#Fenn Shysa

[marmota-b]

Justice for Fenn Shysa!

Well, that may be too strong a wording, but, seriously, Fenn Shysa deserves a lot more respect than he seems to get these days. Turns out I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the subject, but the thing is, they're based on canon. (Legends canon, but considering how little new Disney canon ended up giving us, that still is where most Mandalorian discourse is happening to begin with.)

Fic writers (at least on AO3) who are into Mandalorians seem to love, love, love Jaster Mereel. They seem to think Jaster Mereel would have fixed everything, if only he had lived. There is an image of Jaster Mereel people have built up, and which they love, and hold up as a metric of what a good Mandalorian and Mand'alor is like.

I love it myself, but. But. Most of it is pure fanon.

Fenn Shysa's accomplishments aren't. Fenn Shysa is canonically great. Where are all the Fenn Shysa fics?!

Fenn Shysa, who incidentally has a lot in common with Jaster, actually did fix everything.

And it's a very interesting comparison to make because the two actually do have a lot in common, on a superficial level. They're both Mand'alors who started out as policemen, and don't come from a big established clan. But it seems to me that they took very different lessons from their experiences, and as far as I can see Shysa comes out the better from the comparison. Mereel, heralded as the reformer, by all appearances (including what lessons Jango seems to have taken from him) still doubled down on certain hardwired Mandalorian stock responses. Shysa moved on from them. Shysa overcame the biggest Mandalorian shortcomings.

(As far as I can see, the only thing Jaster might canonically have over him is taking in a ward (did he ever actually adopt Jango?) when Shysa remained without any family. Considering the truly hard times Shysa lived in, considering he spent a good deal of his adult years as a guerrilla fighter desperately trying to save people from the Empire, I can't find it in myself to hold it against him.)

And it's also interesting for a Mandalorian fan inclined to draw never-stated conclusions to compare them just by how they present. To look at Jaster Mereel, and look at Fenn Shysa, and see one wearing the colour of justice, and the other the colour of duty. Neither is necessarily wrong, of course, but in-universe, it probably does say something about them. We first meet Jaster fighting a civil war, bent on eliminating his opponents; we first meet Shysa freeing enslaved people. Their reasons for fighting differ considerably. And so do the results of their actions.

And it's the actions where Shysa shines. Where it's Shysa who is the real reformer.

Fenn Shysa actually united Mandalore. If you draw conclusions from the shifting canons the exact same way you do with Jaster, Fenn Shysa actually managed to work with all the factions and gain their respect: the fact that he was an undisputed Mand'alor after the fall of the Empire is Legends canon, not just fandom speculation of what the situation was and could have been.

Based purely on actual established canon events, Fenn Shysa was just about the best Mand'alor ever. Not flawless, of course, but better than most Mandalorians, able to rise above their common failings that have kept dooming them all throughout their history. He did not hold grudges, he wasn't isolationist, he wasn't inseparably married to the idea of warrior glory, while still maintaining warrior honour and a certain sort of proud independence. But he was not too proud to ask the Rebel Alliance / New Republic for help when Mandalore was attacked and overwhelmed - and not too proud to work with them. He also forgave and helped his enemies when it turned out they may have had somewhat justifiable reasons for their attempts at conquest, and immediately offered them Mandalorian help in reclaiming their own home. (Isn't one of the biggest failings of the Mando'ade how much they hold grudges, dooming any attempts at fruitful collaboration through old blood feuds and petty disagreements?) And he worked with the nascent New Republic, yet without giving in an inch of Mandalorian independence. He united the things the various factions wanted: he was an honourable warrior upholding the Supercommando Codex, he achieved peace within the system and peace with the Republic, and he gave rabid traditionalist Mandalorians actual wars to fight in which Mandalorians could prove their mettle before the Galaxy - just not destructive wars of conquest. It's not like the GFFA is short on villainous factions to try and stop.

It's Tobbi Dala who touches on it out loud in the comics, not Shysa specifically, but he obviously echoes Shysa's ideals: Their highest purpose as warriors is to protect. That's what the Resol'nare say, nothing else. Shysa started out, in the Clone Wars, as more or less a mercenary, like Jaster, but I think, outside of situations when he did have to be pragmatic about things like making a living, he outgrew it into something even greater.

Fenn Shysa may not have written a neat manifesto, but I bet he actually lived it. He was the best Mand'alor Mandalore had had in ages. Fenn Shysa was exactly the Mand'alor the Mando'ade needed, when they most needed him. He revived their spirit and their purpose after centuries of strife and defeats.

More respect for Fenn Shysa, please. Much, much more.

(I guess the unquestioning love of Jaster at Shysa's expense is excellent proof of the truth of that one Mandalorian saying: "He who writes, remains." 🙄)

[archeo-starwars]

ALIENS IN THE EMPIRE: Part I, Star Wars Insider # 96 online supplement written by Abel G. Pena & Rich Handley (page 5)

[mandalorianhistorian]

I know that Mandalorians and Jedi don't exactly get along, but are there any EU Mandos that were sympathetic to the Jedi Order, or at least potentially saw them as allies rather than enemies?

We have a few examples from kotor all the way up to legacy of the force

( a lot of the Jedi they do befriend don’t really follow the code fully so it makes sense they do get along)

Wellll the first most obvious one is revan of course ( I still think revan is Mando but that’s a whole other can of worms) revan and canderous working together from the beginning of kotor and the mentions of it in kotor 2 is brilliant ( I will not mention the dam novel it’s insulting to the game) (kotor 1+2)

In the mandalorian wars we also have zayne carrick he got taken into the mandalorian ranks which wasn’t the best situation but he did befriend a mandalorian family (mandalorian wars comic series)

In swtor we have shae vizla and torian if you play republic side (being a Mando though is the best in swtor)

Well obviously we can count etain and bardan aswell and all the surviving Jedi that joined clan skirata (republic commando)

You can also count fenn shysa with leia Han and Luke and the rebel alliance

And durning the vong war boba and his mandalorians fought beside a Jedi in secret

Well obviously Jaina solo with boba fett mirta gev and bevin and Medrit and their daughter and her children so Jaina kinda wins lol she got a whole load of mandos she worked and talked with lol (sintas kinda counts) (legacy of the force)

I may have missed a few pls correct me if I have

(Sorry this took a while was trying to remember who worked with the mandos)

[canuckianhawkbi]

Mando season 3 is here and I have polls so:

(Canon poll here)

[verpineshatterrifle]

i hc fenn shysa as an untrained force sensitive mainly bc that makes him asking if bardan would sow his wild oats all across mandalore a billion times funnier

(but also because... people listen to fenn...)

the whole situation also reaches new heights of comedy if you're an aroace bardan truther

[ice-6caydesqueen]

If they bait and switch and make bo manda’lore I will scream in rage

Fenn shysa get your ass over here we got a death watch bitch trying to take your title

Armorer girl I love you but wtf din is your adika

[cienie-isengardu]

[legends-expo]

Panel Announcement: Make Mine Marvel Writers Abel Peña, Jason Fry and Michael Kogge take a look back at the original Star Wars Marvel comics! This panel will be on Sunday.

Get your tickets now, and join us on September 9th & 10th in Burbank, CA! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/legends-consortium-2023-tickets-541786186067

[yaswb]

Mandalorians! This scene from the original Star Wars Marvel Comic Series was part of a story arc that has a very special place in my childhood memories, as the German “Krieg der Sterne” album series stopped its run mid arc and left us with a cliffhanger (The infamous “Chidho in carbonite” scene). Memories are fuzzy but I think it was only a couple of months away from ROTJ’s release and so the comics became a little less interesting anyway. The story would eventually be picked up later by a rebranded comic album line now named “Star Wars” [sic!] with a lower print run but by that time Star Wars started to fade into obscurity already and I never saw any of these comics at that time and only learned about their existence a couple of ears ago. Back then I had a sense that the comic series was not “canonical” without even knowing what that exactly means but with the lack of multimedia and little access to anything Star Wars, these comics and the action figures were all we had when there was currently no movie to watch in the theater.

Anyhow, this is also the moment after almost a decade, where I finally unpacked these comic packs with Fenn Shysa and Tobbi Dala, to side them with the recent comic colored Boba Fett, and boy what an improvement today’s figures are over the ones from the time of this comic pack. When I bought them a decade ago I thought they were still kind of cool but now they feel just weird and are extremely challenging to pose, let alone have them hold their weapons in a meaningful way. The Boba Fett figure on the other hand is great to pose, which is particularly supported by the improved range of the elbow joints. Lots of figures unpacked today, many figures still left to be unpacked. Stay tuned

[where-is-my-sanity-daaaave]

Is it Shysa Time? I guess it's Shysa Time. (I don't know who drew this)

[marmota-b]

Yay, another chapter done! I finally, finally dragged all the necessary sentences out of Boba.

[magnetarbeam]

I'm not interested in the ship either - mostly I'm just surprised - but are there people out there that have actually written Bo-Katan/Spar? Is that a thing that exists?

For the ship asks, Spar!!

My NOTP for them 

Fenn Shysa/Spar. I just can't. Spar deserves better. They can be friends, Shysa can have a weird crush that fucks with his perceptions of boundaries, but like. IDK I don't see the appeal.

OH WAIT

Also Bo-Katan/Spar. I forgot that exists.

My BROTP for them

I wanna say Corr. IDK I just think they'd get along.

My OTP for them 

SparMij. It's SparMij. Of course it's SparMij they own my brain.

My second choice pairing for them 

Jango/Spar. I know it squicks some people but I think it's fascinating. They're both so fucked up.

My fluffy pairing for them

hm. hmhmhm. Fuck. Spar with any of the other Alphas I think.

My angsty pairing for them 

Spar/Gar Saxon. This is a warning for a WIP btw. One friend referred to it as "Romeo and Juliet but Worse"

My favorite poly ship for them 

Fordo/Seventeen/Spar. 10/10. Though Spar/Mij/Jango is also very good.

My weirdest pairing for them

Tarre Vizsla. IDK time travel is the best option I have here that I haven't used yet.

[syn0vial]

Mand'alor the Pretender, Mand'alor the Resurgent: Boba Fett as the Leader of the Mandalorians in the Expanded Universe

Hello everyone! It's Syn with yet another Expanded Universe deep-dive, this time into the reign of Boba Fett as Mand'alor as portrayed in Boba Fett: A Practical Man and throughout the Legacy of the Force series of novels. Fett was indeed made Mand'alor some decades after the events of the Original Trilogy and this post will examine how he became ruler, his actions as leader, and how his reign connects with Mandalorian mythology regarding the relationship between Mandalore the planet and Mand'alor the ruler. I hope you enjoy!

Heir of the True Mandalorians

To understand how Boba Fett became Mand'alor, it's important to first understand his family background. Indeed, Boba was not the first Fett to be named Mand'alor; his father, Jango, also held the title during the tumultuous Mandalorian Civil War. Specifically, Jango served as the Mand'alor of the True Mandalorians, or Haat Mando'ade, a Mandalorian faction established by reformer Jaster Mereel that emphasized honorable conduct and strong community bonds. They were opposed in the civil war by the Death Watch, or Kyr'tsad, a Mandalorian splinter group that espoused ideals of Mandalorian supremacy and rule by brutality. The True Mandalorians would later be massacred by the Jedi in the Battle of Galidraan, and Jango, the sole survivor, would largely withdraw from Mandalorian society and quietly abdicate his claim as Mand'alor.

Despite their relatively short span of existence in Mandalorian history, the True Mandalorians had an outsized effect on Mandalorian cultural identity, with many Mandalorians adopting their tenets and valorizing their struggle against both Death Watch and the Jedi. Furthermore, as Mandalorian society became more suppressed and scattered following the Imperial occupation of Mandalore during the Galactic Civil War, some looked to the history of the True Mandalorians as a source of national pride and a symbol of renewed Mandalorian unity and prestige.

One such believer in the True Mandalorian cause was Fenn Shysa, who served as Mand'alor during and after the Imperial occupation of Mandalore. Widely adored for his charm and affability, Shysa nonetheless was determined to see the true heir of the Haat Mando'ade take the throne: none other than Boba Fett. Despite Boba's status as a Mandalorian being contested by many clans due to what was perceived as his dishonorable behavior, failure to uphold the Resol'nare, and the fact that he'd never completed his verd'goten due to his father's premature death, Shysa believed that Boba could serve as a powerful symbol for both the scattered Mandalorian people and the rest of the galaxy as both the heir to the True Mandalorian cause and a notorious warrior the galaxy-over.

Unfortunately for Shysa, Boba had no interest in taking up the mantle of Mand'alor. In light of Boba's unwillingness, Shysa pursued other leads for potential heirs of the True Mandalorian title, including Jango's sister Arla (who unfortunately had been rendered mentally unfit after her prolonged and torturous captivity under the Death Watch) and even one of Jango's clones, Spar, whom Shysa may or may not have presented to the galaxy as Boba Fett himself.

Yet, Shysa would eventually get his wish, though at a very high price. With a bounty placed on his head by Boba's former tutor, the Kaminoan Taun We, Shysa would come face-to-face with Boba himself on the planet Shogun. Despite being hired to kill Shysa, Boba would, due to events that are never fully explained, end up on the same side as him against an attack of Sevvet mercenaries. With the two of them overpowered, Shysa sacrificed his life to protect Boba and ordered Boba to kill him and take his place as Mand'alor. Indebted to Shysa for saving his life and unwilling to let him fall into the hands of the notoriously sadistic Sevvets, Boba would honor both of Shysa's requests.

Though it cost him his life, Shysa would see his ambition through in the end: the heir of Jango Fett now held the title of Mand'alor.

The Pretender Years: Mandalorian Deception During of the Yuuzhan Vong War

Boba's first test as Mand'alor would come fairly soon after he had taken power: an invasion by an extragalactic army known as the Yuuzhan Vong. These invaders intended to conquer the galaxy and either destroy, convert, or enslave all sentient life within it—but to do this effectively, they needed help. Namely, they needed denizens of their target galaxy to help them gather intelligence and do sensitive infiltration work that they themselves would be unable to carry out. For this, they approached a peoples whom they had found to be notorious for their mercenary natures, led by a man equally notorious for working with the worst of the worst: the Mandalorians and their Mand'alor Boba Fett.

While meeting with Boba and his second-in-command, Goran Beviin, aboard one of their ships, the Yuuzhan Vong commander Nom Anor presented their terms: work for the Yuuzhan Vong or be exterminated. Anor also made sure to present Boba and Beviin with two prisoners they had already taken, a Human and a Twi'lek male, outfitted with gruesome, surgically-implanted torture devices to demonstrate what would be in store for their people should they resist.

Deciding then and there that he despised the Yuuzhan Vong and that he'd do whatever was necessary to destroy them, Boba feigned indifference and, much to Anor's surprise, demanded a higher price: amnesty to the entire Mandalore sector, both during and after the invasion. Finding himself unable to sway Boba despite his repeated threats, Anor eventually agreed to the deal, buying Boba and Beviin much-needed time to prepare the Mandalorian people for their great deception.

The Mandalorian people would pretend to be traitors to their galaxy, serving the Yuuzhan Vong as spies and mercenaries—and all the while, they would sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong and funnel intelligence regarding their movements and tactics to New Republic command.

Under Boba, the Mandalorians would keep up this facade for much of the war, their intelligence proving instrumental in combating the invaders even while much of the galaxy believed them to be conspirators with the Yuuzhan Vong. Only towards the end of the war did their deception become known to the Vong, who responded with vicious, razed-earth attacks on the planet of Mandalore, not only killing its people but also carpet-bombing much of the planet's surface and poisoning the soil in an effort to render the planet uninhabitable.

Despite the heavy toll taken by the Mandalorians during the war, with their help, the galaxy was able to turn back the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and emerge victorious—though the challenges facing Mandalore and its people were still far from over.

Mandalore Resurgent: Post-War Aftermath and Policies

Following the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, Mandalore would find itself in a precarious position. With a third of its population destroyed, its industrial infrastructure in shambles, and much of its arable land poisoned, it was unclear whether the planet could even support its surviving clans. In addition, the Mandalorian deception that had proved so instrumental in turning the tide against the Yuuzhan Vong had worked a little too well; most of the galaxy still viewed the Mandalorians as traitors who had only turned against their Yuuzhan Vong handlers at the last minute. As a result, Mandalore was offered no aid whatsoever from the Galactic Alliance (formerly the New Republic) following the war in spite of the planet's dire straits.

Faced with these circumstances, Mand'alor Boba Fett pursued policies focusing on the internal restoration of Mandalore, including:

An immediate order for two million Mandalorians living in diaspora to return to Mandalore to help rebuild the planet. All returning Mandalorians were eligible receive an allotment of land, provided they agreed to restore it. Boba knew this was possible because he had seen Beviin, a farmer by trade, restore the land on his own farm.

Mandalore's official neutrality in the ongoing civil war between the Galactic Alliance and the Corellian Confederation. Individual Mandalorians were free to offer their mercenary services to whichever side they wished, but it was to be understood that Mandalore itself had no official involvement in the dispute.

The increased importation of food to Mandalore to feed the population until such a time that the planet's farming and infrastructure could sustain itself once more. Both Fett himself and the chief of MandalMotors would donate heavily to pay for these imports.

In addition to these policies, Mandalore would also benefit from a lucky break discovered more than a decade after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war: a massive motherlode of beskar unearthed by the Yuuzhan Vong's extensive bombing of the planet. This discovery was extremely significant following the Imperial occupation of Mandalore, as it was believed that the Empire had completely strip-mined the planet bare of its beskar deposits. With both sides of the galaxy's newest civil war scrambling for weapons and armor, this newly discovered beskar would prove a massive economic windfall for the struggling Mandalorians, and also serve as the catalyst for MandalMotors creating the first-ever beskar-plated starfighter, the Bes'uliik.

Mirrored Destinies: Connection to Mandalorian Mythology

As an ending note to this lore post, I'd like to share a piece of Mandalorian mythology and how we see it exemplified in Boba's rule as Mand'alor. According to this belief, the fate of Mand'alor the leader and Mandalore the planet are inextricably tied; the two are synonymous to the point where, if something happens to one, whether for good or ill, one expects to see it reflected in the other. And this is absolutely the case in Boba's story.

Consider: when Boba first becomes Mand'alor, he finds himself leading a planet still recovering from Imperial rule. It is largely believed to have been robbed of its defining resource, its beskar, and thus, its soul has been stolen. Similarly, Fett himself is perceived to have "sold his soul" to the Imperials. He is the heir of the Haat Mando'ade, someone who is meant to embody the Mandalorian ideal as expressed by his grandfather Jaster Mereel, but that hope for him appears to have been in vain. He is isolated from the Mandalorians and has spent much of the past few decades at the beck and call of their enemies. He, like Mandalore, has enriched the Empire at the expense of his people.

Then, the Yuuzhan Vong War happens. Mandalore the planet is poisoned and no longer self-sustaining. Coincidentally, soon after the end of the war, Fett finds out that he is dying of a terminal genetic illness due to his cloned DNA. Both he and Mandalore are dying together.

But he doesn't go down without a fight. He learns to rely on others, such as Beviin, Mirta, and the other Mandalorians. With them, he is able to find a cure and begin the process of recovery. And, just like its Mand'alor, Mandalore is able to come back from the brink by the same means. It needs others to care for it, to restore it. Only then can it become a viable homeland once more.

Finally, after all that misfortune and suffering—because of the misfortune and suffering—both the planet and the man are revealed to not be so bereft and without soul as originally thought. In the crater of Yuuzhan Vong desolation, a new motherlode of beskar is found. In the midst of illness, war, and grief, something like a true Mandalorian is found—someone who cares for his people, his clan, and his planet. Both Mand'alor and Mandalore thus go through an arc of loss, desolation, interdependence with others, and finally, resurgence and rebirth. In this way, Boba Fett embodies the myth of the inextricable connection between Mandalore the planet and Mand'alor the man.

[verpineshatterrifle]

the secret to having fun with star wars is embracing that sometimes, its bad, and thats ok

[ice-6caydesqueen]

Fenn shysa current manda’lor after the empire and before the vong war

Fun fact he kissed leia at one point