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Star Wars made The Mandalorian's backstory even more tragic

Summary

  • Din Djarin's traumatic past on Aq Vetina explains his strong hatred of droids in The Mandalorian.
  • As the sole survivor of the attack on Aq Vetina, Din is filled with guilt and gratitude and remains faithful to the Mandalorian faith.
  • Din's backstory reveals the depth of his trauma and explains his persistent aggressive behavior toward droids throughout the series.



Through The Mandalorian In season 1, Din Djarin's backstory is explored in flashbacks that show viewers how he both became a Mandalorian and developed such a strong hatred for droids. These flashbacks reveal just how much trauma Din went through the day the Mandalorians took him in as a foundling, a memory that connected him even more deeply to Grogu – another child whose life was rocked by tragedy similar to Din's own. What is revealed is just enough to help viewers understand how Din became the man he is The Mandalorianand these revelations are tragic enough in themselves.

Din once lived on a world called Aq Vetina, which can be seen in the flashbacks that appear in The Mandalorian Season 1 Finale. When his settlement is attacked by Separatist battle droids during the Clone Wars, Din's parents sacrifice themselves to protect him, and ultimately succeed. The Mandalorians arrive just in time to save Din from a battle droid that has found his hiding place, and that Mandalorian takes Din away and raises him, presumably as a foundling. As it turns out, however, that fateful day has an even more tragic side.


Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin with and without helmet, superimposed with Grogu in The Mandalorian

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The Mandalorian: Din Djarin's full timeline, backstory and Star Wars future explained

Din Djarin from The Mandalorian has quickly become one of Star Wars' most iconic characters. Here's his complete timeline, backstory, and future explained.


Din Djarin was the only survivor of Aq Vetina

The battle droids killed everyone he knew and loved

This was shown on a preview page for Star Wars' upcoming Star Wars Encyclopedia that Din Djarin was the only survivor of the attack on his settlement Aq Vetina. Previously, it was simply assumed that the Mandalorians had taken Din in because he was an orphan in need of guardianship, and that perhaps there were other survivors left on Aq Vetina. However, it is now clear that the reason Din went with the Mandalorians was because he had no one and nothing else to take care of him after this brutal, tragic attack.


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Now we know why Din Djarin is so traumatized

That day he lost everything to the battle droids

Knowing that Din Djarin was the only survivor of the attack on Aq Vetina completely reframes his trauma, especially as it relates to droids. It was already easy to understand why Din harbored such hatred for droids after the events on his homeworld, but this new information makes it clear that the heavy burden of survivor guilt also rests on his shouldersThis explains why he remains so true to his Mandalorian credo, especially in The Mandalorian Season 3; to refuse this chance would be to turn his back on the second chance that only he himself had offered.

Din was and still is willing to do anything to express his gratitude for being saved by the Mandalorians. And while his sense of honor drives his devotion, his strict adherence to the creed is undoubtedly also partly due to guilt.


Din already confirms this in The Mandalorian Season 1. When the widowed farmer on Sorgan, Omera, expresses her shock that Din has not shown his face to anyone since childhood, He explains himself with the words:I was glad that they took me in.“ This single line takes on a new and heavy meaning. Din was and still is willing to do anything to express his gratitude for being saved by the Mandalorians, and while his sense of honor drives his devotion, guilt is no doubt also partly responsible for his strict adherence to the creed.

When it comes to droids, this is still true. During Din's journey in The Mandalorian has seen him warm up a bit more to certain droids such as IG-11, R5-D4, and Peli Motto's other droids, Din still cannot trust most of their kind – especially the B-2 battle droids that attacked Aq Vetina. Because of this, he continues to act so aggressively towards them and the various other droids on Plazir-15 in Season 3. Din's backstory in The Mandalorian is even more traumatic than anyone could have imagined, and it affects his character to this day.


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