The Mandalorian, Aragorn, and Character Morality
I had the chance to watch all the episodes of THE MANDALORIAN over Christmas. Really good! It’s a very-well constructed show.
Naturally, as a writer, I think about what makes the show compelling. The nuts and bolts, as it were.
MILD SPOILERS!!! for the show follow below.
Some reader emails provide a starting point for my thoughts about THE MANDALORIAN. Occasionally I get emails from (usually female) readers expression appreciating how I’ve written the characters of Caina and Nadia in the GHOSTS and CLOAK GAMES/MAGE series, which is a nice compliment. When my correspondents ask me “how do you write women characters”, I tell them that it’s simple – to write characters of the opposite gender, the writer must first understand that the opposite gender is just as capable of moral bankruptcy as the writer’s own.
Everyone has a good laugh at that, but they know what I mean. There’s a good quote from THE TWO TOWERS on that topic:
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“How shall a man judge what to do in such times?”
“As he ever has judged,” said Aragorn. “Good and ill have no changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man’s part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own home.”
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I think the key to writing compelling characters of any background is to realize that all classes of humanity, regardless of sex, race, wealth, or creed, have equal opportunity to make moral choices. Kings and beggars alike have become both saints and villains. In fiction, this is what makes for compelling characters and interesting plots.
The “Baby Yoda” character has become the most popular part of THE MANDALORIAN, but in many ways, he is a sort of moral MacGuffin for the story. When confronted with a (seemingly) helpless child, the characters have to make moral choices about him. The Mandalorian himself is at his most compelling when, after delivering Baby Yoda to the Client, he has a crisis of conscience and decides to go back to rescue the child. Or when the Mandalorian spares the mercenaries who betrayed him. The Client himself is at his most interesting when he makes his speech praising the order and stability of the Empire compared to the chaos that followed the fall of the Emperor, showing that he views his evil actions as a duty. All of the Mandalorian’s eventual allies make moral choices to help the child, while his foes try to sell the child or simply view him as a lever to use against the Mandalorian.
There’s a good lesson for writers here – if you’re having trouble writing a character, confront that character with a powerful moral choice. You can get a lot of plot out of that.
A second, equally important lesson for writers: if you wind up creating a “Baby Yoda” type character, make sure to retain the merchandising rights. 🙂
-JM