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The Mandalorian season 3 is running strong, but it continues to raise questions about Din Djarin’s helmet. The question of “why the Mandalorians cannot take off their helmets?” has become even more prominent after seeing Bo-Katan Kryse and her followers continuously take theirs off.
Back in season 2, it became very confusing for people as even Din Djarin was star-struck when he saw Bo-Katan take her helmet off. He immediately thought that she and her compadres stole the Mandalorian armor. But that wasn’t the case, as Bo-Katan explained that her armor had been in her family for three generations. But why can she take her helmet off, and Din Djarin cannot?
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from The Mandalorian season 3.
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Why The Mandalorian cannot remove his helmet
From the beginning of The Mandalorian, we were told that Din cannot remove his helmet. It was and still is forbidden for him to do so because “this is the way” of Mandalore. He was a foundling who joined the Mandalorian Creed and never took his helmet off after wearing it.
According to the ancient way of Mandalore, a Mandalorian cannot remove his/her helmet in front of another living being. If he/she does that, then they will no longer be a Mandalorian. That’s why Din agreed to take his helmet off in front of IG-11 in season 1, as he was just a droid. But he broke the rule when he took his helmet off in front of the Imperial soldiers, and later for Grogu in season 2.
He let the people around him look at his face and was branded as an Apostate by the Armorer. Taking the helmet off willingly is an even bigger sin than having it forcibly removed. So, the Armorer was right to cast him out of her Mandalorian sect, claiming he was no longer a Mandalorian. But where does this rule come from?
The Children of the Watch explained
In season 2, Bo-Katan revealed that Din Djarin was a part of a Mandalorian sect called the Children of the Watch. They are a cult of zealots who broke away from Mandalore and settled on Concordia, the moon of Mandalore. That’s how they survived the Great Purge when Mandalore was destroyed.
Their religious beliefs are to follow the ancient way of Mandalore, where people don’t remove their helmets in front of others. They believe they only survived the purge because they followed the creed, which states that they cannot show their faces to other living beings.
Their goal is to take care of the foundlings, collect Beskar and turn it into armor and helmets for the foundlings. They also unite young foundlings with their own kind, which is exactly what we’ve seen Mando do with Grogu until now.
Mando himself was raised as a foundling on Concordia. He was made to believe that the way of the Children of the Watch was the only way. That’s why he was shocked when he saw Bo-Katan and her followers take off their helmets.
How The Mandalorians can redeem themselves
As mentioned above, removing their helmets is strictly prohibited. But if that does happen to someone, then the Creed also offers a way for them to be redeemed. After Din Djarin became an apostate, his next goal was to redeem himself.
Redemptions can be found by bathing in the Living Waters beneath the mines of Mandalore. The mines were believed to be destroyed in the great purge. So, redemption seemed impossible, but Din Djarin proved that the Living Waters still existed by taking a dip in it.
Just as he went in, he was pulled by the Mythosaur and lost consciousness, only to be saved by Bo-Katan. She also went into the Living Waters to save him and never removed her helmet after that, which meant that even she was redeemed.
Why Bo-Katan can take her helmet off
While The Children of the Watch reestablished “the ancient way” on Concordia, the rest of Mandalore and other planets in the star system had stopped following that lifestyle. They had become more practical and had different goals than The Children of the Watch.
They are not tied to the old ways and can choose to take their helmets off when they aren’t in battle. This is how many Star Wars fans had seen the Mandalorians in animated shows like Clone Wars before The Mandalorian hit Disney+.
So, Bo-Katan and her followers of this Mandalorian sect can take their helmets off as and when they see fit. And after chapter 21, it’s possible that The Children of the Watch could also accept their way.
As Bo-Katan witnessed a living Mythosaur, the Armorer began to believe that she might be the one to unite all Mandalorians. Hence, she allowed Bo-Katan to walk both ways (as symbolized by the Nite Owl crest and the Mythosaur crest she sports).
The Mandalorian season 3, chapter 22, will be released on April 5.
