagonist end up on the same side.
In the case of The Mandalorian specifically, especially in Season 3 and The Book of Boba Fett, The Armorer was an antagonist to Din and Bo-Katan in that many of her beliefs differed from and even challenged theirs. Their opposing viewpoints created another layer of conflict for the show’s storyline besides the Mandalorians’ quest to take back their planet from the Empire. The Armorer never wanted Din or Bo-Katan to fail — in the end, she wanted the Mandalorian people to succeed just as much as they did.
Creating an aura of mystery and the potential of betrayal made both audiences and the show’s main characters doubt that The Armorer was really on the right side of things. A story levels up in intrigue when you have a character with questionable motives. This ended up being one of Season 3’s many strengths — the uncertainty about whether or not The Armorer would turn on the heroes at the last minute, right up until the end.
The Armorer was always meant to play this role — and perhaps she will continue to do so, if she appears in future episodes of The Mandalorian moving forward.
All episodes of The Mandalorian are available to stream exclusively on Disney+.
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