Category: Reviews

I saw it coming. You saw it coming. We all saw it coming. Everyone saw it coming except for Bo-Katan, Din Djarin and the dozen or so other Mandos who walked right into Moff Gideon’s trap. Things were going far too well for the Mandalorians in their quest to reclaim Mandalore and in a galaxy where peace is not an acceptable status quo, things were bound to take a turn for the worse. After several episodes established Din, Bo-Katan and Grogu as a functional unit at the center of the Mandalorian Renaissance, Chapter 23, The Spies, saw it all taken away from them at the hands of Gideon, calling into question if Mandalore might not just be cursed after all.

While Gideon’s return was already advertised, the live-action debut of the Shadow Council–a group of Imperial loyalists working behind the scenes to ensure the return to power of the Empire–serves as an interesting parallel to the work being done by the Mandalorians. Just as Bo-Katan, Din Djarin and the Armorer seek to round up and reunite Mandalorians from across the galaxy, Gideon seeks to amass the resources of the Imperial remnants from across the galaxy to stop them. Having Gideon launch his plan–and his trap–from the depths of Mandalore, indeed from the heart of their once great civilization, just adds another notch on the belt of this wonderful bastard.

The fallout from the events of this episode promises to be nothing short of transformational for the next arc of the series. Bo-Katan–whose desire to lead again had to be stirred extrinsically–has now led her newly formed army into a trap that cost her the life of Paz Vizsla and steadying influence of Din Djarin. How those losses will impact her next move and how an increasingly independent Grogu will respond to the capture of his father are major questions that will define not only Chapter 24, the Season 3 finale, but also next season and, ultimately, the Mandalorian-centric film set to be directed by Dave Filoni.

While the finale of the episode feels like the beginning of a slow march to the creation of the First Order, their canonical birth is still 5 or so years away and, so far as we know, Gideon is not a part of their sequel trilogy story. So, as parallel as their paths may seem at the moment, Bo-Katan and Gideon are certain to come together again. Will that be the time that Bo-Katan’s song is finally written? As Din Djarin said, Bo-Katan is defined by honor, loyalty and character–all things Gideon knows nothing about. While their goals may seem superficially similar, Bo-Katan’s quest to reclaim Mandalore is done selflessly for the good of her people while Gideon looks to amass the resources of the Empire for his own selfish ends. While the Shadow Council was swayed to play along for now, it’s safe to say that while Thrawn may see value in eliminating the Mandalorians, Gideon won’t find him so easy to manipulate. As things move towards their inevitable end and Bo-Katan and Gideon are positioned against one another, this episode will be noteworthy for its subtle conveyance of the idea that while Gideon seems to have the upper hand, he rules from a throne of fear and manipulation while Bo-Katan has grown from her mistakes and seeks not to lead but is called to it. Short of the Darksaber, which has slowly lost its meaning, Gideon now has everything Bo-Katan, Grogu and The Mandalorians desire. Has that put him in a good place or a very bad place? Place your bets and let’s see what surprises are in store for the season finale!

For a show that’s often been criticized as a slow burn, The Mandalorian has indisputably picked up the pace in its third season. Showrunner Jon Favreau–perhaps in response to those criticisms; perhaps not–seems to have evolved a bit in his storytelling, adapting it to move the overarching plot along more quickly while continuing to build the world of the New Republic. Chapter 21 of The Mandalorian, The Pirate, is perhaps the most impressive display of Favreau’s new approach as it continued to establish the failings of the fledgling New Republic while allowing the increasingly exciting story of the Mandalorian covert–and its future–to push ahead.

Now in the back half of the season, The Mandalorian is making good on some of the plot points left outstanding over the course of the first four episodes..and even the first two seasons. The bulk of the episode’s action takes place on Greef Karga’s new and improved Nevarro. That setting allows Favreau to highlight just how far the world of The Mandalorian has come over the course of three seasons while serving as a reminder that even though things seem on the upswing for these characters, there’s still a terrible evil out there that’s fated to take over. Karga’s renaissance as a man of morals who seeks to serve others in the service of himself illustrates just how fast and loose things are in the Outer Rim while also standing of a symbol of where the galaxy stands in the wake of the fall of the Empire: even though progress is being made, everything is still a work in progress.

As the rest of the galaxy attempts to make progress, no story is as progressive as the story of the Mandalorian culvert. From Paz Vizsla’s tense and passionate speech to the culvert’s return to Nevarro–this time as heroes–to the Armorer’s delayed acknowledgment of Bo-Katan’s experience in the Living Waters, the advancement of the Mandalorians and their place in the New Republic jumped through hyperspace in The Pirate. Since joining the Children of the Watch in Chapter 19, Bo-Katan’s place within the Tribe has been the source of constant speculation by fans, many of whom still don’t quite trust the former Nite Owl despite Katee Sackhoff‘s claims that the character is content falling in line behind someone else’s command. Though it’s not crystal clear in The Pirate, it does seem that while Bo-Katan will fill an incredibly important role in uniting the many tribes and clans of Mandalore at the behest of the Armorer, she’ll do so with the full support of Din Djarin.

However, just as things seem more promising than ever for the armored warriors of Mandalore as they forge a new path to the future…one in which they all look to put their old ways behind them…comes a reminder of their violent past. As much as the emergence of the Mythosaur moves the Armorer to begin the new age and reclaim Mandalore, the ghost of Gideon continues to haunt them. Though he’s yet to appear in Season 3, the architect of the Great Purge of Mandalore is out there and, it seems, there will be no true progress until his story comes to an end. In that regard, Favreau cleverly sows the seeds of the next arc of The Mandalorian into the closing moments of The Pirate. Was Gideon taken by a Mandalorian or were the Mandalorians set up? Given Gideon’s resourcefulness and vision, both seem equally possible and either spell trouble for the Mandalorians as look to reestablish themselves in the New Republic. It would be hard to find a better use of 43 minutes than what Favreau did with The Pirate.

As expected, Chapter 20 of The Mandalorian, The Foundling, did indeed continue to provide further glimpses into the tragic past of Grogu; additionally, despite its short runtime it also managed to further develop the increasingly interesting arc of Bo-Katan Kryze. The episode, written by Dave Filoni and directed by Carl Weathers, also serves as a reminder of how good fans of Star Wars have it these days. Packed with Mandalorians screaming across the sky in their jet packs while taking on a giant bird of prey, The Foundling features the kind of action fans of the original trilogy only dreamt of as children of the ’70s and ’80s.

It’s important for the audience of the series to keep in mind that, to some extent, The Mandalorian was borne of the dreams of a pair of ’70s and ’80s children. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni grew up fans of the original trilogy, playing with their Kenner toys and imagining all the stories that George Lucas didn’t have time to tell in those films. Those imaginings have grown and with age and practice in storytelling have become the foundations of a world unto itself–a world within the world they grew up adoring–where dozens of Mandalorians are training, unbeknownst to them at the moment, to take back their ancestral homeworld. That homeworld that feels so familiar, the cultural rifts that fractured it and that make Bo-Katan’s adoption by the Tribe feel so awkward, and all the mythology that goes along with it…for the most part, that’s Favreau and Filoni building an empire on a few bread crumbs.

Now a member of the Children of the Watch and, apparently, taking that privilege very seriously, Bo-Katan’s progress is the true center of the episode. Though Katee Sackhoff recently indicated that Bo-Katan might be just fine following rather than leading, the character, by her own admission, has always been good at war. And so, Bo-Katan eagerly led a war party into battle against a massive and incredibly Star Wars-y raptor to save the life of Ragnar, a Mandalorian foundling and the son of Paz Vizsla. It shouldn’t be lost on the audience that clans Kryze and Vizsla were among the most prominent and powerful of Mandalore’s past. Though Paz and the rest of the Children of the Watch never accepted Bo-Katan’s claim as ruler of Mandalore, a potential alliance between the two–and all the different twists and turns it might provide room for–will be worth watching.

Bo-Katan’s time in battle also allowed her to spend some one-on-one time with the Armorer as she replaced her shoulder pauldron. After seeing the mythosaur in Chapter 18, Bo-Katan had, until now, chosen to keep that information to herself. As Sackhoff explained in an interview, the character wasn’t entirely sure she believed what she saw and, therefore, was hesitant to share out.

She doesn’t trust necessarily what she saw. She might have thought that she imagined it. There’s so many things that she’s trying to process in her head that I don’t necessarily think that it’s something that she wants to tell anyone about right now.

Katee Sackhoff

By choosing to reveal what she saw to the Armorer while also choosing to adorn her new pauldron with the mythosaur signet, Bo-Katan is making the choice to commit to the covert…and The Way. While there’s still likely to be plenty of awkward moments, Bo-Katan has come a long, long way since she was seen pouting on her throne as the ruler of nothing.

While Bo-Katan’s journey was the meat, The Foundling also provided some potatoes by revealing a little more about how Grogu survived the massacre at the Jedi Temple following Order 66. As he’s apt to do, Filoni brought a non-canon character into the canon, this time in the form of Jedi Kelleran Beq. Played by Jar Jar Binks voice actor Ahmed Best, Beq was the host and main character of the now-canceled game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. Beq’s rescue of Grogu gave the character a chance to show off the legendary lightsaber skills that earned him the nickname “The Sabered Hand” as he worked with some of Naboo’s finest to get youngling Gorgu off Coruscant. However, as Favreau recently indicated that he could go on making seasons of The Mandalorian forever, the episode left plenty of room to tell more of Grogu’s journey as this portion ended with him and Beq escaping into hyperspace.

The advancements to Grogu’s plot in real time are more significant, however. Having chosen to return to Din Djarin as a Mandalorian foundling, Grogu now has to learn what it means to walk The Way of The Mand’alor. And so, the episode sees Grogu begin his training by going up against fellow foundling Ragnar. Grogu uses The Force to help him defeat Ragnar in his training exercise shortly before Ragnar is picked off by the raptor. While there wasn’t much time to explore his feelings, it’s likely that Ragnar didn’t take too kindly to the defeat. While he hasn’t been developed much, Ragnar has had quite a bit of screentime which means his story–and how it intersects with Grogu’s–is certainly not done.

The Foundling certainly has all the earmarks of an episode that will undoubtedly pay major dividends down the road. For all the preemptive hand-wringing online about the episode’s short runtime, Chapter 20 of The Mandalorian may ultimately be remembered as a key chapter in the series.