Pre Vizsla

Pre Vizsla was a Mandalorian human male who served as the Governor of the moon Concordia and, in secret, as the leader of Death Watch, a terrorist movement that sought to restore Mandalore's warrior past and overthrow its pacifist New Mandalorian government. A member of Clan Vizsla, he wielded the Darksaber, the black-bladed lightsaber his ancestors had taken from the Jedi Temple. His ambitions led him into an alliance with the Sith and into a final duel for control of Mandalore against Maul. (The Clone Wars, "The Mandalore Plot" and "Shades of Reason")

Governor and secret leader#

Pre Vizsla belonged to Clan Vizsla, a Mandalorian house whose founder Tarre Vizsla had created the Darksaber and used it to help unite Mandalore. Vizsla's ancestors were among the warrior clans defeated during Mandalore's wars and exiled to the moon Concordia, where the militant tradition survived in secret. As Concordia's governor, Vizsla outwardly served the pacifist New Mandalorian government of Duchess Satine while covertly leading Death Watch, the splinter group that despised her rule and longed to reclaim Mandalore's martial heritage. (The Clone Wars, "The Mandalore Plot" and "Duchess of Mandalore"; Star Wars Rebels, "Trials of the Darksaber")

Count Dooku of the Confederacy of Independent Systems backed Death Watch, urging Vizsla to give the Galactic Republic a reason to occupy Mandalore. When rumours that Satine was raising an army for the Separatists drew the attention of the Jedi, the Council dispatched Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate, and on Concordia he uncovered Vizsla as the group's leader. With his cover broken, Death Watch later operated from hidden camps outside the Mandalore system. (The Clone Wars, "The Mandalore Plot", "Voyage of Temptation", "Duchess of Mandalore" and "A Friend in Need")

Alliance with the Sith#

Among Death Watch's lieutenants was Bo-Katan Kryze, Satine's own sister, who commanded the Nite Owls. After Death Watch recovered an escape pod carrying the wounded Sith brothers Maul and Savage Opress, Vizsla aided them, intrigued by their shared hatred of Kenobi, the Jedi responsible for his exile. At the Death Watch camp on Zanbar, Maul proposed an alliance, promising to help Death Watch reclaim Mandalore. The warriors voted to accept. (The Clone Wars, "A Friend in Need" and "Eminence")

Vizsla led the recruitment of the criminal underworld into the organization that became the Shadow Collective, traveling with Maul and Opress to the Black Sun fortress on Mustafar, then absorbing the Pyke Syndicate and the Hutt Clan. Throughout, he intended to use the Sith and their criminal army only until Mandalore was his, after which he meant to dispose of them. (The Clone Wars, "Eminence")

Mand'alor and the duel with Maul#

The Collective unleashed crime across the capital of Sundari to make Satine appear powerless, and Death Watch then staged a public rescue, arresting the very criminals it had loosed. Hailed as saviors, Vizsla and his warriors broke into the Royal Palace, arrested the Duchess and the New Mandalorian leadership, and Vizsla was proclaimed the new ruler of Mandalore. He had Maul and Opress imprisoned, betraying the Sith as he had always intended. (The Clone Wars, "Shades of Reason")

But the brothers escaped and confronted him in the throne room. Maul challenged Vizsla to single combat for control of Mandalore, and by Mandalorian tradition Vizsla accepted, igniting the Darksaber. Though a renowned warrior who needed no connection to the Force to duel a Sith, Vizsla was beaten, and Maul decapitated him before the assembled Mandalorians. With his death, Maul claimed both the Darksaber and the throne, while those who refused to accept an outsider's rule, led by Bo-Katan, broke away. (The Clone Wars, "Shades of Reason")

Legacy#

Vizsla's Darksaber passed from Maul down through the turbulent history of Mandalore, eventually becoming a symbol of legitimate rule that would be carried by Bo-Katan Kryze and, later, Din Djarin. Death Watch itself fractured after his death, but its warriors fought on long after the man who had led it from the shadows was gone; it was Death Watch fighters who rescued the young Din Djarin, who was then raised among the Children of the Watch. (Star Wars Rebels, "Heroes of Mandalore"; The Mandalorian, "Chapter 8: Redemption", "Chapter 11: The Heiress" and "Chapter 16: The Rescue")