#so what if Luke and Grogu reunited

[rubixcuby]

Oh shit I never posted this here😨

[randombrambles]

I guess I'm in the minority because I came away from the Ahsoka finale more of a Sabezra shipper than before and more convinced they might be going in a canon Sabezra direction. Nothing ship killing happened in the finale...they are both alive and neither of them are romantically involved with anyone else.

And I'll say this, if Filoni wants Sabine and Ezra to be platonic, as people keep insisting, then he didn't communicate that very clearly, or at all, to the actors and the directors because Ezra and Sabine come across like they are in love. Like seriously Ezra's "I missed you" was pretty darn close to a love confession imo. The way he looked at her and the way he said it had me going "oh he is totally in love with her".

Sure them being separated, again, is a set back but its really a minor one for a scifi fantasy show. When Ezra got stuck nobody knew where he was or even how to begin finding him or if it was even possible. This time around Ezra knows exactly WHERE Sabine and Ahsoka are and HOW to get there. Its been established now that travel between galaxies is indeed possible and it doesn't even appear to be that hard? You just need the coordinates and a powerful enough hyperdrive. Ezra has either already stolen the coordinates from the Chimaera or he's working on a plan to do just that. This separation will be temporary and given that Thrawn is back in the main galaxy now, and there is no OT coming up in the timeline that Ezra needs to be MIA for, I'm betting it will be way, way shorter in universe that the last one. [how long we have to wait to see them reunited I have no idea, everything is so up in the air right now what was the just resolved writers strike and as yet to be resolved actors strike]

The big thing that's giving me pause on canon Sabezra at this moment in time is Sabine apparently committing to becoming a Jedi and her embracing being Ahsoka's apprentice. I just don't now where they are going to come down on the Jedi and romantic attachments thing. I'm worried they might revert back to the Jedi are forbidden romantic attachments angle to align with the BS they established with Luke regarding attachments for the Sequel Trilogy.

The fact that they didn't retcon the fact that Kanan was a Jedi, as I feared they would, and the fact that Carson didn't say "wait how can Jacen's father have been a Jedi? I thought Jedi weren't allowed to have families" gives me hope. And the obvious, to me anyway, "romantic coding" with Sabine and Ezra in Ahsoka gives me hope. But then I remember that they had Luke make Grogu chose between being a Jedi or seeing Din again in the Book of Bobba Fett and I get worried.

[panic-at-the-fiction]

This is The Way

Summary: right after the ending season two, din having just removed his helmet. The reader comforts din as he struggles with not knowing how to go on without the child or his creed.

A/N: I just rewatched the show and I just really want to know what happened the second the screen went dark. Did anyone say something. Did he immediately put the helmet back on. Was it an awkward car ride home as they all just set silently like can’t believe we fought to save the kid and now he doesn’t even get to keep it. It’s just wrong man.

I stood watching as Luke disappeared into the elevator carrying the child away with him, leaving nothing, but an awkward silence as the door shut.

Dins shoulders tensed, his back straightened. I didn’t know how to approach him with his helmet removed.

We both knew our goal was to find a Jedi to reunite Grogu with, but we spent so much time just fighting to get him back, neither of us thought we’d have to give him away so quickly. Din continued to just stare off at the door like he wasn’t quite sure this was real.

I looked around at our assembled friends and allies, realizing no one really knew what to say. Everyone seemed to be waiting for some sort of command as to what to do next.

“Can you guys give us a minute?”

Bo Katan nodded. “We’ll make our way back to prepare the ship, you guys can meet us when you're ready. We’ll secure the prisoner while we’re at it.”

I nodded and watched them all leave down the same hall as Luke and Grogu just a moment ago. They were probably already back to his ship at this point and ready to start a new life off somewhere far away. It broke my heart to even think about it presently.

“Din?” I almost whispered, breaking the silence. He twitched, uncomfortable and unsure without his helmet on.

I walked closer and carefully placed my hand on his shoulder. He relaxed into the touch, but he still stayed facing away. “Din, it’s okay, you can look at me.”

“I’ve broken my creed.”

“I know.” I said lightly. It was against the creed to remove his helmet. He had already done it once before, but that was under dire circumstances and was done in hopes of saving a foundling, which Mandalorian deemed more important than almost anything. But this, this he did willingly for the child.

“I just… I wanted him to see me before he left. To really see me before he was gone.”

“I understand Din, it’s okay. I think it was very noble of you. It was a beautiful parting gift.”

“But now I have nothing.”

I felt a slight sting at those words. I had been traveling with the Mandalorian since he stopped on Tatooine with the child for the first time. Back then he was still running from Greef Karga. We weren’t together, but I traveled with him, fought with him. I had saved his life, and he had saved mine in more ways than one. I was his friend, and deep down I’ve always wanted something more.

“I miss him too, but you still have me. I might not be much, but I’m not leaving you, creed or no creed.”

He finally turned around, a slight embarrassment or even shyness in his demeanor. I had never seen Din’s face before. He had kind, warm brown eyes and was handsomer than I’d even imagined.

I couldn't help myself as I reached out and carefully placed my hand on his cheek, something I had done in moments of comfort even when he wore the helmet. “I always wondered what color those eyes were.” I smiled.

He placed his hand over mine. “You’re more than enough.” He paused, sighing before pulling away. “But I still believe in the Mandalorian way, I still believe it to be true.”

“Then put the helmet back on.”

“What?” He sighed, trying to walk away, “I can’t just put the helmet back on, it doesn't work like that.”

I picked it up from where it set off to the side and held it back out to him. “Then we will find the rest of the Mandalorians. You can put the helmet back on until we find them. We will ask for their forgiveness to see if they will redeem you. Whatever it is they want, we can do it. If not, you can take the helmet off and start sulking then.”

His brow furrowed as he looked at me. It was strange to be able to read his expressions. Even with the helmet, Din was always expressive, but seeing his face up close. It was like I was reading his mind, it almost felt too personal.

“We? You would do that for me? Search the galaxy for a dying race, just to help me restore my honor in a culture you don’t even take part in?”

“I mean, isn’t that what I’ve been doing all this time, helping you honor your creed by helping you protect the child?” I laughed slightly at the mention of the kid, the wound of losing him still fresh. Even if he was getting to be with his people again.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, we will seek the Mandalorians again. Together.”

I smiled, offering him the helmet back, but I could see in his eyes he was thinking about it before he took it from me.

“First there’s something I need to do.”

He crossed the distance to me, taking his helmet and pushing it off to the side. I opened my mouth to ask what was so important he needed to do it before he put the helmet back on. His gloved hands came up to cup my face as his lips met mine.

Shock set in first, followed by confusion in the first split second before I felt myself completely dissolve into him. My arms coming up around his neck, his hands traveling down to my hips locking me in tightly.

All those months on the razor, pining filled with awkward tense moments interrupted by the child. All those times when the heat in the room was intense, but neither of us saying or doing anything to act on it. Now the Mandalorian was kissing me like I was his dying wish.

When the kiss ended, both of us only pulled away enough to lean our foreheads together.

“I’ve been dying to do that.” He said almost jokingly.

“Oh yeah, what got in the way?” I quipped, getting him to laugh.

I left the warm embrace of his arms and reached over to grab the helmet from where Din had pushed it off to the side. He caught my arm as I did so, pulling me back to face him.

“Before you hand that to me, you need to know I’ve always loved you. Since the first day you stepped foot on my ship and I saw the way you cared for Grogu and me. Since the first time I saw you with a blaster, I have been fighting these feelings, knowing I can’t give you everything you want. If you agree to come with me to find the Mandalorians and I have my honor restored, I can’t remove my helmet again. I can’t offer you everything you deserve.”

I smiled, almost feeling tears coming to my eyes. “I love you, Din Djarin and I love you with or without that helmet. I’ll be happy to take any piece of you as long I get to be with you. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, as long as I know you love me, that will be enough. I know how much that creed means to you, how much your people mean to you, and I will never ask you to give it up when there’s still hope you can have your honor restored.” I picked the helmet back up and extended back to him. “This is the way.”

He nodded, taking the helmet and finally placing it back on his head, completing his armor once more. “This is the way.”

[eriexplosion]

ngl, I also believe Omega's staying (and that it'll be a conscious, deliberate choice on her part; not just the way the cards end up falling). it'd be an interesting precursor-parallel to Grogu's situation with Luke and Din, imo? (choosing to stay with your family, a little at odds with the Old Jedi Way or w/e). crossing my fingers that we get a "family's all together" holo at the end; I'm intrigued to know that it wasn't just me who thought that it was a significant item/moment, all the way back in s1?

I am SO hoping for a new holo based on that shot all the way back in Aftermath. They've brought so many little details forward into the new season and I think it would be absolutely perfect for everyone to be together (TECH INCLUDED) and retake the picture. I'm still stuck on how they even left space for her in the photo composition.

I want the finale to include a redo of this picture so bad but they're all in civilian clothes and Omega is right there where she belongs next to Tech, I want that SO bad.

But yeah, with Ventress i think that it's being introduced both to confirm Omega's force sensitivity (because dedicating a whole episode to your not force sensitive character... not being force sensitive. Would be silly.) and to show Omega kind of an alternate path. She just needs to see the path and know that she has choices for an ending where she stays with her family to really pack a full punch. Also because I do think that all of them, especially Hunter, do need to be able to let her go, if that's her choice, but that doing so is what will make her choose to stay, ultimately.

I just don't think we spent this long trying to reunite the family just to break it apart again! Same reason I don't think Tech is dead and don't think Echo will be with Rex permanently, if they wanted to split up the party for good in the end they would have tied up the family reunification thread last season and then shown it falling back apart.

[burnwater13]

Grogu greeting R2-D2 on Moff Gideon's ship after Luke Skywalker's arrival on the ship. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 8, The Rescue. Calendar from DateWorks.

Grogu recognized R2-D2 immediately. It had been a long time since he'd seen the mech roaming around the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A long time. So many things had happened since then. Grogu hadn't really expected the mech to survive it all. Even back in those days, R2-D2 was known to be risk taker. But somehow, here it was tootling a ‘hello there’ as if they had just missed each other at the flight training center canteen.

Grogu replied ‘Long time, no see' or words to that effect and the mech had laughed, as mechs do, in a stream of binary that was far too fast for the humans to understand. Grogu asked R2 who had trained the ‘Kid’, because it was clear to him that the young human male was not what he would have called a Jedi.

R2 shared what it knew. Grogu was impressed. Obi-Wan Kenobi? Master Yoda? A holocron? Wow. He kind of wished he'd been able to do things that way. Instead, he had to deal with the old fashioned go to classes, take tests, practice, practice, practice method. It did at least explain why Luke was wearing the wrong colors. No Jedi worth their kyber crystal ever dressed all in black. That's what had Grogu worried about going anywhere with the youngster. Obviously no one had bothered explaining how the exterior was a reflection of the interior. 

R2 commented that the Kid was in mourning. Huh? That was a reason to dress plainly Grogu supposed, but given the number of people he had lost, his coverall’s color should have duplicated a Sith’s heart. Grogu had often imagined that was like looking into a void in the space/time continuum. But you couldn't just order your robes in the color of despair, so you put up with what you had and made do. 

Grogu asked who the Kid was mourning and was surprised at the answer. Vader? Why would anyone mourn Vader? He looked at the Kid again and wondered if he could just slowly back away? But the Mandalorian really wanted him to go with the Kid and learn something. Grogu chirped at R2 and asked him the obvious question, was the Kid a Sith?

A gale of laughter met his ears when the mech replied. Of course Luke wasn’t a Sith. He was Anakin Skywalker’s son. Anakin had become Vader and had never known he had children until it was too late. 

Oh. Alright then. Huh?

Grogu asked R2 to explain it to him like he was back at the Jedi Temple. It took a few moments because R2 streamed the information to him at a frequency that Grogu could hear but the humans simply ignored. To them it probably looked like the two of them were just sizing each other up, but that was just a convenient cover for their intense discussion. 

So Luke (Grogu still thought of him as ‘the Kid’) was Anakin’s son, had a sister, Anakin’s daughter, and had grown up on Tatooine, not far from Tosche Station. Ben Kenobi (Obi-Wan’s cover name) kept an eye on Luke and eventually helped him reunite with his sister, Leia, while helping her escape from Imperial captivity, thwarting Darth Vader's plans to get the princess (princess? Yup) to betray the Rebel Alliance. Kenobi helped them escape by tricking Vader into fighting him instead. That hadn't worked well for Obi-Wan, but then it wasn't supposed to. Anyway, then there was a bunch of running around with the Rebel Alliance and eventually Luke went to Degobah to train with Master Yoda. On the plus side, Master Yoda recognized R2, on the downside, Luke really struggled with balance. A lot. A lot a lot. That made sense. After some training from Master Yoda, Luke had to go back to the Rebellion, met Boba Fett, sort of, and ended up not being able to finish his training after he returned to Degobah and Master Yoda became one with the Force. But Luke still had to help the Rebellion because he was the only Jedi anyone knew about. Wow. That’s how he ended up meeting Vader again. Again? Yup, the first time he met him was when he was trying to help his sister and her friend Han. It turned out that the whole thing was a trap! R2 had done what he could to help, but Luke ended up getting his hand cut off by Vader's lightsaber (Grogu had wondered about the gloves) and had to recover from it. It had been a tough first meeting. 

Grogu had wanted to know more, but he sensed that all the humans in the room were getting a little antsy. Was he staying or going? He sighed. He really didn't want to leave the Mandalorian. Din Djarin needed a friend and that’s what Grogu was. His friend. But… he really wanted to know what happened when the Kid met Vader the second time. He felt like he would learn something pretty important. It felt just like the the time he met the Mandalorian. That had worked out pretty well, all things considered. 

This is the Way?

R2 whistled to him that they needed to go. It was a long flight to Ossus. 

Ossus! Why didn't the mech lead with that?! Ossus had amazing history within the Jedi Order. Of course Grogu wanted to go there. He could go for a couple of weeks and check things out, get the rest of the Kid’s story from R2 and then head back to Nevarro or Tatooine or wherever the Mandalorian was at the time. Grogu would find him. They were part of the same clan. You couldn't keep them from finding each other, even if you tried. 

This is the Way.

[kanansdume]

I feel like the whole ending of Din taking Grogu as his apprentice just has exactly no emotional impact for me because it's not the ending we were supposed to get and it sort-of starts to feel like a smack in the face.

The entire story was set up as getting Grogu back to his people, back to where he belonged and would be happiest. Grogu was never going to be a Mandalorian, even if he learned to love Din.

I've compared this show's initial concept to Ice Age before, but I'll do it again. It doesn't matter that the baby cared for the animals, he'd never BE an animal himself and is always going to be happiest when reunited with his father and his people. That connection the baby had to the three animals who worked so hard to save him and return him to his family is no less meaningful for how temporary it was always going to be.

In this case, it shouldn't have ever mattered whether Din and Grogu cared for each other because Grogu was always going to be happiest once he was reunited with the Jedi, with his true people who could communicate with him and help him learn to control his abilities and give him the tools needed to overcome the trauma of his past.

None of which means that connection that Din and Grogu had wasn't important or meaningful, particularly to Din himself, but just that it shouldn't have changed where Grogu ultimately would end up and the people he belonged to.

Grogu should've become a Jedi apprentice, he was always meant to be a Jedi apprentice, this was the choice he made decades ago when he was found and brought to the Jedi in the first place, it was the choice he made when he reached out to Luke at the Seeing Stone. Having him become a Mandalorian apprentice (since when have Mandalorians had APPRENTICES???) instead of a Jedi apprentice just seems like such a major fuck you to that prior storyline.

It also just feels like such a major fuck you to the Jedi themselves. That it's BETTER for Grogu to have specifically a parent and a house with a white picket fence rather than a group of Masters and a Temple. This entire season felt like it was trying to equate the Mandalorians to the Jedi, in how big of a threat they are to the Empire, and in how important they are to the narrative. But Star Wars just isn't about Mandalorians and it never will be. There's no way to re-insert Mandalorians into any of the three trilogies, so they are always going to remain irrelevant to the Skywalker Saga. And I feel like Favroni take this as a personal insult and just don't care for the Jedi as much and Grogu's fate feels like it reflects those feelings.

And so the only emotion I can feel at Grogu becoming Din's son and apprentice is bitterness. And a yearning for what we could've/should've had.

[rise-my-angel]

Bear with me, but I'm going to explain why I don't find Grogu running around in IG-11 like a suit funny. Droids are not portrayed as feelingless robots in Star Wars.

Multiple droids are shown with immense personality, and their losses given weight. Luke sees R2-D2 get lost under the murky swamp water on Dagoba, and his response is to desperately call out to him worried for his safety, and then runs to him and consoles him when he flies out of it. Poe treats BB8 like one might treat a beloved pet, and is relieved when they are reunited.

It's why people didn't like what happened to C3PO in Rise of Skywalker. C3PO has to do what is essentially a factory reset, and it will erase every bit of information and memories he has stored since his creation. It is a death, he treats it like a death but the other characters do not treat it that way. It's used almost like a joke for them, and people hated it because C3PO is more then a hunk of metal he is an ally, a friend. And what is a metaphorical death wasn't treated seriously.

K2SO sacrificed their own life to give Cassian and Jyn Erso a chance to get the death star plans and escape. His death is also given great weight and the framing of that like a human death and Cassian is devestated to lose him.

IG-11 was the same. Din had watched this droid become a friend, and ally and didn't want him to sacrifice himself. But he did, his death was given the emotional weight of a human charecter and Din and Grogu treat him as such.

So forgive me, for not finding Grogu's antics funny when it's framed that he is now riding in the dead corpse of a charecter that was framed to us as something worthy of love. He is wearing the dead corpse of a friend who died to protect him.

Droids in Star Wars are not just robots. They are things given emotions and emotional story weight. IG-11 isn't an Iron Man Suit and it's not funny to watch Grogu play around in it, because to Grogu, that was someone who was a friend and protected him with his life.

I'm sorry. I don't care if there was humourous moments there, the concept of the scene itself is not cool. You cannot tell us one episode previous that droids are trying to form a life for themselves because they want to be treated as individuals. And the next have a baby ride in the skin of a dead corpse that was a loyal friend who was given an emotional death scene.

The lack of consistency isn't fun, and the complete ignorance of any kind of appropriate tone or sensitivity is insulting.

[ooops-i-arted]

Rewatching BoBF because I really do enjoy it and it's a favorite of mine, but now it also just makes me sad because THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

First of all, that should've been saved for season 3 and not shafted Boba and Fennec/Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen in their own show. That was bullshit much as I loved the episode.

But imagine if they'd taken all the plot threads in that episode and actually explored and developed them.

Din is clearly suffering from missing Grogu, and conflicted because he knows Jedi are supposed to "forgo attachments"* and Grogu is with his true people/culture now, but also misses him so much and still wants to take care of him and be his father. This is a potential character conflict as Din struggles to support doing the right thing for Grogu with his own feelings of attachments that just gets brushed aside, first when Ahsoka tells him "Naw, don't go see him" and then again when they're hastily reunited.

*This is a Filoni thing and not accurate to the films, Jedi are allowed to have connections to their home life and culture, it's just that they can't use their love of that to overwhelm their duty to Do The Right Thing.

If we add episode 6 to the mix, we don't get to see Grogu train or have much conflict/development himself. He doesn't really get an arc about choosing Din, it's just a cheap cliffhanger. His flashbacks and training are shallow and pretty much just Easter eggs. ("Look it's Order 66 again! Look it's Jar Jar's actor! Look it's one of those laser balls like in ANH!") There could have been more depth to them, like recalling Order 66 and possibly linking his trauma to being a Jedi whether he likes it or not, or other trauma he faced between Order 66 and now (like how did he end up with the Niktos?) and showing that he still uses thoughts of Din to calm himself and still needs his father - he's just not ready for Jedi training and he still needs time to heal emotionally and be a kid. Hell, LUKE could've gotten a beautiful arc where he tries to rigidly hold himself and Grogu to what he thinks the prequel-era Jedi Order were like because he has unfairly placed so much pressure on himself as a teacher and Grogu as his first student, and then instead realizes he's bringing them both down and not doing right. Luke decides he needs to do more research of the old Jedi and possibly ultimately make his own path for the New Jedi Order, and instead offers Grogu the choice between him and Din freely, acknowledging he may not be ready to teach Grogu after all but willing to do so if that's what Grogu needs. Writing wise this would also be smart - Grogu chooses Din for now with the door open to send him back to Jedi training if you take the story that direction again, but you still got you Money Making Merch Duo back together.

Back to Din, we could've started him truly embracing the role of father to Grogu after their reunion, the two of them choosing to make a family together instead of a quick adoption ceremony after a season of Din calling him ward and sending him to training with no prep.

Din isn't great with the Darksaber in this episode, but he seems to want it. He learns its history. He makes an effort to use it and start training with it. He gets feisty when Paz challenges him for it. Even if he doesn't feel totally ready for all it symbolizes, he wants it in BoBF. Why did he suddenly give it to Bo? Because Favroni made him, that's why. Imagine if instead Din looked at all these groups of Mandalorians infighting - Bo and her posse, loners like Sabine and Boba, the Children of the Watch - and thought, imagine what we could do against people like Gideon if we worked together. We have had two season of Din collecting unlikely allies - a rebel shock trooper, an Ugnaught farmer, Guild leader turned Magistrate, a Tatooine mechanic, a deadly assassin, a simple man making his way through the universe, a disgraced Mandalorian princess and her lackeys - and gotten them to join his cause and led them into battle. He is a leader! He has it in him! And "reluctant leader being the best leader" and/or "leader who cares about his people over a throne" is an age-old trope that Din fits perfectly. He could've had an amazing arc of lone bounty hunter to apostate to Mand'alor.

Tack on to that an arc of personal identity as a Mandalorian. Instead of Din going to the Mines in 2 episodes as if checking off a list of boxes, we got a deeper dive in his character. Maybe he bathes in the waters of Mandalore as the Armorer requested and realizes he doesn't feel any different. Maybe exposure to different Mandalorians makes him realize there's more than one way to follow the Creed, and that's okay - and that's what makes him a good leader because he accepts all the little subcultures in the Mandalorians. He puts the helmet on and keeps it on again because he chooses to, because that's what works for him, but no longer chastises those who don't and realizes that he doesn't need the Armorer's approval or word of law to be Mandalorian. Maybe the Armorer herself learns to be less strict and rigid, or realizes Din is the leader who can get their homeworld back. When they meet again not as a member of her covert or someone under her "rule," but as equal leaders with mutual respect.

Another side thought, but imagine if they'd gone ALL THE WAY with Din being an apostate and the Armorer had made him leave his beskar. Unarmored Din must relearn his entire fighting style, struggle with feeling exposed and shamed with no helmet, reach emotional rock bottom and still come out on top by proving himself worthy, not just to the Armorer, but to himself. (I figure this will never happen since they need Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder to be able to physically be Din to do stunts and to help out the filming schedule since Pedro Pascal is so busy, but I do think the concept is cool and would've been some amazing, especially with Pedro's acting.)

[brujitaadinbo]

I wanted to share this analysis with you, trying to be objective and not fall into just my own tastes, without taking this personally or as if I were attacking other ships or fandoms; In reality it is not like that, but I clarify it because it usually happens and they change the context of everything…. If you give yourself the opportunity to read, In The Mandalorian they have made it clear to us to what point Din leans in his emotional relationships, technically has been closed for a long time in that regard. Being raised in an almost very hermetic community with people from outside his tribe and seeing others from afar trying not to bond; but as I tell you with Grogu, this whole wall that is Din begins to change, he begins to connect with others and no longer have only allies, but friends and companions and even something more… Starting with Xian, a character with very dubious morals, with a problematic character, no loyalty towards others and much less emotional responsibility, without any type of honor, we can see that the relationship with Din, It was only for their own interests, to make their own profits and have a good time (wink wink) But from that to there being something more solid, deeper, more legitimate or genuine, nothing… at least not in a positive way.

We then see his relationship with Cara Dune; You can see a certain rivalry until little by little they resolve their power conflict, they are seen as battle companions but there is a particular moment where it is seen that Din notices a vulnerable point in Cara but he only observes and remains silent. He doesn't comfort her, he doesn't talk to her, he's not going to approach her to give her support, as he demonstrates with a certain redhead… I'll tell you. When they go to Grogu's rescue, Cara and Din intercept an enemy ship, where Dr. Doctor Pershing is on board, exactly someone very necessary to achieve that rescue, when Din and Cara board this ship, one of the pilots takes Dr. …and threatens them, if they get close, she will finish him off and they will no longer be able to achieve their purpose, Cara points it out, the pilot begins to speak to her aggressively and mocking her and her people (Alderaan) for what happened to her. planet, recognizes her as a deserter, She remains calm but hurt inside, the pilot continues to provoke her and mock that fatal moment for her and her people, until there comes a point where, she cannot bear it, she shoots the pilot and the Dr, somehow. a little hurt.

That whole moment was so fast but so shocking and Din just looks, knows and realizes that that pilot hurt her inside, in her memories, in the pain of her people, but that's all, it was not a more intimate moment or closest between the two. So there we can see that Din does know how to recognize these types of aspects, but it is still closed, it is still a process. He's still not fully with Grogu, this is before he left with Luke and everything that needed to happen happened for them to reunite again and be a two-officer clan.

And I end with Omera, in a filler chapter, with a filler character, there they show us a Din being convinced to accept a job to support a Village and its inhabitants, the payment is given to Cara, he ends there and begins to see what an established life would be like, to a certain extent "a normal life" His interaction with Omera is talking to her about certain things about the creed, but there are no intimate moments and if you allow me I will tell you why.

There comes a point where Cara tells Din to stay and live there, he knows that it is not safe because of his pace of life, his type of life and because it would endanger the child and everyone, he thinks he can leave the boy and then leave, but mmm no He and Grogu have already been linked since chapter 1 of this series, it is already an unbreakable bond, so to speak

I really like a phrase that says “The force brought them together” and it shows that it was. This entire chapter can be seen as a mirror, Din reflecting on the widow and her daughter, in a town that is in danger but is already established… When he says goodbye to Omera, she speaks to him in a very particular way. way… "We would like you to stay." At no point is it a statement of her own or of some more intimate feeling, she sees him as a man who can protect her and her loved ones, provide security… but Din knows that he is not the one for her. or for that task, He tells her… She tries to invasively remove his helmet, knowing that he told her she couldn't take it off, she continues… he mentions it to her "I don't belong here."

And well, you know the rest… Technically, to say that "intimate moment" between them, she tried to force things, disrespecting what he told her about his creed, trying to take off his helmet, "in a very subtle way" . " as if they wanted to make it seem like "she just wants to help him" when that's clearly not the case… there you can also see interest-based action and how to approach someone who has been closed off for a long time. You can tell it's more What an introvert, a wall, that still doesn't let you get to that point… and you only approach it like this??? Really, there is nothing intimate about this, much less romantic.

So if you follow this whole process, the whole context, you watch the series again, it is documented… you begin to notice the dynamic between Din and Bo Katan, from enemies to then friends, with that touch that leaves the door open to something more , those "BokaDin" winks

It begins to be seen in this season 3 that Din since he has Grogu in his life, now in a more formal way, being his father, begins to take risks, to bond, to be more open and coincidentally this goes hand in hand with Bo Katan. Yes, of course, uh… coincidentally… You begin to see that synchronicity between them, that chemistry and that they protect each other publicly, intimately in the moment on the ship when she reveals that she surrendered and was betrayed by Gideon to save his people, he watches, remains silent BUT… Coincidentally (laughs) with her, if he takes that step, he looks for her at a very particular moment, with all the elements to make it seem like an intimate moment under the moonlight and he speaks to her in his Mandalorian way, he apologizes for what happened, because of how badly he thought of her, for judging her, he listens to what she says and decides to console her, give her support, encourage her and casually swear loyalty to her and be with her until her songs end…

And coincidentally (lol OMG) their theme songs come together in the background music of this scene.

Please In fact??? More elements are needed to say that this is more than obvious and in what direction are they going? There is no worse blind man than he who does not want to see.

[ziplockbag]

watched the new episode of the Mandalorian the day it came out and something about the whole structure of that show truly bothered me, and it’s all to do with the way they handled baby yoda and mando in the book of boba fett. it still baffles me that they reunited those two in that show as opposed to waiting it out.

*imagine* if they waited. mando having to deal with the rejection from that group of mandalorians and having given away grogu to luke, grogu at the jedi temple. putting more weight on their time apart would make something like a mid-season or season finale reunion so much more powerful than what they ended up doing.

mando’s quest for redemption that he seems to be on now (with the waters below the mines of mandalore or whatever) would make way more sense as a motivation if he didn’t have grogu with him. 

that little green ray of sunshine also didn’t serve an ounce of narrative purpose in the first episode, so at the moment, it wouldn’t have mattered to the plot if he’d been there or not.

idk, a lot more falls into place once you put the setup from book of boba fett into the structure of the entire season of the mandalorian.

we’ll see where the season ends up going, but for now it seems like a huge loss of potential to me

[wantonlywindswept]

Mand’alor Grogu ficbit 1

how about that show The Mandalorian, eh? shame it ended after only two seasons

(i kid i kid. .....mostly.)

anyway DinLuke reincarnation AU where Din became Mand’alor (started, ironically, before 3.6). It’s 500 years later, and now Grogu is the Mand’alor.

btw if anyone has an idea for a title for luke that doesn’t include his name (such as Grandmaster Skywalker) I wouldn’t mind some ideas tossed my way. i want to do titles for him and Din (so Mand’alor the Badass for Din or smth) that make them seem larger than life

using ‘buir’ (mother/father/parent) for din to differentiate from ‘father’ for luke bc...i am lazy, mostly.

this is also very much a grogu that skews more mandalorian than jedi

---

They called him Mand'alor the Eternal.

Grogu thought the title was more than a little silly, because he was all too aware that no being could be immortal, but he supposed that having been alive for over five hundred years could seem like a very long time for many species. 

He also was, admittedly, a permanent fixture of Sundari in the minds of many. He'd been there ever since the city had been restored--including being immortalized in a statue commemorating the occasion, which remained deeply embarrassing but the traitors on his Council wouldn't let him remove it--and was present for all of the milestones that followed.

From being cradled in his buir's arms during the first broadcast speech of a reunited Mandalore to the coming of age celebration just last week, Grogu Djarin was inseparable from Mandalore itself.

"Grandmaster Mand'alor!"

At least his other heritage was never ignored, either.

Though he wouldn't particularly mind if that particular epithet was forgotten. Despite his close involvement with the new Jedi Order and numerous attempts to wheedle him into the position, he never actually had been the Grandmaster.

Grand by definition of old, maybe.

"Nadire," Grogu sighed, watching the young human Padawan bounce into his office, "How many times have I said not to call me that?"

"At least fifty-two," the girl replied dutifully. She was still in the loose brown robes used during sparring, her training saber smacking against her thigh as she stumbled to a halt in front of his desk. A little bit of the Force speeding her steps, perhaps; pre-teen was usually when they started enhancement exercises.

"So why do you persist in using it?"

Nadire beamed proudly.

"Because Master Anakin said it would be funny as f--"

"Grandfather's been skulking around again?" Grogu interrupted, straightening warily. The Temple didn't usually have Force ghosts hanging around anymore; five hundred mostly-peaceful years of a combined Jedi and Mandalorian society didn't often elicit input from the long-gone masters.

(Or ever, from one master in particular.)

"Yep! He said he wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Well. That was definitely not extremely concerning or anything.

"Did he happen to say what 'this' was?" Grogu asked, not particularly wanting an answer. 

This was good, because he didn't get one.

Nadire shook her head.

"He just said someone should come get you."

"Mand'alor!"

Grogu looked up as one of his Protectors marched in through the open door, blue armor polished to a shine. He couldn't help but smile upon recognizing both the Clan insignia and the person wearing it.

"Rikke," he said warmly. 

Tarikke Vizsla saluted sharply, inclining his horned helmet.

"Uncle," he greeted, because no descendant of Grogu's own irascible uncle would ever need to stand on ceremony with him. "One of our patrols saw an escape pod eject from a passing commercial vessel; it was followed toward Mandalore by a gunship that has ties to the slave trade on Nal Hutta. They intercepted and neutralized the crew, and the pod crashed just south of Keldabe. Both occupants have been successfully retrieved without injury from the impact."

"From the impact?" Grogu repeated sharply.

"They had prior injuries," Tarikke affirmed grimly. "And they're requesting safe haven, only..."

Tarikke's hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"They're just kids," he ground out. "A pair of human boys. Mirn said the oldest can't be more than ten years standard."

Grogu stood up from his desk.

Nadire grimaced and took one large step backward. Tarikke stiffened automatically, because Vizslas often had a little bit of the Force in them, and Grogu was positive that whatever he was emanating in the Force right now was not the calm of a Jedi.

Neither a Mandlorian or a Jedi would tolerate violence against children, and Grogu was very famously both.

He pulled on his helmet, and rested his hand on the Darksaber at his side.

Perhaps some people were in need of a reminder.

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

💥 I feel like this is a loaded question considering canon right now lmao

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Oh it is loaded as fuck but I already know the answer and it's the one thing that I think could've changed the entire trajectory of The Mandalorian:

Don't reunite Din and Grogu in Boba Fett's fucking show.

The decision to do so because Disney was such chickenshits and Favs didn't want to ruin the successful formula of the first two seasons did, in my not so humble opinion, so much damage to both Din and Grogu as well as the future of the show.

Boba Fett lost the spotlight to them. We spent 1.5 episodes on them and where the fuck was Boba the entire time? Standing in the background in silence for like 10 seconds in one of those episodes. Personally, if you decide your season/show has less than 12 episodes, you have to make them count. And while I appreciate all the Manda-lore in the 5th episode, it should've been slotted into Season 3 of The Mandalorian where that lore actually fucking mattered.

(don't even get me started on how they handled Cobb Vanth and Cad Bane omigod he truly was the precursor to how they wrote Gideon in Season 3 jfc)

Back when I thought The Mandalorian was Din Djarin, I wanted to see him develop as a character without Grogu. What is he like now that his quest is over and he's lost everything except for this stupid Darksaber? How does he cope without Grogu? How does he grow, or does he devolve without Grogu at his side? Episodes 5 and 6 baffled me but the decision to reunite with Grogu in episode 7 felt so fucking wrong. Can you not trust your characters and your audience, Favreau?

Hearing about Grogu's "arc" in Season 3, he really should not have come back in Boba Fett's fucking show. I think he should've spent more time off-screen or in short scenes with Luke and Artoo on Ossus. It's probably the Dinluker in me but I'd have loved to see Luke try to reach out to Din about Grogu, either about his progress or his desire to return to his father.

The decision to have them reunite in Boba Fett's fucking show so that they'd be together at the start of Season 3 just tells me that Favloni wants to play it super safe by not letting Din and Grogu grow as characters separately and then together as a family unit, and it tells me Disney/Lucasfilm is buckling down on "we want to MCU-fy the 'Mandoverse'" and "money, money, money". I get that they're trying to recoup the cost of buying the franchise and trying to make up for their losses with D+, but like, haven't you already done enough fucking damage with the Sequel Trilogy? Are we really doing this again?

Then again, I got fooled twice so I guess I'm the fool. Thank god that Dinluke remains such an insanely compelling ship. This ship is just so good for my soul, Anon.

Oh god I'm so sorry for the rant. I'm sticking a few extra tags on this post so that people can filter this post out if they want to.

Play ask games, win ask prizes!

[manny-jacinto]

It feels like when Boba bombed as bad as it did, he didn’t now what to do. I honestly feel like that was to be Mando season 3 and that the season airing right now was to be the end of it. But now, he couldn’t do what he wanted in Boba pivoted and is using Mando’s story to launch other characters. It’s not even Din’s story anymore

idk who's responsible for this mess but i assume it could be disney executives. like i truly think something weird happened when they had to pick who was going to pick grogu. and eventually the disney executives wanted it to be luke because he's apparently the only jedi ever lol

but then it created an even bigger problem because of the whole kylo ren thing so they had to back up quickly because they realised that grogu was the money maker and that they could not separate them. and this is where you can see how important executive producers are bc a good exec might have said: okay listen season 3 is about to make them reunite and idk it would have been a great season? showing them apart and their journey to find them back each other would have been a sweet season y'know?

but they had to rush it in 3 episodes that were not even about them and it just went kinda bananas!

[nikibogwater]

I honestly think that LucasFilm wanted to make the Mando and Grogu movie due to realizing how much they kinda screwed up the setup for the characters after the S2 finale, especially having the two reunite in a show not many people checked out or really knew about, not even doing a "previously on" or really quick recap for the beginning of S3 for people who weren't caught up in the loop, cause i thought that was pretty weird.

And then the entirety of S3 happened. After that, it seemed like they put a nail in the coffin that they couldn't pry out, but are now trying to pull it out with a another nail that's as dull as the previous one.

Yeah, I'm fairly certain this movie was only greenlit out of financial desperation. Truth be told, I'm actually quite fascinated by the levels of incompetence and tone-deafness on display over at Lucasfilm. It's not like they don't have anyone there who knows what they're doing--it's just that the people capable of making good stories have all their creative control ripped away from them as soon as the executives realize their ideas might actually get people's money. And naturally, as soon as the storytelling is taken away from actual storytellers, the movies and shows become trash. But what is most amazing to me is the fact that Lucasfilm execs just....don't learn anything from it. People didn't like how we treated Luke Skywalker in the sequel trilogy? Great! Let's do the exact same thing to Indiana Jones! Oh fiddlesticks, looks like we just lost a few hundred million dollars on that, huh? That's okay, we still have Bo Katan to replace Din as the main character in The Mandalorian. What's that? Season 3 lost 60% of its audience within the first week? Well that just doesn't make any sense. I know! Let's try making a movie all about Rey! Y'know! The single most divisive and disliked character in the entire franchise! Somehow the saga of unwise decisions just keeps going on and on, even though it really should have ended with The Last Jedi. But they must be aware that they're not making enough money to sustain the company like this, because otherwise why return to Din and Grogu after making it abundantly clear that they don't really care about these characters anymore? The only question is whether or not the corporate side will take a step back to let Favreau and Filoni do their thing. I think that's the only way a Mando & Grogu movie would even have a chance of succeeding, after all the shenanigans the studio's pulled. But that seems pretty unlikely at this point.

Oh well. On the bright side, my spite for the current overall state of the media industry has been excellent fuel for my own creative endeavors. I never write more than when I'm angry, haha. Thanks so much for the message, Non! ✨

[maeaniseyas]

season 3 has definitely been the most underwhelming season for me, from start to finish, and that’s just really sad because it truly had the potential to be so grand. season 2 opened up a lot of potential for storylines that wound up being washed down the drain. like looking back, the big moments in the season 2 finale feel so pointless. din removing his helmet to look at grogu with his own eyes one last time before he goes off to train with luke? they’re reunited in a spin off show about boba fett. at the time i forgave it, because they opened up the idea of din having to go to mandalore to be redeemed, but they took care of that in episode 2 of this season with no real impact to anything. he went there and it was over. never took off his helmet again, and we never even saw him struggle or have internal conflict with that for a moment. not only that….it felt like it especially didn’t matter because the armorer suddenly decided there could be mandalorians who walk both ways in the case of bo katan uniting the tribes. i’m also really failing to see what was even the point of giving din the darksaber if it didnt do absolutely anything to further his character progression? he won it in combat against moff gideon, told everyone it’s bo katan’s now because she rescued him from robot spider, and then …. it was destroyed. LMFAOOOO. i can respect the idea of the darksaber being destroyed so future rulers can lead without it, but they didn’t bother to truly develop that concept so it just felt dumb when it happened. i just….after all this, how am i supposed to give a fuck about literally anything that happens now because they’ll throw it all out the next episode or season?

i’m glad the future is potentially just going back to din and grogu bounty hunting (specifically imperials, din in his nazi hunter era). i genuinely hope din never talks to another mandalorian again. except sabine, i’ll accept sabine. but i need it to be like season 2 where even though other characters appeared, it was always to help further din and grogu’s arc. since, you know, they’re the main characters. this season was literally about retaking mandalore, but felt like filler and a detour because the main character had no real growth. he officially adopted grogu by the end, but like basically everything this season, it felt like it just happened.

[azertyrobaz]

Comfortember 2022 - Alt. Prompt#4: Plushies

The first plushie he received – the first one he could remember at least – came from Sorgan. It was soft and made of pretty green and blue felt. For a long time, it would be the only one he had, and Grogu treasured it. The shape kind of reminded him of his dad, although it didn’t have a helmet of course, but he liked to pretend anyway.

The second and third were from Greef. One which he thought looked exactly like the man himself, with a medal and nice red robes, but what he liked the most about it was the cape. The other made him feel a bit sad, but he still accepted gratefully: it was a figurine of the droid who’d saved him the last time they’d been on the planet, IG-11. He’d even seen a statue of him in the middle of the city.

The fourth came from Ahsoka, and it scared him a little at the beginning, because the first time he’d encountered a loth-cat, the animal hadn’t seemed to like him much. In plushie form though, it was adorable, and he loved playing with its ears especially, as they were the softest.

Sadly, he then lost all his toys when he got separated from his dad, who later told him that everything was destroyed in the explosion, but at least his ball survived, so that was alright. Before they were reunited, Master Luke got him some new toys, too. There were no pretty animals or any plushies that looked like his dad, so he only kept one: a figurine of a pilot with a cool orange jacket and a nice helmet.

On Tatooine, he got plenty of gifts, and he had a hard time fitting them all in their new ship afterwards. A bantha plushie that was almost as big as him from his dad. A rancor figurine that Boba had especially made for him. And perhaps best of all, access to Peli’s workshop, where he claimed colorful wires, rusty bolts and old swatches of fabric for himself. She gave him free reign to build his own toy. No matter how hard he tried though, he never managed to make it look right.

When they settled with his dad’s tribe, it meant they finally had a small place to themselves, which was much bigger than their ship. And there he was allowed to collect more toys and plushies. Like Peli, the Armorer sometimes let him play with her tools, but under very strict supervision. He thought he would finally be able to build what he wanted, but his small hands weren’t very efficient for manual work, and he grew frustrated fast.

And then, one day, after he returned from visiting Bo-Katan with his dad, he found a gift waiting for him on his bed. It was wrapped in a pretty red fabric with a neat bow. With an excited coo, he suddenly remembered that his shiny Beskar shirt had come in a similar fashion, and he relished the opportunity to be allowed to unwrap this gift himself.

What he found inside stopped him still. It was as if someone had read his mind. It was everything he’d ever wanted. The most perfect plushie, made of soft black and brown fabric, with shiny armor pieces. And it had a cape! Yellow gloves with blue arrows! A helmet!

“Looks like she finally finished it,” his dad chuckled behind him. “You should run to the armory to thank her.”

Grogu nodded. Yes, he would do just that. But first, he would hug his new toy for a little longer.