SwinjectStoryboard | Swinject extension for automatic dependency injection via Storyboard | Dependency Injection library

So, is there a way to bind the view controller and view model together besides using init()?

Yes there is. Give the view model a function that takes the inputs and returns the outputs.

But because they will be vars and not lets, that means it seems like we are permitted to change the bindings throughout the code.

Don't ever make an Observable (or Subject, or Observer) a var always use let Functional Reactive Programming is a functional paradigm so no vars.

So in this case, if the dataProvider returned complete or error, the disposable will be disposed, right? So the scene will be unresponsive because the UI is already unbound. Any idea how to fix that?

Yes and no. If the dataProvider emits a completed event, that will not dispose because the flatMapLatest only disposes if all of its inputs complete. Since the refreshTap has not yet completed, the flatMapLatest will continue to accept events from it and call it's closure for each one.

If the dataProvider emits an error event, that will dispose because and error event short circuits the chain. However, since you use .asDriver() on your dataProvider, the Driver returned from the closure can't possibly emit an error event. You're safe.

Other ways of stopping the error from breaking the chain are to use .materialize() or any of the .catchError operators. For example:

Obviously the background thread in question (Thread 17) is accessing some UIKit method directly which in general is not allowed (can only be done from the main thread).

Did you dispatch some method on a background thread using GCD's dispatch async?