Let's talk about Din and Grogu's Reunion in TBoBF

Uuuuu, I like that!

 

When I saw that Grogu all alone in the X-Wing seat, when it came sure Luke was not there and Grogu went to Tatooine by its own...

... I couldn't stop thinking : this reminds me of Luke on Dagobah, who has not achieved his Jedi training, hears his friends are in distress, and wants to leave immediately Dagobah to go help them, even if Yoda says it's dangerous.

I mean my take is : Grogu kind of "asked" Luke to let him see Dad (because he realized Dad came, when he saw his vessel fly away [end of chapter 6]) but in the same time, he was not abandoning his jedi fate. He'll just come back later. The same way Luke genuinely intended to come back later, to end his training, but after having saved his friends first.
Kind of poetry between Luke on Dagobah, and Grogu on (?) Luke's Academy island.

 

Grogu be like, yeah Luke, you become one with the Force in 30 years. I’ll wait and get Rey to train me lol. Really disappointed in Luke not changing the Jedi to be better than before. Maybe Rey can make that leap? How long does Ahsoka species live?

 

Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of having Din and Grogu reunite in The Mandalorian. I feel like separating the two was a very impactful way to end Season Two and should have had longer lasting ramifications. And even though TBOBF is a show that’s heavily tied into The Mandalorian, I still think it was an odd choice to have such a big character moment of the two reuniting occur in someone else’s show. It’d be like if Marvel were to have Peter Quill reunite and get back together with 2014 Gamora (from Endgame) in Thor: Love and Thunder and just have the two acting the same as before once Guardians 3 comes out.

I feel like Din and Grogu have kinda been reset to the status quo. Leaving the two separated would have let them both grow more:

• Grogu would have to work on his Force powers out of control before he accidentally, unintentionally hurts himself or someone else. (Like when he choked Cara Dune in Season One.) Granted, his dad might be able to help him overcome his trauma better than Luke could.
• Din having to own up to the responsibility of wielding the key that could reunite the Mandalorians. Also, dealing more with him questioning his faith after his interactions with Cobb, Bo Katan, Boba Fett and Mayfeld in Season 2, as well as the ramifications of his decision to remove his helmet twice. I also feel like we should have seen more of the depressed, angry Mandalorian we saw coming into TBOBF.

We kinda got some of that in TBOBF and will likely still see more of it in Season 3. I just worry that these characters retreating back to their comfort zone (each other) will stunt their growth. Even if we do still get this juicy character work, I still feel like the impact and emotion of Season 2’s finale has been drastically undercut since we know the two reunite within a few months.

Despite how I feel about reuniting the two so soon, I do kinda like how they went about it. Din and Grogu’s respective choices in Chapters 6 and 7 parallel each other very nicely.

• In Chapter Six, Ahsoka practically outright says that Din is going to see Grogu for his own sake moreso than the kid’s. Din ends up making the non-attached choice by not going to see Grogu. This greatly connects with his conversation with The Armorer in the previous episode where they’re talking about the Mandalorian way being all about solidarity and family, while the Jedi are all about detachment. Din makes the Jedi choice here.
• Meanwhile, Grogu makes the Mandalorian choice by going to be with his father, instead of sticking to his Jedi training. This also parallels when Din broke the Mandalorian creed back in Season Two by removing his helmet for Grogu’s sake. I like this idea that the two are forging their own path together.

Even though I’m not satisfied with how and when it happened, I would be lying if I said their reunion didn’t warm my heart. Din’s little gasp and tenderness in his voice and Grogu jumping up to hug his dad, along with the music in that scene, was so sweet. And that ending scene of them flying off certainly gets me even more pumped for Mando Season 3.

 

@The Hero With No Fear : I would like to start my answer by quoting Luke "Nothing (noone) is never really really gone".

I have extracted these 3 sentences from you because they sum up what I think : Grogu returning to Din in TBOBF is just a bait.
I do think that reunion between Grogu and Din will remain temporary and is not THE FINAL reunion : I'm pretty sure Grogu will quickly come back to Luke.
I'm sure Luke conscientiously let Grogu fly away to see Dad, because Luke is actually deeply thinking about the Jedi attachment thing, and he desn't want to be brutal with Grogu, he doesn't want to deprive Grogu from his Dad. Kind of, Luke doesn't want to install remorse into Grogu's heart by forbidding him to see Dad. Luke doesn't want to let any door to the Dark Side open.

And I see something more coming : Grogu will one day train Mando Dad to use the darksaber. Listen to me

 

I personally felt it was a little quick, I think they needed to build to that point like they built to him leaving. Having him return to Din before even the start of season 3 in another characters spin off show after a season build of trying to get Grogu to a Jedi felt very rushed.

I think the creators and Disney needed to show a little patience with the reuniting. It would have been far more impactful when they did. For me it does cheapen what happens in season 2. If Din had just found Luke in episode 1 of season 2 and Grogu gone of with him then, then the impact would have been less, it’s exactly the same as him returning so quickly it reduces the impact.

The skeptical side of me wonders if it was a corporate, business decision getting Grogu back with Din as quickly as possible because that partnership has been such a success and the didn’t want to change the formula. I hope I’m wrong though.

 

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 27, 2022, Original Post Date: Feb 27, 2022 ---

Personally for me I wish they would of saved the whole Grogu going back to Din for the Mandalorian season 3 . Not just because it really took my focus away from Boba fett but it ended the cliff hanger of what will Grogu choose.
They will have to explain why he's there . I'm not sure Luke would agree to him just "visiting " him though. I feel like that would make it harder for Grogu to not feel attached!!

 

I mean I very much hope it was a Favreau decision and not a corporate one. You never know with Disney but I hope Favreau made the decision and it wasn't just we can make more money if Grogu gets back to Mando asap.

I would object to this. I'm not assuming that at all, as there is no mention of Grogu in the sequel trilogy and Luke was described as the Last Jedi, obviously, as we know the idea of Grogu was conceived after the writing of that trilogy started and its star wars so there is always wriggle room so maybe he ends up been a Jedi down the road somehow, but there is no guarantee of that and think the majority of people don't think its more than just one possible outcome.

Personally, I assumed Grogu was going to end up back with Mando, I just assumed they were going to build up to it. So I don't agree that the "it was rushed" crowd as your calling us thought that because Grogu didn't get trained it was rushed. It is more that we had just had a great build-up of Grogu leaving so just having him come back really quickly, especially within a spin-off show, without any build-up lessens the impact of him leaving.

Stories are all about set-up and pay off, the problem a lot of people had with the sequel trilogy, is that force awakens set up all these mystery boxes and the creators hadn't given enough thought to the payoff for the mysterious so when the answers came they didn't feel rewarding or feel thought through so many fans (not all) felt cheated. Mando season 2 on the other hand had a great set-up and pay off to Grogu leaving. Which is why it got so much love and praise. They built-up to it and when it happened it had an emotional impact. If they hadn't built up to it, and Luke had just turned up in episode 1 collected Grogu then the impact would not have been as strong becuase the set up wouldn't have been as strong.

Now Grogu coming back to Mando had no way near the emotional impact it should of because it didn't have the build-up, so the payoff of them reuniting wasn't as strong as an impact as it should have been. You need the set up and the pay off. I would say most of "it was rushed" crowd feel they needed to build to them reuniting.

I mean we have no idea what Favreau's long term storytelling is like as this is as far as I know this is the first time he has done something like this? But I really enjoy Favreau's films and have a lot of faith in Filoni. But that doesn't mean that they can't make bad decisions even within good shows.

Don't disagree with this, but just because something is evolving doesn't mean parts of a story can't be rushed.

While I'm in no way an expert on "Lone Wolf and Cub" stories. But what is interesting is How Mando as a character has evolved having to look after Grogu. What would then happen if Mando didn't have Grogu there by his side for a period, would he revert to a more brutal bounty hunter. Having the lone wolf back alone and how that affects him before being reunited with the cub is a very interesting aspect of the story which could of been told. So there are things you can do within the "Lone Wolf and Cub" style story if the characters are separated, so there is no need to rush them back together for fear of losing that format. so i don't agree with the idea they had to get them back together ASAP to stay within the Lone Wolf and Cub storyline

I would really hope this to be true. It is very very rare in TV for shows to be mapped out like that, it's even rarer in star wars, especially Disney era star wars. So I'm in no way counting my chickens that this is the case as a viewer I have come to expect writers not planning out shows correctly and for that to have a big impact on the stories as they progress. Though I would say I have a lot of faith in Filloni, as Clone Wars and Rebels were not planned out (as far as I know) yet he managed to craft fulfilling stories in both.

 

I have and own the Lonewolf and Cub graphic novels, and I have watched the tv show several times, the Mandalorian is a complete, and utter ripoff… it’s Lonewolf and cub in space, that is what it boils down to.

As an aspiring illustrator, I just learned a few days ago, in Illustration magazine, published by The Illustration Press, page # 68 of that periodical, children’s book illustrator John Schoenherr, who past on April 8, 2010 at the age 74, in an issue of Analog magazine, July 1975, he created an alien species called the Jaenshi which was modeled after his Airedale dog, for a story written by George R. R. Martin called “And Seven Times Never Kill Man.” ( how many times has George Lucas stated that Chewbacca was modeled after his dog?)

The species is drawn similar to the illustration found in the art of Star Wars, Chewbacca-like monster. The cover illustration sets the alien species of the July 1975 issue of Analog, in a redwood forest environment similar to that of Kashyyk. ( we didn’t visit Kashyyk until 2005’s ROTS)

This blatant rip-off was an “unwitting, uncredited, and uncompensated” collaborator remained a sore point with Schoenherr’s friends and family.

Schoenherr also illustrated the first stories of Dune, which was first published in Analog, December 1963, another epic tale George borrowed from. As an aspiring writer and artist, all the pieces are coming together.

To be fair, George Lucas consumed a great number of fairy tales, sci-fi, and fantasy novels to create our beloved Star Wars, so I would reframe rip-off to borrowed from likes of Flash Gordon, John Carter of Mars, and Dune, etc.

 

I agree, better language indeed; however, I was completely taken aback when I saw that illustration! I immediately remembered the concept drawing of Chewbacca in the art of Star Wars which I pored over for years on end.

Then as I read the article and learned how the artist’s friends and family were distraught over the fact he wasn’t compensated for the creation was shocking to say the least. The book cover looks like an albino Chewbacca on Kashyyk.

George should have at least purchased some of his original paintings for his museum he is presently working on. George Lucas has purchased several paintings from Frank Frazetta ( George was inspired by his Buck Rogers comic strips and paintings and he visited Frazetta and bought the originals which cost in the millions per painting, for his new museum.) I just hope he bought John Schoebherr’s paintings for his museum as well.

 

Was it a little quick? Yeah. It's very clear it's been like two months tops (and I'm being generous). Did it "negate" the Mando finale? No, but it was a little quick. I agree that's a valid complaint.

But when something works, it works, and those last two episodes pretty much saved this show from sucking to being ok. Baby Yoda simply works. He's funny as blast, adorable, and the (functional) father/son thing is new and refreshing for the franchise. I love odd couple/unconventional family type stories in movies and TV and it's the first time it's handled this manner in the franchise. Plus, his motives for returning worked well: he didn't want to be a Jedi. Simple, but valid and effective.

 

The reunion in TBOBF turned the wrenching departure of Din and Grogu at the end of Mando S2 into a kid being waved off tearfully by a clingy mom as they leave home for college, and then they turn up at Christmas "Hey mom. I got kicked out for eating frogs. Can you do my laundry? I'll take the rancor for a walk."

It's not a critical change but it did raise an eyebrow.