I get the vibe during the baptism scene when the Armorer says “This is the Way” to Din after he says he wants to adopt Grogu, she has been waiting for him to come to that decision for a long time, and she sounds almost relieved/rejoiced he does so. She’s even playing with the bowl in her hands when she says “if his parents are even alive” as if she is just waiting for the right answer. You can almost hear the smile spread across her face in that final This is the Way. Idk, I guess all n all, I like the idea that she has been talking of Grogu as Din’a son since season one bc she wanted Din to adopt him all along
Agree, it was a nice moment. The thing is that Din Djarin is very slow socially huasahuhuasahu So everyone saw him as Din Grogu's father, but he needed to catch on
The problem with the dark saber getting destroyed, is that no one even acknowledged it afterward. If it was going to get destroyed, it *NEEDED* to be Gideon that did it, so Bo could have a moment of doubt wondering if if her people will still follow her without it, and all the Mandalorians stand up and salute her, confirming that she doesn't need it. But they forgot to film that last part, apparently. :/
I think you're right, but I think Djarin's speech about her story not having yet been written was supposed to convey that. But that sentiment didn't necessarily apply to the whole group. You could argue, though, that the destruction of the Dark Saber means that rule no longer applies. Before, when people followed the one who held the saber, it was because that person had won it in battle. If it's no longer on the table, no one can win it. It's not that she *lost* it in battle. It was destroyed, so it's no longer a measure of who should lead them. The other thing is, technically, she still has the Dark Saber. It's just busted.
I think the point of the helmet rule is that its a very spiritual and religious thing for many mandalorians, but not all. And some mandalorians even disparaged that spiritual and religious view, claiming it was cultist. Having them learn to accept one another has to go both ways, not just the spiritual and religious side being the only ones giving in. It should be ok that some mandalorians have spiritual and religious beliefs, and there isn't anything wrong with that, and they certainly shouldn't be disparaged for it. And yes, I think this is totally a message meant for real life as well.
Exactly, I think everyone got too fixated of the word “Cult” when Bo Katan said it, they are just a religious sect of Mandalorian culture and this is a thing they hold highly as a spiritual/religious practice. People forget this group is Din’s FAMILY from the time he was a child to now. He didn’t redeem himself because he regretted showing his face to Grogu, he did it because his family rejected him after he did it and wanted to have that safety net/blanket back. And the episode makes it clear without spelling it out that now that it’s a CHOICE to keep the helmet on. There’s no malicious intent with it, just a different set of beliefs.
The uncertainty of whether we could trust the Armourer was entirely intentional imo. This neat film craft put us in the same spot as Bo Katan, as Bo’s own security of trust was only fully realised when Team Mando fully converged on Gideon’s den in the finalé - the exact same can be said for Axe Woves et al. Uncertainty became certainty through the power of loyal action. Exactly as Din described it to Bo in Ep.7. The final battle wiped out all question of uncertainty - “For Mandalore”
I read the whole adoption thing as going from Foster Kid to officially adopted and for a lot of adopted children, that is a big moment. It went from He's under your watch, You HAVE to take care of him to Din CHOOSING to be the Caretaker.
I think that Din Djarin working for the New Republic positions him well to have the imperial remnant (even Ray Sloane) as the big bad in The Mandalorian.
The thing that annoys me a little is everyone is acting like Grogu can't communicate. He *can* communicate. He talked to Ahsoka just fine. That's how we know his name is Grogu. They just need to find a Force-sensitive person to give him the creed. :)
The Armorer never did anything in actions or words to make her a spy or working both sides. It was her helmet and her distant tone and ambiguity at times, which fits her character as a spiritual leader. People were sus on Paz until he sacrificed himself because he was standoffish and had a seeming problem with Din. The Armorer's actions were always to strengthen her Covert or Mandalore in general by encouraging Bo-Katon. She's just mysterious because of her position.
Regarding when Din officially adopts Grogu in front of everyone- remember the choice Grogu was given by Luke- he formally chose Din over the chance to study with the greatest Jedi master so to have Din formally adopt Grogu as his own resolved both of their childhood traumas- memories of being in danger and alone (both have similar flashback sequences). Also- I think the ending was planned way ahead of time in case they ran into a similar situation like Book of Boba Fet where there was basically no closure. They could literally end the series with that ending or they could reset and start a whole new plot line in Season 4.
Anyone else notice the parallels between mandos and jedi now that it’s established mandos head out with apprentices to explore the galaxy and learn just like jedi?
I think it's not that Mandalorians in general take apprentices to go around the galaxy on adventures as it is that Mandalorians teach their apprentices their profession, and Din's profession is bounty hunter. (He points this out in the Republic bar.) If Din was a gunsmith or a cartwright he'd probably stay on Mandalore and do that with Grogu.
The part about Gideon protecting his clones wasn’t the physical protections but him saying I’ll handle it then sitting around for din to come to him instead of handling it.
They should have called the last episode The Scouts or The Scouting Party or The Recon Mission or something. The Spies title seems to have just confused people.
I would have really liked it if instead of Gideon being killed during a fight with Mandos, he has his fight with the Mandos, runs to try and survive and win another day, returns to his command center, the Praetorian Guard just walked into his command center, he gives them orders but they don’t listen, he’s confused, then Thrawn appears, tells Gideon off, then orders the guard to kill Gideon and return to the fleet
I kind of wish Gideon's clones had a chance to do something. And we wouldn't have even needed to see their faces most of the time, they could have just been helmeted like Gideon. Maybe they could have taken the place of the Praetorian guards. Or maybe Gideon could have injected himself with this "Force/midichlorian formula" but then it backfires somehow. I don't know, I just found myself desiring a lot of what-ifs throughout the episode and the season.
I think something everyone is forgetting about the "Spies" episode, is that Kane was speaking to a literal spy droid. Couldn't that be the other spy 😅? That would make more sense to me (that, or just that "Spies" sounds cooler than "Spy" and we're just reading too much into it 🙄) considering that the spies in that bible story were actual spies infiltrating a rival group of people, whereas the Mandos who went to the surface of the planet weren't infiltrating anyone's society. They were just checking out, what they assumed was, an unpopulated planet (well, not populated with people, anyway 🤷♂).
Mollie, glad to see your beautiful face and smile again! Blessings that you are well. My worse thing is allergies in my state are super bad and I’m highly allergic to everything!
regarding the Darksaber…. I bet they will rebuild it. Perhaps Din Grogu can help. But remember; in the Ahsoka trailer we saw the droid that helped younglings build lightsabers.
It’s obvious the armourer has always been the wise sage figure in mandalorian lore. Like the sages of ancient China and India they rarely took leadership roles but usually offered advice and help to those who were following a natural path towards leadership. She will obviously take up the task of the large scale use of the forge and protecting it , but also continue to provide advice to all mandalorian a that come to the forge. She has evolved as a sage in that she became more accepting of people not following her philosophy and way. This is mirrored in history with other sages who have realised their ways were contributing to the problems around them and stepped up to correct their actions in order to guide the ruler back on to the correct path.
Regarding Book of Boba Fetts Mando Episodes: here a post from a German TV magazine in Jan 2021: “Even as Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to clear up the confusion, some fans didn’t want to accept a simple answer. They wanted to pick Favreau’s words apart and make it appear as if there was some behind the scenes drama that led to a delay in production for the third season of The Mandalorian. As much as some fans want to believe that there is some sort of civil war going on at Lucasfilm leading to delays in production, it is simply not the case. The boring truth for production of The Mandalorian being slated for later this year instead of now is simply due to scheduling and Covid-19 protocols. There will be mass scenes in Season 3 that cannot be filmed yet due to restrictions. So Book of Boba Fett got green lit first.” Furthermore the original info was BoBF is a 5 part season. In the end we ended up with 7. I guess they used Mandos first two episodes so that there was no surprise that grogu came back for the Finale of BoBF. And split the season 3 finale in two parts know to get to the 8 episodes. Plus a bit of filler material in one or another like the lizzo/black stuff.
I don't think Grogu actually needed to be in most of this season. I admit, I've only watched each episode once, but as far as big story contributions go, all he did was take the N1 to see Bo-Katan when Din got captured by the spider-cyborg, break up the fight between Axe and Paz, and then got a bigger role in the finale fighting the Praetorians and Gideon and shielding Bo and Din from the crashing cruiser. The finale stuff feels more important, because it gives Din a reason to be able to even survive a fight the the Praetorians who wiped the floor with Paz, and to a lesser extent was important with Gideon, but the earlier stuff? Not really important. And none of Din's decisions, as far as I can recall, were based on Grogu's needs or wants. He's just bringing Grogu into a bunch of hazardous situations that really, Force prodigy or not, he really shouldn't be in. Finding Bo-Katan doesn't _need_ to happen if Bo-Katan comes with Din to begin with instead of pulling an Achilles in His Tent. Maybe he could have come back for the last two episodes, maybe as a big season finale moment, but his presence in the rest of the season just feels superfluous. I wonder how much of the season was written on the assumption that Grogu would still be with Luke, and they just shoehorned him back in because the studio wanted to keep Baby Yoda in the show. Maybe none, and this was all planned from the start, but I would put good money on the former. Really, I think they could have had the training scenes with Luke happen in this season instead of in BoBF. Cut away every now and then to Grogu and Luke, have the big Kelleran flashback when Luke helps him unlock his memories, all that stuff. Contrive a reason to send him back for the finale if you must, but even then the ending of season 2 would have retained a lot of the its impact, compared with what we got . Also, since Grogu is considered a Mandalorian by creed, why aren't we seeing more obviously non-human Mandalorians? Sure, some of the Children could be near-humans, but that's a heck of a cop-out.
I think the mythosaur was just to show the Mandalorians were on the right track. It represents all Mandalorians, not a specific clan, so it may be showing they were on the right track to unite all the factions, an end of the infighting, which would make sense since Bo has recognized that their constant fighting is weakening them.
Ok so with regards to the naming. We have no indication that Din Djarin had his name changed after becoming a foundling. We also know that rather than bringing Grogu into an existing clan (does their clan have a House: like clan Wren is house Vizla?) they became a clan of 2 so there's no external claim on his naming. The only thing that makes sense is that his birth culture was one of those family name first personal name second places and even though old line Mandalorians don't operate like that they don't wish to make Din Djarin change his name to fit their standard. Now there doesn't seem to be any good reason for the writers to have chosen to do it this way but I think this makes for an acceptable patch.
Hi, I love watching your Star Wars videos. I think you do a fabulous job. When I look at the Mandalorian characters, I associate Bo-Katan Kryze as being the leader of the Mandalore and The Armourer as being the religious leader of the Mandalorians. I still think Din Grogu is The Mandalorian in the title and he eventually become the leader of Mandalore. Din Grogu has already commanded the respect of the Mandalorians, even as a foundling and now an apprentice. Has Din Djarin and Din Grogu unofficially joined the Rangers Of The New Republic? Could Garazeb Orrelios, Hera Synndulla, Sabine Wren and Agent Kallus also be future members of the Rangers Of The New Republic before one or more of them go off with Ahsoka Tano to go searching for Ezra Bridger? I am looking forward to your thoughts on the Star Wars Visions, Young Jedi Adventures, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew in the future. Matt S.
I think they should have extended last weeks episode to defeat Gideon and spent the finale letting the Mando's deal with the aftermath and talk on how they will rebuild together. The montage at the end just felt rushed to me in order to reset the status quo for season 4, and separating Grogu from his adoptive mum is just cruel
@@darthnicholas8528 why removing the helmet would be a character growth? He doesn't impose that on other anymore, that's the actual character development
@@gabrielsalesmartins That’s not necessarily what I personally think. I’m basically just paraphrasing a criticism Star Wars Explained seemed to raise about how they believe Din abiding by his helmet rule is undoing his character development and growth after he removed it in the season 2 finale. I could be wrong about this (after all, I didn’t listen to the whole stream lol).
@@gabrielsalesmartins Because, whether justified or not, a lot of viewers saw Season 2 as pushing forward an arc of Din coming to realise that the helmet rule is stifling. From discovering that there was a wider world of Mandalorians who saw his particular people as a cult, to Mayfeld's talk about it and the moment Din removed his helmet to find Grogu, to the final scene where he pulls his helmet off in front of a bunch of witnesses so that his adopted son could see his face. It may not be what Favreau and Filoni intended, but that's how it came across to a lot of us, and to then go into BoBF and have Din immediately return to the Armorer and beg forgiveness when called out on the helmet thing, felt like a strange backwards step in what we *thought* the show was trying to do.
I can't believe that I've never been to your channel before! Just subscribed and really enjoyed this conversation and I agree with a lot of points about the season as a whole. Something felt off all season long and I'm not sure if it's that because the heart of the show (Din & Grogu) wasn't the focus or something else but I came out a little more disappointed than I liked. One thing I've noticed that most reactors and people I've talked missed is that fact before the Armourer amended the helmet part in the Creed when Ragnar was sworn in the 2nd time, Din also never finished that part of the Creed - he fell into the living waters before he could say "and from this moment forward I shall never remove my helmet". I remember thinking this HAS to mean something, right? That Din never finished swearing the Creed is something will come of that back on him right? But, it never did and I was bummed, lol. Anyhoo, great conversation and now I am going to watch more of your content. Keep up the awesome work!
I guess what some of the issue with this Season is that big moments are either too subtle or just don't feel big, or they are big, but aren't treated as such. There's a lot of potential ideas that you guys have shared over the past weeks that haven't come to fruition, and not that they have to, but big themes of the show and directions you think the show should be taking are better than what happened within the show, and it does make you wonder why the decisions made in the show were made. I'm still satisfied with what happened in this Finale, and even the Season, but I'm not really feeling the urge to go back and rewatch it all as a story, I feel like I've got everything for right now, I can't dig deeper.
Gideon destroying the Dark Saber bothered me the least. If anything it was quite ironic that the last thing he did was a good thing for uniting Mandalorians, when he thought he is bringing the down.
I'm only about 15-16 minutes into this video but to me in the end, everyone accepts that there's more than one way to be a Mandalorian. Whether you choose to be orthodox (Children of the Watch) or not (Nite Owls), as long as you follow the basic tenants of walking the way of the Mandalore that's fine, they're both Mandalorian. It's fine if you choose to keep your helmet on and it's fine if you don't. There are multiple examples in real life about this. It's all about accepting different views and how it's acceptable to interpret ancient texts differently - you're still the same people. The Mandalorian clans all had their own interpretation and warred over it (dare I say crusaded?)... now they're united and accept each other's views and differences. They're all Mandalorian. But consequently being a Mandalorian is not just about having Beskar armor like Gideon and the Troopers believe; that's appropriation. Being a Mandalorian is more than just having an armor; there's a whole culture behind the armor and wearing the armor. It's not just about having cool trinkets and cool gadgets. Gideon doesn't understand what it means to be Mandalorian. This whole season explains what it means to be Mandalorian (done clumsily at times for sure) mostly through the eyes of Bo Katan who has lived through both worlds but also through Din (his pep talk in episode to Bo on the barge pretty much encapsulates who he is and what it means to be Mandalorian). Anyways, that's what I thought this season was about and my views on the bothersome helmet rule
I guess nearly everyone from chapter 23 is a spy. - Elia Kane is spying for Gideon in the New Republic. - R5 gave the location of the Mandalorians to Carson Teva. - The Shadow counsel are imperials hiding in plain sight by being undercover as chaotic war lord. - The 12 Mandalorians are spies in the biblical sense. - And with a bit of a stretch the Mando survivors where planting hidden farm on Mandalor.
For me this season is sumed up in one word... Fun. The action is what I hoped for, loved all the dogfights. Watching the Mando's kick ass was so cool. Were there story problems yes, could we use more character growth yes. And I never need to see Jack Black/ Lizzo in Star wars again. Every week this show put a smile on my face. Looking forward to season 4 (and Ashoka)
I'm confused why so many think that Din Djarin's name would follow Mandalorian naming convention. Din Djarin wasn't born a Mandalorian, he was a Foundling and this doesn't seem to contradict anything we know about his home planet.
I agree that the storytelling was kind of meandering and fragmented this season. But it did make huge and fast story steps in most episodes as well as constantly drive towards the goal of both Din, Bo and the Mandalorians as a whole coming together and accepting different world views. Yeah, I feel like the finale could have done with at least another 10 minutes to flesh things out, but it is also the most positive and hopeful SW has been in a while, and I'm all for that.
Season 4 will be Din Djarin and Din Grogu fighting for the New Republic in an expanding universe! Each season the Din Djarin and Grogu's Universe will continue to grow bigger and bigger.
The climax should have been all the Mandalorians seeing Bo letting the darksaber be destroyed, echoing her initial failure with the saber, but then Axe and the others rally behind her anyways. And/or, the mines collapse, making redemption impossible, and the Armorer is unmasked in front of everyone, but the inclusion of the other tribe inspires her to continue on. Wasn’t that kinda stuff what the season was supposed to be about? Not just pew pew pew? I think Molly is letting the writers off easy by ignoring the season’s own story setups. And if the show wanted to champion tradition, then it should have ended with Grogu grabbing Din to go get his little saber from Luke, switching the crystals, and gifting it to Bo Katan and Mandalore. And/or Grogu starts lifting rocks to uncover the waters once again for the Armorer, keeping that aspect of their culture alive.
I think the Imperial's are scared of the United Mandalore as a United Mandalore could be extremely difficult to destroy, especially if they join forces with the Ahsoka Tano and Ghost Crew plus Boba Fett, Fennac Shand, Cobb Vanth, Black Krrstantan and the Mod Squad.
But when the dark saber had not such a big meaning and we fans should not be so attached to the dark saber, how should we feel now about the mythosaur? Does that creature also not mean so much? Should we just be ok when the mythosaur dies of a fungus infection in season 4? 😂 I mean, they set up expectations in the way the build an allure around an object or a person. Of course a throwaway disposal, lacking drama and a deeper meaning will disappoint fans like me.
95% of the "disappointment" from the season/finale is from people inserting their own ideas and conclusions into the show. My only gripe with the episode is that there was basically no space battle at all, despite all the Fang fighters.
I'd argue the series itself set itself up for all these interesting ideas and conclusions but ended up following mostly uninteresting ideas and easy conclusions. The story was very surface level this season and the fan discourse and theories ended up being more fun and interesting than what actually happened
35:31 Luke threw out his dad’s light saber as of it were less than trash. Luke doesn’t thoughtfully throw it out. The Darksaber was a symbol of empire and individual conquest, where Bo Katan took a lot of opportunities to say that Mandalorians should be unified. It was clunky as heck but she could have said something like “today we end the time among Mandalorians where power is something that is squabbled over among our ranks” and she could have forged it into something different, like a sigil of the mythosaur that is for all Mandalorians. Moff Gideon using his suits super-strength to crush it while her hand is holding it was interesting, but it was a pretty clunky way to tell a story.
On the deepfakes thing, Carrie Fisher was on record (regarding merch, but actually talking about her likeness) as treating Leia like a character, not her. So I think she may be OK with the character living on as tech evolves. If you play a Star Wars game with say Unreal Engine and an AI run interaction in 10 years where CG people will 100% look and talk like real people (we are basically getting those soon)... are you going to then draw the line? Feels super arbitrary at that point. And may drive Disney to not use real actors at all?? So everything franchise-related becomes constructed sim people? Actors in the roles become Performance Actors (like voice actors but even their voices aren't used but a sim voice too) I can say from my own work, we are already planning that. We are about to enter a world where we copyright a fake person as X character and register the shapes and digital DNA as belonging to a corp.
Not just cults but religious fundamentalists will often continue with certain restrictions upon themselves even when living amongst others that don't, such as Hasidic Jews. Not a perfect episode, not a perfect season. Two things I didn't think were problems. I don't consider Ax Woves jetpack one of the issues. It was established earlier in the season that Bo-Katan, the Night Owls and by extension the Mercenaries had much higher tech equipment than the Children of The Watch Covert. This was said by the Armorer when she repaired Bo-Katans armor, she did the best she could with the material and supplies she had but she had limitations. So Ax Woves haveing a jetpack that could pull more G's and still last longer didn't seem odd to me. Not all Mandalorian gadgets and armor are made equal. Additionally the Mandalorians versus Imperial Remnant Super Commandos. The Imperials haven't practiced in that armor with those weapons their whole life. The Mandalorians not only have, they also know the weaknesses of their own armor.
Idk, I didn't have any of the issues y'all did. This was my favorite season by a mile. First season was fine. Second was good with some reeeeaaaally great moments. This was the first season where I actually got hyped every week to see it. 🤷♂️
Molly is really disrespectful not to understand the importance a formal adoption has for a child. I've heard this from so many supposedly intelligent people, but it's incredibly ignorant and insensitive. Why does adoption matter? Ask the child!!!
I've been feeling for a long time that your mistrust of the armorer stemmed from religious mistrust rather than anything actually suspicions about the character. It's nice to hear you say it out loud but as a religious person myself it is kind of hurtful to hear the mistrust you have of all religion because of a limited experience with some religions. Not all religions or religious people fit into the usual stereotypes.
Saying to just “leave the oh characters alone” is kind of rediculous. There’s is 30 years of in cannon history for the OG 3 that we know nothing about and it’s a ripe fertile ground for incredible stories and character journeys for Han and Luke and Leo. Do just not do anything with them is robbing the fan base in my opinion or to put all that history just in book is even more of a middle finger. Recast all the way.
Every time I hear you say that din should just take his helmet off... it reminds me of the denying right-wingers telling people to take their masks off. It just doesn't make sense for Mandalorian warrior culture... people who make weapons part of their religion. Why are you trying to redeem that as part of what is messed up about them at their core?
You keep saying that if they want to wear their helmets, that's fine with me... but then you go on having a major problem with it for din. You are committing the same hypocrisy and cult-like requirements that you are accusing them of. Mandalorians wear helmets a lot for a reason, and now we understand that they are a warrior cult. Why can't there be warrior cults in the Star Wars universe? They are violent and worship weapons and armor... there is no way to redeem that from a negative moral position. Let it be that!
I get the vibe during the baptism scene when the Armorer says “This is the Way” to Din after he says he wants to adopt Grogu, she has been waiting for him to come to that decision for a long time, and she sounds almost relieved/rejoiced he does so. She’s even playing with the bowl in her hands when she says “if his parents are even alive” as if she is just waiting for the right answer. You can almost hear the smile spread across her face in that final This is the Way. Idk, I guess all n all, I like the idea that she has been talking of Grogu as Din’a son since season one bc she wanted Din to adopt him all along
Agree, it was a nice moment. The thing is that Din Djarin is very slow socially huasahuhuasahu
So everyone saw him as Din Grogu's father, but he needed to catch on
Not the first time she's acted that way either. I hope that season 4 has them looking for Grogu's real parents.
The problem with the dark saber getting destroyed, is that no one even acknowledged it afterward. If it was going to get destroyed, it *NEEDED* to be Gideon that did it, so Bo could have a moment of doubt wondering if if her people will still follow her without it, and all the Mandalorians stand up and salute her, confirming that she doesn't need it. But they forgot to film that last part, apparently. :/
I think you're right, but I think Djarin's speech about her story not having yet been written was supposed to convey that. But that sentiment didn't necessarily apply to the whole group.
You could argue, though, that the destruction of the Dark Saber means that rule no longer applies. Before, when people followed the one who held the saber, it was because that person had won it in battle. If it's no longer on the table, no one can win it. It's not that she *lost* it in battle. It was destroyed, so it's no longer a measure of who should lead them.
The other thing is, technically, she still has the Dark Saber. It's just busted.
I think the point of the helmet rule is that its a very spiritual and religious thing for many mandalorians, but not all. And some mandalorians even disparaged that spiritual and religious view, claiming it was cultist. Having them learn to accept one another has to go both ways, not just the spiritual and religious side being the only ones giving in. It should be ok that some mandalorians have spiritual and religious beliefs, and there isn't anything wrong with that, and they certainly shouldn't be disparaged for it. And yes, I think this is totally a message meant for real life as well.
Exactly, I think everyone got too fixated of the word “Cult” when Bo Katan said it, they are just a religious sect of Mandalorian culture and this is a thing they hold highly as a spiritual/religious practice. People forget this group is Din’s FAMILY from the time he was a child to now. He didn’t redeem himself because he regretted showing his face to Grogu, he did it because his family rejected him after he did it and wanted to have that safety net/blanket back. And the episode makes it clear without spelling it out that now that it’s a CHOICE to keep the helmet on. There’s no malicious intent with it, just a different set of beliefs.
go do a wild goose chase if you want us to accept you. sounds like a cult
The uncertainty of whether we could trust the Armourer was entirely intentional imo. This neat film craft put us in the same spot as Bo Katan, as Bo’s own security of trust was only fully realised when Team Mando fully converged on Gideon’s den in the finalé - the exact same can be said for Axe Woves et al. Uncertainty became certainty through the power of loyal action. Exactly as Din described it to Bo in Ep.7. The final battle wiped out all question of uncertainty - “For Mandalore”
I read the whole adoption thing as going from Foster Kid to officially adopted and for a lot of adopted children, that is a big moment. It went from He's under your watch, You HAVE to take care of him to Din CHOOSING to be the Caretaker.
I think that Din Djarin working for the New Republic positions him well to have the imperial remnant (even Ray Sloane) as the big bad in The Mandalorian.
Absolutely, the next story arc will probably intersect with Ahsoka and Thrawn too I'd imagine.
The thing that annoys me a little is everyone is acting like Grogu can't communicate. He *can* communicate. He talked to Ahsoka just fine. That's how we know his name is Grogu. They just need to find a Force-sensitive person to give him the creed. :)
Would've been a perfect time for him to finally say "this is the way" at the end
Perhaps he is not a “baby”. Perhaps he is mute.
@@madisonbadger9454 I think they've made reference to how old he is in the show, but I can't remember. :)
@@madisonbadger9454 would prefer this tbh. don’t want grogu talking like yoda. or yaddle.
No one ever said he can't communicate; just that he can't speak 😉.
The Armorer never did anything in actions or words to make her a spy or working both sides. It was her helmet and her distant tone and ambiguity at times, which fits her character as a spiritual leader. People were sus on Paz until he sacrificed himself because he was standoffish and had a seeming problem with Din. The Armorer's actions were always to strengthen her Covert or Mandalore in general by encouraging Bo-Katon. She's just mysterious because of her position.
paz is a violent psycho tho
Regarding when Din officially adopts Grogu in front of everyone- remember the choice Grogu was given by Luke- he formally chose Din over the chance to study with the greatest Jedi master so to have Din formally adopt Grogu as his own resolved both of their childhood traumas- memories of being in danger and alone (both have similar flashback sequences). Also- I think the ending was planned way ahead of time in case they ran into a similar situation like Book of Boba Fet where there was basically no closure. They could literally end the series with that ending or they could reset and start a whole new plot line in Season 4.
Wow! Whata agreat guest this week! She seems so charitable and likable and snarky and awesome!
Anyone else notice the parallels between mandos and jedi now that it’s established mandos head out with apprentices to explore the galaxy and learn just like jedi?
I think it's not that Mandalorians in general take apprentices to go around the galaxy on adventures as it is that Mandalorians teach their apprentices their profession, and Din's profession is bounty hunter. (He points this out in the Republic bar.) If Din was a gunsmith or a cartwright he'd probably stay on Mandalore and do that with Grogu.
The part about Gideon protecting his clones wasn’t the physical protections but him saying I’ll handle it then sitting around for din to come to him instead of handling it.
I love the positive Star Wars energy. Star Warriors Unite☀️☀️
They should have called the last episode The Scouts or The Scouting Party or The Recon Mission or something. The Spies title seems to have just confused people.
I would have really liked it if instead of Gideon being killed during a fight with Mandos, he has his fight with the Mandos, runs to try and survive and win another day, returns to his command center, the Praetorian Guard just walked into his command center, he gives them orders but they don’t listen, he’s confused, then Thrawn appears, tells Gideon off, then orders the guard to kill Gideon and return to the fleet
I kind of wish Gideon's clones had a chance to do something. And we wouldn't have even needed to see their faces most of the time, they could have just been helmeted like Gideon. Maybe they could have taken the place of the Praetorian guards. Or maybe Gideon could have injected himself with this "Force/midichlorian formula" but then it backfires somehow. I don't know, I just found myself desiring a lot of what-ifs throughout the episode and the season.
I think something everyone is forgetting about the "Spies" episode, is that Kane was speaking to a literal spy droid. Couldn't that be the other spy 😅? That would make more sense to me (that, or just that "Spies" sounds cooler than "Spy" and we're just reading too much into it 🙄) considering that the spies in that bible story were actual spies infiltrating a rival group of people, whereas the Mandos who went to the surface of the planet weren't infiltrating anyone's society. They were just checking out, what they assumed was, an unpopulated planet (well, not populated with people, anyway 🤷♂).
My image today would have been Ragnar and Ax Woves standing next to each other at the forge lighting ceremony.
Mollie, glad to see your beautiful face and smile again!
Blessings that you are well.
My worse thing is allergies in my state are super bad and I’m highly allergic to everything!
1:11:50 when foundlings adopt another foundling to become a mandalorian, the new foundling adopts their parent's first name and adds it to its own.
regarding the Darksaber…. I bet they will rebuild it. Perhaps Din Grogu can help. But remember; in the Ahsoka trailer we saw the droid that helped younglings build lightsabers.
It’s obvious the armourer has always been the wise sage figure in mandalorian lore. Like the sages of ancient China and India they rarely took leadership roles but usually offered advice and help to those who were following a natural path towards leadership. She will obviously take up the task of the large scale use of the forge and protecting it , but also continue to provide advice to all mandalorian a that come to the forge.
She has evolved as a sage in that she became more accepting of people not following her philosophy and way.
This is mirrored in history with other sages who have realised their ways were contributing to the problems around them and stepped up to correct their actions in order to guide the ruler back on to the correct path.
Regarding Book of Boba Fetts Mando Episodes:
here a post from a German TV magazine in Jan 2021:
“Even as Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to clear up the confusion, some fans didn’t want to accept a simple answer. They wanted to pick Favreau’s words apart and make it appear as if there was some behind the scenes drama that led to a delay in production for the third season of The Mandalorian.
As much as some fans want to believe that there is some sort of civil war going on at Lucasfilm leading to delays in production, it is simply not the case. The boring truth for production of The Mandalorian being slated for later this year instead of now is simply due to scheduling and Covid-19 protocols. There will be mass scenes in Season 3 that cannot be filmed yet due to restrictions. So Book of Boba Fett got green lit first.”
Furthermore the original info was BoBF is a 5 part season. In the end we ended up with 7. I guess they used Mandos first two episodes so that there was no surprise that grogu came back for the Finale of BoBF. And split the season 3 finale in two parts know to get to the 8 episodes. Plus a bit of filler material in one or another like the lizzo/black stuff.
I don't think Grogu actually needed to be in most of this season. I admit, I've only watched each episode once, but as far as big story contributions go, all he did was take the N1 to see Bo-Katan when Din got captured by the spider-cyborg, break up the fight between Axe and Paz, and then got a bigger role in the finale fighting the Praetorians and Gideon and shielding Bo and Din from the crashing cruiser. The finale stuff feels more important, because it gives Din a reason to be able to even survive a fight the the Praetorians who wiped the floor with Paz, and to a lesser extent was important with Gideon, but the earlier stuff? Not really important. And none of Din's decisions, as far as I can recall, were based on Grogu's needs or wants. He's just bringing Grogu into a bunch of hazardous situations that really, Force prodigy or not, he really shouldn't be in.
Finding Bo-Katan doesn't _need_ to happen if Bo-Katan comes with Din to begin with instead of pulling an Achilles in His Tent. Maybe he could have come back for the last two episodes, maybe as a big season finale moment, but his presence in the rest of the season just feels superfluous. I wonder how much of the season was written on the assumption that Grogu would still be with Luke, and they just shoehorned him back in because the studio wanted to keep Baby Yoda in the show. Maybe none, and this was all planned from the start, but I would put good money on the former.
Really, I think they could have had the training scenes with Luke happen in this season instead of in BoBF. Cut away every now and then to Grogu and Luke, have the big Kelleran flashback when Luke helps him unlock his memories, all that stuff. Contrive a reason to send him back for the finale if you must, but even then the ending of season 2 would have retained a lot of the its impact, compared with what we got .
Also, since Grogu is considered a Mandalorian by creed, why aren't we seeing more obviously non-human Mandalorians? Sure, some of the Children could be near-humans, but that's a heck of a cop-out.
Alt scene akin to TLJ: Bo holding a broken Darksaber and talking to the Armorer: How do we unite our people without this?
I think the mythosaur was just to show the Mandalorians were on the right track. It represents all Mandalorians, not a specific clan, so it may be showing they were on the right track to unite all the factions, an end of the infighting, which would make sense since Bo has recognized that their constant fighting is weakening them.
Ok so with regards to the naming. We have no indication that Din Djarin had his name changed after becoming a foundling. We also know that rather than bringing Grogu into an existing clan (does their clan have a House: like clan Wren is house Vizla?) they became a clan of 2 so there's no external claim on his naming. The only thing that makes sense is that his birth culture was one of those family name first personal name second places and even though old line Mandalorians don't operate like that they don't wish to make Din Djarin change his name to fit their standard. Now there doesn't seem to be any good reason for the writers to have chosen to do it this way but I think this makes for an acceptable patch.
Hi,
I love watching your Star Wars videos. I think you do a fabulous job. When I look at the Mandalorian characters, I associate Bo-Katan Kryze as being the leader of the Mandalore and The Armourer as being the religious leader of the Mandalorians. I still think Din Grogu is The Mandalorian in the title and he eventually become the leader of Mandalore. Din Grogu has already commanded the respect of the Mandalorians, even as a foundling and now an apprentice. Has Din Djarin and Din Grogu unofficially joined the Rangers Of The New Republic? Could Garazeb Orrelios, Hera Synndulla, Sabine Wren and Agent Kallus also be future members of the Rangers Of The New Republic before one or more of them go off with Ahsoka Tano to go searching for Ezra Bridger?
I am looking forward to your thoughts on the Star Wars Visions, Young Jedi Adventures, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew in the future.
Matt S.
I agree with Molly!! The armorer needs practical weapons and not just tools to fight with 😅
I think they should have extended last weeks episode to defeat Gideon and spent the finale letting the Mando's deal with the aftermath and talk on how they will rebuild together.
The montage at the end just felt rushed to me in order to reset the status quo for season 4, and separating Grogu from his adoptive mum is just cruel
I really don't understand why Mollie and Alex hate the helmet rule so much
I think it’s because Star Wars Explained believes the helmet rule is stunting some much needed character development and growth for Din Djarin.
Do we want our Mandalorians to be a bunch of do gooder nice guys?
@@darthnicholas8528 why removing the helmet would be a character growth? He doesn't impose that on other anymore, that's the actual character development
@@gabrielsalesmartins That’s not necessarily what I personally think. I’m basically just paraphrasing a criticism Star Wars Explained seemed to raise about how they believe Din abiding by his helmet rule is undoing his character development and growth after he removed it in the season 2 finale. I could be wrong about this (after all, I didn’t listen to the whole stream lol).
@@gabrielsalesmartins Because, whether justified or not, a lot of viewers saw Season 2 as pushing forward an arc of Din coming to realise that the helmet rule is stifling. From discovering that there was a wider world of Mandalorians who saw his particular people as a cult, to Mayfeld's talk about it and the moment Din removed his helmet to find Grogu, to the final scene where he pulls his helmet off in front of a bunch of witnesses so that his adopted son could see his face.
It may not be what Favreau and Filoni intended, but that's how it came across to a lot of us, and to then go into BoBF and have Din immediately return to the Armorer and beg forgiveness when called out on the helmet thing, felt like a strange backwards step in what we *thought* the show was trying to do.
I can't believe that I've never been to your channel before! Just subscribed and really enjoyed this conversation and I agree with a lot of points about the season as a whole. Something felt off all season long and I'm not sure if it's that because the heart of the show (Din & Grogu) wasn't the focus or something else but I came out a little more disappointed than I liked. One thing I've noticed that most reactors and people I've talked missed is that fact before the Armourer amended the helmet part in the Creed when Ragnar was sworn in the 2nd time, Din also never finished that part of the Creed - he fell into the living waters before he could say "and from this moment forward I shall never remove my helmet". I remember thinking this HAS to mean something, right? That Din never finished swearing the Creed is something will come of that back on him right? But, it never did and I was bummed, lol. Anyhoo, great conversation and now I am going to watch more of your content. Keep up the awesome work!
I guess what some of the issue with this Season is that big moments are either too subtle or just don't feel big, or they are big, but aren't treated as such. There's a lot of potential ideas that you guys have shared over the past weeks that haven't come to fruition, and not that they have to, but big themes of the show and directions you think the show should be taking are better than what happened within the show, and it does make you wonder why the decisions made in the show were made. I'm still satisfied with what happened in this Finale, and even the Season, but I'm not really feeling the urge to go back and rewatch it all as a story, I feel like I've got everything for right now, I can't dig deeper.
Gideon destroying the Dark Saber bothered me the least. If anything it was quite ironic that the last thing he did was a good thing for uniting Mandalorians, when he thought he is bringing the down.
I thought the spies were R5, and Gideons comms officer.
IN the artwork after the episode, the Armorer had a heavy blaster akin to Paz's
I'm only about 15-16 minutes into this video but to me in the end, everyone accepts that there's more than one way to be a Mandalorian. Whether you choose to be orthodox (Children of the Watch) or not (Nite Owls), as long as you follow the basic tenants of walking the way of the Mandalore that's fine, they're both Mandalorian. It's fine if you choose to keep your helmet on and it's fine if you don't. There are multiple examples in real life about this. It's all about accepting different views and how it's acceptable to interpret ancient texts differently - you're still the same people. The Mandalorian clans all had their own interpretation and warred over it (dare I say crusaded?)... now they're united and accept each other's views and differences. They're all Mandalorian. But consequently being a Mandalorian is not just about having Beskar armor like Gideon and the Troopers believe; that's appropriation. Being a Mandalorian is more than just having an armor; there's a whole culture behind the armor and wearing the armor. It's not just about having cool trinkets and cool gadgets. Gideon doesn't understand what it means to be Mandalorian. This whole season explains what it means to be Mandalorian (done clumsily at times for sure) mostly through the eyes of Bo Katan who has lived through both worlds but also through Din (his pep talk in episode to Bo on the barge pretty much encapsulates who he is and what it means to be Mandalorian). Anyways, that's what I thought this season was about and my views on the bothersome helmet rule
Gideon just wants to cosplay as a force sensitive imperial wearing a Mandalorean inspired death trooper mech suit.
I guess nearly everyone from chapter 23 is a spy.
- Elia Kane is spying for Gideon in the New Republic.
- R5 gave the location of the Mandalorians to Carson Teva.
- The Shadow counsel are imperials hiding in plain sight by being undercover as chaotic war lord.
- The 12 Mandalorians are spies in the biblical sense.
- And with a bit of a stretch the Mando survivors where planting hidden farm on Mandalor.
For me this season is sumed up in one word... Fun. The action is what I hoped for, loved all the dogfights. Watching the Mando's kick ass was so cool. Were there story problems yes, could we use more character growth yes. And I never need to see Jack Black/ Lizzo in Star wars again. Every week this show put a smile on my face. Looking forward to season 4 (and Ashoka)
I'm confused why so many think that Din Djarin's name would follow Mandalorian naming convention. Din Djarin wasn't born a Mandalorian, he was a Foundling and this doesn't seem to contradict anything we know about his home planet.
I agree that the storytelling was kind of meandering and fragmented this season. But it did make huge and fast story steps in most episodes as well as constantly drive towards the goal of both Din, Bo and the Mandalorians as a whole coming together and accepting different world views. Yeah, I feel like the finale could have done with at least another 10 minutes to flesh things out, but it is also the most positive and hopeful SW has been in a while, and I'm all for that.
It’s wild that the culture of Mandalore could fit on a Post It Note.
They already recast Han Solo, Lando, and Chewbacca, why not? 2:35:52
Season 4 will be Din Djarin and Din Grogu fighting for the New Republic in an expanding universe! Each season the Din Djarin and Grogu's Universe will continue to grow bigger and bigger.
Smart thoughts about the episode, however sometimes predictions will lead to disappointments.
At least one big birds became a big roast during the feast.
Honestly Kanan is probably my favorite SW character
Season 3 ended up having to be Rangers and Mandalorian in one series creating a bit of a discombobulated story.
Gideon had a mustache when talking to the shadow counsel. In the final showdown that Gideon was shaven, no mustache.
So the final showdown Gideon is a clone if Gideon.
Grogu won’t be making lightsabers for at least 50 more years right? Lol
If you aren't gushing after this episode, I feel bad for you. Why judge what something isn't instead of celebrating what it is?
they do review, and share opinions. They always say what they like or don't in a calm way, with a positive uptake in the end. they never "rant".
@@theKonfusion You can overanalyze anything and suck the fun out of it. This isn't Andor. This is popcorn TV.
I think instead of praetorian guard, it should’ve been force sensitive Gideon clones
The climax should have been all the Mandalorians seeing Bo letting the darksaber be destroyed, echoing her initial failure with the saber, but then Axe and the others rally behind her anyways.
And/or, the mines collapse, making redemption impossible, and the Armorer is unmasked in front of everyone, but the inclusion of the other tribe inspires her to continue on.
Wasn’t that kinda stuff what the season was supposed to be about? Not just pew pew pew? I think Molly is letting the writers off easy by ignoring the season’s own story setups.
And if the show wanted to champion tradition, then it should have ended with Grogu grabbing Din to go get his little saber from Luke, switching the crystals, and gifting it to Bo Katan and Mandalore. And/or Grogu starts lifting rocks to uncover the waters once again for the Armorer, keeping that aspect of their culture alive.
Yes yes yes
I think the Imperial's are scared of the United Mandalore as a United Mandalore could be extremely difficult to destroy, especially if they join forces with the Ahsoka Tano and Ghost Crew plus Boba Fett, Fennac Shand, Cobb Vanth, Black Krrstantan and the Mod Squad.
I'm totally ok with deep fakes as long as proper consent/permission is given. But I'm also totally ok with recasts. Whichever is fine for me.
Maybe the "Din" name/surname thing is like their version of "Junior".
Technically, Rey is not a Jedi, she is a Skywalker. You will see Jacen Synndulla, it has been confirmed.
I 'd like to see them find a puddle of beskar in the rubble.
I enjoyed watching the final episode.
What If: The Book of Boba Fett had been Called The Manadlorian S3: Boba Fett Would that have helped?
But when the dark saber had not such a big meaning and we fans should not be so attached to the dark saber, how should we feel now about the mythosaur? Does that creature also not mean so much? Should we just be ok when the mythosaur dies of a fungus infection in season 4? 😂
I mean, they set up expectations in the way the build an allure around an object or a person. Of course a throwaway disposal, lacking drama and a deeper meaning will disappoint fans like me.
Look at episode 7 they're cooking a big giant bird on the boat
Anyone think that Din only redeemed himself so that Pedro Pascal wouldn’t have to be on set and could do Last of Us? That’s my personal thought.
She’s the tribe priestess, never wanted to be the leader
95% of the "disappointment" from the season/finale is from people inserting their own ideas and conclusions into the show. My only gripe with the episode is that there was basically no space battle at all, despite all the Fang fighters.
I agree!!
I'd argue the series itself set itself up for all these interesting ideas and conclusions but ended up following mostly uninteresting ideas and easy conclusions. The story was very surface level this season and the fan discourse and theories ended up being more fun and interesting than what actually happened
35:31 Luke threw out his dad’s light saber as of it were less than trash. Luke doesn’t thoughtfully throw it out. The Darksaber was a symbol of empire and individual conquest, where Bo Katan took a lot of opportunities to say that Mandalorians should be unified. It was clunky as heck but she could have said something like “today we end the time among Mandalorians where power is something that is squabbled over among our ranks” and she could have forged it into something different, like a sigil of the mythosaur that is for all Mandalorians. Moff Gideon using his suits super-strength to crush it while her hand is holding it was interesting, but it was a pretty clunky way to tell a story.
Dang it Bobby!
i just to love your rong about grace
On the deepfakes thing, Carrie Fisher was on record (regarding merch, but actually talking about her likeness) as treating Leia like a character, not her. So I think she may be OK with the character living on as tech evolves.
If you play a Star Wars game with say Unreal Engine and an AI run interaction in 10 years where CG people will 100% look and talk like real people (we are basically getting those soon)... are you going to then draw the line? Feels super arbitrary at that point. And may drive Disney to not use real actors at all?? So everything franchise-related becomes constructed sim people? Actors in the roles become Performance Actors (like voice actors but even their voices aren't used but a sim voice too) I can say from my own work, we are already planning that. We are about to enter a world where we copyright a fake person as X character and register the shapes and digital DNA as belonging to a corp.
Too much complaining about a helmet staying on omfg
Exactly! It's part of their culture. Let them have it. :)
Yeah, I don't really get why they hate the helmet rule so much
Not just cults but religious fundamentalists will often continue with certain restrictions upon themselves even when living amongst others that don't, such as Hasidic Jews.
Not a perfect episode, not a perfect season. Two things I didn't think were problems.
I don't consider Ax Woves jetpack one of the issues. It was established earlier in the season that Bo-Katan, the Night Owls and by extension the Mercenaries had much higher tech equipment than the Children of The Watch Covert. This was said by the Armorer when she repaired Bo-Katans armor, she did the best she could with the material and supplies she had but she had limitations. So Ax Woves haveing a jetpack that could pull more G's and still last longer didn't seem odd to me. Not all Mandalorian gadgets and armor are made equal.
Additionally the Mandalorians versus Imperial Remnant Super Commandos. The Imperials haven't practiced in that armor with those weapons their whole life. The Mandalorians not only have, they also know the weaknesses of their own armor.
Does “Din” refer to “Foundling”? …”Foundling Grogu”?
Din Djarin stole the chance for us to see a bunch of Gideons with different hair colours and face tattoos...just saying
I want to see baby Wookies!!!
Does anyone else feel more than a little let down by this season?
Idk, I didn't have any of the issues y'all did. This was my favorite season by a mile. First season was fine. Second was good with some reeeeaaaally great moments. This was the first season where I actually got hyped every week to see it. 🤷♂️
Molly is really disrespectful not to understand the importance a formal adoption has for a child. I've heard this from so many supposedly intelligent people, but it's incredibly ignorant and insensitive. Why does adoption matter? Ask the child!!!
I've been feeling for a long time that your mistrust of the armorer stemmed from religious mistrust rather than anything actually suspicions about the character. It's nice to hear you say it out loud but as a religious person myself it is kind of hurtful to hear the mistrust you have of all religion because of a limited experience with some religions. Not all religions or religious people fit into the usual stereotypes.
Saying to just “leave the oh characters alone” is kind of rediculous. There’s is 30 years of in cannon history for the OG 3 that we know nothing about and it’s a ripe fertile ground for incredible stories and character journeys for Han and Luke and Leo. Do just not do anything with them is robbing the fan base in my opinion or to put all that history just in book is even more of a middle finger. Recast all the way.
U toobera got played with the spies title.
To just treat the oh characters with a little “oh look over there” is ultimate disrespect in my opinion.
hashtag take a lil dip
Every time I hear you say that din should just take his helmet off... it reminds me of the denying right-wingers telling people to take their masks off. It just doesn't make sense for Mandalorian warrior culture... people who make weapons part of their religion. Why are you trying to redeem that as part of what is messed up about them at their core?
Recast for goodness sakes!
The birds were roasted and eaten you saw in one of the scenes them being spit roasted
You keep saying that if they want to wear their helmets, that's fine with me... but then you go on having a major problem with it for din. You are committing the same hypocrisy and cult-like requirements that you are accusing them of. Mandalorians wear helmets a lot for a reason, and now we understand that they are a warrior cult. Why can't there be warrior cults in the Star Wars universe? They are violent and worship weapons and armor... there is no way to redeem that from a negative moral position. Let it be that!
Disney should let star wars rest in peace. It's time to end the jedi