5, 12, And 13 For The Mandalorian?

i kinda give the show itself a pass in this respect because there are only one or two named characters (male or female) besides din and they usually don’t interact. din being male severely limits the chances for named female-female interaction. i mean if you genderbent din and did a reverse bechdel test (same criteria but for male instead of female characters) i'm pretty sure season 2 would fail. so it’s not really a gender thing and more of a small cast thing.

however, fanfiction doesn’t have that excuse because there are no limits to what characters you can have interact. you’re right - looking through my bookmarks, i might have a fic or two with some omera & winta conversation but that’s the extent of the female-female interactions. i would def be interested in finding fics that pass the bechdel test. i don’t usually read fics with ocs but i’m willing to give it a shot if they’re decently written.

How well does The Mandalorian pass the Bechdel Test?

I kinda got grumbling about representation of women in Mandalorian fanfiction as it relates to the abundance of nameless reader-insert characters a couple days ago. Namely, the general failure of the Bechdel test – does the story have two women who talk to each other about something other than a man? One step further – do both women have names? Two steps further – do they talk about something other than babies?

It shouldn’t seem that radical – two named characters who are women who talk to each other about something other than men or babies. Yet so few fanfics pass this benchmark. Among a set of authors who I suspect are mostly women.

Granted, the source material of the show presents a challenge in that the focus is, well… a man and a baby. And then I had to think about how long it took for the show itself to pass the Bechdel test, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t happen until late in the second season.

The first time two named women appear in the same episode was s1e4: Sanctuary, with Cara Dune and Omera. While Omera is named in the credits, I don’t think anyone calls her by name during the episode. I’m also pretty sure Cara and Omera don’t talk to each other directly. The closest we get is when Cara is telling the villagers they have to abandon their homes and Omera protests. Omera later serves Cara a beverage and Cara thanks her. Aaaannnd… that’s it! I don’t feel like this passes.

The next time we get two named women in the same episode is s1e8: Redemption, with the Armorer and Cara. Whether “the Armorer” as a title counts as a name is up for debate. I guess Din goes nameless most of the season as well, so I’ll allow it. Regardless, in their limited time together in the Forge, they don’t really interact. Cara notes that the Imps will arrive soon and the Armorer instructs them on how to escape. Aaaannnd… that’s it! Season One fails the Bechdel test.

The next time we get two named women in the same episode is s2e2: The Passenger, with Peli Motto and Frog Lady. Again, whether “Frog Lady” actually counts as a name is up for debate, and I don’t think Peli is ever called by name, either. They do have a brief, but direct, conversation confirming the presence of Mandalorians on Trask, albeit it’s in Frog language and we can’t understand it. I’d give this one a maybe, depending on how strong one wants to hold to the criteria.

Next up: s2e3: The Heiress, with Bo-Katan Kryze and Koska Reeves. I don’t think Koska is ever called by name. There’s some battle interaction, and they’re having a conversation at a table, though we don’t hear any of it. Weak maybe.

Next up: s2e5: The Jedi, with Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth. Finally, a solid pass! Ahsoka and Morgan have a direct verbal exchange at the beginning of the episode regarding the well-being of the townspeople and they are both called by name. Ahsoka questions Morgan directly after winning their duel, and there is, presumably, an interrogation, though it’s off-screen.

Next up: s2e7: The Believer, with Cara and Fennec Shand. Both are named and they have a conversation about setting up their strategy, and closely coordinate their shots while Din and Mayfeld escape the compound. Solid pass.

Last up: s2e8: The Rescue, with Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Koska. Bo-Katan calls Koska off of Boba at the cantina; battle planning directly between Bo-Katan and Cara, with Fennec participating in the general planning; the radio exchange between Bo-Katan and the unnamed Imperial coms officer; some battle conversation between Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Koska as they mow Stormtroopers down on their way to the bridge; and a few direct lines between them on the bridge itself. Solid pass.

So, out of 16 total episodes in the first two seasons so far, only 7, fewer than half, have at least two women who appear in the same scenes, and only three of those are what I would call a solid pass. Not a fantastic track record.

What surprises me here is the number of near misses – four of the seven came so close but didn’t quite make it. It becomes more surprising when you consider Dave Filoni’s prior work. While the male:female character ratio in The Clone Wars wasn't stellar, whenever two women were in the room together, they almost always had names and they almost always had direct conversations with each other about politics or battle strategy or something. Rebels was even better by way of Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren together on the same ship. My memory of Jon Favreau’s prior work isn’t super-sharp on this subject, but the MCU didn’t offer a whole lot of opportunities (though I admit I’ve managed to miss most of the newer Spiderman stuff). Maybe Dave needs to steer Jon in the right direction on this for later seasons.

Point being: one of the great uses of fanfic is filling the gaps left by the source material. The Mandalorian has some huge gaps in terms of women with names who talk to each other (about something other than men and babies). The potential is enormous. Did Cara and Omera develop a friendship on Sorgan? Cara and Fennec seem to get along well – how did they become such fast friends? Why is Koska so loyal to Bo-Katan? These are all easy things to tuck in around our favorite Man and Baby. Like, you know Cara and Fennec are having conversations about their favorite guns while Din’s in the back losing his mind over finding Grogu. It’s not hard. (And yes, I’m working on a few of these, myself.)

I’ll also admit I’ve been so wrapped up in my own writing lately that I haven’t had much time to check out AO3. If anyone has some good examples of Mando fanfic that passes the Bechdel test, please feel free to reblog with recommendations! OCs with names - actual developed characters who are their own people - count as well! (Conversations can, of course, include our favorite Man and Baby, but just not be limited to them.)

Happy writing!

romance is lame and overrated i love mentor/mentee relationships in fiction and especially when theyre sort of fucked up

the beginning of rots where obi-wan's starfighter gets shot down and he tells anakin to leave him is 10x funnier when you realize that obi-wan commands every single republic ship in that scene. if obi-wan had died right then the republic would've instantly lost the war

i love you fictional vehicles that become a main character in the story by extension, i love you ships with iconic names that turn into a home for the characters, i love you humanized modes of transportation with imagined personality quirks, i love you sapient starships with real personality quirks, i love you inherent human ability to emotionally bond with literally anything

i think a lightsaber is a really telling choice of weapon for the jedi order in terms of how they practise peacekeeping. a lightsaber is not the tool of an organisation that priorities non-violence. it’s for, ideally, a very controlled amount of violence, as much violence as is necessary (whether it’s a kill or the traditional jedi cutting off a limb) to efficiently end the threat

we overwhelmingly see jedi fight other lightsaber wielders, but realistically on a day-to-day basis, the enemies the jedi face would be ordinary people, not remotely a match for them. it’s up to every jedi in battle to be judge jury and executioner, to decide exactly how much harm they need to do before they do it. in legends the jedi have their own specific terms for the different kind of cuts or ‘marks of contact’, with an understanding of how honourable they are and what enemies they can be applied to, which really demonstrates that they are controlled ethical decisions rather than instinctual or purely defensive

and on a wider scale this is how the jedi order practises their role in the galaxy. that’s the clone wars: rather than refusing to engage in violence, they accept an amount of violence that, in their view, has to be done in order to end the conflict as quickly as possible and achieve the peaceful result. but violence on a galactic scale can’t be so easily controlled. and even where it can be, that gives the jedi a level of galactic power they were never meant to have

question for tumblr: do you guys usually make separate side blogs for each of your fandoms? cause i’ve only posted mandalorian/star wars stuff so far, but i want to post mcu thoughts as well. should i do that on my main blog or make another one?

a tiny detail from the mandalorian soundtrack that i love: one of the recurring sounds in the track “capture the flag” in chapter 14 is actually the tie fighter sound effect. it starts as din leaves grogu to check on the new fighter that’s just landed, foreshadowing the imperials coming to take grogu when he’s not there.

it’s so cool. like, the line between sound effect and soundtrack is blurred. reminds me of chapter 16 where the sounds of the dark troopers booting up are also part of a song, “activated”. it makes the action way more intense because you can’t really separate what you’re seeing from what you’re hearing.

Everything casts two shadows. “Kenobi” by John Jackson Miller

rescue gone wrong

DO YOU KNOW THIS CHARACTER?