Grogu of Mandalore
In "The Spies" (The Mandalorian 3.7), two different Mandalorian sects band together and travel to Mandalore to retake their homeworld, which has been occupied by the Empire. Because of their different customs and various past grievances, the two tribes struggle to get along, and their strife threatens to end the campaign before it even begins. When a member of one tribe gets into a fight with a member of the other, Din Djarin offers to step in and break up the fight, but Bo-Katan Kryze forbids it because he is of the same tribe as one of the brawlers: "Neither side can step in." If the members of one tribe back their kinsman, the members of the other side will back theirs and the conflict will escalate.
This scenario closely mirrors a sequence in Lawrence of Arabia, a major influence on Star Wars. In the first half of Lawrence of Arabia, the British officer T.E. Lawrence tries to get two Arabian tribes to band together to take the city of Aqaba, which is occupied by the Ottoman Empire. However, because of their different customs and various past grievances, the two tribes struggle to get along, and their strife threatens to end the campaign before it even begins. When a member of one tribe kills a member of the other in an altercation, Lawrence's friend Sharif Ali tells him, "This is the end of Aqaba." If the kinsmen of the murdered man execute justice on the murderer, the murderer's kinsmen will want to avenge him and the conflict will escalate.
In Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence steps in to end the dispute by executing justice himself, because he is a third party without ties to either tribe: "I have no tribe and no one is offended." In The Mandalorian, Grogu acts as the third party, placing himself between the two brawlers and urging them to stop fighting. In both cases, the dispute cannot be ended by a member of either tribe; instead, a third party must step in and end the dispute from outside. Once this internal crisis is averted, the group can remain united and accomplish the work it set out to do.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Bo-Katan Kryze / Din Djarin / Grogu
Shows: The Mandalorian
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: Mandalorians / mediators / tribes / unity and division / war and peace
Influences: Lawrence of Arabia
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