I find it remarkable anyone could complain that Grogu has not developed as a character… it’s such a simplistic view that does him a huge disservice. Most of the whining comes because he still doesn’t speak (which ignores the fact that he went ‘shhhh’ and is actively trying to get words out, plus he has his own way to communicate with Din, like when he bangs on his helmet but whatever) because The Mandalorian and Grogu demonstrates plenty of character growth. He is definitely not a helpless little baby anymore.
Not only is Grogu is able to walk and move on his own, Din no longer needs to carry him, but the opening of the movie shows he plays an active role in missions with Din. When Din is kidnapped, Grogu manages to put his own armour on and is instrumental in rescuing him, despite how distressed he must have been at seeing his father taken by Embo in such circumstances. Then obviously we have the fact that he is independent enough to carry the film all by himself as we watch him save Din’s life, which consists nor merely of using the Force to heal him, but also camouflaging Din, building shelter and scavenging food/water. It’s a remarkable feat for such a tiny being!!
I also love that the very last scene shows how much Din is beginning to trust Grogu by letting him push the button that sends them into hyperspace. At first you think Grogu might be going for the little silver ball that he loved to play with but no!! It’s such a sweet little moment and demonstrates how much Grogu has grown up. Having the ability to speak is not the only measure of maturity!
Exactly! You read my mind, this is a very good analysis. People are so noisy complaining about the supposed little evolution of the characters and I disagree, could we have some more symbolic moments between them? Yes, but to deny that both Grogu and Din are extraordinary or say that they are simpletons is being crazy.
I really liked the final scene because not only is it Din worrying and preparing his son for the future and for the child to be more independent, contributing to his Mandalorian training (share "wisdom"), apart of showing trust, it is also fucking sweet because that way of showing him the buttons from his lap is also the way for both of them to seek comfort and physical contact in their own way, having a quiet father/kiddo time.
Thank you! I go absolutely feral when they say he's not developing as a character or he's only there to be cute. He has totally advanced in-universe as he's growing in confidence and ability, which is enhanced by the meta advancements in the technology to bring him to life. This is not the same character from Season 1.
And they had Din expressly say "He doesn't talk." I believe this meant to convey he's going to remain non-verbal indefinitely, which I'm ok with. Mutism exists, and if anyone was going to exhibit it, he's a prime candidate. Chewbacca and R2 never spoke a word and were both capable and beloved.
i know parents tend to be proud of their children no matter what... but Din saying 'good job buddy' to Grogu after he had completely ignored all of Din's instructions and instead just pressed the buttons which fired missiles was wild
very interesting approach the parenting... Din can excuse Grogu disobeying him and firing weapons but he draws the line at eating cookies before dinner...
I mean... Grogu genuinely seemed to be trying to help there. Not his fault he doesn't understand all the technical jargon Din is rattling off via comlink. And Grogu can't tell his dad "Speak Basic! I mean, basic!" 😆
(I definitely sympathize with Grogu there because he's me every time I have to get on the phone with IT 😂 Especially since my go-to method for figuring out anything technical is "press some buttons and hope nothing explodes/shorts out.")
So I'm kinda glad Din's response indicates he knows "Well, Grogu tried."
Yes! Grogu really did try and they did a great job showing how overwhelming it really is to fly the Crest (which also shows how amazing Din is as a pilot). It’s really sweet that he’s not mad at Grogu and instead realizes “hey, I really need to start teaching him how to do this. But he did try!”
Whereas cookies before dinner and hugging Anzellans half to death are things Din has clearly told him NO about before, so that’s when Din gets stern 😁
remember that time din thought he was never going to see grogu again and not two days later he was fully on board with dying in a firefight helping boba fett. this man is not interested in living his life if grogu is not in it.
Obviously Star Wars: Rebels is a great show for a variety of reasons, but one that I get endless amusement out of is the tacit fact that there were at least THREE other force users in the rebellion and we just never told Luke Skywalker about it.
#‘oh yeah there were 2 order 66 survivors and one of them trained up a padawan#I mean like. seriously trained#all the way to knighthood.#like they were really good and powerful.#like the Jedi of legend’#Luke: ‘cool! where are they now?’#‘ya just missed ‘em’#star wars rebels#luke skywalker#kanan jarrus#ezra bridger#ahsoka tano
Ever since watching The Mandalorian and Grogu, I can't stop thinking about the parallels between Din's conversation with Grogu in the season 3 finale regarding facing Gideon, and his conversation with Grogu in the movie regarding facing the Hutts.
(There are enough differences between the two scenarios, though, that neither feels like a copy-paste of the other.)
Here are a couple things I've been thinking about:
✨ I LOVE that Din takes Grogu's opinion into account in both scenarios. This, above all else, indicates to me just how much Din recognizes and respects his son's intelligence and understanding, despite Grogu often acting like a toddler.
✨ That being said, it's interesting to note that when it comes to Gideon, Din has already made up his mind as to what the correct course of action is and mainly asks Grogu to join him:
Season 3: "Grogu, I'm going to need you to be brave for me, okay? We can't keep running. If we don't take out Moff Gideon, this will never end. You with me?"
Whereas with the Hutts, Din presents both options and basically leaves it up to Grogu to decide what to do:
Movie: [paraphrasing because I don't have a full transcript] We can leave in this ship, but we'll be on the run forever because the Hutts won't stop coming after us [noting, of course, that the Hutts have a long life span]. Alternatively, we can stay and fight them. Which will it be?
✨ In season 3, Din's choice of words reflect the fact that he recognizes how difficult it must be for Grogu to even consider deliberately going anywhere near the man who had hunted him, kidnapped him, imprisoned and tortured and threatened him. Yet at that point, Gideon is not only threatening Grogu, but also Grogu's and Din's people (the Mandalorians). And it has become clear that running has only put off the inevitable. And so, Din asks Grogu to be brave 🥺🥹 And succinctly explains that it's time to take a stand. And invites Grogu to stand with him.
✨ In the movie, Din has an extra, personal reason to want to go after the Hutts: to permanently silence the enemies who forcibly removed his helmet and saw his face against his will, dishonoring him. But Din doesn't mention this factor at all to Grogu. Indeed, after getting away from the giant snake, Din seemed more than willing to disregard any need for vengeance in the interest of escaping Nal Hutta with his son and his life. And when he's survived his injury and the choice to leave or fight is before them, he matter-of-factly points out why it would be in both his AND Grogu's best interest to stay and fight, and then leaves the choice up to Grogu.
✨ If I had to choose one, I would say the season 3 scene does hit harder for me - honestly it's one of my top favorite scenes of the entire story - maybe because Gideon is such a deeply personal villain for Grogu, maybe because Din asking Grogu to be brave is such a tender moment, maybe because it's the first time we see that particular type of scenario where Din asks Grogu to do something that he knows is hard. The movie scene still has an impact for me, though, mostly because it reinforces the dynamic and the understanding between Din and Grogu that was first established in that season 3 scene, and because it shows yet again that Din is willing to sacrifice anything - including regaining his honor - for the sake of his son.
(I just really love Din and Grogu and especially their deepening bond in season 3 and the movie, okay?? 😭🥹❤️)
The first few weeks Din had the little green womp rat on his ship, the little bugger kept waking him up in the middle of the night
Din was a bounty hunter, a Mandalorian, he was no stranger to his ship being raided or having to be a light sleeper in anticipation of sneak attacks during the night.
In was in their blood.
What he wasn't prepared for was the little green monster the size of a porg to be body slamming him in the middle of the night.
Din slept with his blaster, there could've been serious casualties.
After the ninth time his sleep had been disturbed, Din grabbed the creature. "What? Why do you keep doing this, you little womp rat?"
It's ears lowered to the sides of his head, making a keening sound unlike a young foundling in need of attention.
Din observed him quietly, setting him down on his lap. "Don't tell me you're scared of sleeping up there?" he glanced at the overhanging cot, confused.
It was made of durable leather and skins, it had enough space for the little green monster, so why was it so scared?
The green porg whimpered again and his small hands wrapped around Din's shirt, trembling slightly.
He didn't understand its language, but Din did understand its intentions.
It was scared.
With a heavy defeated sigh, Din fell back on his bed, if one could call the slab of collapsible ship wall covered by a blanket a bed, and closed his eyes.
He felt tiny hands grab at him and push a little body upward, until the creature nestled itself into the crook of his arm and chest.
With a gesture Din convinced himself was either instinctual or accidental, his free hand rested protectively over the boy, feeling its body relax under his weight.
Din settled back into a light sleep, mildly aware of the tiny face nuzzling deeper into his chest.
I won't ever be over this face reveal. Mando, Din this guy we've watched punch and shoot his way through seven (?) episodes, he's just this brown eyed guy, he's just a guy with a job to do and he's scared.
And can I just say back when this aired, in this moment I was like "huh, he looks ordinary." Which right here in this shot, he does. At this angle you can't actually make out how handsome Pedro Pascal truly is. I love that, I love that they didn't attempt to make him look anything other than a mortal human man.
YES! It's one of the main things I love about the show. The way it subverts your expectations in so many ways, firstly with this big tough man having his heart softened by an adorable baby and then looking so normal beneath all the armour.
Time to confess: the first time I watched this scene my honest reaction was: "is that it??? 😟" SKDHG I'm so ashamed and it's so funny how feral I am over this scene now. But really he looked so ordinary and unremarkable as you say, a true everyman!
Of course then The Believer happened and yeah. Yeah. But my initial reaction to the helmet reveal was not one of being blown away and I kind of love that!
din djarin is a fun character To Me bc he has the attitude of a deeply disinterested, exhausted retail worker except his job isnt standing behind a desk, it’s being john wick in space
~1500 words, spoilers. Din is injured and kidnapped, but has only one priority. So does the bounty hunter bringing him in. Canon whump, Din and Embo POV, father-son feels, and musings on how far Din Djarin’s really come from the man we met in 1x01.
—
Din’s on home turf.
It’s the thought that drives him as he dashes through the door into the driving rain. This is his and Grogu’s home, and he knows every rock, every crevice, every inch. He’s memorized how many footsteps to the blurrgs’ pen, the exact dimensions of their cabin, every angle of perimeter defense. He has the advantage, and he knows it as his heart thrums beneath his armor.
Must be a hell of a bounty for someone to take him on here on familiar ground. That, or the hunter’s desperate or stupid. Judging by how the hunter had nearly got the drop on them, Din figures it’s likely the former. He’s almost flattered.
He’s got no idea of who the hunter is, but he has a damn good inkling as to who sent him. A little earlier than he expected, but maybe it’s better to get it over and done with. He’s resigned more than anything as his boots tear through the sodden soil in long leaps. He knows Grogu and the Anzellans should be safe in the hidden crevices behind the house, especially if he can just catch up to the hunter who’s dared invade their —
Pain.
Blinding, sizzling, arcing pain. He drops before he knows what’s happened, blue-white electricity sparking through his helmet, his armor, his muscles.
What’s happening — But the thought scatters through his brain, lost as his head slams against the ground. He’s paralyzed, can’t move — can’t stop moving, muscles firing randomly in waves of tremors — he’s down, he’s down, he’s down —
A shadow. A bright light. Din fights to keep his eyes open, to process what he’s seeing while his brain buzzes and blares. The hat. A wolf? A hound? Tall, tall. His jaw chatters and he tastes blood from his tongue and cheek, struggles to swallow it past the way his throat spasms. The rain begins to seep under his helmet, moisture on his cheeks and chin.
Huttese. Garbled, can’t make sense of it, can’t put it together when he’s wheezing for breath. The light shifts and the figure and the hound move.
A hand lifts his leg. Drags him like a dead thing through the welling mud.
One thought through the firefight in his brain, again again again, before the darkness takes him. The only thing that matters.
Grogu.
—
Garbled images flare in his head, pulsing white and blue around the edges. A light that blinds and blurs and shines whether his eyes are closed or open.
Grogu’s face looking up at him from under the floorboards, determined, knowing what to do. Din tries to call out to him. Tries to tell him to run, to go, to get himself out of there. All that comes out is a rattled breath.
Grogu laughing in the surf, leaping over Rotta’s bulk as the waves gently lap against the sand. They splash and play and frisk like foundlings chasing each other through the Nevarro underground, and Din remembers running through the sands long ago, the water splashing to his knees as red-robed figures smiled and waved. He has to give the kid more time like this, he deserves it — he can’t let him be taken again —
Grogu caged. Cuffed. Surrounded by stormtroopers, threatened by Gideon. Din tries to move, tries to fight, tries to reach him, but his hands spasm and fall numb and twisted to his lap.
More moments flash by, frantic, confusing. Where the hell is he? When the hell is he?
The kid sleeping in his little bed with a stuffed green tooka doll —
The kid laughing through a mouthful of cookies —
The kid jumping on the cot in the new ship —
The kid holding the mythosaur pendant —
The kid asleep in his arms —
So small a thing. It’s everything.
—
The lights shrink to singularities instead of blurry starfields as he slowly comes back to himself. There’s a ringing in his ears and a muzzy echo in his head, and everything’s too bright even through the filter of his helmet. Little slips of memory scatter, thoughts of Grogu, half-remembered.
He blinks, jerks, starts. Plays through the fragments he can recall clearly and puts things together. Pouring rain on Nevarro. A chase in the mud. Got caught up in a stun-net, outplayed on his home turf.
The ship hums around him, its noises unfamiliar. Probably something custom and heavily modded. Must have cost a fair amount on the black market. Whoever it is who’s gotten him is clearly someone who knows what they’re doing.
Din swears under his breath. What else does he know? Bars are inches in front of him, stretching to the ceiling, wide enough for a hand but not an arm. He tries to shift his limbs and barely manages the movement, muscles still weak from the stun-net. He concentrates, focuses as much as he’s able, runs a mental inventory of what he can feel against his waist, legs, forearms. His beskar sits too light. He’s missing weapons.
Din reaches to grab the bars and pull himself to his feet, but all his numb and prickling hands do is weakly rise up into view, held together by the bindings on his wrists.
The full scope of the situation hits him, knocks him back into the wall like a blow. He’s being hauled to the Hutts to be made an example of, bound and caged. They’ll want to kill him, but they’ll want to do it slow. He could deal with that, if he has to.
But can Grogu?
He’s miscalculated how angry the Hutts would be. Badly. And if it costs him his son — or his son his father — His teeth grind in frustration, anger, guilt.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.
They’re taking a break, dank farrik. They should be on Nevarro and waking up for breakfast right about now. Grogu should be making a fuss about the bath he’d been evading for the past few days. Din should be replenishing his supplies and taking the kid into town. They should be working on the Crest with the Anzellans. He hopes they made it out —
Oh, shit. He focuses on the center of the room. There’s an Anzellan right now. Trapped in the mouth of the hunter’s hound, covered in its saliva.
He sits up, shaking his head, and takes a breath. This is something he can work with. He remembers Grogu’s cookies — sorry, kid, I’ll get you a crate of them next time — there’s going to be a next time, there has to be — and tosses one for the hound as the Anzellan scrambles away. He can get intel from the Anzellan on Grogu, and they’ll figure out some kind of plan.
He’s got to get back to Grogu. He’s all that matters, not Din’s own fate, not the Hutts’ fury. Maybe this will work.
Maybe. The Anzellan surges forward, but he can’t fit through the bars — the hound’s after him —
Maybe not.
—
Embo sighs, a rumble under his breath. There’s a commotion down below he needs to investigate.
All seems well as he steps out of his pilot’s seat and surveys the hold. The Mandalorian is still slumped on the floor in his cell, but somehow he’s managed to rile up Keibu, who growls and snaps at the prisoner. It is an irritation Embo does not need. Embo calls Keibu to heel and she leaves her prey reluctantly. He turns to his quarry and regards him without expression.
The Mandalorian hasn’t managed to get himself to his feet yet. It’s to be expected given how long the stun-web’s shock lasts. But the man is quietly desperate beneath the stillness. Embo can see need in every line of him, the direct and careful gaze, the way his hands curl slightly, coiled and ready for a fight.
The Mandalorian is a decent actor though. He tries talking to Embo first, voice rasping in clipped Basic, a calculatedly casual effort at professional commiseration.
Embo prefers silence to conversation. Especially meaningless conversation intended to provoke pity or a sense of false rapport. That kind of talk loses credits, and more importantly, reputation. Embo does the Mandalorian the similarly casual professional courtesy of activating the cell’s built-in stun-web.
The stun-web crackles. The Mandalorian crumples again, his chest heaving. The visor stares at an odd angle.
Embo nods to himself and turns off the signal. He is unsure of the Mandalorian’s species, but suspects human by the general appearance, build, fighting style. He’s received more than enough voltage to sufficiently knock him out. They should have no more disruptions the rest of the way to Nal Hutta.
The Mandalorian’s legs and hands twitch erratically, which is of no concern to Embo. Hutts do not need their prey in mint condition. He shrugs and allows himself to run a hand over Keibu’s ears, and she nudges against his palm, giving him a bored whine. He’ll find her a target to play with soon. But first, he has to deliver a plaything to someone else.
Pity he hadn’t been able to also bring in the Mandalorian’s little green offspring. The Hutts had promised him a hefty bonus for the kid, though they’d made it clear the Mandalorian was the real prize. He climbs back into the pilot’s seat, considering if another trip to Nevarro might be worth it after he collects his payment.
Nal Hutta looms as they drop out of hyperspace. He takes the ship in, his gaze sliding over vast green swamps and bulbous trees, and the Hutts’ droid ships rise up to welcome him. He isn’t looking forward to the scents of the fens and the earthen palace tunnels. Not his favorite world or favorite clients, but he cannot deny the credits waiting for him below. And really, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
I think I figured out something that’s always bothered me about dinluke
The ship became a thing because Mando took his helmet off in front of Luke, and in his culture, you’re only supposed to do that in front of family. And so the fandom said “omg Luke saw his face they’re married now ☺️”
Only…Mando didn’t take his helmet off for Luke. He took it off for Grogu. His son. And Luke just happened to be there. Mando couldn’t have given less of a shit about him, he just wanted his son to see his face.
And that’s my problem with it. In a show entirely about a man’s relationship with his surrogate son and his struggles with his religion, the fandom made a heartwrenching moment between a man and the son he never wanted but loves nonetheless into “uwu they’re husbands now”. And that illustrates a big problem with fandom culture to me
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