"This is the Way" is a Warning, Not a Guide

What an iconic phrase, one that even in its first season, reached near-universal recognition the world over. The near-religious standalone statement which perfectly-encapsulates the philosophy of not only the Mandalorians, but the fanbase as well. Some might even say it is the titular Mandalorian’s catchphrase, but any fan worth their salt knows that he can bring you in warm or cold.

The Mandalorian is the series known for launching the admittedly-polarizing Disney+ streaming service, and thus far is the show with the highest numbers—something Disney refuses to specify but cannot be denied, considering Season 2’s finale literally caused the service to crash due to the overwhelming number of people watching the triumphant return of a previously-assassinated character-assassinated character. Yes, I wrote that correctly. And let’s also point out that, while probably not intentional, “This is the way” also denotes the return to Star Wars form that has been desperately needed since the aforementioned character assassination spree that ensued with projects like the sequel trilogy.

Despite its overwhelming popularity among longtime fans of the franchise, recent projects such as the underwhelming Book of Boba Fett and the opening of Mando Season 3 have called into question some of the creative decisions surrounding what was once heralded as a character and show that could do no wrong. In particular: The Armorer’s insistence that because Din Djarin removed his helmet, he was a Mandalorian no more.

“This is the way?”

How can the titular character of The Mandolorian not be a Mandalorian? That seems somewhat odd, doesn’t it? Everyone refers to him as Mando, even his buddy Greef Karga. At this point it’s a little late to separate the entity from the person—especially because he still faithfully dons his armor as per his religious creed. There are some glaring plot holes regarding this, the first of which being that characters such as Boba Fett and Bo Katan are Mandolorians who don’t follow the same dogmatic point of view. I’ll get to the other plot holes in a minute, but I first would just like to point a couple of things out.

Kathleen Kennedy on the
set of A New Hope, colorized

Let’s start with the Bantha in the room: Kathleen Kennedy. Like it or not, there is a civil war raging at Lucasfilm. It’s been vehemently denied by official channels, including both KK and Jon Favreau. But all secret sources, on both sides, have insisted such a war over the soul of Star Wars is alive and heated. We can also see this in tiny nods in favor of and against various pieces of Star Wars media. Some might be more obvious than others, but the most damning is the absolute slander of Boba Fett in his own show! Rather than be the ruthless bounty hunter we all know he is, he has instead taken to being a benevolent ruler on the Outer Rim’s most ruthless wasteland. Instead of ruling with an iron fist, they decided to treat him with kiddie gloves and go on his own Dances With Wolves IN SPAAAAAACE! adventure. There is no denying that yet another seemingly-invincible character was thwarted by incompetent (or, perhaps, cunningly-competent) writing in an age where no fun is allowed—here in the dark times… here in the Empire… Where even his ship, the Slave I, has been shamelessly neutered and sanitized of its evil and supposedly racist name. What’s worse, this cardinal sin of a retcon apparently has Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s blessing! How is this even real?! It seems far-fetched that they would put their names on such a dishonor to the spirit of Star Wars, completely emasculating the number-one bestselling character in the Star Wars lineup.

Speaking of putting names on things… I submit to you: Exhibit A on why that is a load of bantha poodoo, shown on the right. For those not fluent in the alphabet of Aurebesh, this scene here from the Book of Boba Fett was a very tongue-in-cheek stab at Jon and Dave’s archenemy in the Lucasfilm Civil War. You see, this defacing of classic Star Wars scenery, is none other than the initials K and K. As in, Kathleen Kennedy. It is also reported that Kathleen Kennedy had absolutely no idea that Luke Skywalker was returning in Mando. It was reported that they did a last-minute shoot of the scene with Star Wars’ true hero and squeezed it into the editing room in the eleventh hour before the Dark Lordess could stop it. And in Season 3, yet another stab at Kathy shows the opening sequence with all the droids and helmets on the Disney+ show (done with every Star Wars project that debuted on the platform), is the first one in this tradition’s history to not include a sequel character in it. Specifically, Kylo Ren’s helmet is missing entirely from the sequence. Something noticeable by the fans who were paying attention, and to those in the know within the ongoing conflict.

Fade in. So why all the bad writing? Is Kathleen Kennedy insisting that Mando be saddled with this pseudodrama? I don’t think so. She has sabotaged the show in other ways, most-egregiously the firing of Gina Carano, the sweetheart of the Mando set and instant fan favorite from her first scene in Chapter 4. Something like this seems too creative for her to pull off, as paradoxical as that sounds with a seemingly creative nightmare this problem is. I’ve seen some suggest that in order to fix Book of Boba Fett, Jon inserted sequences from what was originally-intended to be Season 3 into the show. That idea certainly has merit. Mando’s screentime has been lovingly-dubbed by fans as Mando Season 2.5, and were unironically the best screentime in the show.

And it is reportedly true that Jon walked off set and basically decided not to touch the show anymore in favor of working on the Ahsoka series, which KK is supposedly not allowed to touch. While it’s true that Jon did some last-minute editing and sacrificed portions of his show to fix the speeder-wreck that was BoBF, it doesn’t fix the notion that Jon originally had it written for Season 3 that Mando was excommunicated from The Watch. He certainly had to fix the fact that they used footage from what was originally Season 3 for BoBF, but the writing of the show does not seem to be impacted all that much—especially now that we have the first two episodes and he has already bathed in the sacred water beneath the Mines of Mandalore. In other words, this bad writing is absolutely on the hands of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, whom I refer to as Filovreau, or Favroni (take your pick).

In either case, they are the ones who have proudly signed off on this writing. Writing that seemingly has dozens of plot holes in it, and is near-universally panned by the fans who once held up the series as unequaled in the Disney Star Wars pantheon. The Armorer has chosen to exile Mando, despite winning the Darksaber fair and square in combat against the monster who destroyed Mandalore. Why? Because, unironically, “This is the way.” The plot (d)evolving into this current state is a terrible excuse designed to insert drama that doesn’t exist.

Or is it?

Let’s actually look at the idea behind “This is the way”, what it represents, and how we can actually see the genius behind this simple phrase. And for comparison, we actually have, written into the plot, another Mandolorian who does not hail from Din’s creed, but rather the once-ruler of Mandalore and the house of Clan Wren. Bo Katan has told Dinn Djarin that his clan, The Watch, was a disgrace to Mandalore, and it is inferred that they are actually an offshoot of Death Watch: the clan responsible for the fall of Mandalore entirely. For those who don’t know, Death Watch was a terrorist group on Mandalore during the Clone Wars who fought against Bo Katan’s sister (and inferred love interest of Obi-Wan Kenobi), Satine Wren; they believed that Satine’s insistence on pacifism would lead to the death of Mandalore, that rejecting the old and barbaric ways of Mandalorian tradition would result in the erosion of their culture and ultimate demise of what it means to be Mandalorian. It has not been outright said at this juncture, but it was revealed that Mando is part of a nationalist ideological cult who places policy over people, precision over prosperity.

Kind of reminds you of another certain dogmatic group of hyper-cultist individuals who were wiped out due to their blind adherence to policy over people.

Hmm… Suddenly, “This is the way” seems like it’s almost a warning rather than a guide... And it also seems to point to the fact that Jon and Dave knew what they were doing the whole time! Yes: I posit for your consideration, that this seemingly-terrible writing is actually ingenious. I love good writing, and in this case, this is inception of a good idea that has not yet blossomed. I call it literary sleight of hand, a feat of writing prestige. You see, before this season began, I put together a few clues, which I revealed to some friends a while back. You see, I said that the story would be a redemptive arc that would see Mando going to the Mines of Mandalore to bathe in the waters, but also he would ride the legendary Mythosaur thought to be long-extinct. My reasoning was because it was incepted into our minds from the first episode of the show, when the Ugnaut Quiil inspired Mando to do the impossible like his ancestors who rode the great Mythosaur. Nice worldbuilding, but I never forgot that point. And as a writer myself, I tend to be very sensitive to any divulged information. And in the hands of a great writer such as the guy who literally started the MCU, or the other guy who had a hand in Avatar: the Last Airbender, a mere mention of something only for worldbuilding is a misuse of what I believe are literally the greatest minds in modern cinema.

And what’s hilarious is the fact that I was ultimately proven correct in the second episode! While Mando didn’t ride it, the Mythosaur was revealed! As I have mentioned in other articles past, this is a serious case of Chekov’s Gun, and my understanding of good storytelling is paying off yet again! The Mythosaur has a major part to play in Dinn’s future, as they wouldn’t just show it for a brief moment without any kind of payoff. A moment of character growth is about to happen as Mando considers his unwavering devotion to a crusty old religion as he contends with Bo Katan, whom he considers an apostate. All the while, she considers him the same! Who is correct? Bo Katan once disagreed with her late sister about the future of Mandalore, only to watch it burn right in front of her thanks to the Death Watch heretics fall prey to the cunning of Darth Maul. She has every right to see his cult as the monsters they are. Unwavering in their conviction to preserve old and undying traditions.

But not every one, you see.

Do you think such ingenious minds would fail to realize that the Armorer refusing to forgive Dinn’s tresspass due to Mandalore being “destroyed” is woefully-hypocritical, when baptizing new initiates in any old river in the galaxy is allowed?

One might argue, “Our religion will die if we cannot baptize new initiates into our order, therefore change had to happen.” Rules for me but not for thee, much? Once again, these kinds of mistakes don’t happen to writers of Iron Man and Avatar: the Last Airbender. Mando is going to see that his traditions are holding him back, are what resulted in a glassed Mandalore, and is what must be discarded if he is ever to see his people restored in the galaxy. And through a combination of the Darksaber, accepting what a true Mandalorian is (not necessarily renouncing his creed and faith, mind you), and the taming of the mighty Mythosaur, he and he alone shall save his people. This redemptive story arc was finished in the second episode of the third season. What else is there to do except for him (and Bo Katan, who until this latest episode, did not believe in the magic of Mandalore) to explore what it means to be a true Mandalorian? Bo Katan will understand the true meaning of what it is to be a Mandalorian and as a result will rule it; Dinn Djarin will understand the true meaning of what it is to be a Mandalorian and as a result will save it. Mark my words, readers. In the immortal words of a certain Ugnaut, “I have spoken!”