The Mandalorian: Why don’t our characters know about the Force?

The Mandalorian characters have no idea what the Force is. But they probably should.

The Mandalorian is off to a rousing start after its first season. It has been everything fans could have hoped for and more- with “more” being a green, super memeable little creature who can do a magic hand thing.

Of course, that magic hand thing is The Force, of which our characters are completely oblivious.

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When Baby Yoda first lifts the Mudhorn, Mando is confused. He tells Kuill, who is slightly less confused but still pretty oblivious. Then Baby Yoda thrusts the show into chaos when he force-chokes Cara Dune, and later force-heals Greef Carga, both of whom are equally dumbfounded.

Okay, so what’s the deal?

Mando (or Din Djarin), is a Mandalorian, which itself should probably come with some working knowledge of the Force for two reasons—  A) The Jedi have been enemies of the Mandalorians for centuries— and B) It looks like he was rescued by Deathwatch during the Clone Wars, in which the Jedi played an active role.

Starting with Mandalorian history 101. Due to the Mandalorians’ warfaring creed and the Jedi being peacekeepers, the two factions had frequent battles, with the Jedi ultimately triumphing and Mandalore being decimated in the process. This is ultimately common knowledge among Deathwatch and those who continue to practice Mandalore’s warrior traditions. If Mando is completely devout to the creed, shouldn’t he also be familiar with one of the sworn enemies of Mandalorians?

Then there’s the confirmation that Djarin was recused by Deathwatch at some point in the Clone Wars. The Mandalorian fundamentalist group also has ties to force-users.

As depicted in Clone Wars, they were frequent adversaries of Obi-wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano before ultimately being ruled from the shadows by Maul and splintering into other factions. We don’t exactly know at which point of the Clone Wars Djarin was actually rescued— it could have been post-maul in the closing days of the Clone Wars. Nevertheless, if DIn was raised within Deathwatch and immersed into the culture, he should have at least been familiar with stories of the Jedi, Maul and their powers.

Yes, Mando is oblivious about the force, but he’s definitely not the only one. Cara Dune also struggles to come up with an explanation when baby Yoda tries to give Mando a little help in their arm-wrestling match.

But she served in the rebellion, and saying “May the Force be with you” was literally their favorite thing. The Rebel alliance was made of those who kept the faith despite the empire trying to erase the Jedi from history. And oh, yeah, Luke Skywalker eventually became a well-known hero to the Rebellion and his Jedi Knight status wasn’t exactly a secret. Cara Dune obviously wasn’t paying much attention.

The lack of knowledge about the force of the Jedi is surprising due to another seemingly significant plot point— the revelation of the Darksaber by Moff Gideon.

Of course, the Darksaber is a lightsaber used by Tarre Vizsla, who was a Mandalorian. And a Jedi. Who could use the Force.

Clan Vizsla had a huge significance to the history of Mandalore, which is why Din Djarin not having the slightest knowledge about the Jedi is a bit confusing. The scene brought heavy expectations that somehow, someway, Djarin will somehow come to possess the Darksaber. Possessing the saber with no knowledge of its history would be…interesting. But that could very well be the direction we are heading.

Had our Mando been born in the years after the fall of the Republic, his not knowing about the Force or Jedi would make some sense, since the Empire did its best to render the Jedi to myths or legends.

But when describing events to the armorer in the season finale, she replies in vague terms about an ancient order of sorcerers who are enemies of the Mandalorians. Even she seems to be missing the whole picture. There is still a chance there is a yet to be revealed reason why our characters are clueless about the Force or Jedi. But for now, it appears we have to accept this fact for what is, while we wait for some clarity.

Season 2 of The Mandalorian will premiere in Fall of 2020.