The Duchess

The title of this article is the rank and/or affiliation of an individual. This article is about an individual who is known only by rank or affiliation.

The Duchess was a female human who ruled over her homeworld, Plazir-15, alongside her husband Bombardier. Their dream of transforming the planet into a paradise was threatened by the security chief Helgait's plot to sabotage the capital city's droid laborers with smuggled nano-droids. When the Mandalorians Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin visited the planet, the Duchess and her husband recruited them to investigate the droid problem, while she meanwhile formed a close and immediate bond with their young companion Grogu. When the Mandalorians uncovered Helgait's scheme, the Duchess pronounced a sentence of exile and granted honors to the pair and to Grogu.

Biography

Ready to be loved

The Duchess was born into a noble family on the Outer Rim planet of Plazir-15. Her family had ruled the planet since it was first settled. Her world suffered greatly under the rule of the Galactic Empire.^[1]

After the Empire fell and the New Republic replaced it, a former Imperial officer, Captain Bombardier, was granted amnesty and assigned to help rebuild Plazir-15. As part of his program, he oversaw the rehabilitation of a large force of former Imperial and Separatist droids, which were reprogrammed to peacefully serve the citizens. While carrying out this work, Bombardier and the Duchess fell in love and were wed.^[1]

About time

The Duchess and Bombardier decided to enact revolutionary changes to remake their society according to their ideals. They held the first democratic elections on the planet; while they wished to remain the heads of state, they wanted to owe their positions to the people's will, not to family lineage.^[2] They were duly elected and were seated as the Royal family of Plazir-15. Plazir-15's government was restructured according to principles of direct democracy and cultural pluralism.^[1]

The new labor force of droids turned out to be sufficient to meet most of the planet's needs. Most citizens were free to stop working. The planet's Ugnaughts continued to proudly work to maintain the droids, and other organics staffed some departments of the local administration, but most citizens devoted themselves to recreation, the arts, and political participation. For their part, most of the droids were satisfied with this arrangement, because they saw work on Plazir-15 as their only alternative to the scrap heap.^[1]

Meanwhile, due to Bombardier's Imperial past, the New Republic forbade Plazir-15 to have a standing military. For defense, Bombardier and the Duchess contracted a faction of Mandalorian warriors loyal to Axe Woves to serve as mercenaries and privateers. The military force was furthermore banned from entering the capital city, while city constables had to to go unarmed.^[1]

All the rumors are true

In 9 ABY,^[3] a crisis began to grow in Plazir-15 as dangerous malfunctions appeared in one droid after another. The constables could not effectively protect the citizens from rogue former battle droids and other military robots, while the planet's Security Office, led by Chief of Security Helgait, made no progress uncovering the cause of the problem. The citizens, meanwhile, refused the precautionary measure of shutting down all the droids, unwilling to interrupt their lifestyle of ease and plenty.^[1]

Bo-Katan Kryze arrived on Plazir-15 hoping to convince Woves' privateers, who all were formerly of her unit of warriors, to rejoin her in a planned reconquest of the planet Mandalore. Din Djarin and Grogu accompanied her. The arrival of two unaffiliated Mandalorians gave the Duchess and Bombardier an idea for solving their problem. Since the Mandalorians were not part of any organized military force, they would be allowed inside the city; and since their weapons were integral to their culture, they would be permitted to bear them, per Plazir's principle of cultural pluralism. Thus, a loophole would allow them to deal with the malfunctioning droids.^[1]

The Duchess and Bombardier had a pair of droids direct the trio into one of the city's hyperloop pods and brought it to the room where they were enjoying a party with several guests. The Duchess was immediately drawn to Grogu. She asked to hold him; while Din Djarin thought he would be unlikely to trust a stranger, the child eagerly leapt into her arms, to her delight. Bombardier then invited the visitors to come and "see the view." Out of earshot of the other guests, he and the Duchess told the visitors about their problem and asked for help in eliminating the malfunctioning droids. In return, the couple would give Kryze their diplomatic support as she worked to gain sovereignty over Mandalore: through Axe Woves, they knew who she was and had learned all about her quest.^[1]

Truth hurts

Kryze and Djarin went off into the city to confront the rogue droids and seek the cause of the malfunction. While they conducted their investigation, the Duchess, Bombardier, and their guests continued entertaining themselves with a game involving bouncing pill bugs through a series of hoops. Grogu, watching, used his growing skills in the Force to manipulate the Duchess's bug through four consecutive hoops, scoring her a quadro-blast.^[1]

Kryze and Djarin arrived with a captured and penitent Helgait. They had discovered that smuggled nano-droids were causing the droid laborers to act erratically, and they identified the chief of security as the person behind the nano-droids. He readily confessed his crime to the Duchess and asked that he might be forgiven, just as Bombardier had been forgiven for his work done for the Empire. Though wounded by his betrayal, the Duchess left open the possibility of forgiveness. In the meantime, she sentenced him to exile on the Moon of Paraqaat.^[1]

The Mandalorians had fulfilled their promise, so the Duchess allowed them to go meet with Woves and his privateers. She first gave the Key to Plazir to the pair, the planet's highest honor. She then called Grogu, called for a ceremonial sword, and knighted the child into the Ancient Order of Independent Regencies. The visitors wished the royal couple farewell and left the city to confront Woves and his privateers. Kryze challenged Woves, defeated him in combat, and renewed her claim to be the restored ruler of the Mandalorian people.^[1]

Personality and traits

Born into nobility, the Duchess carried herself with charm, compassion, and grace.^[2] She formed an immediate bond with Grogu when he came to Plazir-15, despite the child's habitual mistrust of strangers. The Duchess and Captain Bombardier had a happy marriage and while she was prone to honestly mentioning when her husband was wrong, she loved him dearly and considered him to be the love of her life. The Duchess was an idealistic ruler. Despite her high station, she willingly ceded power to the people of her world, instituting radical changes to Plazir-15's government and submitting to a free election. On the other hand, she held on to a few royal prerogatives and was ready to use them. She summarily gave Commissioner Helgait a sentence of exile and handed out royal honors to the Mandalorian visitors.^[1]

Equipment

The Duchess dressed in elaborate clothing befitting a royal. Her gown was made of fabrics of different colors and strings of gems. Her headdress of gems and metal shaped her long braided hair. Her wardrobe included a luminescent structure in the shape of a giant flower that could hover behind her and follow as she walked.^[1]

Behind the scenes

The Duchess appeared in "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire," the sixth episode of the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian's third season,^[1] which was released on April 5, 2023.^[4] She was portrayed by the musician Lizzo. Lizzo's cameo, like that of Jack Black, who played Bombardier, was not announced beforehand, and their appearance was meant as a surprise for viewers. Lizzo had first caught script writer Jon Favreau's attention through her social media posts about The Mandalorian, including a photo of herself in costume as Grogu. The whimsical character of the Duchess seemed suited for her, and she was contacted by the show and offered the role. Both actress and crew were entertained by the fact that the Duchess, like Lizzo, was a huge Grogu fan.^[5]

The character's title is not in the episode's dialogue, but it was first mentioned in the episode's caption, spelled "The Dutchess".^[1] StarWars.com and the Star Wars Encyclopedia instead use the standard spelling "Duchess", and this article assumes the caption to be a misspelling.^[6][2]

Appearances

Explore all of Wookieepedia's images for this article subject.

• The Mandalorian – The Graphic Novel of Season 3 (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian — "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire" (First appearance)

Sources

• Experience | The Mandalorian | Disney+ on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
• Mando Download: "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire" on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Bounty Hunting Highlights: 5 of Our Favorite Moments from The Mandalorian – "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire" on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy

Notes and references