Unpopular Opinion But Chapter 9 Is Definitely The Weakest Episode Of The Show. It’s Not Bad But In

i would love to see a din/omera qpr. just imagine:

omera's allo, but she was never that into romance and sex. she thought she'd stay single forever until she fell in love with her husband, and after he died she didn't feel the need to remarry.

din's an oriented aroace who never thought he'd find someone who was interested in the sort of relationship he wanted. he's alone, and he's fine with that.

and then they meet each other.

din leaves sorgan after the bounty hunter tracks down grogu, and they think that's it. but after grogu's completed a year of training, din returns. for good, this time. they become - something. two people who relate to each other more than they ever have to anyone else. life partners who raise their kids together, grow old together, know each other so well they can have an entire conversation without speaking - and never kiss or have sex. they hold hands and hug and it makes them happier than anything.

neither of them feel incomplete when they're single. there's none of that "i'd die without you!" they'd move on.

they don't need each other, but they want each other. they're happy alone, but they decide to be happy together.

i am firmly convinced that din djarin is aro-spec and asexual.

(quick disclaimer: i speak for myself. not all aros and aces share my experiences with aromanticism and asexuality.)

one thing that’s always struck me about din is how much he values platonic relationships. cara and kuill aren’t any less important to him than omera. that’s not necessarily an a-spec thing, but it’s rare for straight characters on tv. it’s even rarer for the focus of the show to be a platonic, father-son relationship rather than a romantic one. aro-coding? definitely.

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armorer: *gives din a jetpack* when you have healed, you will begin your drills. until you know it, it will not listen to your commands

din: i understand

also din: *uses the jetpack like ten minutes later to singlehandedly blow up a spaceship while on a head injury*

fans: how did padme die?

george lucas: she died in childbirth

fans: oh that's so s—

george lucas: of heartbreak

fans: ...

one thing i want from season 3 is an acknowledgement of what losing the razor crest means for din. that ship is literally his only safe space. it’s the one constant in his unpredictable life, and the one place where he isn’t perpetually under attack. the difference in his body language between when he’s planetside and when he’s flying is huge - it’s the most relaxed we ever see him. in addition, without the razor crest din will be forced to be dependent on other people. he seems to be living paycheck-to-paycheck and i don’t think he can afford a new ship. he has much, much less control over his own life without one, and it’s not like he ever had much control to start out with. i cannot emphasize this enough: losing the razor crest is absolutely devastating for din. i don’t want it to be too overshadowed by grogu.

i don’t think we should be quick to trust anything bo-katan says about the children of the watch.

the main thing i’m suspicious of is her claim that they’re a fringe group. maybe they were in the clone wars era, but they’re clearly the dominant mandalorian faction right now. we know this because literally everyone in the show, not just din, thinks all mandalorians never take off their helmets. that perception wouldn’t be so widespread if the helmet thing were only practiced by a small group of religious zealots. i mean, this is galaxy-wide common knowledge. it’s not just din being sheltered by a cult.

clearly something changed between clone wars and the fall of the empire. i’m guessing most of the mainstream mandalorians were wiped out after the great purge, leaving the children of the watch as the largest group. one reason for that may have been a cultural shift towards the ancient way because the anonymity aspect of it gave them a definite survival advantage. however, the main reason was probably the practice of adopting foundlings.

the mainstream mandalorian culture prior to the purge seemed to view itself as a race rather than a creed. this meant that when the ethnic mandalorians were killed off, the children of the watch kept growing because they adopted outsiders into their group. the armorer alludes to this when she says that “foundlings are the future.”

this is why din getting upset about boba and bo-katan wearing beskar armor doesn’t necessarily mean he’s being sheltered by a cult, as bo-katan claims. notice that he’s okay with them keeping their armor once he knows they’re mandalorian in heritage, if not in creed. he just didn’t consider that was a possibility because if you’re mandalorian and never swore the creed, you’re probably dead.

basically: i don’t think bo-katan is as representative of mandalorians as a whole as she makes herself out to be, and i don’t think din’s tribe is as cultish as she claims.

but anyway, that’s my take. thanks for reading my ramblings. i’ve only just started clone wars so like... let me know if i’m wildly missing the mark in my ignorance.

so i noticed something when rewatching mando s2e3 - when din's (crash)landing at the start of the episode, the razor crest's screen reads 'landing gear offline' (www(.)cap-that(.)com/starwars/the-mandalorian/203/1080/images/mandalorian2x03_0217(.)jpg), then next shot it says this - www(.)cap-that(.)com/starwars/the-mandalorian/203/2160/images/mandalorian2x03_0291(.)jpg - i could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure that says 'of course (i?) still love you' ?? is the crest trying to tell din something??

first of all, you are the sharpest-eyed, biggest-brained person on this website. has no one ever noticed this??? I'm truly mindblown! second of all, you're 100000% correct.

here are some zoomed in screencaps and gifs I made which show the 3 messages the razor crest's screen displayed in s02e03:

first, "stabilizer error":

second, "landing gear offline":

THIRD!!!! "OF COURSE I STILL LOVE YOU"!!!!!! :

(edit: note that the “I” on the Crest’s screen is backwards to denote a capitalized letter. I didn’t capitalize it in my subtitles which is why it looks like a 1)

then right back to "landing gear offline":

now, while the headcanon of a semi-sentient razor crest is very interesting... (although, wouldn't that be so sad considering the tragedy? I pretend I don't see it) (also, that would remind me of L3-37 in solo being uploaded into the falcon)

the easter egg is more likely related to the SpaceX spaceport drone ship called "of course I still love you":

it's docked in long beach, ca and floats on the ocean surface as a large landing platform, similar to the dock on Trask where Din was trying to land the Crest. I think it's probably just a fun nod from a couple of fellow space nerds haha.

but isn't it nice to think that some of the last words the Crest — Din's only sanctuary for years — said to Din were "of course I still love you"? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

screenshot study 3h

Digital artwork

i kinda give the show itself a pass in this respect because there are only one or two named characters (male or female) besides din and they usually don’t interact. din being male severely limits the chances for named female-female interaction. i mean if you genderbent din and did a reverse bechdel test (same criteria but for male instead of female characters) i'm pretty sure season 2 would fail. so it’s not really a gender thing and more of a small cast thing.

however, fanfiction doesn’t have that excuse because there are no limits to what characters you can have interact. you’re right - looking through my bookmarks, i might have a fic or two with some omera & winta conversation but that’s the extent of the female-female interactions. i would def be interested in finding fics that pass the bechdel test. i don’t usually read fics with ocs but i’m willing to give it a shot if they’re decently written.

How well does The Mandalorian pass the Bechdel Test?

I kinda got grumbling about representation of women in Mandalorian fanfiction as it relates to the abundance of nameless reader-insert characters a couple days ago. Namely, the general failure of the Bechdel test – does the story have two women who talk to each other about something other than a man? One step further – do both women have names? Two steps further – do they talk about something other than babies?

It shouldn’t seem that radical – two named characters who are women who talk to each other about something other than men or babies. Yet so few fanfics pass this benchmark. Among a set of authors who I suspect are mostly women.

Granted, the source material of the show presents a challenge in that the focus is, well… a man and a baby. And then I had to think about how long it took for the show itself to pass the Bechdel test, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t happen until late in the second season.

The first time two named women appear in the same episode was s1e4: Sanctuary, with Cara Dune and Omera. While Omera is named in the credits, I don’t think anyone calls her by name during the episode. I’m also pretty sure Cara and Omera don’t talk to each other directly. The closest we get is when Cara is telling the villagers they have to abandon their homes and Omera protests. Omera later serves Cara a beverage and Cara thanks her. Aaaannnd… that’s it! I don’t feel like this passes.

The next time we get two named women in the same episode is s1e8: Redemption, with the Armorer and Cara. Whether “the Armorer” as a title counts as a name is up for debate. I guess Din goes nameless most of the season as well, so I’ll allow it. Regardless, in their limited time together in the Forge, they don’t really interact. Cara notes that the Imps will arrive soon and the Armorer instructs them on how to escape. Aaaannnd… that’s it! Season One fails the Bechdel test.

The next time we get two named women in the same episode is s2e2: The Passenger, with Peli Motto and Frog Lady. Again, whether “Frog Lady” actually counts as a name is up for debate, and I don’t think Peli is ever called by name, either. They do have a brief, but direct, conversation confirming the presence of Mandalorians on Trask, albeit it’s in Frog language and we can’t understand it. I’d give this one a maybe, depending on how strong one wants to hold to the criteria.

Next up: s2e3: The Heiress, with Bo-Katan Kryze and Koska Reeves. I don’t think Koska is ever called by name. There’s some battle interaction, and they’re having a conversation at a table, though we don’t hear any of it. Weak maybe.

Next up: s2e5: The Jedi, with Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth. Finally, a solid pass! Ahsoka and Morgan have a direct verbal exchange at the beginning of the episode regarding the well-being of the townspeople and they are both called by name. Ahsoka questions Morgan directly after winning their duel, and there is, presumably, an interrogation, though it’s off-screen.

Next up: s2e7: The Believer, with Cara and Fennec Shand. Both are named and they have a conversation about setting up their strategy, and closely coordinate their shots while Din and Mayfeld escape the compound. Solid pass.

Last up: s2e8: The Rescue, with Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Koska. Bo-Katan calls Koska off of Boba at the cantina; battle planning directly between Bo-Katan and Cara, with Fennec participating in the general planning; the radio exchange between Bo-Katan and the unnamed Imperial coms officer; some battle conversation between Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Koska as they mow Stormtroopers down on their way to the bridge; and a few direct lines between them on the bridge itself. Solid pass.

So, out of 16 total episodes in the first two seasons so far, only 7, fewer than half, have at least two women who appear in the same scenes, and only three of those are what I would call a solid pass. Not a fantastic track record.

What surprises me here is the number of near misses – four of the seven came so close but didn’t quite make it. It becomes more surprising when you consider Dave Filoni’s prior work. While the male:female character ratio in The Clone Wars wasn't stellar, whenever two women were in the room together, they almost always had names and they almost always had direct conversations with each other about politics or battle strategy or something. Rebels was even better by way of Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren together on the same ship. My memory of Jon Favreau’s prior work isn’t super-sharp on this subject, but the MCU didn’t offer a whole lot of opportunities (though I admit I’ve managed to miss most of the newer Spiderman stuff). Maybe Dave needs to steer Jon in the right direction on this for later seasons.

Point being: one of the great uses of fanfic is filling the gaps left by the source material. The Mandalorian has some huge gaps in terms of women with names who talk to each other (about something other than men and babies). The potential is enormous. Did Cara and Omera develop a friendship on Sorgan? Cara and Fennec seem to get along well – how did they become such fast friends? Why is Koska so loyal to Bo-Katan? These are all easy things to tuck in around our favorite Man and Baby. Like, you know Cara and Fennec are having conversations about their favorite guns while Din’s in the back losing his mind over finding Grogu. It’s not hard. (And yes, I’m working on a few of these, myself.)

I’ll also admit I’ve been so wrapped up in my own writing lately that I haven’t had much time to check out AO3. If anyone has some good examples of Mando fanfic that passes the Bechdel test, please feel free to reblog with recommendations! OCs with names - actual developed characters who are their own people - count as well! (Conversations can, of course, include our favorite Man and Baby, but just not be limited to them.)

Happy writing!

just realized “din djarin needs a hug” is a popular tag on ao3 but “din djarin gets a hug” isn’t :(

someone give the poor man a hug

rescue gone wrong