#Bo-katan even has more moments with Grogu then Din does

[hyrules-warrior]

Why was there so much promotional material with Din holding the dark saber if he just hands it over to Bo-Katan on a technicality? 

We never even got to see him have a legit awesome fight with it! He always gets his ass kicked or just does a few brute slashes with it because it’s still heavy for him. And now he just gave it to Bo-Katan

What a waste

[gloomwitchwrites]

Frozen Ground: Part 1 (Din Djarin x Female Reader)

Content & Warnings: romantic fluff, love at first sight, Mandalorian culture

Word Count: 5.4k

Din travels to a farming planet to recruit a reclusive group of Mandalorians to help retake Mandalore. The snowy season is starting, and the locals are preparing for their winter observance. While waiting for the Mandalorian covert to come to a decision, Din spends time with the local population, finding a bit of comfort with a particular someone.

A/N: Part of the Winter 2023 Collection

Part 2

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist // winter 2023 masterlist

Mando’a Translations: buir – father, mother Mando’ade – Mandalorians (plural) vod – brother, sister, comrade

The N1 Starfighter exits hyperspace and cruises through Itera airspace.

Grogu snoozes softly in Din’s lap. His small body is curled up in a ball, and his face is turned into Din’s chest plate as he slumbers. The foundling has been asleep the entire way to Itera, and he shows no sign of waking any time soon.

Din glances away from his foundling and out the N1’s viewport. A small twang of nervousness coils in the pit of his stomach as he observes the quickly approaching planet. It’s not the planet itself that worries Din, but why he was sent here in the first place. It is the task that Bo-Katan Kryze placed upon him with confidence that sits heavy on his shoulders.

Bo-Katan is uniting the clans. She is calling back the tribes in an effort to reclaim Mandalore. She heard a rumor that a reclusive tribe of Mandalorians dwell on Itera. Din is supposed to find them, and convince them to come back with him to Nevarro.

That is all the information he has. Bo-Katan had little intel to give. Din has no idea if these Mandalorians are more like his tribe, or if they lean more towards the ideals that Bo-Katan and her kin follow.

As Mandalorians, this tribe on Itera should welcome him. But Din knows that isn’t always the case. It wasn’t that long ago that Din had his own misgivings against fellow Mandalorians who walked the path differently than he.

When he first met Bo-Katan Kryze and her Nite Owls, Din shunned them. Even when they stepped in to save his foundling, and then later when a group of Quarren attacked him, Din was still reluctant to engage with them.

It’s not his proudest moment, and since then, much about his life has changed. The way he sees the galaxy, and his understanding of what it means to be a Mandalorian has shifted significantly in the last few years. While he holds tightly to his ideals, he knows that his way is not the only way.

Mandalorians should not hide in the dark any longer.

The cloudy expanse of Itera becomes clearer as Din cruises closer. Itera is a fertile farming planet located on the edge of the Middle Rim. Din rummaged around in some public achieves to scrounge up any information he could about it. According to the information he did manage to locate, Itera is relatively peaceful and mostly inhabited by small farming communities.

Even though Bo-Katan lacked information on who these Mandalorians are, she was able to provide Din with an estimated range of coordinates. She told him that they might be located within this range, but wasn’t entirely sure if her intel was reliable.

He’s worked with less.

Din punches in the numbers and the navigation system focuses in on a small bit of land in the northern hemisphere.

The N1’s engine purrs, and Grogu turns over in Din’s lap. The foundling does not wake.

Din’s ship breaks through the atmosphere and effortlessly transitions into the gray cloud cover. The clouds spit Din out over dreary farmland. Below him, droids and people work the land.

Din does not see any buildings that indicate a settlement. He checks the navigation system again and it reveals his suspicions. The coordinates Bo-Katan gave him cover too much land. He’ll need to tighten the search.

“Kriff me,” mutters Din, as he clears the coordinates from the nav system. “R5, scan the surface. Let’s find civilization.”

R5 chirps, and then a little antenna pops out of its head, spinning slowly in a circle. Din reduces his speed over the farmland, waiting for R5 to give him an answer. After a few minutes, the antenna retreats, and then the navigation system lights up with new coordinates.

Din follows the set path. While most of what Din sees is farmland, buildings start to appear in small intervals. At first, it’s just one or two, and then a cluster at a time. Before long, the wall of a settlement appears. There is open land to the left that Din deicides to land on.

He brings the N1 down softly.

Grogu still doesn’t stir. The little womprat has his right hand in his mouth, and a little line of drool runs down the back Grogu’s palm. Sighing, Din wipes it away.

“R5, what’s the temperature outside?” asks Din quietly as he watches a few swirls of snow drift down from the gray clouds. They land on the glass of the N1 and immediately melt.

R5 responds in a series of binary and Din sighs.

It’s far too cold for Grogu to be walking around for long periods of time. The snowy season has arrived on this planet, and Grogu will need something warmer to wear.

Slowly, Din releases the hatch and cold air drifts in. Using the blanket from Grogu’s pram, Din wraps the foundling in it, gently laying him down in the cockpit seat. Din steps out onto the wing and then the hard ground as the hatch closes.

He turns to R5. “Keep an eye on him while I’m gone.” R5 beeps in reply and Din heads toward the open gates.

The wood wall of the settlement seems more decorative than functional, roughly stopping at Din’s chest. Once Din approaches the entrance, he notices that there are no gates at all. It’s entirely open.

Strolling down the main street, Din realizes rather quickly that no one avoids him. It’s the exact opposite. Every person he passes greets Din with a friendly “hello” or nodding of the head before going about their day.

It’s bizarre. Strange. And it momentarily disorients him.

Din thought that he might ask around, see if he could find someone willing to talk to him. But every friendly face only causes him to question who he needs to speak to on locating the Mandalorian covert. No one shies away or avoids looking directly at his helmet. Each person is bold and unafraid of him.

Is the Mandalorian covert known to these people? Do they interact with them frequently?

Perhaps. It would explain why no one seems frightened of him.

Din enters deeper into the settlement, seeking out a cantina or public establishment where he might find information. Not finding any such place on the main road, Din tracks back to the very front of the settlement, deciding to head east and take a look around.

Rounding a corner, he hears the distinct sound of laughter. It’s not one person, or even a few, but a low roar like a small crowd. Din keeps walking, tracking the sound, coming across a small building that hardly looks big enough to hold a drinking establishment. In addition, the door is just red fabric handing from the top of the door frame.

The laughter comes again, and it’s much louder than before. He’s in the right spot.

With all the confidence Din can muster, he strides up to the curtain, pushing it aside and he steps into the building.

Din comes to a grinding halt, nearly tripping on his own feet.

This is not a cantina or anything similar.

A group of women, nearly fifteen in total, occupy the space. They all have large canvas sacks next to them, each one full of something different. Some look like they’re full of flower petals while others appear to hold bright red berries. The women vary in age. Most of them are older than Din, but there are a few who look to be about his age, give or take a few years.

They glance up but keep working, several of them smiling softly at him.

Din feels like an unwanted intruder even though the women appear calm and indifferent to his presence. He mumbles a “sorry” intended to back out the way he came, but the moment his boot slides backward, one of the women stands, her full attention on him.

“How can I help you, Mandalorian?”

You dust a few petals off your apron, missing the one in your hair, and approach Din, hands clasped in front of you. Din’s heart temporarily stutters to a stop before revving into a thudding beat he can feel in his ears. You’re pretty, but that isn’t the only thing he notices. You’re delicate lines and curves appeal to him in a way that trigger’s his protective instinct.

The flash of feeling, this need Din suddenly exhibits flashes bright and hot before his brain catches up and tries to smother it down to cooling embers.

“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Din tries to back out again but you only push in, and Din’s hand relexify forms a fist in an attempt to thwart the growing need to touch you.

“There is no interruption. How can I be of service to you?” Your head tilts to the right slightly, and the eagerness on your face sends blood to his groin.

Din’s eyes roam all over your body, but his eyes keep going back to the lone petal that’s tangled in the strands of your hair.

The other women still work, none of them glancing in Din’s direction. He decides to seek help, knowing it might not do much.

“There is a Mandalorian covert on this planet that I’m searching for. Do you know where I might find them?”

“Oh,” you murmur. Your eyes round slightly, and your lips part in surprise. “I didn’t realize—I thought you—” You shake your head and the petal in your hair stays put.

“Is there anyone here that might know?”

The gentle surprise morphs into amusement. “Everyone knows where they are.” The corners of your mouth curve up into a soft smile and Din nearly melts under that gaze. He is so absorbed in your beauty that your words are the last thing to catch up to him.

Everyone knows where they are?

Din does not have the chance to follow-up, you’re already talking, telling him exactly what he needs to know. “Just to the north of here. There’s a forested area where the covert lives.”

This is unusual, and Din is slightly unsure whether or not he can trust what he might find once he ventures in that direction.

“Do you know where exactly?”

You shake your head. “We do not go in. They like their privacy, and we are respectful of that.”

This is better news. The two groups must interact frequently. It would explain why everyone in town isn’t afraid of him.

“You’re not from around here?” you ask, curiosity tinging your tone.

“No,” replies Din. “I’m not.”

Your gaze softens. “If no one has, allow me to formally welcome you.”

Without thinking—without pausing to reconsider—Din reaches toward you, his gloved fingers plucking the petal from your hair. He presents it to you, open palmed.

Delicately, you lift it, rubbing it between your fingers. With your gaze on the petal, Din takes a step back, the curtain brushing against his back. You glance up, and Din inclines his head, disappearing quickly before he does something he’ll regret.

Din still burns beneath his armor even after he arrives back at the N1. Grogu is still sleeping, and his ship is entirely untouched. Din is careful with the foundling when he settles back into the cockpit.

He relays the information to R5 who promptly scans the area, sending new coordinates to the navigation system. Once clear, Din follows the trail north, finding the forest you mentioned. Din circles around a few times, eventually settling on a flat spot of land just outside the tree line. Din lowers the N1 to the planet’s surface. Grogu stirs in his lap but doesn’t wake.

He leaves Grogu behind again with R5, knowing that he can come back for Grogu later. The droid will look after him until Din can assess the situation.

As Din approaches the tree line, he pauses, surveying the ground around him. At first glance there are no footprints of even animal prints. He engages the scanner in his helmet. The moment it switches on, his screen lights up with glowing boot prints. They are everywhere, moving in so many directions that Din cannot find a pattern.

Frowning, Din switches over to another scanner. This one seeks out what only Mandalorians leave behind for others of their kind to find. He sweeps the scanner over the ground, and then the trees. He comes up empty.

Sighing, Din starts walking, stepping past the tree line and tries again, this time doing a slow sweep of the ground and trees. The hard ground crunches under his boots, and it is incredibly quiet, the only sound is the whistling wind.

On a tree in the distance, a soft glow catches Din’s attention in the scanner. He pauses, takes one step back for a better view. It’s a glowing Mythosaur with an arrow beneath it pointing to the right.

This is his lead. This is his break. You were telling the truth.

Din heads toward the glowing symbol and then follows the direction the arrow indicates, scanning the area for any other markers. He locates another that directs him deeper into the trees. It leads to a large rock formation. The stone slabs are layered over each other like a twisted crown.

There, glowing bright against the gray rock, is another Mythosaur.

“Hail, vod.”

Din whirls around, his hand on his blaster. The only thing that stays his hand from drawing the weapon is the use of the word vod.

A male Mandalorian drops from a tree branch and strides forward, stopping a few feet away from Din. His armor is dented in a few places and painted in various green tones that emulate the trees.

No wonder Din didn’t see him.

The man has not drawn his weapon, which means he does not see Din as a threat. But why would he? Mandalorians are stronger together, and any reunion, even between tribes, is a joyous one.

Din immediately removes his hand from his blaster, standing tall and proud. He has a job to do. “My name is Din Djarin. I’ve come on behalf of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze.”

The green-clad Mandalorian crosses his arms. “I see,” he replies, tone grim. “And what does Lady Kryze want with us?”

Better to get it out now in case he’s turned away. “She is rallying the clans to retake Mandalore.”

The man is quiet for a beat before he answers. “And she wishes for us to join her?”

“She does.”

The Mandalorian nods, and drops his arms, striding forward. “Well, Din Djarin. You are welcome in our enclave, and we will hear what you have to say.” He presents his hand and Din clasps it. “I am Crix Lera. Welcome to our home.”

Crix releases Din’s hand. He brushes past Din and heads to the rock.

Din follows, and notices a small opening that Crix disappears inside. The space isn’t tight but the formation of the natural rock hides the entrance. You’d need to know exactly where it is to see it.

Din slides through the opening, only to find himself in a small tunnel. Crix walks ahead, and Din follows on his heels along the path. They don’t walk for long. The small tunnel begins to widen, and then opens up into a large communal area.

The first thing Din immediately notices are the lack of faces. Everyone wears a helmet except for a few small children. The communal area is circular, and the center of the room is lower than the rest of the floor. There is a fire burning there, the smoke curling upward to exit through a naturally formed ventilation shaft. In the rocky ceiling are small cut outs that let in some natural light.

When Din enters the area on Crix’s heels, several people pause and glance up, watching the duo as Crix walks along the edge of the room. Din takes this time to take a closer look at the Mandalorians he’s been sent to speak with.

They all appear healthy. Their armor is relatively clean and in good repair. The ratio of men to women is fairly equal, and the number of foundlings is much larger than his tribe’s. Din’s gaze passes over a woman standing by the far wall with a man and a small child. She’s clutching her belly, and that is when Din notices the slight bulge underneath her chest plate.

“You’ll meet with our armorer and tribe leaders,” says Crix over his shoulder, drawing Din’s attention away from the slowly growing crowd of Mandalorians.

“Do they make all the decisions?”

Crix shakes his head. “No. We make them as a group. But when it comes to matters pertaining to the whole clan, they are the ones who mediate the discussions. We will often look to them for final guidance.”

Din does not reply. It’s similar to how his own tribe operates, but he still has too many questions.

Crix guides Din to a small cut in the rock wall. It’s an archway, and it deposits them into a much smaller chamber. A simple forge sits in the center of the room. A Mandalorian Armorer and a child stand together near a workbench. The child is young but old enough to start their training. The two of them talk softly.

On the opposite side of the room, another Mandalorian hammers away at some armor. It’s clear that this is still a child, perhaps a teenager, and must be an apprentice of some kind because his armor is like that of the armorer’s.

The armorer and child both look up when Din and Crix enter the room. Din hangs back near the archway as Crix addresses the armorer.

“We have a visitor, Vikal. This is Din Djarin. Sent to us by Lady Bo-Katan of Clan Kryze. He says she is rallying the clans to retake Mandalore.”

At the mention of retaking Mandalore, the apprentice pauses mid-swing to glance over at Din. The small child at Vikal’s hip shifts slightly, clearly nervous.

Vikal sets the vambrace he’s holding on top of the workbench. He turns toward the apprentice. “Darro. Take your brother and leave us.”

Darro immediately responds, heading in their direction.

“But buir!” protests the child, his little fist tugging on his father’s hand.

“Hush. Go with your brother.” Vikal places a hand on the child’s shoulder just as Darro presents his hand. The child takes it, and Din steps to the side as they pass through the archway.

Once they leave, Vikal steps out from around the workbench and strides forward, pausing just a few feet away from Din. Vikal’s armor and clothes are all black. It’s almost like looking into the void of space. He’s tall, too. Perhaps as tall or even surpassing Paz Vizsla in size.

“Yours?” asks Din, using the question to learn a little bit about the tribe’s practices.

“Mine,” confirms Vikal. But he doesn’t elaborate, and Din decides not to say anything more. “Have you just arrived?” inquires Vikal. “From Mandalore?”

“No,” answers Din. “I came from Nevarro.”

“That is far.”

Vikal closes the distance, his helmet moving with him as he clearly observers Din’s armor. It is not an objectifying look, but an appreciation. “You wear fine work.”

“The armorer of my tribe forged it for me. I am honored by it.”

“This is the Way,” states Vikal.

“This is the Way,” replies Din.

Vikal inclines his head and takes a step back. “You are our guest here. You shall have our hospitality before we speak on more serious matters. As warriors, we are always so quick to take action. Rest. Eat. We will proceed from there.” He turns to Crix. “See to it that Din Djarin has a private room and a hot meal.”

Crix nods, and he and Din depart.

In his private room, Din removes his helmet, and eats.

The food is hot. Fresh. So different from the plain rations he’s used to eating with his tribe. Din wants to know more about this one. He is curious to their ways. When Crix comes for him, the two return to the main communal area. The entire tribe is there, including all the younglings. It is then that he notices several Mandalorians clutching infants.

Din scans the crowd and his heart drops into his stomach.

R5 is here. The droid is on Vikal’s left side. On the armorer’s right, sitting on the floor near his boots, is Grogu. The foundling has a wooden bowl before him. He reaches in, and lifts a handful of something that Din doesn’t recognize and shoves it all into his mouth.

Din immediately aims for Grogu. Seeming to sense him, Grogu glances up and coos, his food covered hands reaching for Din.

“I assume this one is yours?” asks Vikal as Din lifts Grogu and holds the little womprat up to his face. Din checks him over but the foundling is fine. No signs of injury expect the food that’s smeared all over the child’s hands and face.

“Yes,” sighs Din. Crix holds out a hand, indicating he should take a seat. Din does so but he puts Grogu back on the floor. The foundling immediately crawls toward the bowl.

“Your foundling and the droid arrived not too long ago. Found us quite easily. Impressive for one so young.”

Din smiles softly behind the helmet.

Vikal rubs his knees and then stands, striding forward, stopping before the fire. The entire room quiets.

“Mando’ade! We welcome Din Djarin.” Vikal turns toward Din and extends his arm in Din’s direction. The Mandalorians in attendance beat their fists against their chests three times before dropping their arms. “He brings us an important message.”

Vikal retreats, stopping before Din. “Approach, vod. We will hear you.”

Din stands slowly. Grogu’s head tilts to the side, watching Din, his mouth full of food. Din walks to the center of the room just shy of the fire.

“I am Din Djarin. My tribe lives on Nevarro. I have come before you at the behest of Lady Bo-Katan Kryze. She is rallying the clans in an effort to return to and reclaim our ancestral home world of Mandalore. She sent me to ask you if you are willing to join our efforts.”

Din pauses and every single person in the room is watching him, saying nothing. He swallows, knowing that he’ll need to say more to convince them to join.

“I know that I am in no position to ask this of any of you. But we have lived in the dark for too long. Our people are scattered. Like stars in the galaxy. Perhaps it is time for us to live in the light once again. So that our culture may flourish and our children can feel what is it to play in the sunlight.”

The Mandalorians around him chatter softly, but Din cannot differentiate between their conversations. He turns toward Vikal, and the man stands. “Is Lady Kryze certain of success?” he asks, addressing Din. “Mandalorians are few, and our preservation is important. Can she guarantee that there will not be needless death?”

No.

Din sighs, his shoulders heaving slightly. “I cannot give you any such certainties.”

Another Mandalorian stands. It is a man, and his armor is a deep red. “That planet is cursed. The air is unbreathable and nothing grows. We have all heard the stories. Why should we go back to a dead planet?”

“This is not true,” says Din vehemently. “I have been to the surface. I have seen Mandalore with my own eyes. The air is breathable. Life is possible.”

The quiet chatter heightens. Becomes a dull roar.

“What is Lady Kryze’s plan for when the planet is retaken?” This time, a woman asks the question.

“Her goal is the Great Forge. That will be our place of operations and base for reconstruction.”

Din will tell them the truth. There is no reason to hide anything.

“But will we have a place there? Can we call Mandalore home? Or must we return to this planet?”

“All Mandalorians are welcome.”

Vikal nods and stands. “Does anyone else have questions for Din Djarin?” No one replies. “Thank you for relaying Lady Kryze’s message. You have given us much to consider.” Vikal addresses the room. “We will reflect on this, and then convene tomorrow evening for deeper discussion.”

The crowd of Mandalorians incline their heads and place their fists over their hearts. When their arms drop back to their sides, many start to get up and leave.

This isn’t the outcome Din was hoping for. He thought he might receive a quick answer, or even an indication that they are willing to join.

Crix comes up beside Din. “Decisions are never made quickly. You’ll likely be here a few days.”

“As long as I can return with an answer.”

“I’ll come for you tomorrow morning. The local population is holding a festival to celebrate the coming cold.”

Din thinks back to you and the women in that small dwelling. He didn’t exactly get a good look at what you were doing, but Din can only assume the two are connected.

Din tips is head to the side. “You mingle with them?”

“To an extent,” shrugs Crix. “They have no standing army or protection. We look after them, and they take care of us. It has kept our tribe safe for many years.”

Din nods and then bends at the knees to pick up Grogu, cradling the foundling close to his heart.

Crix fetches Din in the early hours of the morning. Grogu is left behind with the other younglings. Din is reluctant to do so, but Crix is persuasive, and Grogu is visibly happy to be amongst other children.

The two men head back through the tunnel, stepping out into the forest. The sun is starting to rise but it’s hard to see through the gray clouds. It snowed overnight, and there is a dusting across the forest floor.

Three Mandalorians mingle just outside the exit. Two men and one woman. They greet Crix with firm handshakes.

“This is Din Djarin,” says Crix. “He’s joining us on our visit into town.”

“Passionate speech you made last night. I’m Jido. Welcome.” Jido and Din clasp forearms and shake.

Jido steps back and points his thumb over his shoulder at the other two Mandalorians. “That’s Ran and Cerra.” Ran gives Din a half-hearted salute while Cerra lifts her hand in greeting. Jido leans in and whispers. “They’re a bit boring.”

“Heard that,” snaps Cerra as she turns her back on the group. “We going?”

The five of them head into the trees, walking in the direction that Din entered from. When they exit, Din heads for the N1, looking it over for any signs of tampering. It’s clean, and Din sighs with relief.

“The people here don’t touch things that aren’t theirs. Your ship will be fine,” states Crix as he walks up beside Din. He runs his gloved hand over the wing in appreciation.

“On Tatooine, I had a run in with some Jawas,” replies Din.

Crix snorts. “What was left of your ship?”

“Nothing.”

Jido, Ran, and Cerra’s jetpacks ignite. Crix and Din follow suit, the five of them launching into the air. Din trails behind, following the four Mandalorians as they jet across dreary farmland.

In minutes they approach the small settlement Din visited yesterday, landing right outside the wall. The people moving about don’t even seem to care that a group of Mandalorians landed amongst them. They keep going about their lives as if is this the norm. It’s the same reaction they had with Din.

Din is almost always the stranger. The unknown variable. In crowded places, he is avoided unless someone needs something from him.

He stays at the back of the pack. Jido, Ran, Crix, and Cerra all appear relaxed. They chat amongst themselves, and even stop for an old woman who presents a basket to them full of the red berries Din saw yesterday. Each Mandalorian takes a handful and deposits the goods into various pockets of their flightsuits.

The old woman approaches Din and holds the basket out to him. He doesn’t want to offend her. He scoops out a decent handful and finds a home for them. He’ll share it with Grogu when he returns.

The old woman inclines her head and moves on. Din’s helmet follows her but Crix taps against Din’s upper arm, drawing his attention away from the woman.

Din inhales, and he isn’t sure if the voice receiver in his helmet picks up the soft sound.

You’re standing right there, eyes bright and eager.

“You found them,” you say enthusiastically.

“I did.” Din is nervous. Why is he nervous? Do you do this to him?

Crix crosses his arms and pops a hip. “The two of you know each other?”

You laugh, and it’s the loveliest sound Din has ever heard. “He stumbled in to Tarra’s workshop while we were preparing the Daily Strands.”

“Make enough for us?” asks Jido, his voice a bit sultry. A bit teasing. Din instantly hates that he’s speaking to you that way.

“There are plenty. So, yes,” you tease back, smiling widely.

Crix shifts, turning his body toward Din. “Since you’re our guest, you don’t need to follow us around while we work.” Crix inclines his head in your direction. “She’ll show you around a bit.”

You look so hopeful that Din cannot say no.

He walks beside you the entire time as you go on about the important buildings, the history of the people, and the finer details of your culture. Din is enraptured by how animated you are toward him. He hardly risks asking any questions, mostly wanting to hear you talk.

“Here we are.” You extend your hand toward the building Din stumbled into yesterday.

“Are we going inside?” asks Din skeptically.

You grin and push back the curtain, gesturing for him to come inside. He follows, and this time there are only two other women in this space. They greet Din politely, but return to their work. You walk over to a large table. On it, are…necklaces? Din isn’t entirely sure what they are.

With caution, he approaches, you present one to him.

“These are Daily Strands. We wear them every day during the winter observance.” You point to the threads holding it together. “The threaded cord is the base, symbolizing the importance of community.” Next, you point to the flower petals. “These symbolize the eventual thaw and growth of new life.” Then the red berries. “These are native to the planet. We dry them out to represent the frozen ground.”

“And what do these symbolize?” asks Din, pointing to long, thin, green, stick-like leaves.

“Abundance. These are needles from local trees, and they grow everywhere.” You smile softly. “But it’s more of a wish for prosperity in the future.”

These are what Jido and Crix were referring to.

 You gently lift the Daily Strand, presenting it to Din like an offering. “It’s customary to wear one of these.”

Din does not refuse. Instead, he lowers at the waist so that you can slide it over his helmet and around his neck.

You gently draw away and your hands fall to your skirts, your fingers fumbling with the fabric in nervousness. “It is also customary for the giver to kiss the cheeks of the receiver.” You shrug. “But I can make an exception given the circumstances.”

Din remembers how eager Jido was to receiving one of these. Briefly, Din imagines you kiss the sides of Jido and Crix’s helmets, and Din instantly simmers.

Not knowing how to ask, Din bends again, this time just enough that all you’ll need to do is to go up on your toes to place those gentle lips against his beskar.

“No exceptions,” he murmurs.

Your mouth forms a soft o, and then it cools, turning into tender satisfaction. Slowly, you kiss the curve of his helmet on the right side and then the left.

Even with the helmet on, Din still manages to catch a whiff of your scent. You smell like the trees and warm sugar. Without instruction, his hand brushes against your hip.

You do not draw away, and that pleases something deep within Din. When you pull back, Din instantly misses your heat.

“I will wear this every day,” says Din, his hand resting against it briefly.

You laugh, and Din doesn’t understand what you find so funny. “It’s a Daily Strand. You receive a new one each day.”

Every day? Does that mean you’ll kiss him every time you place a new one around his neck?

“Then I will be back tomorrow for a new one.”

“Promise?” you murmur.

“Promise.”

Part 2

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[lux-ishii]

Storytelling Analysis (I guess?) I shared this thought with Dinbo Server but thought why not elaborate further? Personally, I think this frame is the moment Bo-Katan realized Din is her ride-or-die (or even a crush). They were specifically arguing about going to the mines, where her stance was that it was just a waste of time and they should get back. However, Din insists on going there without her. What Bo does? A total 180 turn saying she will take him there.

So Bo gives him a trip not only to the mines but also to her own past as a Mandalorian Princess. Specifically mentioning her father, for the first time ever, something she hasn't done in The Clone Wars or even Rebels, where she has been treated with all the honors her Clan once had, as they referred to her "Lady Bo-Katan Kryze" when brief history facts were dropped at unaware Ezra.

DO YOU SEE WHO LOOKS AT HER WHEN SHE MENTIONS HER FATHER LOOKING AT HER PROUDLY? All I'm gonna say is that Cinematic Design regarding storytelling this season is INSANE. Each frame, move, pose, and EVERYTHING has its purpose in the further symbolism of how things develop.

Later in this scene, Bo is really sarcastic about the whole ceremony referring to it as "Such a heart-warming spectacle", which Din mistakenly takes as her mocking her father.

We all know what happens next, but something always felt odd about it to me.

The thing is... Bo barely said anything, just that he made her take The Creed she later broke. So where does the "interesting" part comes from? Of course, Din might be curious to meet someone who ruled Mandalore in its glory, but I think the root of it goes back to the Mandalorian culture, and what Din himself experiences:

You see, the best measure to judge Bo's father is to look at her. And it's safe to say Din IS impressed by her, not only in skills but also with her personality. If he hated her and didn't care about her he would never take her to his covert. In a recent episode, they highlighted how secretive they are about their place, it was almost sacred not to reveal the location. Yet he took her there, despite her different beliefs.

So I think Din is saying that, because he admires Bo as a warrior, and she is the result of how her father raised her. It means her father was a great person Din himself could learn from. It's quite important knowing, that Din is the father to Grogu now, so how he will raise him, depends on who Grogu will become. Bo later revealed even more admiration for her father, calling him great. (Or even comparing Din to him when Grogu had his first fight.) THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE, BELIEVE ME.

Din goes as far as showing the biggest form of respect he knows to this man who not only raised someone like Bo, but also died like a warrior.

However, the whole thing leaves Bo-Katan... puzzled?

She really doesn't know what to say, how to respond, until Din leaves her behind with Grogu.

OK HEAR ME OUT

I know she kinda was harsh to Grogu here, BUT it's the same kind of response someone would say if they were caught blushing. You see, I think Bo's (and maybe Din's too) emotions were SO strong Grogu could feel them in the force. He knows what's going on, and Bo was caught red-handed. Now look at this:

"They loved watching the princess recite the Mandalorian tenets as her father looked on proudly." Bo definitely was touched by his devotion to the creed. It sparked something in her, and she did exchange a proud look towards Din with Grogu. The devil is in the details, Bo was now in the position her father once was, which we know of because of her previous confession. It all was in a way foreshadowed to us.

Leter, without thinking Bo jumps to save Din's life again, which led her to discover a mythosaur. This is only my opinion, but I do think the storytelling between them is written really well this season, and it may be the best relationship build-up in Star Wars live-action media in years depending on how they will go with it later.

Going as far as doing psychological parallels between Din and Bo's father, something we as humans do and look for unsubcounciouslly in our romantic interests (the reason why Daddy Issues are such a big problem if the father figure was absent/bad) means that now everything matters like I said in the beginning. Frames, moves, words... it's all part of the bigger picture. The Mandalorian Writers really do build up whatever is happening between them. It's not out of the bat, I've rewatched Season 2 to see how Bo and Din interacted there, and the natural progression of turning distrust to trust was there. They have both been thru a lot, and it really feels like together, they will be stronger.

[noorhal]

Okay, we haven’t had like a central romantic story in The Mandalorian. Yeah, there was a glimpse of it with Mando and Omera - and yeah, i’ll bring how different is the interaction of Din with Omera vs Din with Bo.

For a bit, it seemed Din might have been tempted to stay in Sorgan with Omera and her daughter. Grogu loved being there with the children. However, there’s something quite interesting: at this stage of their story, Din was still known as “Mando” and Grogu as “The Child”. Their identities were just this Long Wolf and Cub traveling across the galaxy, looking for a place to be safe, running from whoever wanted The Child.

Of course there was chemistry with Omera. However, when she tries to convince him to stay, she tries to remove his helmet:

He stops her from removing it, and he tells her:

“I don't belong here. But he does.”

At that moment, no one knows his name, and his bond with The Child is growing but he wants him to have a safe, quiet life. However, we know this is not possible, and he leaves with his former bounty.

Fast forward to Season 3. We know him as Din Djarin, and we know The Child as Grogu. Their bond is stronger than it was so much than Grogu decided to leave the Jedi to go back to Din, whom he sees as his father. Din might haven’t yet acknowledged him as his son, but his posture changed:

“Wherever I go, he goes.”

He has broken his Creed by showing his face, and he looks for redemption. However, before that, he made a promise: when he looked for a certain heiress’s help, he promised to join her in her efforts to recover Mandalore after rescuing Grogu. And he tried to keep his promise by showing up at her castle in Kalevala. However, there was a tiny fact: when saving Grogu from Gideon, Din disarmed him of a weapon Bo-Katan wanted to recover from the imperial Moff.

But let’s go back a little bit - when they met.

Since the moment they met, Bo has brought up Din’s condition as member of a cult - that’s true. She’s called him a zealot, in more or less words. However, to begin with, she’s saved him even before she introduced herself! Her first words to Din: “Take my hand”. And the shot of her hand pulling him out of the water was totally a choice to bring out a parallel to the flashback we got from Din when he was a little boy rescued by Mandalorians:

Skip to Episode 3, after she has saved him twice in Mandalore and they’re going back to Kalevala. She asks him flirtatious if he won’t be taking off his helmet anymore to invite him to a feast in her castle, then he replies: “This is the way”. And what Bo does? She replies “This is the way” to him. Even if at a certain point she made snarky and even offensive comments against his beliefs and the Children of the Watch, her actions show she respects him, to the point that when he takes her to his covert, not only she follows their rules and stay but also gets invested - she helps saving Viszla’s boy and then plan the liberation of Nevarro. And Episode 6 gives us such a powerful moment where she defends him in front of everyone:

And as he gives her back the Darksaber, the last shot is truly intentional showing them together. And I believe that, if Din decides to walk both worlds and removes his helmet, he will choose to do it, and Bo will not press him to do so.

[materassassino]

🐅💛🕊🗡✨️ for both luke and din

Oh, you spoil me!

Luke // Din

Characterisation: when he's tired or stressed his accent slips. Get him tired enough and he'll sound fresh off Tatooine and come out with something so hick, so desert rat, you'll do a double take.

Can hold his liquour like nobody's business. Don't believe the propaganda that this boy only drinks milk, he comes from Bumfuck Nowhere where the only things for teens to do are shoot womp rats, race speeder bikes and drink, and the Rebellion made it worse because you know those X-Wing pilots party hard.

Can cook, but as a means to survive. He can handle two recipes really well but the rest is just stews and soups because it's hard to get those wrong and they last for ages. However, he's pretty adept at following a recipe and when he does it comes out decent.

Is terrified of the day he'll be asked to choose between his family and the galaxy again, but refuses to even consider the possibility.

Has officially dropped the aloof Jedi facade almost entirely unless it's necessary for something mission-related. It was, he realised, an externalisation of his trauma, and thus he recognises its disappearance as him healing.

Doesn't have any hobbies at all. There was little encouragement of them in the covert, and now he's in his late thirties with a surprising amount of downtime and doesn't actually know how to fill it. Luke encourages him to try new things so he's seeing what sticks at the moment. He's found he actually enjoys overseeing the work to rebuild Mandalore, and he enjoys reading more than he thought he would.

Better cook than Luke, by a long shot. Handles the meals.

Has no actual idea what he looks like in the sense that he doesn't entirely comprehend what he looks like to others. Is he handsome? Is he ugly? Is he average? He genuinely has no idea what others make of him because he's only been seen by like four living adult people and one of them he's literally married to.

Familial relationships: Obviously very close to Leia. They were best friends before, but now there's just added depth, a rock-steady certainty that they will always, always have each other's back. Obi-Wan told him Leia was younger and he's vowed to never, ever tell her.

Tries very hard to both treat Grogu as impartially as possible as his master, but ultimately fails because Grogu is his son. Definitely less of a soft touch than Din, however. He will tell Grogu off if needed.

The closest thing he has to family outside Grogu and Luke is the covert, and that is now a fraught relationship, but the societal norms of the Children of the Watch don't lend themselves to building the deepest relationships. Considers the Armourer as close as realistically possible to a mother figure, consider Paz a brother, in a way, but there's no great depth there, and eventually he realises he feels more of a familial feeling towards Bo-Katan than Paz or the Armourer anymore. He's adrift, in that sense, and it's actually a relief that Luke's side accepts him so openly and generally easily. It's much easier to view Leia as a sister than it ever was to view Paz as a brother.

Platonic relationships: Is friends with all his exes: Han, Lando, Wedge... As for enemies, he does try not to hold grudges, but man he just fucking hates Boba Fett. Poor Din, caught in the middle! Also supremely good at making friends with whoever he meets.

Din's platonic relationships have all been developed extremely recently: Boba, Peli, Fennec, Cobb, Bo-Katan... he's still trying to navigate the concept of having friends. It's weird?

I have no fighting style headcanons for either of them. Just watch canon content? Luke is a powerhouse, Din is supremely competent and prone to head trauma.

Worldbuilding: the rebuilt Jedi Temple is on Mandalore, designed by Luke and built by the New Jedi Order. Eventually they discover a wellspring of the Living Waters on the surface, and they build a garden around it. Neither will live to see Mandalore become green again, but Grogu does.

headcanon ask game

[dindjarindiaries]

Security - Chapter 67: The Capture

summary: Conflict arises on Mandalore as Astra, Din, and the rest of the scouting party find themselves running into their worst nightmare.

warnings: canon-typical violence, injuries (incl. blood), references to trauma, angst, strong language

rating: T

word count: 5.546k

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chapter 67: the capture

By the next morning’s daybreak, Astra and Din have already been briefed on the new plan. The Armorer is to take the wounded and weakened survivors to the rest of the fleet on the Gauntlet while the rest, most notably their captain, bring the scouting party to the Great Forge. They’ve just helped the Armorer get the wounded aboard when the captain calls to his brethren.

“Onward, Mandalorians!” he commands. “To the Forge!”

Astra, Din, and Grogu stand alongside Bo-Katan as the glider heads further and further away from where the Gauntlet’s now taking off. There’s an ache trapped between Astra’s chest and the beskar armor that covers it. The ship is getting closer to the fleet, where the rest of the Mandalorians continue to wait for them; Where her daughter waits.

Part of Astra wishes she was on that ship right now, heading back to take Zora in her arms and never let her go.

Then the touch of Din’s hand upon her back grounds Astra to reality again, and she doesn’t regret a single effort spent helping him and his people. After all, they’re her people now, too. Astra turns her head to look up at him and the way his visor tilts at her convinces that everything will be okay. Din touches his helmet to her forehead before he steps away to lead the group back towards the rest of the scouting party.

The four of them are on the upper deck looking out at the Mandalorians gathered below when Grogu comes to Astra’s side. She turns her gaze towards him and watches the wrinkles on his tiny forehead multiply. Grogu coos, a question Astra doesn’t need to translate to answer.

Astra just smiles the best she can. Grogu closes his eyes and no later does Astra earn a strong sensation of relieving warmth in her chest. It’s too overpowering to have been caused by Grogu’s energy alone. Astra’s smile becomes more genuine when Grogu reopens his eyes and gives her a hopeful glance. She takes one of his little hands in hers and brushes her thumb over it.

“Thank you,” Astra whispers to him. She lifts her hand to brush her fingers along his ear. Grogu coos as his big brown eyes light up at her.

Astra’s almost surprised by Din taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. She turns her head towards him and finds comfort in the dark void of his visor. Din’s voice is low when he speaks to her. “I felt it, too.”

Astra smiles before her gaze falls to her feet. She hears Din’s armor rustle as he steps even closer to her side and waits patiently for her. Astra tries to piece together what she wants to say in her mind, but each one comes with an apology.

Din’s free hand presses underneath Astra’s chin to urge her to lift her head once again and face him. He keeps his gloved fingers there, encouraging her to seek refuge in him. Astra’s more than grateful to oblige. “It’s okay.” Din’s voice is so soft it crackles through his modulator. He adds a reassuring nod. “I’ve been worrying about her, too.”

Astra sighs and lets her vulnerability show for only just a moment. “Will it always be this way?”

“It will.” Din huffs with amusement and gives her hand another squeeze. “Who are we if not worriers over our loved ones?”

Astra laughs with him and closes her eyes, steadying herself with a breath. “You’re right.” She meets Din’s visor again. “She’s okay.”

“And she’ll continue to be.” Din nods once more before he lowers his hands from her and stands where he was before.

It’s not long before they’re pulled aside by Bo-Katan to discuss the Great Forge in more depth, as well as strategy for multiple contingencies. Grogu has since gone to join the other Mandalorians as they watch Paz and Axe play a board game. Astra checks up on him over her shoulder every once in a while, but what grabs everyone’s attention isn’t from Astra’s own observation. It’s from the heightened volume of Paz’s and Axe’s voices.

Din shares a look with their small group before he stands and makes his way over to the railing. Bo-Katan and Astra follow, and Astra’s close enough to Din to hear the sigh he lets out at the sight of Paz standing with his vibroblade drawn. Astra’s eyes widen as she looks up at Din, who returns her glance with a reassuring tilt of his helmet.

Astra furrows her brow at her husband. “Shouldn’t we do something about this?” she whispers to him.

Din sets a hand on her back and gestures with his helmet to the brewing fight. “Let’s wait and see.”

Astra’s attention snaps back to Paz just in time to watch Axe lunge towards him. The two go back-and-forth with pushes that quickly turn to punches. Astra’s brought back to the duel she witnessed between Din and Paz, though thankfully, the stakes are much lower for her in this one.

Once the fight has gone on longer than expected, Din exhales and lowers his hand from Astra’s back. He swings his helmet towards Bo-Katan. His voice is low when he speaks to her. “Should I step in?”

Bo-Katan shakes her head at him. “Neither side can step in.” She raises her brow at the sight in front of them. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

Din shifts his weight between his feet and doesn’t respond. Astra crosses her arms over her cuirass and moves herself closer to his side. Her gaze watches him rather than the fight, but when she follows where his visor is looking, she discovers the real reason for his strong unease. Right near the heart of the fight is Grogu, who wears an expression of distress within IG-12 as he watches the two Mandalorians fight.

Astra’s about to make a move to take Grogu away from the chaos when he takes the initiative of stepping directly towards it. She has to hold back a gasp when he steps between two swinging vibroblades held by the fierce warriors. She’s only a moment from activating her jetpack to make her way down to Grogu when IG-12’s arms push Paz and Axe away from each other.

Grogu’s tiny finger begins to spam the “no” button. “No. No. No. No. No.” A worried stitch sits between his enlarged and pleading eyes.

The tension leaves Astra only when Grogu’s actions get the two warriors to successfully stand down. The shame is clear on both their faces at the fact a child had to step in between them. Paz and Axe share an almost apologetic look before they walk away from each other once and for all.

With the threat to Grogu now eliminated, Astra lets herself smile in pride of their son. She glances up at Din just as he sets a gloved hand on her shoulder, the tilt of his helmet a hint to the smile that’s also shining underneath his beskar.

Her attention is drawn to Bo-Katan when the heiress speaks to them. “You taught your apprentice well.”

Din shrugs and gestures to Astra. “He didn’t learn that from me.”

Astra scoffs and nudges his armored shoulder with her own. “That’s simply not true.” She nods at Bo-Katan. “He taught Grogu very well.”

Din swings his helmet in his shyness. Astra chuckles and watches as he nods in Grogu’s direction. She turns her head and sees Grogu nodding back at him.

Astra grins at Grogu and looks up at her husband once again. “He’s ready to be an apprentice.”

Din tilts his helmet at her. “This adventure’s not over yet, rid’ika.” He softens when he glances at Grogu again. “But I agree with you.”

Astra’s about to say more when a whistle stops her from doing so. “There!” one of the survivors calls out from above them. “On the starboard bow!”

All the Mandalorians on the deck below them rise to approach the starboard bow. Concerned chatter makes its way around the ship while Astra rests her hands on the railing in front of them to get a better view. Din sets a careful hand on her back as he steps alongside her to do the same thing.

That’s when they all see the rock structures in the distance moving. The jagged rocks reveal themselves to be spikes on the back of what’s shaping up to be a massive, and no doubt dangerous, creature.

The Mandalorians prepare for battle and Din wastes no time at Astra’s side in making his way down to the lower deck. She follows him closely, her eyes widening in horror as the horizon disappears and crumbles into crashing rock. The creature emerges from it with a roar that makes the entire vessel shake.

Everyone races to take defensive positions while the survivors attempt to steer the ship away from the massive creature. Their efforts are in vain when the creature rocks the ship so hard that the Mandalorians get knocked from their feet. Din grabs Astra’s waist just in time to cushion her fall however he can.

“Abandon ship!” the survivors’ captain calls out.

Astra and Din make it back onto their feet while the others start to jetpack away, but there’s only one thought screaming in her mind. “Grogu!” she cries out in panic.

Din tries to clear a path for both of them through the masses to get to Grogu, but before they can even get close, both Paz and Axe work together to lift Grogu off the ship. Astra doesn’t have time for relief. Din takes her by the hand to lead her off the ship with him just before the creature’s tail destroys the ship in one blow. Without a helmet, Astra’s face gets hit with small pieces of the debris, causing her to lift her free arm to guard herself the best she can.

They follow the others towards the mouth of a cave. Din and Astra land just outside as the others do, but rather than going right inside, Din quickly turns to Astra and holds her face. “Find Grogu!” he urges her, raising his voice above the commotion.

Astra nods and doesn’t hesitate to comply. The warmth in her chest at the way he stays to help those behind them is overshadowed by her panic as she hops inside the cave and looks for IG-12’s tall figure. Astra doesn’t hold back her deep exhale of relief when she sees him flanked by Paz and Axe just a few paces away. She approaches him and takes IG-12 by the shoulders. “Are you okay?” she asks him.

Grogu coos in the affirmative, yet wrinkles his brow as he points at her face. Astra takes a moment to wipe her gloved fingers over a stinging part of her face and finds a small streak of blood left behind.

“I’m all right,” Astra assures her son. “It’s just from the debris.”

It’s not long before Din makes it over to them. He sets a hand on each of their shoulders. “You good?” he asks, looking between them. They both nod, but Din’s helmet tilts with dismay as he lifts a hand to the side of her head. “Your face is bleeding.”

“Just a couple of scratches.” Astra sets a hand over his. “I’m fine.”

The creature’s roar rocks the cave around them, causing everyone to brace themselves. “We’re not far,” the captain raises his voice to inform the group. “We need to go further down.”

The Mandalorians begin to follow his orders. The captain remains where he is to make sure everyone’s made it ahead. Din, Astra, and Grogu stay together as a unit while they follow the others, making their way deeper into the cave. The further they get inside, the more the rumbling subsides, promising safety in a way that makes Astra’s chest loosen just a bit more.

The twisting tunnels eventually open up into a massive clearing. The group, propped up on a tall ledge, slows as they look out at the wide-open structures in the rock. Grogu coos with curiosity behind Din and Astra as they continue to keep him shielded. Some of the Mandalorians remove their helmets as they stride ahead and observe the space around them. Astra looks up and her jaw drops open at the complexity of the structures that rise tall above their heads.

Din takes a quick glance at Paz, who’s since taken his place alongside them. “Where are we?” Din questions.

Axe becomes the one to answer. “This is what’s left of the Great Forge.” His voice is tense as he goes on. “This was once the heart of our civilization.” He pauses, and Astra exchanges a look with Din. He keeps himself close enough to her side for it to brush against his own. “But the fires have been extinguished since the bombings.”

“You lived here?” Paz asks.

“We all did,” Koska responds.

“We never left,” the captain adds. Astra watches the way he regards the space with such reverence and appreciation. “Survived by migrating along the surface until the war ended. Some tried to explore below, but none survived.”

Silence blankets the area for a moment, but it’s quickly broken by a distant whooshing. Din takes a step forward as his visor rises. “Jetpacks?”

Every head turns at Din’s words. Astra’s eyes start to widen as she spots the group of approaching fighters. “More survivors?” Axe suggests.

When they get closer, his question is answered. “Those aren’t Mandalorians,” Bo-Katan warns, setting her helmet back over her head. The group follows suit and draws their weapons. Astra’s blaster is in her hand and firing without a single moment to waste.

The armored fighters fire without hesitation at the Mandalorians, causing both Din and Astra to continue shielding Grogu with their own armor. Once they’re closer, their white armor becomes apparent, causing the group to fall upon a horrifying conclusion. “They’re Imperials!” Axe says the truth for all of them.

Din turns to Grogu and urges him behind one of the rock structures. “Take cover!” he instructs their son, who obeys without question. Astra and Din continue to remain in front of him as they counter the Imperial attack.

“How did we not run into them our first time here?” Astra asks Din, raising her voice over the firefight.

“We got lucky,” Din remarks. “It makes sense that those TIE interceptors found us on Kalevala, though.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Axe giving a warning to them all. “They’re wearing beskar armor!”

Astra watches Din’s demeanor change even more at those words. His body tenses with volatile anger that Astra doesn’t dare try to control. Wearing beskar without bathing in the Living Waters or taking the Creed is a violation Din takes very seriously. His first meeting with Cobb Vanth proved that.

But this truth also creates a dangerous problem: These Imperials won’t be taken down nearly as easily as the typical stormtrooper.

“We’re pinned down,” Din calls out. “We need backup.”

“I can make a run for the fleet and get us reinforcements,” Axe volunteers.

“No, it’s too far,” Bo-Katan insists.

“I can make it,” Axe assures her. “It’s our only shot at taking the planet back.”

And staying alive, Astra holds her tongue.

“There’s a split in the ceiling there,” Paz observes. “I’ll lay down cover.”

Din and Astra provide extra support as Axe makes his run. He successfully flies his way out of the cave, providing Astra with a moment of relief. It turns to thick dread when a realization falls upon her. “How will he communicate with the fleet?” Astra asks Din. “The atmosphere’s still cutting us off.”

Din tilts his helmet. “Then he’ll fly through it.”

Astra’s brow lifts in disbelief. “Will he make it?”

Din dodges a blaster bolt and reciprocates the blast. “We’ll find out.”

Astra takes a glance around to see more and more Mandalorians falling at the endless rain of blaster fire. The Imperials still have the high ground and the advantage of moving around more easily. Some of them even start to land on the cliff the Mandalorians are pinned to, overpowering them in a way that makes fear claw at Astra’s chest for the first time in too long.

One Imperial tries to fly directly at Din, Astra, and Grogu, but Din doesn’t hesitate to approach him first. He uses a single arm to tackle the trooper to the ground before blasting him over and over again. It’s only when the trooper’s motionless that Din returns to Astra’s side.

“This isn’t a sustainable position,” Astra tells him, her voice strained with worry. “We’re way too exposed here. They’ll pick us off way before backup arrives.”

“I know,” Din agrees. “But…”

He pauses when a shocking shift starts to turn in the tide of the firefight. The Imperials start to fall back, sprinting away from the Forge and the attacking Mandalorians. “They’re retreating!” Paz confirms the sight Astra still can’t bring herself to believe.

“Advance!” Bo-Katan commands the group. She leads the way into the tunnel the Imperial troopers have started to escape through.

“For Mandalore!” some of the group starts to call out while they file behind Bo-Katan.

Din turns around to face Grogu. “Okay, kid,” he’s gentle yet urgent with his words. “You’ve gotta keep up.”

Grogu nods, and the three of them take off without another word. Astra stays at Din’s side with Grogu close behind them, following the lead of the rest of the group. The more they go on, the more Astra notices Din preparing to advance to the front. As badly as she wants to join him, she forces herself to listen to her motherly instincts. “Din,” she calls for him, earning his attention even as they continue to run. “Go ahead to the front. I’ll stay back with Grogu.”

Din gives her a quick glance. “Are you sure?”

Astra offers him a nod and the best smile she can manage. “I’m sure. That’s where you’re needed.” She takes his free hand and gives it a quick squeeze. “Be careful.”

“You too.” Din lifts their entwined hands to his cuirass. “Ni kar’tayl—.”

“—Gar darasuum.” Astra finishes with a fond nod of her head. Din releases her hand and sprints his way to the front, causing Astra to steady herself with a breath as she glances at Grogu. “You’re doing great, ad’ika! Stay with me, okay?”

Grogu nods and keeps IG-12 in stride with her. The tunnel transforms from a cutout in the rock structure to an Imperial-reinforced walkway. The structures alongside them remind Astra all too well of Star Destroyers and light cruisers, like the one she’d once been imprisoned on. She keeps Grogu close at her side and buries her worries in favor of shooting at any of the lingering Imperials. Astra doesn’t have much work to do with Din plowing through them at the front, using his body as a shield. She’s struck with the conflicting feelings of admiration for his strength and worry.

It’s not long before the tunnel at last opens up into an expansive space where the Imperials start to take flight with their jetpacks once again. The group continues to shoot after them, but stops with nowhere left to go. Astra struggles to see from where she stands in the group, but when the group stops shooting in favor of looking around, her stomach drops with dread. All she really needs to see is the collection of TIE fighters docked above their heads to understand what’s happening.

“It’s a trap,” Astra breathes to herself in disbelief.

“What is this place?” Bo-Katan asks aloud.

A hiss from behind them confirms that a blast door’s just locked them inside. Astra’s body finally catches up to her mind as she starts trying to fight her way to the front. “It’s a trap!” she exclaims. Her blood turns to ice when she notices where the threshold of the next blast door is.

And Din’s standing on the other side of it.

“Din!” Astra cries out. “It’s a trap!”

Din whips his head around to face her, but it’s too late. Astra gets to the blast door just as it falls, causing her to run right into it. Her body shakes with a mixture of anger and fear so intense that it consumes her. There’s no way for her to get to him. “It’s an ambush!” Din says the words that only make Astra’s heart fall even more. Now, she’s forced to watch as the Imperials descend upon Din and the other three Mandalorians he’s trapped with.

They’re outnumbered, with no cover and no way for the rest of the group to get to them. “No,” Astra chokes the word out, looking away from the sight only to search the walls for a control panel. “Is there a panel?” She’s in denial the more she goes on. “There has to be a way.”

Astra’s attention is drawn from the things around her when the light of the flames from Din’s gauntlet light up the small space. He’s fighting for his life, and she’s being forced to watch in the cruelest way. The other Mandalorians alongside him have already fallen in defeat, leaving just Din with at least eight Imperials advancing on him.

Astra bangs her fist on the transparisteel of the blast door. “Din!” she calls out. She doesn’t know what else to do or to say. Her body’s in fight or flight and it only intensifies the closer the Imperials get to her husband. The others are still joining Astra in her efforts to take down the blast door somehow, but it’s an impossible task.

One of the Imperials catches Din’s wrist with a fibercord whip. He tries to shoot them down, but there’s too many other troopers to worry about. Astra hits the transparisteel with both her fists, now, the adrenaline masking the ache her desperate actions create. She hits it with all her strength, watching as another fibercord whip catches Din by his neck and pulls him back.

“Din!” Astra’s well aware of the fact her calls for him won’t do anything, but she can’t stop herself. She pulls her fist back to give the transparisteel a full-powered punch, repeating the action over and over again until the skin of her knuckles even underneath her glove goes raw.

Din’s flamethrower stops when his second wrist is caught, leaving him defenseless once and for all. He doesn’t stop fighting even as the Imperials cross over each other to pin Din’s arms against his chest. Astra can only see red when they start forcing Din to his knees, and she’s quick to reach for her vibroblade. She brings her arm back with the intention of hitting the weapon hard enough against the transparisteel to break it, but the motion’s stopped by someone’s grip behind her. Astra fights it until they start to speak to her.

“No,” IG-12’s voice pleads with her. Astra turns her head to face their son, whose expression is just as devastated as Astra’s own. “No.” Grogu lets out a desperate coo, as if he’s begging for her to stop.

Astra nods at him, the action as numb as the sheathing of her vibroblade. She turns back to the sight of Din through the door, who’s now been fully forced to the ground. Bo-Katan sets a hand on Astra’s shoulder, but she can barely sense it. Her attention’s been drawn to someone who’s just landed a few paces away from Din, dressed head-to-toe in black beskar. Their helmet is decorated with red accents and sparse black spikes.

“Disarm him,” their modulated voice demands.

Din struggles against the two Imperials at his sides as they pull whatever weaponry they can away from him. His jetpack and blaster get thrown aside, along with his vibroblade and all of his whistling birds. Astra hasn’t felt this helpless since she watched the cyborg do the very same thing to him.

She should’ve listened to Din’s warning about returning to Mandalore.

The figure in black approaches Din in a sinister stride. Astra’s gloved hands curl up into fists, with one stinging from all of her desperate punches. Once they stop, they tear their helmet from their head, revealing their identity and making Astra’s heart sink into the depths of her being.

Moff Gideon. Moff fucking Gideon.

Astra tries to make another move for the transparisteel, but both Bo-Katan and IG-12 hold her back. Her chest is heaving from anger, desperation, and trauma. She hasn’t seen this man ever since he tried to kill both her and Grogu, and now, he’s taking her husband. Even the blast door between them doesn’t hide Din’s own growl as he’s forced to look up at Gideon.

“Thank you for gathering the Mandalorians into one place,” Gideon begins. Bo-Katan’s hand lowers from Astra as she stares him down through her visor. “You were a talented people, but your time has passed. However, as you can see,” Gideon lifts his arms to show off his armor, “Mandalore will live on in me.”

Astra can’t look away from Din, who once again tries to fight the Imperials’ group on him. They keep him pinned down.

“Thanks to your planet’s rich resources,” Gideon goes on, “I have created the next generation Dark Trooper suit forged from beskar alloy.”

He walks even closer to Din, until he’s standing right in front of him. Astra has to fight her hardest not to try to break through the door once again. Gideon looks at Din as he continues. 

“And the most impressive improvement is that it has me in it. You see, every society has something to offer.” Gideon looks up at Bo-Katan through the transparisteel. “The cloners. The Jedi.” Grogu coos in sadness behind Astra. “And even the Mandalorians.”

The group starts to rustle with unrest and volatile anger at Gideon’s vile words.

“By aggregating the best of each, I will create an army that will bring order to the galaxy.” Astra sees Din trembling with the same fury as herself. “Why don’t we take your fleet off the board while we still have the element of surprise?”

Just when Astra thought it couldn’t get any worse, her own breath goes sour in her lungs. Zora. Din must fall upon the same realization, because now, he won’t stop fighting to free himself.

“Activate the interceptors and bombers,” Gideon orders.

“No!” Bo-Katan gasps in panic.

The Imperials are quick in preparing themselves to get to their ships. Gideon smirks in pure delight and victory. “In but a few moments,” he states, “the Purge of Mandalore will be complete.”

Astra stumbles back a step, her mind now plagued with thoughts she can’t begin to process. Zora was supposed to be safe with the fleet. We thought this through so many times. Astra’s caught by IG-12, and she turns to look at Grogu again. Despite the horrors at hand, Grogu offers her a reassuring look, as if he’s trying to convince her that Zora will be okay. Astra maintains her strength for him and focuses back on Gideon and Din, her anger once again taking precedence.

“It looks like I’m not the only one with new armor,” Gideon says, his gaze now meeting Astra’s own. “Did they give you that after what happened when we last met, Princess?”

Astra sneers at him. “Fuck you.”

Gideon raises his brow, amused. “What a vulgar thing for someone of your rank to say.” Gideon’s gaze falls to Din. “Is that the mouth you kiss?”

“Proudly,” Din doesn’t hesitate to answer.

Gideon begins to smirk at him. “Makes sense with how quickly your family’s grown.”

Din’s voice is a growl more hostile than Astra’s ever heard him before. “Don’t you fucking dare talk about my family.”

“Trust me, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about them.” Gideon nods at the Imperials at Din’s sides. “Take him to the debriefing room.”

The Imperials close in on Din to lift him from the ground and drag him away. Din doesn’t stop fighting even once. Astra wants to do the same, but she also doesn’t want to give Gideon the satisfaction. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in a lame attempt to calm the wave of rage that crashes against her over and over again.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Bo-Katan speaks up.

Gideon turns from where he’s been watching over Din’s removal to meet Bo’s visor. “Bo-Katan.” His voice is light with amusement as he goes on. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

Bo-Katan takes a threatening step closer to the blast door. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Gideon smiles. “Let’s stop the pleasantries, shall we?” His smile drops as he starts to approach the door. “I believe this is the part where you return the Darksaber to its rightful owner.”

Gideon stops and stares Bo-Katan down. She lifts the Darksaber in her hand as if she’s teasing him.

“Now, surrender the Darksaber, and tell these people that this planet is mine.”

Bo-Katan looks over at Astra. She nods at their ally, her patience just as worn as the Mandalorian leader’s. Bo then nods at Paz, who speaks on their behalf. “This is the Way.”

Astra stays at Paz’s side when he leads the group in firing their weapons. She extends her blaster and fires while Bo-Katan makes her way to the door behind them and starts to cut a way out with the Darksaber. “Open the blast doors,” Gideon orders. “Kill them.”

Gideon sets his helmet over his head and flies away just as the blast door opens. Astra watches him and raises her voice loud enough over the firefight for him to hear her. “Coward!” She focuses on protecting Grogu while also making a vicious attack on any Imperial she can reach, using a fluid rotation of her blaster, her vibroblade, and her fibercord whip.

There’s a trail of at least three Imperial troopers at Astra’s feet by the time Bo-Katan gives her command. “Move out!”

“Move out!” the Mandalorians echo.

“Fall back!” Paz insists. “I’ll cover the rear!”

Astra’s tempted to keep killing as many Imperials as she can grab, but for Grogu’s sake, she takes him by the arm and urges them towards Bo-Katan. “Go, go, go!” the Mandalorians continue to call out. They climb out of the circular hole Bo’s carved one-by-one, reentering the tunnel. Astra urges Grogu out before herself.

While they wait for Bo-Katan and Paz, Astra pulls Grogu aside and holds IG-12 by the shoulders. “Grogu, ad’ika,” she says, her voice breathless but certain, “your father and your sister need our help. We need to be at our best for them. Okay?”

Grogu nods, cooing to agree with her. He closes his eyes for a moment before he points towards the direction in which they took Din.

“Can you sense where your father is?” Grogu nods once again. Astra sighs in determination and nods. “Good. Very good.” She starts to deflate and glances over her shoulder at the thought of her daughter.

Bo-Katan’s approach keeps Astra from going on. “Come on,” Bo urges the two of them. “We have to go.”

Astra wrinkles her brow, but obeys the command. “Where’s Paz?”

Bo-Katan’s helmet stiffens. “He’s not coming.”

Astra grabs Bo-Katan by the arm. “What do you mean, he’s not coming?”

Bo-Katan holsters one of her blasters to take a gentle grasp on Astra’s wrist. “He’s sacrificing himself for us. I tried to convince him not to.”

Astra’s gaze falls to the floor. She swallows hard and can barely speak past the lump in her throat. “So many losses.”

“I concur.” Bo-Katan and Astra move forward with Grogu at their side. Bo continues to glance over at Astra. “If you two want to go after Din, you should do it now.”

Astra wants to fall apart just at the sound of his name, but she keeps herself strong. “But, Zora…” Astra can’t make it past her name. The look she gives Bo-Katan is nothing short of desperate.

“We’ll take care of the fleet, including your daughter,” Bo assures her with a firm hand upon her armored shoulder. “Go get your husband.”

Astra takes a deep breath and nods. “Thank you, Bo-Katan.”

Bo returns the gesture. “This is the Way.”

Astra somehow manages to smile at her. “This is the Way.” She wastes no time as she focuses her attention on her son. “Are you ready, Grogu?”

Grogu nods, his brow now etched with pure determination. Astra offers him the smile she’d shown Bo-Katan and lifts her blaster.

“Lead the way.”

Grogu closes his eyes and does what she says, his IG-12 suit using an impressive amount of speed as he takes Astra to wherever Din’s being held. All she can do is focus on him and pray to the stars that they’re not too late.

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[mykingdomforasong]

"Din giving away the Dark Saber is okay actually because he never wanted it in the first place!"

I mean ... did he though?

First of all, a character just getting what they want with little effort or consideration is just weak story telling. Wants versus needs is one of the most basic elements of character development. So, "Din never wanted it anyway" isn't actually a good defense, even if it were true. It's still fundamentally weak storytelling. There was no development there, no introspection, no chance for him to decide what it might actually mean for him to keep it and use it. We see him go from a lone wolf to a dad, so what would it mean for him to go from a dad to a real leader of his people?

But more to the point, the narrative is ambiguous about whether or not he does want it, or if he would be interested in keeping it. Sure, right after rescuing Grogu he's willing to give it to Bo-Katan. He doesn't know what it is, and he's more interested in getting Grogu to safety.

But in BoBF, we do see him use it, train with it, and fight Paz for the right to keep it. We never see him try to give it away again, we never see him offer it to Bo-Katan again. There's a strong argument to be made that he was considering keeping it and using it to lead.

Now, obviously, we don't know how he's feeling. Because they've simply refused to let us see Din contemplative at all this season. His emotions and his decision making have been obfuscated. We don't know how he feels about the saber, leadership, atonement, his covert, Bo-Katan .... We keep speed running through what should be (and were in the past) big emotional moments. No, the show has never paused on these moments for long, but we see him make the choice to go back for Grogu in S1. We see him make the choice to give Grogu to the Jedi, and make the choice remove his helmet for Grogu in S2. So the show can and has allowed for emotional spaces like these before.

To be clear, it's not a fundamentally bad thing that he gives the saber away. What I'm critiquing is that, despite the number of episodes that have passed, we've never gotten Din actually thinking about what the saber means to him. We don't know why he wants to give it up now, if that was an easy or hard choice, if he ever imagined himself as the Mand'alor.

If I were to script doctor the season, I'd give Din moments where he considers what keeping it and using it to lead might mean. He does seem to want to bring Mandalorian's together (see: "Our people are scattered like stars in the galaxy"). But maybe he sees that 1) Bo-Katan is better at using the weapon, 2) she's a better diplomat and leader in general, 3) she knows much more about the planet of Mandalore and the culture, and 4) more people are likely to follow her because of her lineage. And so that is when he makes the choice to give her the saber, sacrificing his own desires and ambitions for the good of the Mandalorian people (again, a want to be the leader, and a need to step back and let the more qualified person do it).

[brujitaadinbo]

The image does not belong to me, I found it on the internet. Credits go to their original authors.

I just come to say many believe that Din's oath to Bo is solely out of honor.

I tell you; honor is something that characterizes Mandalorians and Din coincidentally mentions it in his oath, which is one of the many reasons why he follows Bo katan.

If they had not wanted this scene to be representative or iconic; simple

They don't give it that much visual weight, they don't give that moment that much narrative weight, they don't add those symbolisms like the moon, the setting, they don't make Din technically apologize to her for judging her, they would make the scene shorter, the They would delete, they would not give importance to "what means the most to me" They would have ended this with "I am at your service" or "I serve my Mandalore" cold words and that's it.

But this was nothing coincidental. They planned for this moment to be special and it happened THIS IS REAL

It is no coincidence that Din wants to say this to Bo and now with Brendan Wayne's statements and "Din wanted to knock her out with his own feelings towards her" Sorry, I'm really sorry but I'm going to use this resource as many times as I can to destroy the hate of those who don't support this shipment.

It is no coincidence that Din talks about Honor and refers to her as an honorable woman. Honor; because she could have betrayed him and taken the dark saber.

He could have let him die and ignored Grogu, he could have found a way to fight dirty, he could have taken the weapon away from him in so many ways, he could have manipulated him or even used Grogu to get his way. And she didn't do it.

His honor is palpable and he could notice it. That is why of course the oath is also an act of honor, because that is what characterizes Din, it is what characterizes the Mandalorians, respect and honor, BUT to flaunt it and value it from a person who seems admirable to you. and exemplary…. well you know, that's like "I want you to know what I think of you"

And of course we can see that Din feels that way about her and with that soft and modulated voice of Pedro Pascal, I think it is more than clear that this was not just out of "obligation."

He continues to comfort her and get her out of that depression, out of her negative thoughts. Then continue with Loyalty; He is clear and tells her that he sees that she is loyal, because despite her anger, she went and saved him, she was loyal to her conviction of saving a Mandalorian, rescuing him several times. Loyal to her convictions of respecting others when she entered Din's tribe and never took off her helmet, she respected the rules of her group, she adapted to those norms and at no time did she insist that Din leave the creed. Despite her apathy, Bo begins to feel comfortable and Din sees in her that loyalty is something she has not lost, that it is something that characterizes her.

And to close this post; He continues with the points that he sees and admires about Bo Katan…. of course because he told it out of "obligation" LOL stop lying to yourselves; They know well that Din tell them because it comes from him, he wants to do it and this is not a simple commitment of allies.

Character (temperament): She is a woman of decisions; She has endured so much to give her people that home they deserve, for Mandalore to be reborn from the ashes, because she lost her way a little but her goal has been her people and to redeem herself. He can see that in Bo katan and it takes character and temperament to also accept one's mistakes, when she at the table tells everyone that she gave in to Gideon and didn't let Koska speak in her defense; Din looks at her constantly and that's when he decides to go for her and comfort her.

It takes strength to accept one's own mistakes and more so in public, also to accept that you were selfish, just as Bo Katan accepts before Din that he was selfish. He can see that strength in her, Bo Katan was able to flee, adopt another way of life, hide and no longer do anything for his people and forget everything. At the end of the day THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. And that's why Din recognizes it and tells him so. Now with all this

They even dare to say that the oath is an “obligation” That this doesn't mean anything to him or her?

Stop lying to yourself and lying to people.

This is the way.

[thecleverqueer]

I’m kind of glad that I decided to create a Star Wars Twitter lurker account because if I hadn’t, I would have completely missed this whole DinBo / Katee Sackhoff debacle.

Like… to preface, Katee says some crazy shit in interviews. She’s clearly joking around most of the time. I think it’s great, entertaining and funny. Katee is great. I mean, see the 2% comment among other crazy things that she has said in interviews. And during that particular interview (the 2% interview), she’d mentioned that “they’d” (not clarifying who, but my guess is her and Brendan Wayne) discussed a potential DinBo situation but that it wasn’t going to happen because of the whole Din-doesn’t-remove-his-helmet predicament.

So, I chuckle because 1.) Dave isn’t going to canonically pair his strong women with anyone “just because” his words, not mine and 2.) Narratively, DinBo just doesn’t make much sense as both Din and Bo are busy as shit doing their own things that are not going to be conducive to a romantic relationship… at least not now.

So… when I heard that Katee said that they’d cut out a kissing scene during that moment where Din pledged his loyalty to Bo on that ship on Mandalore, I was taken aback. Mainly because while I know there are A LOT of cishets that swear there were romantic subtexts in that scene, I just failed to see it. There could have been as there was ample opportunity. If Din had just touched Bo in that scene; a shoulder touch, a soft caress in the small of her back, I may have seen the touchdown, your het vision… but you horny hets are trying to throw a Hail Mary at a target that isn’t even there. He was, like, two feet from her the entire scene. And, we obviously could not see Din’s face or the look in his eyes as he said it. The body language, the looks, they weren’t screaming “BONE”.

But then, a day later, Katee had to clarify in a Tweet that it was all a joke. That Brendan Wayne helmet bumped her AS A JOKE and that it wasn’t planned or written anywhere that “the kiss” was supposed to happen… and Katee was completely surprised at how her words were so hopelessly twisted.

And, once again, this tells me two things that I already knew… 1.) Dave is NOT going to put his strong women in relationships canonically “just because”. The only way it will happen is if it is absolutely required to serve the story. A Din and Bo relationship would actually completely railroad the current direction of the narrative. 2.) Narratively, DinBo just doesn’t make much sense as both Din and Bo are busy as shit doing their own things that are not going to be conducive to a romantic relationship… at least not now. Bo-Katan is going to rule Mandalore. She’s going to have to stay on Mandalore primarily to do that. Her WHOLE ASS character arc has been about her calling to rule Mandalore after her sister’s death. This is the way. Din is going to train Grogu in the ways of the Mandalorians by bounty hunting for the New Republic. He didn’t even bother to set up his homestead on Mandalore for even periodic “I’m-in-the-neighborhood-so-let’s-nookie” time with Bo. He settled on Navarro with Grogu… just he and Grogu.

Side Note: I think it’s totally okay and fair for Katee to ship Din and Bo. She’s a cishet, and you guys do this. I think it should be taken with a grain of salt though. After all, Katee also said that Bo and Ahsoka would absolutely discuss that ass slap from the first time they met the next time that they got together, and I just can’t see that being a “narrative win” that Filoni would allow. Ultimately, Katee does not have any more clairvoyance into future stories than we do. I know this because when you work for a company that likes to keep secrets, they tell you absolutely nothing. She will know before we do, but she will also sign a NDA that will prohibit her from saying anything.

And, at the end of the day, you DinBo hets will probably forget all about DinBo if Din shows up in the Ahsoka series, and you’ll start shipping Din with Ahsoka then… which, also will not happen. But, I guess you can keep dreaming.

[greenreaper04]

So what's the point of Din and Grogu this season? What's the point of cutting away from Boba Fett's story to show how Din is struggling with the DarkSaber, without him overcoming that? We'll he doesn't want that responsibility, he just wanna be a ✨Space Dad✨. Bruh, he's already a space dad in the first season. He started as reluctant space dad in the first season. Then in season 2 he fully embraces his status as a space dad, yet he still has a goal to return Grogu to it's people, at the same time challenging his beliefs. Sure he doesn't wanna be a leader, fine, but at least give him something more than just a space dad, because he already redeemed himself in the first 2 episode of this, so what the fuck are his goals this season?

"I don't wanna have him be the leader, I just wanted him to have a space adventure with his son" They are already doing that in the first 2 seasons, and if that's what you only want from him in this season, then he's gonna be a stagnant and boring character.

"I'm tired of the reluctant leader trope, let him be a normal guy," I am too, but then again, what's the point of setting it up in Season 2 and BoBF, if your not gonna follow through. But if that's the original goal, then what's your plan with his character then. Redeeming himself? Bruh, we barely struggle with that one

"People missed the point, he just wanna be a background character, he doesn't want attention" Yes we know, and we love him for that, and that's what made him special, but even those times, he still has a motivation and story to tell, here, he was just being sideline, which goes back to my original question, "Why is he here?" I know that he's not a passive character, and his choices still affect the overall story, but so does other the characters. Give us a moment that we'll have us say, that, "Yup that's Din, and that's why he is here." Because the moment that he choose to save Grogu in chapter 3, and both times that he removes his helmet, are those moments that we realized why are we rooting for this guy. And so far this season, he doesn't have that moment yet.

"It's called the Mandalorian, not Din and Grogu show, it's Bo-Katan's turns since technically she's a Mandalorian" Then what's with the promotionals and trailers that you have released leading up to that season, which barely show Bo. And I know that it's probably for marketing, they knew that we are here only for those two, and basically bamboozled us. Have they called this The Bo-Katan show and have it package to us that way, I would have no issue with them being sideline.

And dont get me started with Grogu. He is no longer a plot device, he is not mc guffin anymore, it's time we gave him a character.

The reason why we fall in love with the show in the first place is because of the relationship between Din and Grogu. And the writers clearly forgot that part. Don't get me wrong if they don't want Din to be a leader and just a ✨ Space dad✨ I'm on board with it. But please give us that properly and not just the scraps and bare minimum just to justify them being in here. They're barely interacting in this season. We didn't even get to see Din's reaction when the armorer made the new piece of armor for Grogu with their clan's signet. Heck it was not even acknowledge by Din, making me wonder if that's only created for just merch. We didn't even linger on Grogu after the flashback, like after next scene it was already forgotten. Imagine how beautiful it would be when Din returns and sees how sad Grogu is, and how he tried to cheer him up by giving the ball (which for a very important object in their relationship from the previous season, was not yet shown here). We barely got a moment between this two, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company because they have to be dragged to a plotline that they're barely connected just to justify them being here. It's a problem when they have more intimate moments in season 2 than this season considering that they were separated midway through that season. If you're not interested in moving his character forward, and has barely shown the relationship that we cared about, I'd rather have their story ends now, instead of them being static wallpapers only here for merch.

I know that Bo Katan and other characters from the animated show are loved as well, but they wouldn't even be here without those two, and it breaks my heart, that they're being shafted for those characters. They deserved more than this.

[burnwater13]

Concept art by Brian Matyas. The Armorer is dealing in the forge room, with ex-Imps aiming blasters at her. She is holding her hammer and tongs across her chest. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 8, Redemption. Calendar by DataWorks.

Next to his dad, the Armorer was the toughest person Grogu had ever met. Tougher than Moff Gideon. Tougher than Paz Vizsla. Tougher than Bo-Katan Kryze. Heck, she was even tougher than most of the Jedi he had ever met. Not tougher than Master Yoda of course, but she was still coming in pretty close. Grogu respected that. How could he not? 

Because he knew, with Master Yoda as an example, that tough didn’t mean heartless. It didn’t mean cruel. It didn’t mean thoughtless. It really meant that you did the work even when it was hard. Even when it was scary. Even when it was down right dangerous and you got hurt. 

You still felt all the pain. You still cried your tears. You still mourned the fallen. But in the moment, you were focused and fierce. You followed your training and did the best you could because you knew you needed to. He could sense the sadness in the Armorer. He could tell that she preferred to work at her forge and craft the armor that saved her fellow Mandalorians, particularly the younglings, from harm, as much as any armor could. But she did what she had to do in order to protect her fellow Mandalorians and Mandalorian traditions. This is the Way.

Grogu wondered if ‘the Way’ served Mandalorians as well as they served it. Tying yourself to a set of ancient requirements and following them relentlessly had made Mandalorians amazing warriors and sought after bounty hunters and mercenaries. People paused and thought twice about what they were doing when they knew it might catch the attention of the Mandalorian people or even just the Mand’alor. But… that had also brought the Empire down on them hard. And… they had only just survived their most recent civil war. 

Imagine that. Mandalorians becoming fractured over the Creed and the Way and then fighting each other. It was horrible and fascinating. Grogu knew that the Armorer had seen all that happen. He could sense the pain and sadness and annoyance when she spoke about those times. Okay, maybe not annoyance. Disappointment? Disgust? Despair? No. Not Despair. She was too tough for that word. He definitely sensed the disappointment she felt toward her fellow Mandos, who had fallen to the infighting and wasted time and other precious resources that should have been focused on the younglings and preserving the Creed.

But wasn’t that the center of the problem? Who’s Creed is it really? Why does it set the path it sets? Does it even mention the Darksaber? If not, then why did any of them follow the person who had it? Was that action supporting a change in the Creed? Grogu didn’t know. It got very confusing. 

He had planned on asking the Armorer about all that, but then Din Djarin had admitted to taking his helmet off and she banished him. Said he wasn’t a Mandalorian anymore. According to the Creed Mandalorians didn’t take their helmets off. At least not in front of other people. Taking your helmet off in front of a droid was okay because they weren’t living. But what about bugs? Or other critters? Was it okay for a Krayt dragon to see his face? 

Or was it a problem because he did it voluntarily? If Grogu had used the Force to steal the bounty hunter’s helmet, would he have been told ‘…you are a Mandalorian no more’? He had no idea. And that was how he knew the Armorer was almost as tough as Master Yoda. 

It wasn’t a good thing to send Din Djarin away from the Tribe. They had become so small. Just the Armorer, Paz Vizsla and one other person. Din Djarin had a ship. Or at least enough credits to buy a ship. He was a well established bounty hunter who had provided beskar for the foundlings many times. It took a really tough person to say, ‘No, our Creed means more to me and to what little we have left, than you do, a person who has always abided by the rules I have given you and followed them through thick and thin. You’ve failed this one time and that’s it. No apologies accepted. Tough luck.’

There it was again. The word tough. What happened next was how Grogu knew that Din Djarin was even tougher than the Armorer. He accepted her determination and figured out a way to redeem himself. He never gave up. Never walked away from the Creed. He found a way. 

Grogu didn’t understand why the Mandalorian had bothered with all that. It wasn’t how the Jedi did things. They were in balance with the Force and used it to help others. If that also helped them, fine. If it didn’t, well, they were pretty tough too and would do the best they could. That’s why Master Yoda still had the edge. He’d had to leave so much behind to help save the galaxy, but he had done it and ensured that another would follow his path. 

Grogu just hoped he was as tough as his dad and could follow that path no matter where it lead. His greatest fear was that wherever it went, there wouldn’t be enough frogs. That would be another case of tough luck, dank farrik. 

[kanansdume]

It literally would not have been that hard to make Din's redemption storyline still feel relevant and allow him to still feel like the main character of his own show.

For one, it would've helped to have him show a little more emotion about getting to the Living Waters. Some fear or desperation that maybe causes him to lash out a little. I wanted him to EARN that redemption, to overcome something of himself that allows him to attain it. It should've been an INTERNAL struggle as much as it was an external one, or an internal struggle PARALLELED by his external one ideally. Let him have trouble asking for help from others and so Grogu has to do it for him, or have him start to panic and Grogu has to reach out to calm him, which shows growth for Grogu as well as a growth in their dynamic. Just SOMETHING to show that Din is struggling with needing to be redeemed so that he can overcome that fear in order to be redeemed at all.

For two, it's all too easy. He gets told where exactly on the planet the Living Waters are, so it takes him like 10 seconds to get onto Mandalore and find the entrance, and once Bo-Katan is there to lead him, it takes like 5 minutes to walk to the Living Waters. I feel like Mandalore should've been a two-episode journey, not one. That it takes him all of one episode just to find the ENTRANCE to the mines or to figure out how to get through the atmosphere and land or something, and then one episode to get THROUGH the mines and to the Living Waters. It's all over so quickly and he barely seems to have any real issues aside from this random lizard spider droid thing that doesn't even get explained in any way.

For three, I would've liked some lines to really indicate that Din is thinking about the covert, remembering it fondly. Instead of the really inane "being a Mandalorian is about reading a map" which is completely meaningless and such a weird thing to say, have him say something more like "being a Mandalorian is about always having a community that will stand up to defend you." Not only does this continue to emphasize Din's connection to the covert and WHY it's so important to him to go back, it helps counteract the claims that it's a cult, it helps Grogu connect to the covert by implicitly bringing up the similarities it has to the Jedi Temple, and it helps seed the reasons why Bo-Katan will eventually be drawn to it herself later. It would also just be super cute to have Din maybe give an anecdote or two of his time in the covert as a child to prepare Grogu for experiences he'll soon get to have himself as Din's son.

Fourth, Din's confirmation of his redemption by the armorer should've been second, so that the episode ends on it which allows the focus to remain on HIS return to his family and community and how important this is to him, while Bo-Katan's sudden adoption goes first. Din's ends up feeling like a throw-away storyline, it's barely even noticed at all. We don't see anyone in the covert welcome him back warmly the way they do with Bo-Katan, we don't even really focus in on his physical reaction to being able to return the way we do with Bo-Katan. They should've STARTED with Bo-Katan, and let Din be second just so the focus got to stay on him as he finally attains the redemption and reunification with his covert that he's been chasing this entire time. It doesn't feel like we truly got any pay-off to that storyline when the focus isn't even ON him. Nobody seems to truly care all that much about this moment, including Din.

None of this truly changes the major story beats in any real way, and I feel like it would've really helped make this plot line feel emotional and resonant for Din instead of just being a catalyst to start BO-KATAN'S emotional journey and redemption.

[bethagain]

Thinky-thoughts incoming! Today’s topic: Musings on relationships and The Mandalorian, from someone who doesn't get it. AKA, What’s the deal with shipping Din and Bo-Katan?

Friendly chats about the following are welcome! But, please ignore if my ramblings are going to upset you.

I didn’t get the Din/Luke thing at first, but I have to admit there’s some potential there. And I can see why the Bo-Katan/Armorer thing has its fans. But I do not get the Din/Bo-Katan thing. At all. And because I feel like writing and my fic ideas are absolutely refusing to happen, I’m gonna pontificate about it.

Ok, so: Din and Luke, they’ve got stuff in common.

They both love a hotrod. Luke’s gonna swoon over the N-1 starfighter. Din’s gonna ask if he can try out the X-wing. They’re gonna bore the crap out of everyone but Peli, talking specs over the beer that Luke’s drinking and Din’s got untouched in front of him (because, helmet).

Yeah, Din’s a reluctant hero while Luke’s been a willing one—but by now, Luke’s seen a few things and I bet he’s starting to feel the weight. Bet you they have their moments of commiseration: Oh come on, not me, not again.

Once they’ve committed, though, they’re both reckless as hell. Luke might jump in faster while Din takes a minute, but once they get going neither one of them has much of a sense of self-preservation.

We’ve seen Din be a stone-cold killer, and people like to think of Luke as the gentle one. But Luke didn’t get his Tumblr reputation of “sunshine and tempered death” for nothing. Do not threaten something he cares about, or someone he loves.

Din’s more deadpan and Luke’s more likely to burst out laughing, but I think we’ve seen they each can appreciate the absurd. They’re going to get each other’s jokes.

Bo-Katan and the Armorer? We know less about each of them, I think, but still:

They’ve taken different paths, but their end goals are the same. The Armorer chose stealth and secrecy, keeping the people away from the world that would hurt them, while Bo-Katan chose guerrilla warfare. But they both gave over their lives to preserving what was left of Mandalore.

They’re both extremely skilled fighters, and they both fight with economy and grace. They’re well matched to train together, even if their skills are different.

They’re both intentional leaders. They’ll be able to share notes on the challenges of authority and how to overcome them.

But Din and Bo-Katan? What are people seeing, that makes them think these two should be together?

Bo-Katan obviously cares a lot about her people, but she’s irreverent and sarcastic about Mandalorian culture, too. Din takes it all extremely seriously, to the point of risking his life (more than once) for a point of protocol. They try to get together, they’re gonna drive each other nuts. Especially if they’re trying to raise a kid together.

Bo-Katan plans and strategizes, as she did with building the fleet. Impulse is not really her thing. When have we ever seen Din have a plan that he didn’t make up on the spur of the moment? Imagine them trying to organize a vacation together. Or dinner, even.

The getting-each-other’s-jokes thing. Do they have the same sense of humor? No idea. Does Bo-Katan even have one?

And then there’s the fact that Din promised to serve her. I know a lot of folks thought that was romantic, but I don’t see it. That was a pledge of deference and duty to a military and cultural leader. When Din speaks, he's generally got one of two settings: He's either utterly serious or offering up dry humor. Sure, he's capable of double meanings, but we've only seen him use that against people. It's not a trick for someone he respects. Plus, we never see Bo-Katan offer anything like a pledge to him in return.

Of course, there’s also the fact that my non-shippy heart wants to see more of Din and Grogu’s adventures together, and Din’s development as a parent and as a Mandalorian—and I don’t see any real need to hand him a canon romance. I mean, sure, he’s a bit of a blorbo for me and I want him to be happy. But from a storytelling perspective I just don’t think it’s missing.

[josephinekhawaja]

Shipping Feels, and sad feels, for everybody in the seventh episode...

(I partake in no sad feelings of Chapter 23 -- I am manifesting even harder every day.) But, ever the outlier, my FAVOURITE MOMENT of this chapter was Grogu breaking up the brawl between his UNCLE PAZ and UNCLE AXE. Please, his little face? 🥺😨 Broke my heart to see him smashing that No button. 😦😧 (Over, 100% my boy's nonsense. Axe, please, YOUR WIFE is giving you so much side-eye action on that boat...calm yourself, and stop being classist.😞😩😖😣 Sorry about that; he's not young, but he's dumb.) Baby does not want his family to fight.😰😓

...and then Both Uncles readily jetpacked their nephew to safety in the mythosaur attack or whatever. And were actually civil for whatever remained of the episode.😥😢 I needed this wholesomeness, and am not ready to accept this growing family tree has already been cut down. (And 100%, Grogu was a Mama's Boy in this in the good way. The reference in Chapter 20 was Uncle Luke, but this was all Bo-Katan. The nod Gro gives to Bo at the end seals the deal.)

Overall, was giving me vibes of 'You People', if on principle of that being the most chronologically recent example I have watched of this kind of romantic comedy. You guys...two families coming together, having beef, and working things out for the people they love. (In this case, for a little one.) If that is not narrative indication of two characters getting hitched... You could treat the feast thrown by the Armourer as their engagement party. And I suppose on the boat to be the wedding party, though I think it more the rehearsal dinner. Din was even out there workshopping his vows to Bo. Everything is on schedule.

[kalinara]

Wild Mandalorian Theory/Speculation time:

Is Ragnar Vizsla a replacement Din Djarin?

Like...on purpose, I mean.

I mean, you see the similarities too, don’t you?  We had the helmet ceremony in the first episode, which I actually assumed was a flashback until Din himself showed up.

There’s something similar about the attitude as well, isn’t there?  I can’t really put my finger on it, but something about the way the kid was when Din made him socialize with Grogu.  That attitude.  And then of course the kid gets fucking eaten.  Because he would.

The kid doesn’t seem to know Din personally.  And Din seemed surprised when Paz said this was his son.  When we saw Paz with the Armorer in Book of Boba Fett, he didn’t seem to have a kid with him.  

Now, there’s that recent reveal that Grogu studied with Luke for two years.  Folks have commented that this didn’t make sense.  Why would it take Din so long to find his covert?

...but I’m wondering now if maybe that scene with Din, Paz and the Armorer took place much earlier than the scene where Din goes to Tatooine and then to find Grogu.  How long would it have taken Din to find the Jedi “temple”?

It’d be a lot harder to find a temple than a covert, right?  When the temple is made up of one person whose name you don’t even know?  At least, with the covert, Din has some idea of what his people would look for and what they’d need.  Where would you even start to find a single Jedi and a baby?

It COULD maybe take two years, right?

We’ve talked before about Din’s very very weird mix of knowledge and ignorance, and particularly his bizarre gaps when it comes to the Mandalorians themselves.  

He knows the creed, the “Ancient Ways of Mandalore” by heart, and seems to truly embody all of that stuff.  But he knows jack shit about anything that Mandalorians really SHOULD know: Bo-Katan, the Darksaber, that there are Mandalorians who take off their helmet.  I can only imagine the blank stare we’d get if anyone tried to tell him about Satine...

But it doesn’t seem uniform to the covert, does it?  Paz Viszla knows about the darksaber at least.  He knows what Nite Owls are, who Bo-Katan and her clan are.  The people with him don’t seem shocked.

It’s ONLY Din Djarin who doesn’t know.  And that’s really fucking weird, isn’t it?  Din isn’t stupid or oblivious.  He learns and adapts quickly.  It doesn’t seem likely that he slept through every history lesson.

So what the fuck?

But let’s say for a moment that this awesome theory is true.  Let’s say for a moment that Din is some kind of social experiment to create an Ur-Mandalorian.  It can’t have been easy to keep him ignorant for so long.  And how aghast would the Armorer (and maybe Paz Viszla?) have been when he went apostate?

When Din appears at the covert in episode one, they shun him, but there’s no “we JUST kicked you out!” type of reaction.  It definitely seems as though a significant amount of time had past.  Long enough for Din to find evidence that the planet was not completely poisonous.

It’s long enough for the covert to get established in their new home.  Long enough...to find a new foundling and trying the same experiment again?  Maybe with a little more direct, fatherly, supervision?  

And a very recognizable name...

[tiptapricot]

New mando ep has put into perspective the intended goal of this season and in so many ways has been my favorite so far for the developments it gives and the path it’s setting up, however I’m still firm that the narrative choice to explore those thoughts has been unfocused and unbalanced, and could’ve been done so much better.

Some general ideas on how plot points thus far could’ve been better presented now that we actually finally know our story direction.

I’m enjoying Bo Katan’s story, I’m enjoying seeing more of the covert, I understand how the larger new republic politics are playing into the plot. But that can all have been done in tandem instead of feeling striated or shallow in places.

Din should’ve still had an active focus through line in this, scenes from his point of view or quiet moments with Grogu and the others as he reflects on his place and his responsibilities, as well as his recent redemption. While yes, the show does not have to be solely around him, when shifting character focus it has to be done in a way that tracks for that character and for the overall story. He does have more development to undergo, and developments he has experienced this season were rushed out of the way to get to everything else.

The bathing in the waters should’ve either taken longer or been given more lingering and poignant focus. The message of differing mandalorian beliefs as well as the true ruler storyline could’ve also been an active parallel or conversation with Bo, showing both of their conflicts and relationships to the future of Mandalorians and their culture. This wouldn’t have had to cut any of her stuff, but would’ve better melded the two and allowed for the hanging emotional threads for Din (and Grogu/their dynamic) that have just been passive and shallow in the background to have more of an active presence, even if he himself wasn’t aiming towards anything.

The general conflict between different mandalorian beliefs and cultures also should’ve been integrated differently. Both Paz and Bo and the CotW as a whole (we can somewhat assume) have experience with/knowledge of/a history with Death Watch, as well as the general past of Mandalorian civil wars, disputes, differing factions etc. and Bo meeting and joining the covert could’ve been the perfect space to bring up and explore that conflict.

The fact that her and Paz have not once talked about her history or his family is baffling to me, and this handling of that idea also would’ve laid the groundwork for the Armorer’s decision and understanding now of needing a united front, of coming together despite differences in creed and belief. Reflecting on that history of conflict would’ve strengthened the current need for unity, and also would have avoided making Bo’s history feel overlooked or downplayed. This also could’ve given us a better history for the CotW and how they grew.

Lastly, the imperial/new republic storyline should’ve been spread out wayyyy more and also had more care given to the political implications and parallels it has to real life. I honestly really don’t think we needed most of episode three still, or at least didn’t need it so condensed. Being a slow build would’ve better integrated it with the rest of the plot, and led to rising tension as we looked to see where it was leading. It would’ve set the groundwork for Gideon’s apparent escape, and along with the discussion of different mandalorian factions/mando history, would’ve set a precedent for those conflicting ways of going about things, as well as the Empire’s history in manipulating Mandalore’s politics. We still don’t know if Mandalorians actually broke out Gideon or if it’s a frame up, but it doesn’t really matter as both would relate to that same clashing core idea.

I’m also not one to speak on the worldbuilding of the new republic as far as what makes sense and what’s being messed up, as I’m not as deep into the larger Star Wars mythos, but I do believe more care should’ve been given to the presentation and implications of the amnesty program, like how Pershing is not and has not been an innocent, and framing him that way is disingenuous to his place in fascist genetic experimentation. Reform can happen, but there needs to be more nuance given, and the entire mini episode in ep 3 again should’ve been paced and presented much differently for overall story cohesion.

These are just my thoughts, I don’t hate the season but I do feel the writing quality has significantly gone down and I’m more enjoying it for character interactions and CotW/mando worldbuilding. These do include my personal preferences and expectations, but I think there’s something to be said for wishing a show better balanced it’s story threads, as it’s been done before in previous mando seasons, even with a more monster of the week approach, and I think we’re severely lacking it currently.