Just let Din and Bo-Katan be a couple, Star Wars
By João Guilherme Fidelis
The Mandalorian was never the kind of show that really interested me. While I could see the appeal of the adventures of a bounty hunter and his green alien child, I felt more far connected to parts of Star Wars not enjoyed so much by fans online, such as the sequel trilogy (which I believe are the most well directed live-action projects of the franchise). When season 3 of the show premiered earlier this year, I was simply watching it because it was another story in a galaxy far, far away. I did not really care about any of it. To be fair, I was only there to watch the Anzellans (a species that originally appeared in The Rise of Skywalker).
Then Chapter 18 — Mines of Mandalore happened.
The first half of the episode is pretty much a standard episode of the show: Mando and Grogu are on an adventure. Once it reaches the second half, something really interesting happens: Bo-Katan abandons her throne of sadness to rescue Din, the man she sent to death. After that, it becomes even more interesting: The show pairs them and allows Djarin to learn more not only about the planet, but also about her. He says to her something I would not expect in a million years: “Your father sounds like an interesting man. I would’ve liked to have known him.” , then after acknowledging her dad’s death, Bo-Katan looked at him stunned, Grogu noticed and she spoke with the baby in a very annoyed tone: “What are you looking at?” , as if she didn’t want to be caught looking at Din.
This entire scene made me wonder if they were setting up a romance between the two. I mean, the father talk and denying that you were looking at someone are very common tropes in romantic films. After that, I became more interested in the story and once the characters were paired together for the rest of the episodes as parental figures to the kids, as pilots who work flawlessly together, as detectives in an episode surrounded by love and then as princess and her knight in shining armor, not mention how Katee Sackhoff, Bo-Katan’s actress, showed up after the finale to say they were joking all the time about the characters having sex because it was right there and then that Din’s pledge to Bo was their Titanic moment, I was certain that a romantic storyline for the characters was being set up.
Then the writers and actors strike happened, artists fought for their fair conditions of work and weeks after the union reached a deal with the studios, Sackhoff was asked about the subject again in an interview with The Direct, where she partially said the opposite of what she said before the manifestations: “No, I think that there’s probably just as much speculation in the shipping of The Armor and Bo-Katan. I think that anytime you put a woman and a man on screen together, it’s bound to happen. I think that that’s just one of those things, that speculation that people enjoy. But no, nothing more than just joking around between myself and Brendan Wayne at work, so no.”
Some took this quote as the definitive proof that a romance between the characters was never in the plans. However, for me, thisproves nothing. All we can do right now is speculate. We don’t know when the fourth season of Mando will be released, nor if this is the truth, or ignorance, or a tactic to not reveal the plans for the story. As she says in the interview: “…I think at the end of the day, Jon [Favreau] and Dave [Filoni] and the creators of the show have a very specific story in mind and feel of the show. So, they add and delete as they see fit to bring the show to life as it’s being edited together.”
That specific story remains to be seen so all I can do is look at the story and as it stands right now, I do believe a romance between Din and Bo-Katan will happen in The Mandalorian and here’s why.
OPPOSITES
Romance in Star Wars has mostly been about opposites. Han and Leia were about a smuggler and a princess who bickered all the time and ended up falling in love. Then Anakin and Padmé were a story of forbidden love story between a man who was born with nothing in a hellhole and a woman who lived in a planet surrounded by green. Rey and Kylo also started as opposites in terms of status: She was a no one and he was the descendant of The Chosen One (who was once a no one), then it evolved into a contrast between two powerful Force lineages: Palpatine and Skywalker. They represented the light and dark, they were a dyad in the Force, two that were one.
When it comes to Din and Bo-Katan, they are also opposites, in more than one way. The Mines of Mandalore did an excellent job of showing how different they are. He is younger and never visited Mandalore, all he knows about the planet is what he heard in stories, while she is older and not only lived on Mandalore, but was also its ruler, burdened by the genocide of her people. The contrast between the two characters does not end there. Din Djarin is far more spiritual than Bo-Katan Kryze, who stands as someone more rational. He really believes in the Creed, in how this can unite Mandalorians, while she does not see the value in those traditions (Not until she starts spends a lot of time with him, of course).
It’s also important to notice that they are from different tribes. Din is a child of the Watch and Bo-Katan is a Nite Owl. The show not only points out this, but also says in the texts these tribes are supposed to be mortal enemies. Yeah, kind of like the Capelets and the Montagues in Romeo and Juliet.
The story also uses this as a theme in Chapter 22 — Guns For Hire, that begins with a couple of two opposite groups, Calamari and Quarren, who can’t be together because fate is not on their side. Later, the same episode reveals Bombardier and The Dutchess, two people in opposite sides during the war, who ended up falling in love. Interestingly enough, this episode surrounded by so many romantic elements is all about Din and Bo-Katan being a duo, they have banter, they work together and they show how they defend and admire each other near the end of it. Not to mention how they are also from opposite groups and and a pair of common person/royal like the couples introduced in the episode, which is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed the two episodes of the show involving explicit romantic elements so far: Sanctuary and The Heiress (the latter introduced Bo to the story).
Suspicious to say the least.
There are those who believe this episode is a filler, that it holds no meaning, but I refuse to engage with the lack of interpretation, with believing that an artist has no intent with his art. No one writes an episode as weird as Guns For Hire, that is mostly set on a planet called Plazir (Plaisir means pleasure in French), gifts their characters with the key to it, repeats the word “love” at least eight times, parallels the scenes of its main duo with the couples in it, has someone commenting on how life is short which makes one of the main characters stare at the other, for nothing. Those things do not happen by accident. Why go through all of that trouble to have your main characters star an episode about how love is the opposite of war if it means nothing?
Star Wars constantly uses caves to show us characters making a journey into their subconsciousness. Plazir-15 could be seen as Din and Bo’s subconscious. Both characters are oblied to make a quick stop at the city of pleasure. she comments on how she has never been there, which could indicate in the metaphor that she has never experienced pleasure while he says he never heard of it, which could mean he never even heard about pleasure. Once they are welcomed into the saloon, they meet a couple who says they fell in love. They are very much the opposite of the stoic nature of the Mandalorians, a representation of how they feel for each other in the inside and not how they show that love in the outside.
After their side quest that consists on becoming detectives and that shows how much Bo-Katan did not know about Din, the two receive the key to pleasure city and then leave to get the fleet. The last section of the episode is fascinating to me because it’s really noticeable how different they are after Plazir. Their dialogue stops being about their funny banter and transits into something that feels more romantic. Din notices that something is bothering Bo-Katan and he immediately tries to cheer her up in a very soft tone that her tribe will follow her.
After Bo-Katan challenges and beats Axe Woves for the control of the fleet, the last minutes of the episode become the perfect mirror to the opening scene. In the beginning of the episode, Woves tells Captain Shuggoth that he knows that the reason she absconded the young Calamari was because of love, then she says she has to let him go because she can’t destroy everything she built for a childish fling. If this episode really comes full circle, then Shuggoth mirrors Bo-Katan, who does the opposite, then the narrative implication is: She did destroy everything she built for a childish fling.
When Axe smirks at Bo and says she should be challenging Din for the darksaber and she refuses to do it, by the structure of the episode, he is actually implying he knows she is in love with him. It becomes even clearer when Bo-Katan stands up for Din in front of her whole tribe, an act that parallels The Dutchess defending her husband from Helgate, who dislikes Bombardier like Axe dislikes Mando. Din then stand up for her as well and gives the darksaber to her, but not as a gift, but as proof that she indeed earned it by the tradition of her people. The last shot of the episode are the two characters standing together in the same frame. The message is clear: If this episode begun with a couple being split, then it has to end with a couple standing united as one.
Din and Bo’s sense of unity impacts other characters. In Chapter 20 — The Foundling, they save the Vizslas, which leads to Paz in the next chapter to comment, in a scene the duo is sitting glued to each other by the way, that they are taking up arms in the name of a brighter future and he will fight by their side. This statement leads the Armorer to conclude all of Mandalore must stand together as one. She even uses a very interesting metaphor: “I have been to the Great Forge on Mandalore. It was large and ornate and the air rang with the music of a hundred hammers. And here (Nevarro) stood a simple one. Yet they were both forges. They served the same purpose.” Once again, the show reinforces the idea of opposites. Bo-Katan is the large and ornate Forge while Din is the simple one. The metaphor is even more spot-on when you consider that she ends the season on Mandalore and he,on Nevarro.
CLAN OF THREE
The heart of The Mandalorian has always been the father/son relationship between Din and Grogu. If you are ever going to write a love interest for a character who is a parent, then they must have a very special bond with their kid in order for this relationship to have a future and for them to be the perfect partner. It’s a very common trope in fiction. You’ve seen it in movies like Jerry Maguire (1996), when Tom Cruise’s character forms a really strong friendship and really understands the son of his love interest Dorothy (Renée Zellweger). Winning over the kid in fiction usually means that you will win over the parent if you’re in a romantic storyline. Bo-Katan definitely did both in Mando season 3.
Chapter 18 — The Mines of Mandalore spends its first half with Din and Grogu exploring the homeworld of their people, but once our hunter in shining beskar is captured, it’s Bo-Katan’s moment to spend some time quality time with the kid. Her journey through that wreckage mirrors the same one that Pedro Pascal’s character makes in the beginning of the episode, but she handle things a little differently. When Grogu is with Din, he spots a dragon-lizard in the dark and becomes afraid of it. His dad does not notice, but when the baby comes back there with Bo, and the creature is still there, she not only notices, but also acknowledges his fear: “I know you’re frightened, but I need you to guide to him.”
Different of the most characters of the show, Bo-Katan treats Grogu as kid rather than a pet. While a lot of people need to bribe him with food or thinking about selling him to a zoo (What the hell was that, Peli), Bo-Katan treats him as a person and recognizes his insecurities and acts upon it. In Chapter 20 — The Foundling, when she helps to get the kid ready for a Mandalorian challenge, she says to him: “Don’t worry, my dad was the same way. He’s just proud of you.” Not only the line sounds exactly like what a mother would say, but the way they frame Din and Bo with Grogu in the middle, not just in this scene, but in 99% of the season, really delivers visually the idea that they are his parents. By the time of Chapter 23 — The Spies, the kid is sitting on her lap while she is driving, therefore, winning over the kid and her importance to him is acknowledged by none other than Din himself when he says: “He didn’t learn that from me.” , therefore, winning over the parent.
“MY DAD WAS THE SAME WAY.”
In While You’re Sleeping (1995), the character Lucy (Sandra Bullock) starts talking about her father to Jack (Bill Pullman) and tells him he kind of reminds her of him and the two characters end up falling in love. There are many famous theories about how a woman, if she had a loving relationship with her father, is attracted to a man who reminds her of him. While I can’t comprove this theory, fiction certainly does love to use this idea. Another example that comes to my mind is how in the comedy TV show New Girl, Nick, the love interest of Jess, is compared explicitly in dialogue to her father. Even though it was to frame him in a negative light when the comparison was made in the show, she still married him in the end. You get my gist. Fiction kinda likes this idea for romance.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni seem to stand by this idea too. As if Bo-Katan descending into the metaphorical hell to rescue Din Djarin after telling him to go die an episode before wasn’t romantic enough, The Mines of Mandalore decided to include not only her talking to him about her father (who had never been mentioned in the previous shows), but also him expressing how he would have loved to meet him, which is a pretty weird thing for a guy to say, unless he is deeply interested in you and as we see in the rest of season, he is very fascinated by her. A man does not pledge himself to you for eternity after listing your qualities if he doesn’t admire you deeply. However, Din’s attraction to her is not the only point to be highlighted here.
Bo-Katan describes her father as a great man, someone who different of her at this point of the story, loves and believes deeply in Mandalorian religious traditions, in the spirituality of it all. Just like a certain man in a shining silver beskar armor she rescued. A man whose beliefs in fairy tales and myths about their culture make him adorable in her honest opinion. It doesn’t stop there. When she says: “Don’t worry. My dad was the same way.”, the comparison between Din and her dad becomes more explicit in the text. The message is clear: She sees Din as a great man.
It’s even more telling when by the end of the season, he stands on the Living Waters alongside his son surrounded by Mandalorians watching the ritual of adoption, which can be a parallel to when Bo’s father took her to the living waters to recite the Mandalorian tenets while he looked on proudly. These parallels could explain why Bo is so attracted and fond of Din.
CONCLUSION
Obviously, I can’t confirm if a romance between Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin will happen, but the belief of the desire for them to be a couple steems from them being a man and a woman standing next to each other couldn’t be further from the truth. I don’t know when some Star Wars fans became so antirromantic and started shouting things like: “NOT EVERYBODY NEEDS A SEXUAL PARTNER.” for a franchise that has been described in the past as a soap opera in space. Sexual attraction is not the only component in a romantic storyline. No, it does not add anything to the plot if that is your concern, but it can serve your characters and make them embark on a journey of healing and self-discovery. It seems that in our social pursuit to valorize what is platonic, we end up shaming what is romantic.
If you want to believe all the clues I’ve mentioned throughout my article are all a huge accident, fine, but I won’t be naive to believe that Favreau, who has written a romantic comedy, does not know he is playing with romantic tropes. Nor do I will believe he simply made an episode that stars our leads and emphasizes love as theme throughout all its runtime by accident, because as I said before, no one produces text without intent. These elements are not produced out of thin air, there has to be a thought process for him to get at the point where he decided that chapter should open up with star crossed lovers. It’s too much subtext for it to be reduced as an accident.
I prefer to engage with the material and believe in the competency of the writers. The story, so far, tells me this is the beginning of a love story. We already know how opposite they are and how similar, that Bo-Katan has a place in this Clan of Two as the other parent, how both support and admire each other deeply, we even have two couples to emphasize the nature of their feelings and a comparison between Din and Bo’s father. There’s a beautiful strong foundation for a romance about two broken people in search of redemption who are stronger together.
Din has impacted her life and made her realize she’s far more than the tools she carries and Bo, in turn, made Din realize he should do more than just survive, which is probably why by the end of it, he takes on the active role of hunting those who destroyed the homeworld of his people. They not only complete, but also make each other better. It’s up to Jon Favreau and his team to turn all of this setup into a beautiful payoff and considering all they presented so far, I believe they will.