Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin was never going to be The Mandalorian’s ‘Aragorn’: Jon Favreau

The Mandalorian season 3 crowning Bo-Katan Kryze as the rightful ruler of Mandalore did not sit well with some of the fans.

There were complaints about Din Djarin taking a side-step to let Bo-Katan shine in her new role. With Pedro Pascal’s character wielding the Darksaber and being the lead protagonist of the Disney+ show for two seasons, fans expected him to eventually rule over Mandalore.

However, that was never the plan of the showrunners.

Disney Gallery: The Making of The Mandalorian Season 3 recently arrived on Disney+, where Jon Favreau dismissed the notion that Din Djarin had a royal fate written for his future, similar to Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.

"I think people expected Mando… He had the sword, he’s gonna take the throne. He’s gonna change from a traveling bounty hunter to Aragorn or something… And you felt like, ‘Oh, that seems like where you’re gonna go with it.’"

Aragorn is the heir of Isildur and the rightful king of the men in J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece. He is introduced in the trilogy as Strider, a Ranger of the North, who spends the three movies as the de facto leader of the Fellowship and ends up on the throne of Arnor and Gondor, happily married to his elf love interest, Arwen.

In Lord of the Rings, Aragorn’s character is built from the beginning for the eventual ascent to the throne. That was never the case with Din Djarin, says Favreau. There were subtle clues all along that Bo-Katan was the one who would end up as the leader of the Mandalorians, Darksaber or not.

"But if you look at the clues, it actually hopefully, makes you reach the conclusion of where we went because if you notice from the first time [Din Djarin] uses the Darksaber, it’s heavy for him. Even The Armorer tells him that. Bo-Katan gets her hands on the Darksaber when Din Djarin’s trapped, and she uses it like a fencing foil."

She was even the one to see a real Mythosaur in many, many years of Mandalorian history. Pascal also told Variety that he fully supports Katee Sackhoff’s character getting the focus that it did.

What fans thought would go down in a showdown between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze fighting over the Darksaber actually panned out to be a mutually respectful comradeship between the two.

Executive producer Rick Famuyiwa confirmed to IGN in April that Din Djarin is not the sole titular Mandalorian in the Star Wars universe anymore. Although it is not what fans thought would happen, it is only fair that a show titled The Mandalorian would bring the war-torn community together and unite them for a common cause instead of creating more rifts between them.

Between years of the Civil War followed by the Imperial Purge, Mandalorians had truly seen enough. Time will tell how Bo-Katan’s leadership will play out in season 4 and the upcoming Ahsoka series.