Giancarlo Esposito broke three Darksaber props filming The Mandalorian season 2

At the end of The Mandalorian season 1 on Disney+, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) emerged from his crash-landed TIE Fighter, cutting himself free with a legendary Star Wars weapon called the Darksaber.

The Darksaber was crafted by the first-ever Mandalorian to become a Jedi, and it became known as a unifying symbol of strength for the people of Mandalore for centuries to follow.

How a petty warlord like Gideon came to possess such a weapon remains unclear, but before him, Sabine Wren and Bo Katan — two female Mandalorian warriors — wielded the weapon in succession. Sabine was last seen in the company of Ahsoka Tano, who we now know will be part of season 2 (played by Rosario Dawson), so Moff Gideon will likely have to fight to keep control of the Darksaber.

That means Esposito had to log a ton of practice time to look like he was comfortable swinging that thing in battle, and it didn’t come without sacrifice. “I have been practicing,” he recently told IMDb. “I’m decent. I’m getting better. You have to respect the power of it. The energy of it. It’s long, dude. I’ve bopped myself three times with it, already. Pop yourself in the head. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, what do you do?’ I start laughing. People look at me and want me to be the expert right off the bat because I am the badass [in the show]. But, you know, it takes practice.”

So it’s a work in progress. He’s even broken a Darksaber prop or three along the way. “We have long ones, and we have short ones,” he said. “Because…guess what? I can say this. I’m going through spoilers in my [head]. I can say it. I’ve broken three of those bad boys.”

"[They say], ‘Pull, pull’. I ain’t pulling nothing! I’m coming at you! That’s all I’ll say. I have some scenes coming up in this next season that are going to really excite you. I love to fight. I want to be the best. I’m very competitive, and I have some great partners with which to practice on."

Would Rosario Dawson or Pedro Pascal be considered a great sparring partner?

The Mandalorian season 2 hits Disney+ this October. It can’t get here fast enough.

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h/t Digital Spy