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spoilers for season 2 of The Mandalorian

Okay, the question itself was a bit hard to phrase, but I'll try my best.

In Attack of the Clones, we first see Jango Fett using the same Mandalorian armor that Boba has in the original trilogy, showing that it was passed down from father to son. But when we meet the Mandalorians in The Clone Wars, they report that Jango is not one of them and obtained Mandalorian armor in some unknown way. This tracks, as Jango is a bounty hunter and has always worked on his own.

But, in season 2 of The Mandalorian, Boba Fett tells Din that Jango was a foundling and fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars. If this is the case, why did Mandalore claim no connection to Jango in The Clone Wars? Is this just a total retcon of that line, or can both of the claims be true?

Paul D. Waite
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LongLiveTheJedi
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  • Jango wasn't originally using the same armour. That's been retconned – Valorum Dec 08 '21 at 20:47
  • Prime Minister Almec was biased for the New Mandalorians; he has self interest in holding his society is the true heir to way of life, and shading the old style Mandalorians like Jango — there’s no reason to believe he knew Jango’s foundling state or was telling truth if he did. – Silly but True Dec 08 '21 at 21:00

3 Answers3

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Having re-read the transcript of the episode, I note that Prime Minister Almec never actually denies that Jango Fett is a Mandalorian, foundling or otherwise, nor does he deny that Jango fought in the Mandalorian Civil War. His exact words are:

Jango Fett is a common bounty hunter. How he acquired that armour is beyond me.

This appears to be a case of "lying by omission" - Almec dismisses Jango as merely "a common bounty hunter" while neglecting to mention that he actually is Mandalorian. Think of it like Obi-Wan telling Luke that Darth Vader killed Luke's father while neglecting to mention that they're the same person - it's true, from a certain point of view.

As for why Almec would do this, Silly but True pointed in the comments that, as Prime Minister, he has a vested interest in upholding Mandalore's peaceful image and disavowing anyone that contradicts it. It's a subtle "no true Scotsman" fallacy - no true Mandalorian would be as violent as Jango Fett is, therefore Jango Fett cannot be Mandalorian.

As far as I can tell, The Mandalorian confirming Jango's Mandalorian heritage doesn't actually contradict anything Almec said.

F1Krazy
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F1Krazy's answer is pretty much correct, but there is one additional piece of information that I think supports this.

As you mention in your question and in the Mandalorian episode you reference, it was said Jango was a "Foundling", similar to Din Djarin. From what we know of Din's backstory, he was orphaned during a Separatist attack and saved by a group of Mandalorians. He was adopted and eventually joined their ranks.

Given this, I think we can assume Jango is not from the planet Mandalore nor was he Mandalorian by birth (i.e. born of Mandalorian parents) and was orphaned and adopted into a Mandalorian clan, and raised as one.

So if you take "Mandalorian" as being from the planet Mandalore or born of parents who were Mandalorian, it is very likely Almec did not consider Jango Fett a true Mandalorian.

psubsee2003
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  • I've accepted F1Krazy's answer, but yours is a great addition to it! Thank you so much; it makes sense that Almec wouldn't consider Jango a Mandalorian by his standards! – LongLiveTheJedi Dec 09 '21 at 21:23
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Yes

As F1Krazy's answer states, the two plot points can be rectified in-universe. However, from a behind the scenes perspective, his backstory was changed. The notes of 2019's Star Wars: Age of Republic - Jango Fett states that at that time, Jango not being a Mandalorian was the position of both George Lucas and Lucasfilm.

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While this statement does touch upon the same reasoning used by F1Krazy, it's still pretty unambiguous. Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Boba Fett repeats the same sentiment.

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It's a "Vader killed your father" vs "Vader is your father" situation. In-universe, these points are consistent because a character was less than honest. But out-of-universe, there was a change.

Rogue Jedi
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