Relationship Spotlight: Chirrut îmwe & Baze Malbus (Star Wars)

With The Last Jedi coming up soon (and a recent rewatch of The Force Awakens in preparation!), it seemed like a good time to break out another Rogue One post.  Even among the many great things the film has going for it, I’d say the relationship between Chirrut and Baze is in a class unto itself (spoilers.)

In any story about a disparate group of insert-title-heres banding together to fight a common enemy, it’s good to have at least two people who come to the table already knowing each other – especially in a movie like this that only takes place over a few days.  Rogue One gives us Cassian and K-2 as well, and the plot momentum depends on Jyn’s connections to both Galen and Saw, but Baze and Chirrut are just everything.  We know very little about them, including what drew them together or how long they’ve known each other.  In terms of facts, what we have is that they’re both guardians of the Khyber temple on Jedha, Chirrut is deeply devoted to the Force, and, while Baze once had the strongest faith of all, he now scoffs at the religion of the Force.

But those are the facts, and there’s a lot more truth to be found between these two than can be limited to these basics.  The truth of it is, they’re inseparable.  It’s evident that Baze considers himself Chirrut’s protector, and more than once, they bicker fondly about whether Chirrut, in his more reckless moments, was safeguarded by the Force or Baze’s big gun.  It’s an interesting dynamic, because Chirrut is always quick to say that he doesn’t need Baze looking out for him when he has the Force on his side, but he welcomes Baze’s vigilance all the same.  I can’t tell if it’s pragmatism on Chirrut’s part – if he rationalizes that Baze may be one of the means by which the Force protects him – or if he simply knows that Baze won’t rest until he personally knows that Chirrut is safe, and who is Chirrut to deny Baze that (relative) peace of mind?

Their relationship is a nice mixture of good-natured ribbing and fierce dedication.  The “like an old married couple” back-and-forth between them bears out in more than just Baze getting on Chirrut about walking headfirst into danger when he can’t see.  It seems they’re forever disagreeing.  Baze rolls his eyes at Chirrut’s more out-there demonstrations of his faith, and Chirrut gives back as good as he gets, needling Baze that Chirrut’s prayers only bug him because he knows deep down that Chirrut is the one who’s right.  Chirrut is devoted, Baze faithless, Chirrut hopeful, Baze pessimistic. 

Throughout it all, though, through every winking remark from Chirrut and every begrudging sigh from Baze, is evidence of how they care for one another.  However it began, there’s no longer any path for these two that takes them down separate roads.  Baze can try and dissuade Chirrut from doing something dangerous, or even just something Baze doesn’t want to do, but if Chirrut can’t be convinced, Baze isn’t about to leave him to it.  Baze will go with him no matter what, and I think it might that more than anything – the dedication, not the firepower – that Chirrut truly needs from Baze.

As with Jyn and Cassian, the exact form that Chirrut and Baze’s relationship takes is up for debate.  Are they best friends, brothers-in-arms, lovers?  An argument could be made for any of these possibilities.  And if the latter is what the film has in mind, while I’d have preferred something less ambiguous, I do still love the dynamic between them and would be happy to claim them as the Star Wars universe’s first onscreen same-sex couple.  No matter what, they clearly love each other dearly, regardless of what shape that love takes; it would be impossible for two people to say goodbye to one another like these men and not feel the sincerest love.  In the end, Baze begs Chirrut not to die even as he chastises Chirrut for doing something so foolhardy, and Chirrut urges Baze to lean on the faith he once had, that they’ll one day find one another again in the Force.  As Baze rises, repeating Chirrut’s mantra while he himself goes out guns blazing, it seems evident that, if Chirrut believed in the Force, Baze believed in Chirrut.  What’s that if not love?