Does ‘The Mandalorian’ Want Us to ‘Ship Din & Bo-Katan?
This Is the Way
For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our The Mandalorian Newsletter:
[WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3, episodes 1-5.]
Is this ‘the way’ to a new Star Wars power couple?
Season 3 of The Mandalorian has given us… well, a lot. New Republic drama. A live-action appearance by Zeb Orrelios (voiced by Steve Blum). A Mandalorian covert with a nasty habit of settling down a stone’s throw from murderous space monsters. An actual Mythosaur. But as the episodes wind down, we can’t help but wonder whether the season’s two main characters—Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff)—might just wind up more than mere allies in the fight to retake Mandalore. Here’s why Season 3 has us pondering the possibility of a Bo-Din romance.
For one thing, the show’s gone out of its way to highlight a developing companionship between Grogu and Bo. Aside from Luke (Mark Hamill), Bo is one of the only major characters to spend a meaningful stretch of time with The Child on-screen without Din. That could be a byproduct of narrative necessity and not a signifier of an incoming romance—Bo and Grogu needed to work together to rescue Din in Episode 2, and so they did. But if The Mandalorian ever wants Din to have a love interest, they’re required to be a good “parent” to Grogu until he no longer needs looking after. Post-Episode 2, we know Bo can and will protect Grogu—and that Grogu’s genuinely fond of her. She also has the good sense to caution Din when he signs his kid up for a Mandalorian sparring match… as any mother should.
Even setting maybe-paternal bonds aside, Season 3 has linked Din and Bo just frequently enough that it’s starting to get suspicious. They’ve fought together on several occasions, and those battles see them in perfect synchronization; they understand each other’s combat styles and make for an extremely effective team. For a culture in which weapons serve as religion, having the ability to fight in harmony is probably as vital as being in love. And when they’re not an extremely effective team, it’s because she’s had to step in and save his life. Since her first appearance on the show, Bo’s dived into danger three times to pluck Din Djarin from peril. (Get on her level, Syril Karn [Kyle Soller].) Whether the bounty hunter and the heiress like it or not, those harrowing experiences have linked them.
That leads us to yet another time-worn romantic staple: enemies to lovers. If Din and Bo got together, they’d technically be following that trajectory. There’s a bit of wiggle room since they started as reluctant allies (not on totally opposite sides of the Force, like another well-known Star Wars ‘ship), but Bo definitely wasn’t jumping for joy when he showed up on Kalevala. She started off expressing open distaste and even contempt for the Children of the Watch only to wind up a member of their group, seemingly giving Din’s people and their Way a real chance.
Not to say every narrative that employs this trope turns romantic, but there’s romantic potential in shifting perception. In, say, one character realizing the clueless cultist who can’t even properly wield the Darksaber has a decent heart, and another coming to realize the stuck-up princess with a planet-sized chip on her shoulder is concealing layers of pain beneath her beskar. In Season 3, Bo and Din have come to not only grudgingly tolerate each other, but also to understand and empathize with each other. When Bo told Din about her father’s death defending Mandalore, his noble response left her visibly moved. “What are you looking at?” she quipped to Grogu, who noticed her heart thawing. And besides all the life-saving and Grogu-bonding, Bo supported Din when he told his fellow Children of the Watch that they should go to Nevarro and help liberate the city from pirates. They were also sitting pretty, uh, close during that scene. Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff manage to have chemistry even though Din’s face is rarely, if ever, visible. It’s impressive.
Those who’ve seen The Clone Wars might bring up Bo-Katan’s canon age. Estimates put her around 50ish years old, depending on whether she was a teenager or in her twenties during the Clone Wars. Din, on the other hand, is in his early forties at most. Of that, though, it’s worth recalling that many Star Wars ‘ships have had age differences. Han (Harrison Ford) and Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Ben Solo (Adam Driver), were both about a decade apart. Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Padme (Natalie Portman) had a lesser age gap of five years. Although they weren’t ever technically a couple, Jyn (Felicity Jones) and Cassian (Diego Luna) would win with a difference of 12 years. Point being: a 10-year age difference between Bo and Din would fall right into step with canon.
Of course, there’s nothing saying Din and Bo are a for-sure thing. Din’s just as likely, if not more likely, to remain unattached for the remainder of the show. Friendships don’t have to turn romantic, and the lifestyle of a bounty hunter doesn’t lend itself to love. Mando knows nothing about her unpleasant history with Death Watch. And above all, The Mandalorian has never really had much time for romance aside from one episode in its first season. It might stay the course to keep Din and Bo as allies. Whether they end up together or just end up on the same journey to retake their home world, we’ll appreciate their dynamic for whatever it becomes.
The Mandalorian Season 3, Wednesdays, Disney+
