This post is interesting because it perfectly encapsulates a huge misunderstanding that fandom has had about the nature of Din and Grogu’s familial relationship and the events that happened in the last episode. Din is not Grogu’s adoptive parent; he is a foster parent. And the fact that I never, ever hear the fandom refer to Din as a foster father is actually something that makes me feel really sad, because it’s such a wonderful demonstration of Din’s character: namely, his selflessness, his devotion to his creed, and his strength.
When Din tries to give Grogu to Omera, to Ahsoka, and even presumably to Boba (if only for a hot minute there), there is no sense that Din is expecting to ever get Grogu back. There is no expectation. This mirrors real-life scenarios with real-life foster parents. Most children who are waiting to be adopted will be placed in a foster home, and when it is time to be adopted, that relationship is going to be ultimately severed with those temporary caretakers.
In many cases, the adoptive parents will maintain distance from the foster family in order to help prevent confusion or pain for very young child. And even while contact may be kept for a time, it will often not be lifelong and will taper away as the years go by.
Traveling with me… that’s no life for a kid.
The stress of being a foster parent is enormous. Despite what media often depicts foster homes as being commonly emotionally or physically abusive (which is itself a disgusting representation that I’m not going to get into), foster families of today are vetted thoroughly and provide displaced children with a stable and kind environment. Even when an adoptive family is found, adoption can take months to years, and a foster family provides a child some kind of normalcy until they are ultimately adopted.
You must go. A foundling is in your care. By creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father. This is the Way.
I feel like Din’s status as foster parent is one of the most inspiring elements of his character. He suffered so much, despite knowing what he would be giving up. When Luke comes to their rescue at the end, the goodbye between Grogu and Din is bittersweet… but ultimately both Grogu and Din demonstrate that they always understood the temporary nature of their relationship.
I’ve seen him do things I can’t explain. My task was to bring him to a Jedi.
One thing to consider is that children awaiting adoption are commonly placed with people of their own race and culture, wherever possible. I feel like this is much the same with Grogu himself, who is able to communicate with Luke and Ahsoka, but not with Din. In a way, it’s like fostering a child who speaks a different language from you. When the episode with Ahsoka revealed that Grogu could communicate, I found myself wondering at how isolated he must have felt to be without other Jedi for so long. I feel like it mirrors Din’s feelings of isolation without his covert to return home to. They are both torn away from people who share their respective cultures, customs, and languages.
Then Grogu may choose his path. If he reaches out through the Force, there’s a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him.
The show made no secret that a huge element to why Din gave Grogu up was that he could not understand Grogu’s powers, and Din fell ill-prepared to deal with a culture so separate and removed from his own. Potentially, yes, Din could raise Grogu as a Mandalorian. But in doing so, Din would be robbing Grogu of his culture of birth. Given how deeply Din feels about such things, I am not surprised that he ultimately decided to give Grogu up.
He wants your permission. He is strong with the Force, but talent without training is nothing. I will give my life to protect the Child.
One final thing to note, and something that specific to Grogu but sadly often doesn’t happen to foster children in real life: Grogu was given a choice. Din could have chosen to keep him. He could have chosen to tell Luke to leave. But he didn’t. When Grogu left, he walked to Luke of his own volition. He chose to reach out through the Force to find him.
Grogu had agency in this situation, which I also think was also a brilliant show of how mature Grogu was, despite what one might think at first glance, and how alone he must have been without anyone to hear his voice.
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