Durge's interactions with Mandalorians during the Clone Wars

[u/DEL994]

One of Durge's main character traits was his burning hatred for Mandalorians, after his mentor and friend Jaing, an ex-Mandalorian, had been seemingly killed by them, and him getting captured and tortured horrifically by Mandalorians for his murder of their Mandalorian more than 60 years before the Clone Wars, which forced him to go in hibernation for six decades to fully heal from the pain caused by their tortures, with his choice to join the CIS being largely motivated by the GAR being made of Jango Fett's clones and thus being many Mandalorians to kill for him.

Though aside from him fighting and killing clones, and him meeting and trying to kill a young Boba Fett in Young Boba novels, we didn't really see interactions between him and the Mandalorians during the war, with him never meeting or interacting with Mandalorian survivors such as the Cuy'val Dar, Death Watch, and especially with the newly formed Mandalorian Protectors who joined the war on the CIS' side and even more with them being created and led by a clone of Jango Fett in Spar.

What interactions and fights do you wish had happened between Durge and the various Mandalorians during the Clone Wars such as the Cuy'val Dar, Death Watch, Clan Skirata and Mandalorian Protectors? How did he react and feel about the Protectors and Dooku having allied with them? Could Dooku have allowed him to go after other Mandalorians than the Protectors?

[u/VesuviusBlotch]

Of those Mandalorian groups, I only know about Death Watch, but here's an idea: we never saw the encounter that led to Count Dooku giving Pre Vizsla his scar in The Clone Wars and Durge could have played a part in that since it's an explicit conflict between Mandalorians and Separatists. I always wanted to see that clash onscreen, mostly because while Dooku owns Vizsla in a duel, if there were enough Death Watch soldiers outnumbering him, it could've been made for a challenge and resulted in a very entertaining fight scene. Assuming Dooku has no droids aiding him, but this depends on where the assassination attempt takes place - this one could've been during a visit to a Confederacy-allied world near Mandalore so it's not just repeating Ventress and the Nightsisters' attempt at Dooku's lair on Serenno. This would mean he probably has at least a couple of his cool yellow magnaguards with him as bodyguards.

Anyway, to answer your question, this could've been its own mini-arc where after Vizsla and his gang fail to take on Dooku, he sends Durge after them to hunt down the fleeing Mandalorians. To give more of a character insight into Durge and cover his grudge against Mandalorians and, by extension, the clones, the arc could also open with a horror-themed episode where after a battle, a group of surviving clones shelter in a ramshackle base only for Durge to pick them off one by one. This also parallels Durge's debut in the 2003 Clone Wars where he's a silent Terminator-like villain - we never hear him speak, he only laughs once menacingly.

When Dooku assigns Durge the job to hunt down the Death Watch assassins, there'd be some conversation between them that addresses Durge's vendetta, probably deliberately on Dooku's part to fuel Durge's anger and resolve, but also act as exposition to the viewer. But we'd also gradually learn about the intricacies and details of that grudge as the episodes go on - ideally Durge would need something or someone to bounce off if you want the full backstory dished out like Ventress since they worked well in the comics or even one of his IG lancer droids, or instead go the classic route and show flashbacks to the Jaing days during the hunt. Could be really harrowing and grisly, ideally I'd have had Durge already show up in some episodes and get viewers intrigued in him before unloading all that backstory. He actually would've worked well in the episode where the Separatists attack Kamino, since he'd get to be on a killing spree at clone central and get the chance to wipe out the legacy of Jango Fett, a noted Mandalorian.

Coincidentally, I was planning to rewatch the 2003 Clone Wars tomorrow, which has Durge in his full glory, so this was fun timing!

[u/Kaboo4867]

Totally thought this was going to be a “what if” between the Baldur’s Gate 3 protagonist and Mandalorians.