The Mandalorian

[godisawesome]

Okay, there’s rumors there’s spoilers form “leaks” out there, but they’re contradictory. I’m going to point out how, but keep it in spoilers to be polite as I evaluate them:

spoilers:

Two reports have Bo beating Gideon and saving the day before being proclaimed Mandalore again; one has her explicitly find and ride the Mythosaur to do so. However, one claims that the fleet gets saved by a last second first time appearance by Fenn Rau, while the other claim Boba makes a return without being set-up for that role. There’s also another report that Gideon’s troopers are all revealed to be clones of he himself, but that goes unmentioned in the other two. …So I think it’s likely that at least two are bupkis, possibly all three. They do all seem to agree that Din doesn’t have much of a story, though; the only one that says anything substantial about him mentions him being tortured, escaping, and killing the Praetorian Guard, but that's it. So I guess if any one of them are true, Din Djarin fans are in for another episode disappointingly arguing he works best as an out of focus action figure.

end of spoilers

Now, on a less possibly-spoilery note…

Funny thing I noticed last episode; most of the scouting party that lands on Mandalore is made up of blue-clad Mandos, like it’s a Death Watch Reunion. The Children of the Watch who accompany the Note Owls down are Paz Vizsla’s Shriek Hawk Training Squad/Clan Vizsla kinsmen, who I’m starting to think might be the professional stuntmen among the Children Mandos. Hilariously, it looks like at least one or two was also used in the scene where the Mandos all meet at the beginning to fill out the Nite Owl ranks, given their common coloring scheme - look for the Mando behind Bo Katan who’s wearing blue like all the Nite Owls getting off their ships, but has a red belly plate.

Another thing… R5 is with the Fleet. You can see him get off Bo’s Gauntlet briefly when they land on Mandalore.

So *if* anyone new were to make an appearance, they can just have R5 contact them to justify anyone who has a Republic connection - the Rangers, Carson Teva in particular, maybe Sabine Wren if her Rebel outfit in the Ahsoka Trailer is a Ranger outfit, maybe even Fenn Rau since he’s an old Rebels ally.

[ChrisIII]

If Carson shows up Zev should as well. Trapper Wolf as well (He made a cameo wearing his "Indy hat" at the base I think).

[Ascended]

Funny thing I noticed last episode; most of the scouting party that lands on Mandalore is made up of blue-clad Mandos, like itÂ’s a Death Watch Reunion.

It makes sense that Bo would mostly bring people she knows on the scouting mission. She spent some time with the covert, sure, but for something as important as this I can't blame her for bringing familiar faces. And most of her old mates would be former Death Watch, same as her.

Another thingÂ… R5 is with the Fleet. You can see him get off BoÂ’s Gauntlet briefly when they land on Mandalore.

Totally missed that. Why is Din still dragging that thing around? After it gave up the covert's location to Blue I'd have expected it on the next shuttle for Tatooine.

But that's a quick and easy way to have backup arrive.

Now, regarding the ongoing conversation about mando culture and history and how deep the show will get into it.....last episode touched on more than I expected it to, but I'm wondering how much they'll bother with the details. When the show started it didn't have much in common with the Mandalore established in the cartoons; the rule about keeping helmets on, "this is the Way" fundamentalism, all kinds of stuff that was either brand new or a sizeable shift from what had been done beforehand.

And I'm wondering if us fans are losing sight of that intentional clean break and expecting too much connective tissue. We accepted Din as a mando who was removed from past stories and history and belonged to a cultural sect we'd never seen before, but now that we're getting into retaking Mandalore and Bo has become a major player, are we too focused on how it meshes with what came before? None of us want canon to be broken, but if they approach everything before the Purge with a fuzzy overview, is that enough? Do we really need to dig into the details, or is it enough to just say something like "Death Watch was a terror group that broke into many pieces" and not linger on the specifics? Unless they're directly related to the characters/story being told right now, anyway.

Obviously some details are still pertinent. Sabine's weapon designs should still matter if/when she runs into other Mandalorians. Bo's history as both part of the royal family and as Death Watch requires some attention. Stuff like that. But for the most part, I think we're forgetting that this show began by starting fresh with Mandalore and ignoring much of what came before, and maybe it's better to stay that way and not get bogged down in the history?

[Jackalope89]

It makes sense that Bo would mostly bring people she knows on the scouting mission. She spent some time with the covert, sure, but for something as important as this I can't blame her for bringing familiar faces. And most of her old mates would be former Death Watch, same as her.



Totally missed that. Why is Din still dragging that thing around? After it gave up the covert's location to Blue I'd have expected it on the next shuttle for Tatooine.

But that's a quick and easy way to have backup arrive.

Now, regarding the ongoing conversation about mando culture and history and how deep the show will get into it.....last episode touched on more than I expected it to, but I'm wondering how much they'll bother with the details. When the show started it didn't have much in common with the Mandalore established in the cartoons; the rule about keeping helmets on, "this is the Way" fundamentalism, all kinds of stuff that was either brand new or a sizeable shift from what had been done beforehand.

And I'm wondering if us fans are losing sight of that intentional clean break and expecting too much connective tissue. We accepted Din as a mando who was removed from past stories and history and belonged to a cultural sect we'd never seen before, but now that we're getting into retaking Mandalore and Bo has become a major player, are we too focused on how it meshes with what came before? None of us want canon to be broken, but if they approach everything before the Purge with a fuzzy overview, is that enough? Do we really need to dig into the details, or is it enough to just say something like "Death Watch was a terror group that broke into many pieces" and not linger on the specifics? Unless they're directly related to the characters/story being told right now, anyway.

Obviously some details are still pertinent. Sabine's weapon designs should still matter if/when she runs into other Mandalorians. Bo's history as both part of the royal family and as Death Watch requires some attention. Stuff like that. But for the most part, I think we're forgetting that this show began by starting fresh with Mandalore and ignoring much of what came before, and maybe it's better to stay that way and not get bogged down in the history?

I think part of the series is that they acknowledge their dark past and divisions, and move toward a better future. They acknowledge differences, but don't let those divide them anymore.

[godisawesome]

It makes sense that Bo would mostly bring people she knows on the scouting mission. She spent some time with the covert, sure, but for something as important as this I can't blame her for bringing familiar faces. And most of her old mates would be former Death Watch, same as her.



Totally missed that. Why is Din still dragging that thing around? After it gave up the covert's location to Blue I'd have expected it on the next shuttle for Tatooine.

But that's a quick and easy way to have backup arrive.

Now, regarding the ongoing conversation about mando culture and history and how deep the show will get into it.....last episode touched on more than I expected it to, but I'm wondering how much they'll bother with the details. When the show started it didn't have much in common with the Mandalore established in the cartoons; the rule about keeping helmets on, "this is the Way" fundamentalism, all kinds of stuff that was either brand new or a sizeable shift from what had been done beforehand.

And I'm wondering if us fans are losing sight of that intentional clean break and expecting too much connective tissue. We accepted Din as a mando who was removed from past stories and history and belonged to a cultural sect we'd never seen before, but now that we're getting into retaking Mandalore and Bo has become a major player, are we too focused on how it meshes with what came before? None of us want canon to be broken, but if they approach everything before the Purge with a fuzzy overview, is that enough? Do we really need to dig into the details, or is it enough to just say something like "Death Watch was a terror group that broke into many pieces" and not linger on the specifics? Unless they're directly related to the characters/story being told right now, anyway.

Obviously some details are still pertinent. Sabine's weapon designs should still matter if/when she runs into other Mandalorians. Bo's history as both part of the royal family and as Death Watch requires some attention. Stuff like that. But for the most part, I think we're forgetting that this show began by starting fresh with Mandalore and ignoring much of what came before, and maybe it's better to stay that way and not get bogged down in the history?

As we’ve discussed, I could see that being the direction LFL wants to go with the characters… but it also puts a percent cap on to what heights the story can get to and a shallow floor on how deep it can go - and thus also how strongly it will appeal to the larger audience and how long it’s goodwill woth the audience will last.

Star Wars has always excelled and even reveled in cashing in on as much of its past as possible - often to an exploitive degree regarding stuff the creators love. We’ve even seen this season slam the “Remember This!?!?” button on R5 like it’s never going to get old and must be done. I’d even argue that being able to call in as much the past as possible is the key to Star Wars love affair with and exploitation of “redemption” stories - Vader’s redemption story always works because they can put the maximum horror on his crimes behind the great execution of ROTJ’s subtle character work. Even Din and Sabine have enjoyed the way their stories have cashed in on their early sins. And it’s basically Rogue One and Andor’s entire purpose.

Downplaying or ignoring that stuff has almost uniformly shown it neuters the stories and their appeals - see: Kylo/Ben in the ST, and the ST losing half the audience it started out with.

And I have to say I don’t think this:

I think part of the series is that they acknowledge their dark past and divisions, and move toward a better future. They acknowledge differences, but don't let those divide them anymore.

…is all that accurate, even if it does go the direction The Mandalorian is as vaguely as possible leaning towards rather than actually acknowledging, let alone exploring.

They’ve admitted only the most small, surface-level divisions - as someone on another forum pointed out, the break between the COTW and the Nite Owls has been portrayed as Those Who Always Wear Their Hats versus Those Who Can Take Their Hats Off, and nothing more. What we either know or can guess is that the Nite Owls are made of the Anti-Maul Mandalorian Resistance and the COTW are likely formed from the Pro-Maul Shadow Collective… which puts the actual differences that haven’t been addressed as matters of treason, patriotism, and a lot of spilled blood between them.

And we’ve done exactly nothing with regards to the darkness behind these factions and characters - Bo’s sister hasn’t even been explained when Bo overthrew her in a criminal conspiracy that involved a lethal false flag operation.

[Jokerz79]

This wasn't a bad season and I didn't hate any of it, but I also found it to be underwhelming.

[paulrkiii]

My thoughts on the season finale....high on action, meh on results. Maybe it's because of all the rumors and expectations.

What I had "issues" with
spoilers:

1. So no one was a spy? 2. What happened to the fighters and bombers that took out the main ship, they just flew off? 3. So Moff Gideon was just interested in creating his own clone army based on his genetics injected with the force?!?! 4. No Asoka connection (which is fine) but I honestly would like rather seen an agent of Thrown show up to take Gideon out after he talked a bunch of BS about him last episode 5. Din's thanks for helping to take back Mandalore is "you have to leave to take Din Grougu on his journey." 6. It wasn't many episodes ago the jet packs ran out of fuel chasing a dragon but now they have enough to fly all over Mandalore and to make it into space?

end of spoilers

What I enjoyed
spoilers:

1. Grogu in IG-12 2. What looks like Grogu connecting with the Mythosaur 3. The dark saber getting crushed 4. The fight scenes 5. R5-D4 continues his retribution from how he was treated in A New Hope lol

end of spoilers

Overall not a terrible season, I think this season was used to create a "clean slate" for Asoka and other things coming leading up to the movie in a few years. Next season of Mando I'm hoping returns to more of what made season 1 and 2 great.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Not a bad season, but I would for sure say the weakest of the three for me.

[Nazrel]

My thoughts on the season finale....high on action, meh on results. Maybe it's because of all the rumors and expectations.

What I had "issues" with
spoilers:

1. So no one was a spy? 2. What happened to the fighters and bombers that took out the main ship, they just flew off? 3. So Moff Gideon was just interested in creating his own clone army based on his genetics injected with the force?!?! 4. No Asoka connection (which is fine) but I honestly would like rather seen an agent of Thrown show up to take Gideon out after he talked a bunch of BS about him last episode 5. Din's thanks for helping to take back Mandalore is "you have to leave to take Din Grougu on his journey." 6. It wasn't many episodes ago the jet packs ran out of fuel chasing a dragon but now they have enough to fly all over Mandalore and to make it into space?

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Well, for number 1, Gideon was an ISB agent, so technically his entire faction were.

end of spoilers

[Conn Seanery]

Enjoyed season 3, but it wasn't as satisfying as the previous two. After Thrawn got mentioned in that leaders meeting I was really hoping that by the end of the season we'd find out he was somehow maneuvering the Mandalorians vs. Gideon confict to snatch up everything Gideon was creating on Mandalore, eliminate a rival, and send a message to the other leaders that any thoughts of betrayal would be dealt with in one shot. I suppose there's still time for that to be possible, it's not like the Mandalorian is limited to its own show, but it felt like this would the best time to do it. Ah well.

I got a real Star Wars: Galaxies vibe from that last scene (house in the middle of nowhere, nothing to do).

[paulrkiii]

spoilers:

Well, for number 1, Gideon was an ISB agent, so technically his entire faction were.

end of spoilers

True, I think the title of the last episode just had a lot of us looking for deeper meaning.

[DKnerd]

Is it just me, this last season is a bit of? Im not sure if I think this season is as good as the 2 first seasons? I feel it is much more rushed and dont feel the direction is something that captivate my interesst ;-(

[Immortal Weapon]

With the exception of episode 3, I thoroughly enjoyed this season. It's not as good as the first two but I still enjoyed it.

[Nazrel]

Is it just me, this last season is a bit of? Im not sure if I think this season is as good as the 2 first seasons? I feel it is much more rushed and dont feel the direction is something that captivate my interesst ;-(

I was getting the impression that the "Rangers of the New Republic" show not happening, caused them to fold parts that would have been that show, into this one, which mucked things up a bit.
spoilers:

Also probably why he ended up as an independent contractor for them at the end.

end of spoilers

[godisawesome]

Is it just me, this last season is a bit of? Im not sure if I think this season is as good as the 2 first seasons? I feel it is much more rushed and don't feel the direction is something that captivate my interesst ;-(

I'm 90% certain someone panicked at the idea of an epic, more character-focused story or Din becoming Mandalore and confronting the wider Mandalorian culture, and ordered everything wrapped up with him out as the main focal point of the story and no complexities or hard questions about how 2/3rds of our total Mandalorian factions come from a group that could charitably be called the Mandalorian Al Qaeda in Death Watch...

... All in pursuit of the idea that Din "should" just be a simple action hero who goes on adventure-of-the-week type episodic escapades AND NOTHING LARGER THAN THAT while the Mandos are just good guys WE NEVER HAVE TO EXAMINE CLOSELY.

And while I enjoyed my one watch through of the season... I don't feel any need to rewatch any of it, really, except in maybe some short scenes that are cool in an otherwise dull narrative - like the hallway fight.

This is a significant step down from both this series' previous seasons, and in comparison to the cartoons, for crying out loud.

I do think I can argue pretty convincingly and easily that the better Mandalroians stories are now definitively located in TCW and Rebels.

Those episodes genuinely have more complex political content, characters, culture-building, and conflicts - it's always better to have some bad guy Mandos to throw down with the good guy ones, and this last episode seemed to confirm that literally all the Imp-Mando guys in live action are just posers, not even ex-ISC members or something cool like that.

Bo was better as an anti-hero with an objective that was somewhen between righteous if myopic and outright purely nationalistic, Sabine's now, in my opinion the BEST Mando from both a dramatic and moral standpoint because she got to examine her own mistakes and their impact on her larger society, and the Darksaber was pointless to this season and a very cool and effective storytelling tool in the cartoons.