When it comes to popular franchises, it is common for onscreen actors to reprise their roles in voice work for animation – but rarely the other way around. Obviously, you won’t be seeing Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin or Hank Azaria as Apu in live-action. The simple fact is cartoon characters rarely resemble their actual voice actors.

This is the situation surrounding Bo Katan her live-action debut in The Mandalorian. Viewers of The Clone Wars [TCW] animated TV series may recognize her voice as Katee Sackhoff previously voiced the same character in both TCW and Star Wars: Rebels.

To see Katee Sackhoff finally don the beskar in live action was a dream come true to both the fans and the actress herself. There is, however, one problem with incorporating Katee in her role in live-action: her age, considering the current timeline in The Mandalorian.

Katee Sackhoff, at the time of this article, is 42 years old. Thankfully, age hasn’t stopped her from looking gorgeous.

Furthermore, she’s one of those few actresses that can convey that “strong woman” archetype that feels authentic that Modern Hollywood seems to have forgotten (seriously, she should have been Captain Marvel).

However, if we take the entire Star Wars timeline into account, her character would be much older at this point.

It is also important to understand what sort of person Bo Katan is in order to understand her in the Mando timeline.

Bo Katan’s Story Until Now

Clone Wars and Extremism

Bo Katan first Debuted in 2012 in the season 4 episode (A friend in need (link) it was rough during the 2nd years of the Clone Wars or 21 years Before the Battle of Yavin ( or BBY, the official Star wars dating method).

Now before explaining the timeline it is important to explain Bo as a character and why she’s not the noble hero Disney wants you to think.

What must be stated is Bo Katan was very much an extremist from the start. During this time Mandalore was going the Pacifist reformation movement led by her reining sister Duchess Satine Kryze who inherited the throne from their father following a brutal Civil war. Satines Peaceful reforms Alienated the more Militant clans Clanes which her father Exiled to Mandalors Moon Concordia to regroup (at least that’s my theory, official canon is vague). These exiled warriors would call themselves the Deathwatch led by Governor Pre Vizla (voiced by future Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau).

For a time, the Deathwatch worked as part-time mercenaries, and its around that time that Bo Katan joined their ranks, leading a coup betraying her sister. She wasn’t a central character at first, but there was a lot of development in her character within these early episodes.

We see her and the rest of her deathwatch squadmates slaughter a group of villagers and burn their homes down. And while we don’t immediately see her committing these crimes, it’s safe to assume that she has done horrible things in her younger years.

Appearing very much an antagonist on the side of the Deathwatch, Bo has led a very dark path few can redeem. It was only until her leader challenged Darth Maul and lost his head that she began to turn in a different direction. Even then, you could make the argument that this is done through her xenophobia towards outsiders.

I bring this up to emphasize that she’s not the hero Disney would like you to believe. She is, by all definitions, a right-wing nationalist. 

When we last left her in Clone wars She was able to reclaim Mandalore from the mauls Forces. She did this with the help of Ahsoka and Captian Rex during the series finale, which runs concurrently with the events of Revenge of the Sith.

With regards to Bo Katan’s age, It’s clear that she was a grown woman from her first appearance, so let’s give a rough guess she’s 24 at the start.

Star Wars: Rebels and “Catastrophe” Epilogue

We now flash forward 18 years to her appearance in Star Wars: Rebels. She would roughly be 42. The next time we see her, she was forced out of power by the Pro-Imperial Saxon Clan. 

We then see her again in the season 4 premiere of Rebels Taking place One year before a New Hope. Once again Bo was able to reclaim her homeworld from Imperial forces.

The episode ends on a seemingly hopeful note, with Bo being gifted the Dark Saber by Sabine Wren and Mandalore’s independence from The Empire. However, Bo’s decision to accept the blade out of hand may have been catastrophic. Being a member of a royal family wielding a legendary blade doesn’t equate to legitimacy to the more traditionalist factions in her society.  

Despite several clans swearing allegiance, it’s clear Bo had not the political skill nor piousness to unify the more zealot clans. Leaving Mandalore divided when the empire Deployed All of its resources to ensure Mandalore could never challenge The Empire’s rule again. A cautionary tale of how faith and scripture can be more potent than family loyalty.

Din Djarin’s seizure of the Darksaber that she lost diminished Bo’s last hope in reunifying her people, that have once again scattered. Bo is now entirely alone, with just a handful of followers struggling with what to do next.

Mandalorian Return

Now let’s flash forward to the Mandalorian timeline and this is where it gets challenging. Officially the sources set the 1st season at around 9 a.b.y (after battling Yavin) and about 5 years after the events of the return of the Jedi. However, the show never makes clear how much time has gone by as the show goes on.

It’s reasonable the believe that the 1st and 2nd seasons comprise about a year. In a recent interview with series creator John Favarou, he revealed the time Luke took Grogu and trained him took place roughly 2 years before Grogu returns to Din’s side. Meaning the total amount of time makes this journey 3 years total as of season 3.

The “Age” Answer

So let’s be generous and assume Bo is age 24 in her debut in Clone Wars. If we are to take all this information Into account, at 18 years plus 10, Bo Katan would be looking roughly 52 Years old by the time she meets Din Dijaren. Add another 3 years to the current Madoverse timeline and We are looking at 55 as of Season 3.

That’s a period of over 30 years and she has hardly aged at all. It’s clear that Bo must have been bathing in the Sandra Bullock youth serum.

Be Careful, “Ship”-ers

Okay, this is one more thing to mention before it gets out of hand. There’s been a rise of shipping on the internet for those who want to see Bo and Din fall in love and rule Mandalore together that I have to dispute. 

First of all, for once, can we appreciate a show that’s become a cultural phenomenon that doesn’t have a forced romance? 2nd, you also have to remember that Din was a child during the Clone Wars. Remember, you are shipping someone old enough to be their mother. Unless the writers have an Oedipus complex, I don’t think that will fly well with the House of Mouse.

Conclusion 

Despite the obvious question of age, I would not have cast this role any other way. Katee Sackoff has been acting on camera solidly for over 20 years in Battlestar Galactica, Riddick, and most recently, Another Life. Playing Sci-Fi characters has always been a passion for her, whether on camera or in the recording booth.

Furthermore, unlike other clone wars characters, series creator Dave Filoni had designs for Bo as a potential live-action character from the start, modeling her after Sackoff, just with different hair.

Overall Im glad to see characters from the animated shows get recognition from a larger audience. Until recently, fans of TCW had been a niche audience in the Star Wars community. Now that the Mandalorian has begun to incorporate elements from their animated shows into their overarching narrative, more and more casual star wars fans have begun to experience clone wars more and more

For these reasons alone, seeing Katee Sackoff reprising her role in live-action became so special – regardless of how canonical we view her character’s true age to be.