The Hidden Emotional Stakes Behind The Mandalorian: Chapter 13
By: David Brandon Hyland
Tags: Culture, Television, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Disney

Photo: Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

The most recent chapter of Din Djarin and “Baby Yoda”’s tale left quite a controversial stamp for Star Wars television-lovers. Some embraced it; some sneered at it; some thought it had flaws; and others thought that those flaws were negligible. It is this author’s opinion that, overall, the episode was good. Some minor nitpicks and a little bit of an opening for concern regarding the show’s future were present; but other than that, it kept me on the edge of my seat (both times). Nevertheless, there were some particular details sprinkled throughout the episode that enticed this author’s senses — like a child’s wide-eyed viewing of a baker trickling a chocolate tart with sugary powder. The details that these lovely writers put in revolved around the identity of the magistrate: Morgan Elsbeth.

Photo: Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

These are details that (though small to the average television-lover) fit together so perfectly that, narratively speaking, the final product almost makes too much sense for it not to be the case. Consider the following (or skip to the end if you would prefer):

The magistrate’s design is one that emanates a specific aesthetic that leans heavily off of oriental influence. Hair brushed back above and over the scalp, with perfectly segregated buns riding down the ponytail; a small tattoo on her forehead signifying personal identity, perhaps spiritual in nature; and a red and dark grey robe that was not dissimilar to traditional Chinese hanfu. In her homestead was a garden that was reminiscent of a Chinese garden, complete with a koi fish-like pond. In short, everything about the culture of the magistrate screams “oriental human being”, yet there have been no on-screen “oriental human being” cultures to grace screens the date. Save for one…

Also consider the fact that the wise Ahsoka Tano knew who Morgan Elsbeth was:

“Morgan Elsbeth. During the Clone Wars, her people were massacred. She survived and she let her anger fuel an industry which helped build the Imperial Starfleet.”

This begs the question: “How is that Ahsoka Tano knew about Morgan Elsbeth’s tragic history?” One could speculate that she did “her own digging” into the “archives”. But even still, one can’t help but detect the fainted implication of history between Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth — a personal history. Ahsoka was such an active participant of the Clone War herself, it’s hard to imagine she would need to do her own browser search as to discover a piece of history she was already so involved.

This suggests that Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth have met before. And not only that, but there is a high likelihood that these two souls have met on-screen before. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 4, Episode 14, Ahsoka Tano gets shanghaied into Lux’s reckless dealings with Death Watch. It doesn’t take long before Ahsoka realizes that the village people of this wintery, cherry-blossom planet has been taken as an occupied people; their women were made to be servants.

Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4, Episode 14 — “A Friend in Need” — Lucasfilm, of The Walt Disney Company

Indeed, Morgan Elsbeth could be any of these young women shown (or the women surrounding). If so, this would give a rich emotional foreground to the conflict between Ahsoka and Morgan. Death Watch would have been the group responsible for murdering her friend, Tryla. Over and above that, Death Watch would have been the ones to scorch her entire people alive and decimate the village she held so dear. And as the crème de la crème, Ahsoka Tano would have been the one who failed to foil their destruction.

Imagine. A woman devastated by losing all that she’s ever known in a single swoop; using her fury to fuel herself to survive; and build herself beyond the ashes of her people — to a point that she could have never comprehended before. Living her decades basking in her bittersweet industrial success, she never seized justice against the Death Watch terrorists for the crimes against her people. Morgan Elsbeth clung to her bitterness to the day she would, by divine intervention, re-encounter Ahsoka Tano: the Jedi, the so-called keeper of the peace, who failed to save her village. Ahsoka Tano, a woman with a mission of her own, surveys the destruction that Morgan herself has wrought and devotes herself to saving the slaves of Calodan. At the climax of their struggle, the two clash as years of electric tension crescendo between the two warrior women. “Revenge is not the Jedi way”, but sadly is the Ming Po way.

Of course, all of this presupposes that Morgan Elsbeth was one of the village girls who lost her family and friends to Death Watch. There are, however, two more facts to further consider. Firstly, The Mandalorian: “Chapter 13: The Jedi” was written by Dave Filoni; the apprentice of George Lucas has had an affinity for connecting his creative pieces together (from The Clone Wars to Rebels to Resistance — even inspirations from Avatar: The Last Airbender). Secondly, this episode was also directed by Dave Filoni, who would have been the leader responsible for orchestrating and finalizing all the fine visual details. Everything created in film and television is done so with intentionality. With complete creative control in Dave Filoni’s hands, there is a strong possibility that the episode’s design was articulated to hint that Morgan Elsbeth was a resident of the Ming Po people.

Will Star Wars enthusiasts ever know if Morgan Elsbeth is from the Ming Po for certain? Only time will tell. This is up to the creative inspirations of storytelling powerhouses Dave Filoni and Jon Faverau. One can only hope that The Mandalorian will continue to rocket to the sky’s limit.

God bless, God first,

David Hyland