Skirmish on Concordia / Legends A skirmish took place in early 21 BBY during the Clone Wars when the Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi was ambushed by warriors of the Death Watch , a splinter group of the Mandalorian society . Kenobi was escorting the Duchess of Mandalore , Satine Kryze , on a diplomatic mission to Mandalore ' s moon Concordia to confer with the local governor , Pre Vizsla . The Duchess was unaware of Vizsla ' s position as the Overlord of the local Death Watch . Viszla had been conspiring with Count Dooku of the Confederacy of Independent Systems , who had been backing the Death Watch in an attempt to destabilize the pacifist government of the New Mandalorians . Kenobi was ambushed by Vizsla ' s men at a mining facility used by the Death Watch as a base . The Duchess came to his assistance , and this culminated in a large firefight which left several Mandalorian warriors dead or wounded . As the fighting continued , Governor Vizsla decided to go public with his position as the leader of the Death Watch and confronted Kenobi using his Mandalorian battle armor and a lightsaber known as the ' Darksaber ' . Kenobi was forced to flee after Vizsla ordered his men to intervene in the duel , although he successfully extracted the Duchess back to Mandalore , where they departed to Coruscant on Satine ' s personal ship , the " Coronet " . Prelude . Mandalore ' s proposed neutrality . In approximately 730 BBY , a conflict broke out between the Galactic Republic and the Mandalorians that brought devastation to the Mandalore sector . While many of the warrior clans scattered , out of the ashes rose the New Mandalorian faction . Doing away with many of the old warrior codes the Mandalorians had historically followed , the New Mandalorians put forward the idea that the best opportunity for Mandalorian survival and prosperity would come through being peaceful , neutral , and tolerant . This movement , led by Satine Kryze by the time of the Clone Wars , based its values on those of pacifism and nonviolence . Kryze was installed as the Duchess of the new government , and a man named Almec was named the Prime Minister . Under their rule , those within their society who refused to yield to these reforms were banished to Mandalore ' s moon , Concordia . Following the start of the Clone Wars during the First Battle of Geonosis , Kryze formed the Council of Neutral Systems , an alliance of at least 1 , 500 star systems who wished to remain neutral in the war . The Governor of Concordia , Pre Vizsla , in the meantime , rallied the surviving members of the Death Watch . The Death Watch , a Mandalorian splinter group based on brutal violence and dishonorable actions , in contrary to the honorable True Mandalorians and New Mandalorians , expressed their distaste at Kryze ' s rule over Mandalore by vandalizing public places and committing terrorist acts . When the Clone Wars began , the group received support from Count Dooku of the Confederacy of Independent Systems . Dooku encouraged Vizsla to give the Galactic Republic a reason to send a military presence to Mandalore , which would cause the citizens of Mandalore to rebel with the support of Death Watch . Taking Dooku ' s advice , Vizsla sent a lone Death Watch saboteur to attack a Republic cruiser . The saboteur was subdued by the Republic forces onboard the ship . However , unwilling to submit to interrogation , the man chose to take his own life . In response to the incident , Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi was sent to Mandalore by the Jedi Council on a diplomatic mission to reconfirm Kryze ' s neutral stance . Kryze and Almec assured Kenobi that no member of the New Mandalorian faction would ever take up arms against the Republic . Kryze suspected that the Galactic Senate was trying to intervene in Mandalorian affairs , despite the fact that the investigation was under orders of the Jedi Council . Diplomacy to Concordia . A loyal member Death Watch armed a bomb in the Memorial Shrine in the capital city of Sundari , which detonated while Kenobi and Kryze were taking a stroll through the area . Kryze coincidentally revealed to Kenobi her growing concern of the recent resurgence of the Death Watch group , which she believed was just a group of " hooligans " who vandalized public places , moments before the explosion . Upon finding the mark of the Death Watch at the site , Kenobi assured Kryze that the Death Watch was more then a mere group of " hooligans " and that the terrorist bombing was a demonstration against her government . Kenobi ordered the area be locked down , with no one allowed to leave without being questioned . The bomber , hiding in the crowd , fled the scene out of fear . Kenobi gave chase on foot , which would eventually lead to a dead end platform . The bomber opened fire on Kenobi with his pistol . Kenobi managed the deflect the shots and disarm the bomber , but was unable to prevent the bomber from jumping off the platform to his death . With his dying breath , the bomber told the Duchess his loyalty to Death Watch , in a dialect of " Mando ' a " used on Concordia , confirming the Duchess ' s suspicions that the group was based on Mandalore ' s moon . Kenobi and the Duchess arranged a meeting with Pre Vizsla , the governor of Concordia and secretly the leader of the Death Watch . While the Duchess occupied Vizsla during dinner , Kenobi left to investigate a local mining facility that was believed abandoned . The skirmish . Mining facility . Upon Kenobi ' s arrival at a local mining facility , which was in reality a Death Watch stronghold , Kenobi concluded that the facility was still operational . Upon further inspection , Kenobi found a rack of jetpacks and an accompanying rack of Mandalorian helmets . A Death Watch member , using Kenobi ' s curiosity with the helmet to his advantage , ambushed the Jedi from behind and opened fire with his blaster . Kenobi ' s reflexes were quick enough to allow him to block the incoming shots with the Mandalorian helmet , but the Mandalorian quickly lunged at Kenobi , knocking him to the floor . As Kenobi brought himself to his feet and brandished his blue lightsaber , the warrior seemingly disappeared . Kenobi assured to the Death Watch his protection under Duchess Satine of Mandalore . Another Death Watch member denounced Kenobi and Satine , asserting that the Death Watch did not recognize Satine ' s rule . The warrior lunged at Kenobi over a conveyor belt , firing two shots at the Jedi . Kenobi deflected the two shots with his lightsaber , and countered the Mandalorian with a kick , but the warrior fired a third shot at the Jedi which disarmed him . Kenobi quickly grabbed the Mandalorian and threw several punches at the warrior ' s face . However , the other Mandalorian reappeared and grabbed Kenobi ' s right arm , allowing both warriors to land a punch at Kenobi simultaneously , knocking him to the floor . As Kenobi attempted to regain himself , he was incapacitated by a kick to the face . The two Death Watch stole Kenobi ' s lightsaber and hooked him to a rock crusher machine . Under Pre Vizsla ' s orders , the two proceeded to survey the area for signs of other Jedi . Kenobi regained consciousness as the two left and contacted Satine , who at the time was having a dinner conversation with Pre Vizsla about the current political atmosphere surrounding Mandalore ' s neutrality . Satine left the dinner table under the guise of a sudden feeling of sickness , and used a speeder to travel to the mining facility , utilizing a tracker in her comlink to find her way . The two Death Watch activated the rock crusher machine , hoping to make Kenobi ' s death look like a fatal accident . However , they were distracted by a false alarm triggered by Satine , and left the room to investigate . In their absence , Satine managed to deactivate the rock crusher before it killed Kenobi . The two Death Watch members returned to the machine and restrained Satine , who managed to kick a metal canister into the rock crusher ' s gears , allowing Kenobi to detach himself . Kenobi used the metal canister to launch himself to the ceiling , using the ceiling to launch himself into a spring kick , incapacitating the Mandalorian restraining Satine . As the other Mandalorian attacked Kenobi , Kenobi grabbed him and threw him into the wall , incapacitating him as well . Kenobi and Satine proceeded to escape the mining facility in an elevator . Firefight . As the elevator reached its destination at the surface of the planet , Kenobi quickly knocked out a Death Watch member guarding the elevator door with two swift punches to the head . A squad of Mandalorians nearby witnessed this and opened fire , causing the elevator to detach itself and fall . Kenobi then realized that his lightsaber had been stolen , and uncharacteristically instead utilized the blaster weapon of the Mandalorian he incapacitated . As three Death Watch members flew towards Satine and Kenobi using their jetpacks , Kenobi managed to land a shot on one of them . As the two remaining Mandalorians approached , Kenobi used the unconscious Mandalorian ' s jetpack as an improvised explosive . He threw the jetpack at the two Mandalorians and landed a blaster shot on it , causing the jetpack to explode , taking out one of the Mandalorians . However , the other survived the blast and lunged at Kenobi . As he approached Kenobi for the kill , Satine distracted the Death Watch member by throwing a rock at his head , giving Kenobi a few seconds to sweep the Mandalorian off his feet and knock him out with a kick to the stomach . Duel with Pre Vizsla . As Vizsla monitered his men losing the battle to the Jedi , Vizsla ordered the rest of his men to retreat while he personally confronted Kenobi . Flanked by three of his Death Watch warriors , Vizsla displayed his ruthlessness by executing the Mandalorian who Kenobi had just knocked out with a single blaster shot . He then exposed his true identity to Kenobi and Kryze , explaining his bitter feelings towards the Duchess and the New Mandalorian culture . Vizsla returned Kenobi ' s lightsaber , asking Kenobi to defend the Duchess in an honorable duel . Vizsla ' s weapon of choice during the battle was a unique black lightsaber known as the " Darksaber , " which was passed down to Vizsla after it was stolen from the Jedi Temple during the fall of the Old Republic . Kenobi managed to disarm Vizsla , but Vizsla quickly countered and knocked Kenobi off his feet , giving him time to recover his weapon . Vizsla activated his jetpack and attempted to execute Kenobi with a jetpack enhanced jump , but Kenobi managed to gather himself off the floor and grabbed Vizsla , throwing him to the ground . Vizsla realized that Kenobi had the upper hand in the duel , and ordered his Death Watch warriors to finish him off . The three warriors fired their jetpack mounted rockets in unison , which initially missed Kenobi . However , when the rockets looped back around to track Kenobi , Kenobi was forced to escape with Satine down an elevator shaft . Vizsla ordered the warriors to not pursue . Aftermath . Kenobi escorted the Duchess back to Sundari on Mandalore , meeting with the Jedi Anakin Skywalker , and the two clone troopers Rex and Cody . They were assigned to escort the Duchess to Coruscant in her starship , the " Coronet " , in order for her to assert her neutral views on the war to the Galactic Senate . However , the Senator representing Mandalore , Tal Merrik , was secretly in league with the Death Watch and smuggled crates of assassin probe s into the cargo hold of the ship , resulting in a number of assassination attempts on the Duchess en route to Coruscant . Behind the scenes . Obi - Wan Kenobi ' s battle with the Death Watch on Concordia was first featured in a season two episode of " " , " The Mandalore Plot " . During the climactic duel between Kenobi and Vizsla , Vizsla was originally to use an vibroblade . However , George Lucas decided that only a lightsaber could stand against a lightsaber , and with that in mind , helped the show ' s crew conceive the idea for the Darksaber .