In TCW, Satine appears to control the entire Mandalorian system (or at least her government does). She can claim neutrality for her system and her people, separating her government from Death Watch and their connection to the Separatists so that their actions don't incur consequences for herself and her people.

And then in Rebels, we meet Fenn Rau who claims to have actually FOUGHT in the Clone Wars on the side of the Republic. Which... radically goes against Satine's declaration of neutrality, but also doesn't align with Death Watch's more warmongering connection with the Separatists.

TCW also told us that Satine had "exiled all the warriors" to a nearby moon named Concordia, implying that anyone left in the system had agreed not to continue warrior traditions.

So how an entire group of Mandalorians managed to not just BE WARRIORS STILL but explicitly go against Satine's declaration of neutrality in order to fight for the Republic is BAFFLING. It makes no fucking sense. The only way to make any sense of it is to believe that the Protectors and Concord Dawn were never under Satine and her government's control to begin with, so her rules and her neutrality just didn't apply to them.

But they're never brought up in any of the first discussions Obi-Wan has with Satine about a Mandalorian warrior attacking a Republic vessel. You'd think if there was a known group of Mandalorians who still practiced warrior traditions that refused to acknowledge Satine as their ruler, that would be important information to bring up and consider here. Even if the Protectors are already fighting for the Republic at this point in the story, it would still be a worthwhile place to start investigating. So the only way to make sense of THAT is to assume that the Protectors had been in hiding and Satine didn't know about them yet, or they were created only AFTER Satine made her declaration of neutrality and they disagreed with it and a bunch of people ran off to make their OWN "traditional" warrior group that wasn't associated with either Satine or Death Watch in order to help the Republic in the war.

And that's... kinda interesting. The idea of a more "traditional" warrior group that didn't agree with some of Satine's rules but who had no interest in trying to overthrow her or join the Separatists in their more imperialist ways, and so they actually fought on the Republic's side in the war. There IS a way to take that and to try to use that as a bridge between Lucas's Mandos and Filoni's Mandos. ESPECIALLY if we'd seen more of a conflict between Fenn Rau and Bo-Katan, who manages to represent both the Kryze bloodline AND Death Watch, neither of which are things the Protectors should be all that impressed by.

by J.R.R. Tolkien

Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen but we alone.

Tree and flower and leaf and grass, Let them pass! Let them pass! Hill and water under sky, Pass them by! Pass them by!

Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And though we pass them by today, Tomorrow we may come this way And take the hidden paths that run Towards the Moon or to the Sun.

Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go! Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you well! Fare you well!

Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight. The world behind and home ahead, We’ll wander back to home and bed.

And it was astonishing because not only was it an amazing sense of connection between the audience and the actress, but you also realized that this was a kind of an historical lesson in theater reception. That’s what must have happened at The Globe. These soliloquies were not simply monologues that people spoke, they were call and response to the audience. And you realized that vibrancy, that that sense of connectedness is not only what makes theater great in prisons, it’s what makes theater great, period."

Hamlet. There’s a scene where Hamlet sees Claudius praying and debates whether to kill him now or wait (because if Claudius dies praying he will automatically go to heaven). The actor playing Hamlet was genuinely asking the audience the questions in the speech, and when he got to “and should I kill him now?” someone in the audience shouted “YES KILL HIM HE NEEDS TO DIE!” Hamlet took the entire rest of the monologue to that person, enumerating his reservations so persuasively that they started to nod in agreement.

Romeo and Juliet. In this production, the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt happens in several rounds, of which Mercutio won the first. Mercutio’s actor made the choice, upon his victory, to run down the audience with his hand out for high-fives. He decided this in rehearsal, so he had time to plan for the three responses people would probably give him: a) a high-five back; b) being stunned and not reacting; and c) the old “oops too slow.” What this Mercutio did not prepare for was the audience member who panicked and deposited their handful of M&Ms into his open palm. The way I heard it, Mercutio was still processing this when Benvolio came up beside him and stole the M&Ms out of his hand to eat them.

Afternoon dress

c. 1900

Callot Soeurs

Smiling Bats

I'm getting very annoyed at the prevalence of AI these days. Would it be too much to ask to read something written and checked by a human being with a brain?