#elsewhere I've been breathing fire all day while at the office getting paid to not think about TV shows for a while

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Hey! I saw your reply to that anon ask about mandalorian, and i gotta say i agree with your view. There is something different in season 3 that i couldnt really explain, but you managed to put it into words. The past seasons feel character driven, while this season is more plot driven.

Honestly, i didnt have high expectations, because the ending of season 2 feels conclusive, so i dont know what theyre going to do after that. And when they said that din wont be the main focus of season 3, i felt a bit sad about it haha. I was thinking that maybe we're gonna explore more of din's identity crisis or something like that. But uhhhh idk. I have thoughts and emotions that i cant put into words. I hope you understand what im saying here lmao

Y'know, in hindsight - and can I really say so when we still have an episode left of Season 3, a whole ass Season 4, and however many seasons left until the Disneyfied Thrawn Trilogy Movie? - I feel comfortable saying that Din's story should've ended in Season 2 and he never should've gotten the Darksaber. I also want to argue that he got the Darksaber because Favloni did have plans for him, specifically, until something (Ahsoka and the Thrawn Trilogy and a movie) happened that made them decide to pivot hard into propping up Bo-Katan, whitewashing and sanitizing her backstory, and giving her all of Din's possible storylines. I mean, what did she really do over a season that made her better than Din, who lost everything saving Grogu from Gideon and finding a Jedi who could take him in?

Din was left alone on the bridge of Gideon's cruiser with Bo-Katan and Koska. He is truly alone. Does he follow them back to Bo-Katan's fleet, a CotW among others who don't trust him and his covert? Does he start his search for the Armorer and survivors of Nevarro? Din showed his face to another living being. What does his crisis of faith look like? We saw a glimpse of that in TBOBF; he wasn't doing too hot and then he was banished from his covert and told hwo to atone for his sins. We could've had a multi-episode arc following his journey to Mandalore and visiting the history of Mandalore and its desecration by the Empire. We could have seen him waver in his faith, struggling between what he believed and what he experienced and all the ways they intersect and conflict. Din won the Darksaber in combat. He now holds an ancient Mandalorian Jedi weapon that the Mandalorian diaspora now say marks him as Mand'alor (or the best candidate for Mand'alor). Does he grow into this role using his experience and skills earned as a bounty hunter and his covert's provider, or does he choose to surrender it to somebody else because he never wanted and still does not want the power and authority that comes with the title? Does he ever see Grogu again? Is Grogu doing well? How will they reunite? Well, TBOBF answered all those questions and we just have to accept they're back together at the start of Season 3.

Thse are just some of so many potential character-driven and character-centric stories that I'm never seeing in canon now. He's been wallflowered, pushed into the background, Bo-Katan's newest and biggest supporter in her so-called redemption arc even though you wouldn't fucking know that her redemption arc maybe should've included some mention of what she fucking did in the Clone Wars and the fucking Season 3 logo features Din and Grogu front and center.

(A lot of newer merch I see at the Disney Store, Heroes & Villains, Her Universe, etc. now feature multiple Mandalorians and Mandalorian helmets, so maybe that was a giveaway that we are following more Mandalorians now... and I am still forever struggling to find decent Din Djarin merch that puts him front and center. Fuck me, I guess)

I truly wonder what kind of Season 3 we could've gotten if Favloni, Kennedy, and Disney decided not to MCU-fy Filoni's precious darlings, if we were allowed to follow Din the way we did in the first two seasons. You could bring him back to the covert without losing him to the crowd. You could have him cross paths with Bo-Katan again and have her play a more significant role in his journey(s) without taking all of the spotlight.

I did have high expectations after Season 2, Anon, but once TBOBF came out, i realized I was fucked. And, well. Here we are.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #the mandalorian #the mandalorian critical #mando critical #the mandalorian season 3 #the mandalorian season 3 spoilers #mando spoilers #ngl this is me actually being polite and thoughtful #elsewhere I've been breathing fire all day while at the office getting paid to not think about TV shows for a while #I have been thinking nonstop about the lyrics to 'Non-Stop' from Hamilton and that Frankenstein quote about rage and love #there is sadness too because I still can't understand what the fuck is happening and why everything Din did is being undone #but mostly I've been feeling rage and love nonstop and it is truly fucking exhausting #at least I'll get to go touch some grass this weekend. always remember to go touch some grass. be well first and a fandom person second