Could The Mandalorian Have Subtly Borrowed This From Legends?
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Max Nocerino 
Are foundling Mandalorians taught to be psychopaths and switch off their rage? Max explores the links between The Mandalorian and Legends!
Is there a link between The Mandalorian and Legends beyond the characters introduced by Jon Favreau?
One of the best things about having a good memory is recalling brief tidbits from media sources from years ago. Recently, I was thinking about the Legacy of the Force series. It was a series of Legends books that explored the continued adventures of the Big Three and the addition of Leia and Han’s twin children Jacen and Jaina.
JACEN SOLO
It was after the devastating Yuuzhan Vong war (which interestingly enough, was the most recent content when I fully immersed myself in the Expanded Universe.) Anyway, this series takes place after the end of this war and centers on Jacen Solo falling to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Caedus. I don’t want to spoil it (even though it’s almost 15 years old) but Jaina turns out to have to deal with her errant twin. She trains under Boba Fett (her father’s archnemesis) and also meets a few other Mandalorians. One, in particular, is Goran Beviin (one of the first openly gay Star Wars characters; even before Disney!) and he and Jaina have an odd conversation.
Jaina witnesses him go into a murderous rage to eliminate a target and then return to sanity. Questioning him, the Mandalorian says it’s a technique that he learned as a child (Foundling?). And that the medical explanation was that he could switch on psychopathy. Psychopathy is a very serious medical disorder where the recipient cannot and does not feel remorse or care for anyone but themselves. It seems evil and maybe it is, but there are many psychopaths on this planet. And many of them, while not ideal candidates for friends and lovers, aren’t always deranged serial killers.
You are born a psychopath. You hide your cold heart but sociopathy which is an umbrella turn can be developed. So in a sense, it is theoretically possible to “turn it on”. How this is done is not explained in the Legacy of the Force book and probably is super complicated. But it has a strange echo into today’s modern Star Wars.
DIN DJARIN
Din Djarin, the breakout star of the Mandalorian seems to exhibit this ability or trait. He isn’t a psychopath as he grows to love Grogu and can form social bonds and make allies. Yet there are times when he seems downright cold and emotionless towards his enemies. “I can bring you in warm or cold” he famously says to his bounty hunting quarry. He also shuts off to people he does not want to speak with and sometimes approaches everything like a calculating, emotionless droid.
Mando has no qualms disintegrating Jawas that were pillaging his ship. And, while they were stealing his stuff, disintegrating them, seems unusually cruel. He also approaches the Marshal in Season 2 wearing Boba Fett’s armor and gets a little creepy. He feels the Marshal doesn’t have the right to wear it as he is not Mandalorian, and approaches and simply says “Take it off”.
MANDO MADNESS
It’s quite a chilling way to speak to someone. And every nuance in his voice suggests fatal violence, all for a dusty suit of up-for-grabs armor. So maybe, Din learned to switch on psychopathy when he was inducted into the Mandalorians. I have no clue if Mandalorian director and writer Jon Favreau read any of these books and decided to implement them, but hey- you never know!
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
