'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Episode 5's showdown makes one thing absolutely clear: Din Djarin shot first
Spoilers for 'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Episode 5 'The Jedi'
There are a lot of passionate debates about 'Star Wars' galaxy. Is 'The Last Jedi' the best or worst 'Star Wars' film? Was 'The Rise of Skywalker' satisfying for anyone? Did Luke Skywalker commit genocide when he blew up the Death Star? Is Boba Fett really all that interesting? One of the most infamous debates involved one of the franchise's most popular characters in the very first moments of his introduction - a moment that 'The Mandalorian' put its own spin on in its latest episode.
Han Solo's (Harrison Ford) first appearance saw him in negotiations with the bounty hunter Greedo (Paul Blake) in 'Star Wars: A New Hope'. It fleshes out Han's character as a charming scoundrel, as he tries to talk his way out of being captured by Greedo for the money he owes Jabba the Hutt. What the scene also shows is how dangerous Han can be - Greedo takes out a gun to shoot Han with, but before Greedo can fire, Han shoots him under the table, without even blinking.
In various reprints of the film, however, this exact scene is edited in different ways - some show that Greedo shot first and that Han was merely returning fire. Others show that the two fired more or less simultaneously and subsequent releases of the film have only made the issue more confusing. Some fans are purists to the original film who believe it should always show that Han shot first, while others like the change, believing it softens Han's character to not be a cold-blooded killer but someone acting in self-defence. The debate has gone back and forth between old school 'Star Wars' fans for decades, now, and "Han Shot First" has become a meme in its own right.
A bounty hunter like Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) faces showdowns like that a lot more often than a smuggler does, however, in Chapter 13 of 'The Mandalorian', during a raid to save a village from its tyrannical leader, Din faces down one of her lieutenants. Like Han, this lieutenant is charismatic enough to try and talk his way out of danger, telling the Mandalorian that he's not ready to die for this cause. He starts to put his gun down, but then immediately reaches for a spare gun when Din begins to relax. Before the lieutenant can take the shot, however, Din rapidly shoots the lieutenant right in the chest with his blaster.
With his Beskar Steel armor, Din could have easily been shot and have it bounce harmlessly off of him, but he's too good of a bounty hunter to simply allow something like that to happen. The show makes it clear, in no uncertain terms - Din Djarin shot first, and there's no room for debate about it.
The next episode of 'The Mandalorian' airs December 4, on Disney+.
