Summary: When the Jedi Luke Skywalker whisks Grogu away to train him in the Force, he also strips the Mandalorian of his purpose. As the bounty hunter enters a period of soul-searching, he finds an odd mechanic working for Peli Motto who offers to help him build a new gunship from scratch. But this mechanic may mend more than Din's sense of direction.
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Soul-searching (/ˈsōl ˌsərCHiNG/): An in-depth, honest evaluation or examination of your life's motivations, your values and your emotions regarding your life's path.
The Mandalorian is lost. He spends his days wandering between planets in or around the Outer Rim, and he's not sure why. After the Razor Crest was brutally shot down by Moff Gideon, sometimes he tells himself that he goes to planets like Tatooine in search of a better replacement gunship. But he never finds one. Other times it's for different food, which doesn't make sense since Din never cares about what he eats. He returns to Sorgan more often than he'll admit to see Omera's krill-farming villagers and the progress they have made from repairing the aftermath of defeating the Klatoonians. He visits Greef Karga and the New Republic Marshal Cara Dune, who currently live in Nevarro, frequently as well.
Din Djarin can't remember the last time he's showered, let alone take off the beskar that covers his body. He hasn't looked at a mirror in ages and can't get himself to brush his hair. Dreams of past trauma and the kid plague him when he tries to sleep, so he avoids it whenever possible. Sleep is not a choice anymore, but a state that he enters when his body physically cannot stay awake any longer. Although Greef Karga has told him several times that his name is cleared in the Bounty Hunters' Guild, he cannot bring himself to associate with the organization any longer. Every time he looks at a tracking fob, he freezes and is transported to the memory of other bounty hunters tracking their way to the kid, regardless of which planets he escapes to.
When given a bounty to hunt, it is done privately by clients who seek the Mandalorian out on their own. For an even higher rate than before, he acts as a private mercenary. He turns into a cold-blooded assassin or a far merciless one than before. He retires the slogan "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold" and instead hunts in dead silence. His bounties are delivered to his clients in one form: lifeless.
He knows that he has changed. The Armorer had told him what his purpose was, and now that he had fulfilled it, he did not know what to do with himself. He can hunt for as many bounties as he wants, but he finds that nothing seems to fill the emptiness that cloaks him. It's almost comical that Din wasn't aware of such an existence before his foundling left. Grogu had filled a hole that he didn't even know had been there. Now the kid was gone. And Din is all alone again.
The galaxy is cruel; of course, Din knew that already. His parents passed away before he lived a single decade. A covert of faceless, beskar-clad people took him in and trained his young and impressionable self to kill. He relies on those skills to maim or murder others for credits. It's no wonder that his life leans on fragile crutches wobbling on cracked concrete.
