duchess-of-mandalore

[duchess-of-mandalore]

It’s the way she clenches her left fist and you just know that her stomach is doing somersaults and she’s trying so hard to hide it.

This one little moment always makes me so giddy.

#I love them so much

[duchess-of-mandalore]

No third answer. No it's complicated. I want to know the truth. Reblog for sample size so I can gain the truth.

#blasphemy

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Every reason why the Armorer is the spy who betrays Bo-Katan, Din Djarin, and even her own people in The Mandalorian

Gideon knows the Mandos are planning to retake their planet, which the Armorer suggested they do, even though they’d just been given a new home.

The Armorer has always known a great deal about Mandalorian history and culture beyond the cult and also about more current events related to the Purge and Moff Gideon’s role in all of it. Din also knew about some of what Gideon was responsible for, but the Armorer clearly has the ability to keep herself plugged into the truth of Mandalorian history, while her followers generally know very little.

Yet she has rarely shared any of that information with those who follow her.  Instead, she has taught the only that those who are not her followers cannot be trusted, even if they claim to be Mandalorian.

Not only can they not be trusted but they stand in opposition to every thing that makes the Armorer and her followers Mandalorian.

In the past, the Armorer has been wholly dismissive of any person who claims to be Mandalorian but removes their helmet (hence the need for Din’s redemption) & when it comes to her cult, she is the only one who can confirm absolution. This gives her a special power and authority.

Despite Bo’s willingness to abide by their culture while with CotW, the Armorer has not indicated she has changed her mind on those tenets (or that she no longer views the Kryzes as apostate). In fact, she’s doubled down on the idea that all Mandos must walk the Way together.

And yet, she forcibly alienates Bo from CotW by demanding she remove her helmet, othering her from “the one Way” while also doing a 180 in terms of how she talks about “other” Mandalorians, whom she previously did not consider worthy of the name.

The Armorer believed that the return of the Mythosaur heralds the beginning of a new age, but that that reality would never come to pass.

She believes Bo-Katan when she says she saw it & recognizes that significance. The Armorer seems to commit herself to Bo’s service but she never actually promises that. For her to recognize Bo’s place undermines her own tenets. They simply cannot coexist so Bo is a threat to her.

The Armorer is the one who suggests they retake Mandalore. She insists that Bo must gather all of her former supporters together in order to do so. Bo does so … and after the Imperial attack, Gideon thanks her (Bo) for it.

The name of the previous episode – “The Spies” – already clearly indicates where this is going. One is Elia Kane. The other is … 

not Bo, who has a vested interest in Gideon’s defeat. 

Not Din. He’s a little tied up at the moment.

Not Paz. He’s *more* than a little tied up at the moment.

Not Axe. He’s too dumb for that & he usurped Bo to fight Gideon.

No. It’s the woman who instigated the reunification of the dispersed Mandos. She accompanied the scouting party, but she also ensured that she got off-world before the Imperial assault, dooming Bo, Din, Axe, and even Paz, the only others who have wielded any authority.

She has taken Bo’s personal ship and returned to the fleet. She has rendezvoused with the command ship under the guise of treating the survivors they found, but that also puts her in an easy place to usurp the commander that Bo left in charge and thus command Bo’s entire fleet.

It’s unclear what deal she may have made with Gideon. He clearly wants the Darksaber, which Din has said means nothing to his people, and the planet, which the Armorer never really cared about, even to the point of hiding during the Purge.

I suspect the deal was that Gideon would control Mandalore, but the Armorer would control the Mandalorians. She could return to their new home on Nevarro & grow her cult once again, ensuring (just as she already told Bo) that *all* Mandalorians walk the Way together.

Means. 

Motive. 

Opportunity. 

The Armorer hasn’t been nice this season. She hasn’t changed her mind on what it means to be Mandalorian. 

No, she’s been remarkably consistent in her views, and as a cult leader, her goal is to grow her own followers and thus her power.

Bo-Katan is the greatest threat to the Armorer’s power & greatest opportunity to gain more if she can get Bo out of the way. Gideon is her best chance to do that & prove how illegitimate those who do not follow the Way truly are. After all, she knows a truth Bo once also operated by.

Interestingly, if the Armorer believes that Moff Gideon will come through on their deal, she had a frontrow seat to Bo-Katan showing exactly why he can never be trusted.

Whether it’s this season or next, Din’s choice is going to be between loyalty to the woman who has defined his life for the last 30 years (and his deepest convictions) … or loyalty to the woman to whom he has committed himself now.

#happy one year to this post #The Armorer should have been the villain

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Day 2-Mother

“It’s alright ad’ika, I’m coming,” Satine cooed as wrapped her robe around her. She quickly made her way to the cradle where Korkie was crying. “There, there little one, I have you. It’s alright.” Gently, she picked him up and held him to her chest. Carefully, she sat down and smiled. “You look so much like your father.” As she rocked him back to sleep she thought about how different their lives would have been if Obi had stayed on Sundari; if they had not chosen their duties over their feelings. The fact that he chose to honor his duties over his feelings only made her love him more. She gently played with Korkie’s curls as he slept in her arms. “Someday, you will get to meet him. And even though you won’t know he’s your buir, he loves you with all his heart. I promise.” She gently kissed his forehead. “ ni kay’tayli gar darasuum, ad’ika.”

#It's no wonder Satine never fell out of love #She had mini-Obi with her every day #<3 #Satine Week 2024 #Day 2: Mother #Satine Week fic

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Day 1- jewel

(Art by birdyraider)

“Nervous?” Kenobi asked, quietly entering the room that Satine was getting ready in.

“You may enter,” she teased while putting her earrings in.

Kenobi blushed and rubbed his neck in embarrassment, “Sorry duchess, I should not have presumed that I was welcome. I should have knocked.”

Satine adjusted the crown on her head, making sure that it was lined up correctly. She stood up, walked towards the door and gently touched his shoulder “You are always welcome here my dear.”Smiling, she exited the room through a small corridor.

Quickly, Kenobi exited the room a different way, running smack dab into his master. “Master Qui-Gon! Sir!”

“Where have you been? Actually, never mind that. Come.”

Master Qui-Gon found them both a seat just as the Dutchess entered. As she walked to the throne, Qui-Gon observed his Padawan. He knew that look, that smile. He had felt that way before himself. “She’s a rare jewel, isn’t she?” He smiled at his Padawan

#satineweek2024 #Day 1: Jewel

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Satine Week: Day 1 - Jewel

Over the course of the week, I'll do my best to collect posts that people have intentionally made for Satine Week so that after all seven days, we have a master list of sorts. I'll keep updating as people post, so look for the most recent version!

(If I miss something that's been posted, kindly draw my attention to it in the comments!)

I highly encourage you to enjoy your fellow celebrants' work and lavish them profusely with praise and adoration (including comments, tags, kudos, likes, and reblogs)!

Thanks to all who have participated so far! -Jess

Phoenix_Rose https://archiveofourown.org/works/54863086

@cinciri https://www.tumblr.com/cinciri/746487016534966272/tagging-satineweek-day-1-jewel-quote-prompts?source=share

@impossibleprincess35 https://www.tumblr.com/impossibleprincess35/746503556742496256/satine-week-2024?source=share

@queenpinesofdomino https://www.tumblr.com/queenpinesofdomino/746508357044666368/satine-week-2024?source=share @voidartisan https://www.tumblr.com/voidartisan/746484220489334784/satine-week-2024-chapter-1-telerinjedi-star?source=share

#Satine Week 2024 #Day 1: Jewel #Look at these talented people!

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Satine Week

Hello, friends! It's Jess! I'm your friendly neighborhood mod for Satine Week this year, but I'm also hoping to participate. Unfortunately ... (gestures all around) life.

But now that a big work project is done and I'm back home two states over and Easter is done (He is risen!), Satine Week is the biggest thing on my radar this week. I'm hoping to do a bit of writing, but also update some old metas and write some new ones.

Thanks so much to those who have already participated! Also, if (gestures all around) life is also keeping you from creating new fic or art, I encourage you to put it out of your mind! We're just here to celebrate a pacifist duchess, so feel free to share gifs and screencaps and posts about your favorite things about Satine and anything like that!

#Satine Week 2024 #Satine Week #Satine Kryze #Duchess Satine #Day 1: Jewel #Obitine

[duchess-of-mandalore]

I just can’t stop thinking about how all signs point to the fact that Ventress and Quinlan are both alive and either have found each other or still could.

I imagine she’s tracking down Force sensitive children and then passing them off to Quinlan who is working with Tala and the Path. ❤️

#Star Wars #The Clone Wars #The Bad Batch #Dark Disciple #Quinlan Vos #Asajj Ventress #Quintress #I have a lot of feelings about Ventress coming back #I hope they do justice to Dark Disciple #but maybe Quintress can can still get a happy ending

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Just a couple of pretty boys in their beskar who are probably missing, presumed lost but should show up in Sundari in Mando Season 4 and give Bo-Katan something to smile about ❤️

#The Mandalorian #Star Wars Rebels #The Clone Wars #Korkie Kryze #Fenn Rau #Bo-Katan Kryze #Freddie Fox #Kevin McKidd #BoFenn #GingerMandos

[duchess-of-mandalore]

If Satine had lived into the TCW era where they had great animation technology, they would have let her have hair like this

#satine kryze #duchess Satine #obitine #Cate Blanchett

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wip wednesday very late on thursday lol

so since coming back from my brother's nearly two weeks ago, I've actually been working on doing a podfic reading of don't dream it's over. he's a massive star wars fan (more than I am, that's for certain!), but he's always struggled with reading books and vastly prefers audiobooks that he can listen to while he's doing other things.

anyway, I got an idea for a cover image for the story last night and have spent most of this afternoon grabbing all my references, putting them into procreate and coming up with this base idea.

in the background we have Maul and Sith!Obi-Wan, separated by Maul's lightsaber blade (ngl, I'm really pleased with how Maul looks in this sketch, it makes extensively staring at Ray Parks' face for about two hours in order to get his facial markings correct worth it lmao).

in the midground are Satine and Korkie, and for the eagle-eyed - yes! that line on Korkie's neck is in fact the scar he gets from the attempt on his life towards the end of chapter 3.

and in the front we have the man himself, Obi-Wan, with his lightsaber held between his hands with the Force. I was going to have him deconstructing it and showing the kyber crystal inside, but that's too much for just this base sketch.

the canvas colour itself in the final piece will most likely be a mixture of black, dark blue and specks of lighter blues and white, like the expanse of the night sky.

#hooooooly buckets

[duchess-of-mandalore]

I have blessedly been granted the ability to write again by my brain over the last 24 hours and have been feverishly working on the next chapter of "What Must Be Done." And I'm just so stupidly excited by this absolute bat shit crazy ship that is the heart of this story, but I'm afraid that, unless you are one the people who helped flesh this out with me literally years ago now, it just seems like a really bizarre and weird rare pair and people aren't going to trust me to SEE IT THROUGH.

So, here's some non-spoilery fun facts that might pique some curiosity on why you need to see it through.

This is a Satine Lives!/Empire Era fic in which everything has gone exactly to canon, except Mandalore. Her Jedi is gone. The Republic has fallen, but Mandalore has not (not without taking some hits), and Satine is just trying to keep her people safe, as always.

Yes, it absolutely is a Satine/Orson Krennic ship. I promise it works, in a way. Lest you worry this is some terrible, abusive thing and I'm putting Satine through some terrible ordeal, that's not the case. Orson is still terrible (canon is playing out in the background) but even terrible people can be soft for someone.

Because of the path Mandalore takes, there will be a lot of Rebel Bo-Katan and Rebel Korkie, who are admittedly, my all time favorite duo to write.

There will be a very satisfying conclusion to all of this in the end, I promise. Canon is constantly happening in the background.....until it isn't.

Lots of excuses to dress Satine up and make her angry at imperials. What more could you want?!

Anyway, I am so excited about this story and I finally feel like the dam has broken and it is flowing freely from my brain and into actual words (and not just jumbled discord thoughts). If you want to know more and want to help keep my excitement up, ask me anything about it!!! Or just crack the whip and keep yelling at me to write in my asks.

#nods along #You need to trust her #It works #It’s a fascinating exploration of what Satine will do #when she can’t have her beloved Jedi #And when the Empire is at her throat #Krennictine

[duchess-of-mandalore]

The royal wedding of Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze featuring Prince Din Grogu

#star wars paintings  |  SW Paintings

#Bo’s dress is Satine’s equestrian jacket #🥺 #DinBo

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Hello friends!

This is just a message to let you know that I will be removing my novel-length Obitine fic Only Hope from AO3 by the end of the week. If you want to keep it, or if you're halfway through please download it, and if you've got any questions, please feel free to ask!

Thank you! <3

tess

#PSA #IMPORTANT #Only Hope

[duchess-of-mandalore]

I think we should write more straight relationships with 2010s TV queerbait tactics. Let that man and that woman's lives be horribly intertwined, let them take bullets for the other, let them be each other's meaning but NO KISSING. They are holding each other platonically. You're crazy for reading anything romantic into it at all tbh

#DinBo #let them kissssssssss

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#SATINE NATION #ASSEMBLE

[duchess-of-mandalore]

Thanks for drawing my attention to this lovely post, @the-obiwan-for-me (*chef’s kiss* @smhalltheurlsaretaken, I couldn’t have said it better myself!)

Yes, I have the copy of Shadow Conspiracy. I have to track it down, but I’m willing to share if anyone wants it. You can also search through my blog with the hashtag Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy to see a bunch of the analyses I’ve done.

Here’s the one about Satine’s final words:

So I have a genuine question. How do you think Satine relocated large swaths of the population of Mandalore that chose not to conform to her beliefs to a moon and made sure they couldn't come back to Mandalore and their homes en masse? It seems like that would be pretty hard to do peacefully.

Ah, but that’s just the thing - we have no indication, canon, Legends or otherwise, that they couldn’t come back. See, the thing with the whole Mandalore situation and what Satine did and didn’t do that is so tricky is that much of what we know come from very unreliable narrators, namely Almec and Vizsla, not Satine herself. 

(Buckle up, it’s long because I’ll defend Satine with my dying breath. Press j to skip.)

Almec calls it an “exile,” but Almec is already lying through his teeth at that point, because he’s interested in protecting Mandalore’s autonomy, not in telling Obi-Wan the truth. How do we know he’s lying? Well, he says “all of [their] warriors died out years ago”, which is complete bullshit, because he himself still has his old armor by S7, because Satine’s reform couldn’t have happened more than twenty years ago (which is far too little time for a big group adults to die out), because the Protectors are all still around and kicking, because the Wrens still live in Krownest (more on that later), because Concord Dawn still had warriors on it (Rako Hardeen), and because, in that same episode, we see that Pre Vizsla has an armored guard that Satine is aware of. So, warriors all around. Almec is a lying ass.

Now, here’s what Satine has to say about Concordia, to Obi-Wan (s2ep12):

SATINE: The Concordian moon is a province with its own governor. You'll need me to escort you.

OBI-WAN: That won't be necessary.

SATINE: Actually, it will. You won't make much progress without me there, especially since you've just been involved with the death of a Concordian.

Then later:

SATINE: Thank you, Governor Vizsla. May I present Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, representing the Jedi Council. Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of.

And finally:

SATINE (TO OBI-WAN): Remember that you are here under my protection. Please try not to cause problems where none yet exist.

I would say that these exchanges indicate she respects Vizsla’s leadership and handles this like a normal diplomatic situation. She offers Obi-Wan her protection, but at no point does she imply that she has the power or authority to just tell Vizsla what to do. In fact, the she says “a province with its own governor,” which points toward relatively great autonomy. It’s confirmed by the fact that Satine had no idea the mining facilities were operational again - which would be pretty hard to miss, if she’d set up any form of oversight, considering Obi-Wan finds them within an hour of being there.

Still about her keeping the people of Concordia from coming back to Mandalore... The very fact that this episode starts because a Death Watch terrorist attacked Republic transports and that another one bombs a square in Sundari, but that at no point any mention is made of maybe tightening security around Concordia, makes me think there is no security around Concordia preventing anyone from moving around. (Satine says they tracked down the Death Watch “hooligans” to Concordia, not that they were immediately suspicious of the nasty meany people who don’t agree with her rules and that they immediately went to check it out. She in fact completely trusts the Concordians, which a politically savvy person would never do if they were in fact exiled, and it’s proven by the fact that she thinks she’s on friendly terms with Vizsla).

(We also have indications that weapons were not forbidden on Mandalore. In fact, they’re only forbidden to offworlders after Obi-Wan’s visit. 

ALMEC (to ANAKIN and AHSOKA): Because of Master Kenobi's recent visit and the trouble that followed, no offworlders may carry weapons on Mandalore.

Almec says this in front of Satine (s3ep6) - when his discussion with Obi-Wan regarding the status of Concordia was not in her presence - and in front of the cadets, all of whom could invalidate his claim if he was lying again. Anyway, offworlders and Mandalorians were allowed weapons on Mandalore before Obi-Wan’s stunt with Death Watch. So again - very loose restrictions.)

But back to the point, the very purpose of an exile is to get people away from you - otherwise you just jail them - and Concordia is like a ten minute ride in a shuttle away from Mandalore - and happens to look like this:

(S2ep12, 09:04 - not a concept art)

... when Mandalore itself, and its capital, look like this: 

(Same ep, 00:43)

(Mandalore vs Concordia, same ep, 00:40)

You don’t ”exile” people by keeping them right next to you, that’s not what exile means, and you don’t “forcibly” give subdued enemies the fertile world while keeping the nuclear wasteland. 

All of this, to me, points to the people of Concorida not being forced into a hard exile - which, yeah, a forced exile would be nigh impossible without armed force. It rather points towards a treaty, which is kinda the standard thing to do after a conflict.

Of course, it’s not stated. There is no real hard evidence of what really happened - I’m just looking at what the show seems to want to say. And in my view, it wants to say that Satine was not a dictator who forced part of her people into submission.

We really have no indication that Satine relocated “huge swaths” of the population. I’m going to break away from my Lucas-only policy and use Rebels as well, because it’s still Filoni and he’s the one actually interested in Mandalorians, and it’s the material that explained most about what was going wtith Mandalore itself. Imo, Rebels only confirms what TCW was saying:

The Wrens - Death Watch affiliated for a long time, to the point they’re still remembered for it seventeen years after the war - never lost their ancestral home, nor did Ursa lose her status as Countess. In fact, she only started having problems when the Empire showed up and Sabine opposed it. The Empire, which does used armed force. 

And later in the Mandalore arc, we are told by Fenn Rau - a Protector, who was fighting with the Republic during the war, so was in fact a warrior - that Bo-Katan is considered the legitimate ruler by many, because she is Satine’s sister and because the Jedi made her regent (s4ep1). Fenn Rau, who fought against and hated Death Watch (Rebels, s2ep12), was still a warrior, recognized the legitimacy of Satine, and recognized the legitimacy of Bo-Katan through her connection to Satine. 

Again, to me, all of this points to Satine having been accepted as a ruler by the majority. I feel like it’s confirmed by Pre Vizsla having to resort to political machinations and terrorism (namely, hiring crime lords to attack the population and heroically “protecting” the citizens) to seize power. If there were huge swaths of Mandalorians scattered around hating Satine’s guts, he’d just have gone to them and attacked, don’t you think? Or he would have gathered those disgruntled clans and forced an election, since Almec would have allied with him and had the power to remove Satine (s3ep6), and Satine never took away Mandalorian citizenship from Death Watch members - again, confirmed by Ursa’s status, Bo-Katan’s, Almec’s legitimacy not being revoked, and Satine never ever referrring to Death Watch as non-Mandalorians - but in fact saying “those among us” (TCW s2ep12).

Instead Vizsla had few followers, apparently didn’t have know any other large group of scorned Mandos he could have allied to, and he had to work hard to convince the people already there to support him (which he accomplished by lying to them and endangering them). 

Finally, we have many examples of Satine being willing to die rather than to compromise her ideals.

Here are a few:

(S2ep13)

(S3ep6, after getting electrocuted, Almec trying to get to confess for the crimes he committed.) 

(S5ep16 - she’s being choked, and she’s more concerned with making sure Obi-Wan does not go into a killing spree and lose him trying to slaughter the guy choking her.)

I don’t have Stories of Light and Dark on hand so I can’t confirm this, but there is strong evidence that the original script of the episode had her last words be something of the effect of “Don’t give up on your principles, I never gave up in mine.” It was kept in the French dub of the episode and in at least one English junior novelization, and I think it’s Kenobi’s Shadow but I’m not sure.

Like, her last words were going to be not compromising with your beliefs. 

Her beliefs being:

1) Mourning the Death Watch terrorist who just bombed the public square where she was.

2) Comforting said dying terrorist in his own language (Concordian Mando’a, and according to non-canon translations, she’s promising him rest). She follows by immediately telling Obi-Wan they wouldn’t be on speaking terms anymore if he’d been the one to kill the Death Watch guy. Let me reiterate: she wouldn’t be on speaking terms with the love of her life if he’d been the one to kill the violent terrorist who just attempted murder on her.

3) Yeeting the blaster that she thought about shooting a terrorist, disgusted. A terrorist that she didn’t kill (Anakin did), even though he was about to kill and hundreds of people. (S2ep13). You can see her hand shaking when she’s debating whether or not to subdue Merrick, who is posing an immediate threat.

4) Answering this to Obi-Wan’s claim that a military presence is the only way to protect oneself/have peace. (S2ep13) 

5) This right here, when Almec questions the Jedi “meddling” with the Mandalorian ways and interfering with the children’s education. 

Is that seriously how anyone would portray somebody who didn’t compromise with her enemies but used force to subdue them? I’m not saying it’s impossible that the show is characterizing her as hypocritical, just that it’s unlikely when the point of her relationship with Obi-Wan is partly to challenge his role in the war by presenting another path.

I’m also not saying that you couldn’t maybe make canon fit with the idea that Satine actually violently forced part of the Mandalorian people out of their homes, just that I have a very, very, very hard time imagining that’s what the creators were going for with her character.

-

TLDR:  - I don’t think Satine relocated huge portions of the population; I don’t think there is strong evidence in the show supporting it - Satine is repeatedly shown to be ready to die rather than renounce pacifism - Satine still recognizes Death Watch as Mandalorians - You don’t give your greenest, most prosperous moon to people you’re forcibly removing from their homes and exiling - Rebels confirms that Satine was in fact accepted even by warrior factions => this, coupled with creator intent (such as giving Obi-Wan a pacifist love interest to contrast with the principle of a “just war”) leads me to conclude that Satine was never intended to be shown as repressive. 

Hence, I don’t have a problem reconciling her complete pacifism with some Mandalorians being “exiled” to Concordia (a terminology was proven to be debatable), especially given the complete lack of oversight, the tolerance for weapons, and them having their own governor. 

-

PS: I’m begging you, do not answer this post if you haven’t read it all. It’s happened with the last one and it was very tiring.

This is my own post, about my own opinions. I’m not attacking anyone, I’m not trying to go to war with anyone. I’m interested in defending Satine on my own blog, not in fighting with anyone else over it. Please engage with this respectfully or block me and move on.

#Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy #*Disney music plays* #WE DON���T TALK ABOUT KENOBI’S SHADOW #NO NO NO