"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" Season Three Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

The Mandalorian Season 3

Chapter 17: The Apostate – March 1, 2023

The Mandalorian begins an important journey.

Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore – March 8, 2023

The Mandalorian and Grogu explore the ruins of a destroyed planet.

Chapter 19: The Convert – March 15, 2023

On Coruscant, former Imperials find amnesty in the New Republic.

Chapter 20: The Foundling – March 22, 2023

Din Djarin returns to the hidden Mandalorian covert.

Chapter 21: The Pirate – March 29, 2023

The people of Nevarro need protection from rampant pirate attacks.

Chapter 22: Guns for Hire – April 5, 2023

The Mandalorian visits an opulent world.

Chapter 23: The Spies – April 12, 2023

Survivors come out of hiding.

Chapter 24: The Return – April 19, 2023

The Mandalorian and his allies confront their enemies.

 

[Fone Bone]

The Mandalorian "Chapter 17: The Apostate"

Some Mandalorian rite of passage at the beginning. Didn't have Kaiju alligators on my "This Is The Way" bingo card.

Grogu is too adorable to be allowed. First him spinning in the chair then grabbing that little guy. He's not a pet! Bad baby!

I would have said Dune died off-screen if I wrote the show, but the producers of this show are far kinder than I am.

Katee Sackoff has a starring role this season. Interesting.

I've missed this show. As far as Star Wars goes, This Is The Way. ****1/2.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 18: The Mines Of Mandalore"

That Dark Saber is still cool.

So Bo Katan bathed in the waters of the Caves of Mandalore WITH her helmet on. Am I the only one thinking Din is gonna try and get her to retake the oath? It would be narrative malpractice if he didn't.

The fact that Grogu is sentient enough to follow Mando's instructions to go to Bo for rescue makes his eating of those eggs last season unforgivable. The more capable the show makes the Child, the more culpable he is for that. I think it's probably a mistake.

It was a pretty cool episode. I really liked learning all the Mandalore, uh, lore. ****.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 19: The Convert"

I'm not really sure what to make of that. Out of context of everything else, it feels a bit off.

I was actually rooting for the episode most of the way through it. I loved "Andor" for doing a disturbing thing and showing some real selling points of the Empire and some of the people who worked there. This show showing the downside to the New Republic should equally fascinate me, no?

"The Book Of Boba Fett" also did a couple of episodes near the end of its run that had almost nothing to do with Boba Fett (coincidentally starring the Mandalorian and the Child) so having a detour with different characters is not outside the franchise either. In fact, those non-Boba episodes were weirdly the finest episodes of that series, so I expected similar good things here.

And while I think it's okay to make an audience member feel a bit uncomfortable for rooting for certain Imperialists the way "Andor" did, when it comes to pointing out flaws of the new government Luke and Leia have set up, there need to be some limits to how bad things are. The Mind Flayer being used at the end is the franchise suggesting there is no light between the New Republic and the Empire. And while I have always believed there was much less difference between the Jedi and the Sith than Lucas thought there was, I feel like showing the endpoint government of Return Of The Jedi's happy ending to be entirely as fascist and corrupt for different reason a storytelling mistake. Forget the fact that the former Empire people are stripped of their names and referred to in letters and numbers. One of the daily questions the Droid asks being if the Doc felt any anger or resentment to the New Republic made me wonder if Leia ever understood is was NOT just her son Ben Solo with a little Vader in them.

I don't get why Kane entrapped Pershing, or why she turned the mindflayer on full blast. Maybe this is stuff to be revealed in a future episode. Seeing these characters in this context for the first time, and even rooting for their seeming tentative friendship throughout the episode, makes this development a totally unacceptable place to leave things off. If these were established characters maybe I'd be okay with it. But they were given a starring role for the first time ever, and used in a new way, and it feels empty instead. I don't like feeling that way.

I knew Bo Katan would be asked to rejoin the Mandalorians once they learned she bathed in the water too, and hadn't taken off her helmet. As pretty as Katee Sackoff is, it's too juicy of a plotpoint to not run with.

I wish this show had Blu-Ray releases. I would love to hear an audio commentary from Jon Favreau describing his intentions for creating the episode. As it stands, it feels a bit bewildering and unfinished. **1/2.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 20: The Foundling"

Surprising and pleasurable place to get a flashback / origin story for Grogu. Great stuff.

Also awesome to see Ahmed Best in a great Star Wars role. This is better redemption for Jar-Jar Binks than the writers of The Clone Wars could EVER have conceived. He survived too! I wonder where he ended up and what happened to him.

I like that Bo is frustrated by the Mandalorian chick believing she is speaking of visions and metaphors. "This is the way" often MEANS something. Here it means nothing.

I was outraged at the giant dinosaur trying to feed the little kid to its hatchlings. Pretty horrific scene whose only saving grace is that both the kid and his father are rescued.

It's funny Jin expects Grogu to spar. Even funnier than he's right that Grogu will win. Jedi stuff comes in handy there.

There really isn't too much to the episode itself, which is why I like that it's only a half hour long, and that the show never pads things in any episode light on story and mythology. The stories being the actual correct length it takes to tell them is the selling point to streaming on Disney+.

Good week. ****.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 21: The Pirate"

Interesting. Bo Katan's stuff with the Armorer definitely fits that descriptor.

I have to say the animatronic make-up is positively old-school. And looks pretty lousy and sloppy by modern standards.

I love the random and unexplained cameo from Zeb from Star Wars: Rebels. Still alive and kickin'.

Curious what happened to Gideon and how they'll resolve it.

I love that the big guy who had been giving Jin and Bo grief in earlier episodes surprised them both by supporting their plan and convincing the others to as well because they saved his son. I like that Jin builds trust and alliances that way. It's a cool facet to the character and rewarding pay-off as such.

Cool. Wish Grogu had a bigger role though. ***1/2.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 22: Guns For Hire"

First ever Star Wars roles for Christopher Lloyd, Jack Black, and... Lizzo? Do I have that right? For Lloyd, being in this franchise is long overdue.

I love that the Duchess presents a tiny fish and Grogu flies into her arms. SO cute.

Matthew Wood back as the voice of the former Battle Droids.

I loved Mando speaking Ugnuaght. I have spoken.

Squid passion and romance does not move me at all. I'm funny that way. I also don't believe in the premise of talking cars. I'll accept a lot. But not squid people mushing tentacled faces together.

When Din and Bo entered the Droid bar, that moment was played EXACTLY the same as the white Deltas entering a black club in "Animal House". I loved the bartender's perspective, simply because the franchise does not give ENOUGH Droid perspective. It was long overdue, and appreciated by me.

The legal technicality at the end of the Dark Saber reminded me unpleasantly of the Elder Wand from Harry Potter. I have a similar moment in my comic, but it's done to play up the ridiculousness of it and the Elder Wand. It makes me groan that this show is asking me to take it seriously instead. I feel like Hank Hill saying "Don't play lawyerball with me, son." WAY too pat for my liking, especially since it was played totally straight and without a single wink to the viewer.

It was imperfect, but I like that the show never tries to be. It would be a lot less interesting if it covered more traditional "Star Wars" ground. Would I prefer it hit the highs of "Andor" ever? Yes. But I enjoy the show just fine for what it is and will never rake it over the coals for what it isn't. ***.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 23: The Spies"

Dire happenings. Those red guys at the end freaked me the hell out.

I loved Din's affirmation to Bo about why he followed her. That was the heart of the episode to me.

Din isn't so hot on Grogu's new Droid suit, and frankly I'm not crazy about it either.

Huge epic battle at the end, and as I said, the cliffhanger and threat to the good guys is dire. It's interesting that in this franchise, Gideon excepted, the bad guys wear White.

Big episode. ****1/2.

The Mandalorian "Chapter 24: The Return"

Do I declare that disappointing or not? It checked off all the Star Wars and action series boxes. The ending was far more satisfying than either of the first two seasons. And yet, I feel it was lacking in stakes and focus compared to the season finales of Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even The Book Of Boba Fett. Yes, on some level it's rewarding for Din to officially adopt Grogu as a son. But for me? He always was. The paperwork there is a mere formality, and the "twist" isn't telling the audience anything we don't already know or believe.

Worse, I feel a bit cheated out of a truly dire climax because the Gideon clones were all terminated before they drew breath and could do any damage. I could excuse that specific cop-out in even the penultimate episode. For the actual finale? We deserved a little punishing violence there. And Din doing that basically neutered Gideon's grand plans and won the season even before they took Gideon himself down. Like Grogu's adoption the final battle became a mere formality at that point.

The boxy Droids with the blinking lights reminded me of the Scutters from Red Dwarf.

It was all right. It was also workmanlike and took zero narrative chances. And nothing in it surprised me. A step down from not only this show, but the rest of Star Wars' recent live-action TV output too. I hope Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni haven't finally taken on too much, but that sort of thing is actually inevitable, isn't it? It happened to Kevin Feige, why wouldn't it happen to them at some point too?

Sigh. A passing grade. But an amazing grade? No. ***1/2.

 

[PicardMan]

Mandalorian season 2 was watchable, but I get the hate as it kinda seemed aimless. At first, it seemed like Din Djarin's redemption quest would be the plot, but that was resolved in two episodes. Starbuck, I mean Bo Katan, taking over the plot was the next odd thing and of course Jack Black's weird cameo. Almost at Book of Boba Fett levels of dumb fun action, disappointing plot.

 

[Yojimbo]

Chapter 17: The Apostate – March 1, 2023

Children of the Watch still surviving. Cue giant snapping turtle/crocodile.

Interesting to see how much Greef cleaned up Nevarro. But it's less than savory past is still there. Hm, return of IG-11 it seems. Then a stark contrast with Bo-Katan. Morose and languishing. A queen with no kingdom or subjects. Can't wait to see how all the Mandalorians will be brought together to take back Mandalore... I mean that's what this series has been building up to. Considering Bo-Katan has no love for the Children of the Watch and vice-versa, should be some decent drama.

Not too shocked they wrote off Cara Dune being recruited by the New Republic's Special Forces.

Heard about the Purgills from Rebels. Wonder if they're setting Grogu up to develop Force powers related to Hyperspace. Or perhaps just a wink at them appearing more in the Ahsoka show. Also I believe Sundari and Kalevala debuted on the Clone Wars animated series. Not sure if it was intentional but IG-11 crawling like that reminded me of Terminator. And Babu Frik's race show! So cute Grogu wanted to hug them and Mando crawled inside to talk to them. The most surprising easter egg that the crystallized inscription that Mando shows the Armorer is actually a quote from Exodus.

Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore – March 8, 2023

Thankfully, a lot more action for Mando, we get to see how much Grogu improved under Luke's tutelage, and Bo-Katan has killed it. Bo-Katan's words ringed true that Grogu is potentially the bridge between both Jedi and Mandalorian cultures, full circle from her stories of them once being allies. Nice touch that she could wield the Darksaber much better than Din. Guess she is the rightful ruler. Plus, she did technically win the saber in battle: Din lost it and she fought and beat the enemy that defeated him. Great shocker for the ending, seeing a Mythosaur! Wiped that cynicism right off her face if we could have seen her face in that moment. Hope lives!

Nice swatch of opposition for the cast to fight as well. From the 'mutant cavemen' Alamites, the little sewer pipe dragon wanting to eat Grogu, and the creepy blood stealing spider robot in a bigger robot that works in an even bigger robot.

One nitpick is after last week made such a big deal about IG-11, Mando quickly gets fleeced by Peli for the R5 astromech, lol.

Odds and ends, pretty hilarious Peli chose not to replace the tooth she lost in Book of Boba Fett. But in an odd way, it suits her. lol. Not knowing anything about Boonta Eve, it was interesting the Hutts established the holiday and even with them out of power, it's still celebrated. Has it been that long that I forgot the place Din grew up on, Concordia, was Mandalore's moon all this time? Shrug. Kudos to all the crew and artists that sold how messed up Mandalore is thanks to the Empire. Desolate doesn't begin to describe it. Wonder if Din falling into the Living Waters was a nod to the original trilogy when Luke got grabbed by the Dianoga in the Empire trash compactor.

Chapter 19: The Convert – March 15, 2023

Of course, a bottle episode. Not that shocked or upset about it. But more sad to see the chinks in the New Republic that Leia alluded to in the sequel trilogy are already there. The use of the same torture machine the Empire used slapped with a more friendlier name. The rich still aloof as hell. That line "Empire, Rebels, New Republic, I can’t keep track" unfortunately rings true. Did like the parallels of Pershing and Kane joining New Republic vs. Din and Bo-Katan being welcomed back into the Children of Watch, more specifically Pershing being unease with his cloning research being wasted when it could help medical breakthroughs and with Bo being uneasy with being admitted into a religious cult.

On one hand, it seems Kane was a double agent helping the New Republic weed out wash outs in the Amnesty Program. But by the end, when she mind flays Pershing it seems more like she's a triple agent embedded into the New Republic to make sure no undue attention is paid to the Imperial cloning program which her boss Moff Gideon was helping to oversee in past seasons. And thus, the New Republic was completely unaware of the Sith Eternal cult resurrecting Palpatine until it was nearly too late. More unnerving are the rumors surrounding Moff Gideon. If he did escape custody, that would intimate the rather large fleet of Interceptors attacking Bo-Katan and her castle. Katan is one of the few living witnesses to Gideon's operation and perhaps he's taking no chances and targeting everyone. Though the irony if the Interceptors succeeded, they would have blown up a target crucial to the cloning program, Grogu.

Still, I think the main thrust of the season now will be trying to unite all the Mandalorians scattered around and retaking Mandalore but there's still the threat of Gideon's faction looming and it's ties to the greater SW canon. And naturally the two storylines will collide sooner or later.

Chapter 20: The Foundling – March 22, 2023

Nice to see a bit of smaller scale story with the Children of the Watch and a bit more of Grogu's past. That much closer to learning how he ended up on Arvala-7. And Bo-Katan seems to be settling in nicely.

A giant flying raptor. Boy, they sure chose a nice planet to hide out on, lol.

Nice surprise Grogu was saved by Jedi Master Kelleran, a character created for the Jedi Temple Challenge kids game show back in 2020-ish, and played by the guy who portrayed Jar Jar in the prequel trilogy. Nice touch they were aided by Naboo forces in their escape off the planet.

Chapter 21: The Pirate – March 29, 2023

So much for Gorian Shard. But the threat of the Pirate Guild sounds a little interesting. Filling in the power void left by the Empire in certain Rims. But hopes that's the last of them for this season. Maybe let them be the big bad on another show like Skeleton Crew. It's time to focus on the rematch with Moff Gideon.

Smart thinking of Din to use the offer of land to help convince the covert to help save Nevarro and even Paz backed him up thanks to saving his kid. The liberation of Nevarro was a fun watch and likely a prelude to taking back Mandalore. Glad to see the Armorer isn't so rigid in her dogma and sees Bo-Katan as a unifying figure for their people.

Nice to see Captain Teva get some more spotlight and delving further into New Republic bureaucracy and the growing conspiracy. Make sense types like Gideon and even the birth of the First Order came about thanks to red tape. But so cool, Tim Meadows! Clever of Teva to get the location of the covert through R5. And the tension between him and Kane, lovely. And yep, the rumor of Gideon escaping custody was true. I doubt Mandalorians would work for him so I think it's likely some elite squad of Stormtroopers modeled after Mandalorians even down the beskar because Gideon has some weird obsession with the culture. So in theory he'll be after the dark saber and I guess still wants Grogu. Thus, if Gideon knows the Mandalorians are uniting and making a move for Mandalore, perhaps he will direct all his remaining forces there for the season finale.

I didn't watch Rebels but neat to learn Zeb from that show made his live action debut and even got the VA Blum to reprise him.

The only thing that gets my goat is it is again an episode of The Mandalorian is not all Mandalorian. I'm hoping that will change in the remaining three episodes.

Chapter 22: Guns for Hire – April 5, 2023

A detective mystery in the Outer Rim. Neat. Loved the congealing of so many facets and eras of SW mythos and history. Though the mystery fizzled once they showed 3 celebrity guest stars and it was plain to see one of them was the culprit. Though it was a nice little twist that Lloyd's character is a Separatist that idolized Count Dooku.

Glad they finally addressed that Bo-Katan earned back the Darksaber back on Mandalore by killing the spider cyborg in combat. And boom, whoops Axe and now has her fleet and army back.

Wonder if next week will be another set up like do they go off to recruit Boba Fett but he's uninterested but has a problem he needs help with so a quid pro quo is agreed to help in the big battle in exchange for Mando's aid on OR will it be a two part season finale on Mandalore?

Chapter 23: The Spies – April 12, 2023

Well, sure was a penultimate episode. The Mandalorian fleet has no idea an Imperial fleet is heading for them. Axe's status is unknown. Din is captured. The Dark Troopers have beskar but still have somewhat terrible aim. There's 3 Praetorian Guard. RIP Paz. Maybe the Mythosaur will save the day but may be a bit too much like the Rancor in Book of Boba Fett.

IG-12. On one hand, so toyetic. Immediately reminded me of Krang and his suit on TMNT. On the other, doesn't diminish the sacrifice of IG-11. He's got an exo-suit and they got a loophole of Grogu's first word being "No." And that scene in the marketplace, lol. Any parent's worst nightmare made manifest. And Greef was totally cool uncle that buys the annoying noisy Christmas present for his nephew, lmao. And since Grogu essentially has his own agency now, wonder if Grogu will have a fight scene in IG-12 next episode.

Great choice for Grogu to ease the tension between tribes. It was also a nice callback to his training with Luke. And Din saying exactly what Bo-Katan needed to hear: honor, loyalty, and character matters more than a saber. Makes sense Bo-Katan tried to save her people but Gideon went back on his word, leading to the Purge. Nice little touch for these Praetorian Guards' design to be different to show I guess a transition from The Emperor's Crimson Guard to Snoke's Praetorian Guards. Another nice touch was Gideon walking to the council meeting and there's blast doors like the one that separates Obi-Wan from Darth Maul and Qui-Gon. A nice contrast was the Mandalorians working together but the Shadow Council have their own agendas and suspicions of each other. Such an Imperial way of thinking with Gideon telling Din and co. about his hegemony, dominating cultures and stealing and assimilating the best traits of it.

Only eye roll for me was yet another giant beast. Definitely a season of beasties.

Really, really hope Bo-Katan gets to behead Gideon once and for all. But even if she does pull it off, call it a Pyrrhic victory. Still a lot to do to rebuild Mandalore but in the grander scale, Gideon was just one member of a council of Imperial leaders. And we already know enough of them survive to form the First Order. Speaking of, a Hux! Dad of the Hux in the sequel trilogy no doubt. Also probably a given this Project Necromancer is the cloning project proper that created Snoke and Palaptine's clone. But then there's the question of what is Gideon's secret cloning about? Maybe based on his speech, he's trying to make a clone army of Dark Troopers that are Force sensitive and wearing Mandalorian armor. That would be game over for the New Republic.

The title was The Spies. Sure, Kane. Also points to Teva for correctly guessing the pirates were part of the greater trouble growing in the galaxy. I noticed a lot of people online are suspecting the Armorer because she left right before the attack. But I'm wondering about Axe as well as the ones of the skipper ship taken up to the fleet by the Armorer.

Chapter 24: The Return – April 19, 2023

The return of Mandalore! Lot's of hope symbolism – the underground gardens, Bo Katan relighting of the Great Forge, the Mythosaur chilling, and the two clans together. Should be interesting where we see them next. I mean, for sure they'll show up in the Filoni movie down the line.

Kind of a weird flex that Gideon demanded the Darksaber then quickly opted to just crush it. But at least we get the answer to the long standing mystery. Basically building on his hegemony stance from last episode, he was going to create a Force sensitive clone army of himself clad in Mandalorian inspired Dark Trooper beskar armor. Was. Well, one down. Eight to go.

Only real gripe I had was I wish Grogu Force tk'ed once of those electro-staves to Bo Katan so she could jam into Gideon's throat and exploit the helmet weak point instead of the sucker's death in the cruiser explosion. Eh, so be it. Maybe the finale felt a bit too safe. Nobody was in trouble or I didn't go in thinking anyone was getting killed. But it resolved just about every plot line and had a great emotional beat with Din and Grogu fighting side by side and Din and Grogu resting at their new home.

Nice bow tying with Din Djarin formally adopting Grogu as his child and giving his surname, Din, to him, getting his own place on Nevarro to chill, and IG-11 finally being restored and becoming the marshal that Greef needed.

Love the notion of back-to-basics with Din essentially going back to basics with bounty hunting on the sly for Captain Teva. Speculation hat on, I wonder if that was a change in the original plan and originally Cara Dune was going to be the contractor for Teva then that spins into Rangers of the New Republic but once Carano got dismissed, they changed things Din became Teva's contractor.

Great little callback to show Grogu's growth: sparing the frog instead of scarfing it down. Hope season 4 gets back some of that season 1 cool. Most excited it will likely be start of a new story arc for the Din duo now that Gideon is dealt with and Mandalore has been retaken. Like season 1 to 3 was Chapter 1 of The Mandalorian and season 4 will be like the start of Chapter 2. The only 2 loose ends I can think of is the rest of the Shadow Council, Thrawn (but that will for Ashoka and probably the Filoni movie), and the rest of Grogu's backstory. The first 2 I'm sure will remain throughout this era so all that's really left is Grogu's past. Plus season 4 can start with a time skip: Mandalore's restoration is in progress and Mando is in media res hunting Imperials for Teva. I suppose there's a chance the Pirate Guild might want to get back at Din for killing one of their captains and that one guy ran away from the Nevarro battle.