During the time of the Clone Wars, Bo-Katan served as Pre Vizsla’s trusted right hand in Death Watch. The militaristic splinter group sought to restore Mandalore’s warrior past, an ideal which Bo-Katan held -- even if it meant ousting her sister, Duchess Satine, from office.

While Bo-Katan was loyal to Vizsla, she had reservations concerning Death Watch’s alliance with two beings they discovered in an escape pod: the Sith brothers Darth Maul and Savage Opress. Having found the Sith after they were soundly defeated at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bo-Katan questioned the wisdom of joining forces with beings she deemed “no better than Jedi.” Maul Force choked her for the remark, but she remained strong in her convictions. 

Following the Sith’s lead in a scheme to take over Mandalore, Death Watch became part of the Shadow Collective: an alliance with criminal organizations including the Pyke Syndicate, Black Sun, and the Hutt Clan. Vizsla, however, informed Bo-Katan that once the Shadow Collective assumed control of the planet, he would betray the Sith and claim the throne. As orchestrated by Maul, the underworld gangsters launched an attack on the Mandalorian capital city of Sundari. When all seemed lost, Death Watch swooped in to save the day and arrested Duchess Satine. With the staged battle complete and Mandalore won, Vizsla turned on the Sith. He jailed Maul and Opress, but was challenged to a death duel by Maul. After a vicious battle, Maul dispatched the Death Watch leader with a violent beheading; Bo-Katan refused to serve a Sith, and freed her sister from prison. Satine was recaptured, however, as part of a larger plot to lure Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mandalore. Finally, Maul had his revenge against his nemesis, and killed Satine before the Jedi’s eyes. Bo-Katan, while devastated at the loss of her sister, helped Obi-Wan escape from Maul’s clutches. She vowed that Mandalore would survive this terrible turn of events.

After Death Watch was no more, Bo-Katan and a select few, including Ursa Wren, traveled to Coruscant to ask Ahsoka Tano to unite against their common enemy — Maul.

Although the Republic and the Jedi were reticent to aid in the endeavor, Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi eventually agreed to let some clones from the 501st Legion assist Bo-Katan's Mandalorian forces to avoid a swift defeat on her home planet. In the city of Sundari, Maul's arrival sparked the beginning of the siege of Mandalore.

Once Maul was captured and the Republic's troops had him in custody and headed offworld, it was up to the remaining Mandalorians to find a way to restore order to their planet.

Following the Empire's occupation of Mandalore, Bo-Katan refused to surrender to the Emperor's tyranny. Years later, she joined with rebel Sabine Wren to help destroy an Imperial weapon that targeted Mandalorian armor. After their victory, Sabine gifted the Darksaber to Bo-Katan. She accepted, finally uniting Mandalore.

But at some point Kryze lost the Darksaber, and after the fall of the Empire she struggled to unite her scattered people without the symbol of the throne. On the watery world of Trask, she met the Mandalorian Din Djarin and the youngling Grogu. She later agreed to help Djarin infiltrate Moff Gideon's light cruiser, intent on reclaiming the Darksaber from him while Din rescued the kidnapped Grogu. But after Djarin bested Gideon in battle, he won the throne of Mandalore, further disrupting her plans.