Im surprised anyone is surprised that the show is expanding. He stole a bounty from the remnant in the first season. And in the second season infiltrates a base and tracks down Gideon. Unless he can convince the remnants that he and grogu are dead and go into hiding this was always the direction the show was going in my opinion. Also Persing was created in this show. Its funny people dont think his story belongs here. Thanks for the video. Im addicted to your banter 😂.
Something else no one is talking about, is it sounded like Grogu was trying to speak when both Mando and Bo said “this is the way” while in her ship. My guess is he’s gonna say it in the season finale, albeit probably broken and jumbled
Yea, and in the episode before that when asked who taught him how to flip, I think his words translated to Luke Skywalker. That's what I'm sticking with anyway.
I was engrossed by the episode, and thought it had some emotional highs and moments of beauty. How could any long-time fan not be enchanted to see the peak of the highest mountain on Coruscant, poking through the artificial skin encircling the planet, the very last trace of its nature? It was also a delight to see Din accepted by his covert once again with Bo-Katan by his side. Although this shivered with tension and future revelations, possibly dangerous ones, as the whole episode does. And yet I was left feeling strangely unsatisfied. It was uncomfortable viewing, and I wasn't sure why. After reflection I think I have it. Star Wars (originally at least) was a perfect fairy tale. Good against evil. We always knew which was which and we could always rely on the good guys to be good... in the end anyway. The emperor was defeated. Anakin was redeemed. Luke, a perfect hero who would never abandon hope and turn to the dark side was victorious. The story could have ended right there and been perfect and loved forever. But no, we were given "sequels" that brought Palpatine back (making Anakin's sacrifice meaningless,) and where Luke is a defeated, despairing hermit who wants the Jedi order to die. These films were almost universally loathed and condemned... but they exist and won't go away and now the new owner of the franchise is hell-bent on making them make sense. So we have to be shown that those noble, altruistic rebels go on to create a society just as bad as the Empire, if not worse. We have to see that their victory was meaningless, that almost no one can be trusted, and that really nothing whatsoever has changed. The rich are still rich, and immune to every adversity. The poor are still poor, struggling in lives of joyless drudgery down in the lower levels of Coruscant, while the lucky ones (however gifted they may be) sit in cubicles all day punching data into consoles with nothing to look forward to except stolen biscuits that remind them of happier times. And human rights (alien right?) still don't count for much. It may have been plot convenience to have no safety rules of any kind in a facility for mind-wiping perps, but if so it was heavy-handed and contrived. Indeed the whole depiction of "New Republic" society was. I know this show isn't Andor (even if that vibe was very much on show here), but if the show is going to veer away from being a father-son journey and a kind of homage to the old west, I would hope for more subtlety. But I guess we're no longer in the age of subtlety... or fairy tales for that matter.
but post-ROTJ stories don't have to deconstruct the previous films in order to tell a good story. It's because those in charge of the sequels didn't understand Lucas' stories, that they went in the direction of deconstruction.
@@admiralseabass8993 As to your first point I would agree. But it seems to me that it's _because_ the sequel movies deconstructed SW that the TV shows are now tasked with putting it back together again.
One thing most people seem to be overlooking is that Elia Kane was shown taking the equipment she and Dr. Pershing found and putting it someplace. I think this means that she has a specific purpose for the equipment and needed Dr. Pershing to find the exact piece of equipment she was tasked to retrieve.
Coruscant looked amazing. I was glad to see they didn’t go with the dollar store CGI they used in Kenobi. I was surprised that Bo Katan kept the Mythosaur to herself. I was thinking she turned a new leaf at the end of the previos episode but now I suspect she may be having an internal debate/crisis between her unexpected induction into “The Way” and her personal ambitions to rule once more.
@@Age_of_Apocalypse elia kane's actress did do great, in protraying her character's suspicious side. The question of if it should of been in the mandalorian show or another show is a valid one.
@Age_of_Apocalypse I, too, found the dialogue/ quality of the mini story to be off. It was also extremely obvious that the woman was still bad. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. Certainly not worth interrupting the mandalorian storyline for in my opinion.
Bo-Katan's character arc so far reminds me of a famous line from Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." She won't admit it yet, but she's definitely starting to believe. That was my favorite part of the episode. The Pershing stuff was interesting even though it dragged a bit in the middle. I did enjoy Elia Kane quite a bit. That cold stare as she turned up the dial on the mind flayer was fantastic. Can't wait to see more of her and Moff Gideon.
The pacing was weird. On one hand it was incredibly slow for worldbuilding and Pershing's development, but on the other hand they really rushed the ending so the New Republic seems like they literally enforce naivete by thought control on themselves.
@@mpnuorvathey do, that was the implication. The republic didn’t fall in a day it was rotting from the inside out for over a thousand years. Why would the new republic be any different?
I completely disagree with this take. They were giving us really important post ROTJ worldbuilding by why of Pershing's experience. We learned more about the state of the politics in this episode than the entirety of the first 2 seasons. If you only look at Pershing's arc, i can see your point but it was not just about Pershing. It was about showing the cracks in the New Republic and why it is destined to fail to the First Order.
@@quiden75 I enjoyed the world building and the character development. There was just a lot of that Pershing story that could have been trimmed a little and wouldn't have subtracted from it, particularly the sneaking around near the end. A few minutes saved here could have given us a few minutes there.
@@solidus0079 Why do you have this mentality? There is not a finite number of minutes to the episode, which they chose to spend on Pershing instead of Mando. If they felt the need to include more scenes, they would have, without cutting his arc. It’s strange to me that people are so judgmental about Pershing’s arc because they have no idea how it ties into the rest of the season. If he has not talked about again for the rest of the season, these people have a point. But they are just judging it way too early because they hate Disney
They only have 8 episodes. They cannot afford this sort of haphazard story-telling, and they definitely don't have the time for a slow-burn episode. If they want to proceed like this, that is fine, but the season should be 13, 18, or even more episodes. At this rate, by the season finale, I don't see much happening that will end in a fulfilling manner.
It's like the New Republic never heard, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." Military surplus equipment, especially medical supplies, can be of great help to those without basic medical care.
"Diet Andor" episode. While Coruscant politics worked in last year's show, it was due to the massive stakes that were riding on Mon Mothma's careful wording and Luthen & Kleya's disguise...amongst a dominant empire panopticon. Not to mention the dialogue has to be top quality for it all to be engaging (why many folks had issues with the politics-heavy prequels). In all fairness, it took me a little bit for the Karn scenes to click in Andor, so hopefully a few more things are established for Pershing's story so I can feel a stronger undertone
Spoilers alert : - Fantastic opening dogfight ! Not gonna lie, the Bo Katan leaf maneuver felt very Top Gun Maverick like (if you know, you know). The same way you could tell Rachel Morrison (the previous epidode's director) was a fan of Metroid, you can tell either Favreau or this episode's director Lee Isaac Chung was a big fan of Top Gun Maverick, which is pretty funny since Top Gun Maverick was essentially a remake of the Death Star trench run, so having Star Wars referencing the movie that referenced Star Wars is like poetry, it rhymes ! - Pretty miffed about the middle part with Dr Pershing (sure, it felt like Andor's pacing... only without the great writing and storytelling or visual execution, and with some very grating visuals from the Volume that brought me right back to Obiwan's episode 2 or in the underwater base). I can see that they tried to Andor it by giving us 2 very distanced parallel plots, with one showing us how the New republic is shady as heck and frankly not much better than the Empire (the whole Pershing's experience is nothing short of a reconstruction of how the Nazis were working with their prisoners... I mean new reconverted former Imperials, with ID numbers instead of names, very publicly visible and recognizable badges, concentration camps, forced labor that has nothing to do with their abilities, daily psychological tests, and even tests to catch them red-handed, stuff that I wouldn't get past some SS shit, to top it off with some good old brainwashing...)... But the execution just felt very muddled and frankly not super interesting. Glad they're bringing back Katy O'brian, though. I actually enjoyed her character in Quantumania, even though she didn't have much to do in it, and I'm glad they're bringing her back here with more than just 5 lines. She's actually quite a terrific actor, with all the nuances she's been through here, and buff as she is, I can't help but thinking that Disney is banking on her to become the new Gina Carano of the show, only for the other side... Since my take on her character is that she's actually a sleeper agent that feigns being succesfully reconverted to the New Republic... but is actually still a spy for Moff Gideon, having infiltrated the New Republic (a reversed Lonni, from Andor) to wipe all the traces of her boss's work, including Dr Pershing's memory, who knew too much. The future will tell, but all in all, it was either dragged way too long crammed in a single episode, taking too much of the run time (I'm ok with them taking time with a 12 episodes long season with one hour episodes, but it works less on a 8 episodes season with each episode being usually around 30 minutes), or too short as a whole (I could have seen it being played in 2 or 3 parts in various episodes, so the betrayal would have felt more shocking). - Great ending, though. With Bo Katan having lost everything, her people, her castle, but having been through a mystical renaissance of sort after her baptism in the Living waters and seeing the Mythosaur, and being now accepted in the covert (Pretty sure the title of the episode, the Convert, is about her), having the episode ending with a zooming close up to her for 2 episodes in a row kinda heavily implies she's becoming the de facto protagonist of this season, or at the very least, the future Mandalor'. The one thing I'm really missing in this season, though, is Ludwig's Goransson's iconic score. Not to throw any shade to Joseph Shirley (he also inherited Ludwig's score on Boba Fett and Creed 3, which makes me wonder if he's a friend or disciple of Ludwig), he's doing a great job at marrying Ludwig's style with more classic traditional orchestral opera, John Williams style, being sort of a middle ground inbetween these 2 styles... But I can't shake the feeling that 50% of the Mandalorian's DNA comes from Ludwig Goransson's haunting score that carries its own very iconic, unique and instantly recognizable musical identity ! And we're just not getting it this season ! The classic scores are certainly more familiar to Star Wars fans, but ultimately, they don't take such wild big musical swings that the Mandalorian season 1 and 2 did, play it safer than them, almost overplaying the card of the Mandalorian's flute each time he gets onscreen in his Naboo Ship, almost making it feel kinda repetitive... which adds to the feeling that this season is VERY different than previous seasons, and not as daring. Which kinda bums me off...
“Felt like Andor’s pacing only without the great writing and storytelling or visual execution.” Yep, sums up how I felt about this episode lol. I’m fine with heightening the stakes or whatever but stick to the tone of your own show please
I really like this episode! I don't quite understand all the controversy, but I guess that's because I really like shows that start out small and end up large.
The whole 20+ minutes of Pershing and Cain is foreshadowing the entire rest of the season between Din and Bo. Look at us, we're friends and I'm helping you....PSYCH!
Whatever issues this episode had, all was redeemed when Pershing said "It was a trap!" and the Mon calamari guy felt a pause, as if by genetic reflex :P
But Bo Katan also didn’t reply “This is the way” at the covert. I hope it means nothing because I don’t want her and Din to become enemies. I really loved the action scenes. Definitely didn’t trust the empire Chick one bit when I spotted her in the audience. I hope Pershing will be ok. Felt sorry for him. So excited for the next episode. Also really appreciated that the Episode was longer than the first 2 😊 This is the way
Everyone needs to relax & just enjoy the ride. Many times, in many shows, sometimes you need to get through the whole season before you can look back and see, oh, well that all pieced-together nicely! We've enjoyed the story-telling of Favreau & Filoni so far - they have our trust - so relax & trust them to tell their story - it will all work out, it just takes time. Everyone is so "now, now, tell me now, make it make sense now" instant gratification silliness. Again, relax.
you do know that comment from the wealthy guy, and this whole show is 100% connecting this to the sequels. The wealthy guy is just like that Benecio Del Toro scene where he shows the logs of the weapons dealer selling ships to the empire and the rebels
The comment from 16:03 is some of the best thoughts on this I’ve seen. That’s an actual complex and actually realistic situation they can explore. I think people are making stuff up when saying that they are trying to make the New Republic “bad” so the genocide of Episode 7 is justified, it’s simplistic as hell and still doesn’t justify anything
Grogu was completely shoehorned in this season for sure. We can see that when he conveniently enters his pod to get away if a scene that wasn't written with him in mind, like when he enters it when the cockpit opens in Mandatore and immediately leaves ito get back in frame, despite the potentially toxic atmosphere entering the cockpit and not enough time have passed for the ship to pump it out. Also in the shio maneuver Bo Katana does that makes the droid float in the air he enters the pod moments before and leaves it right after such scene, almost like they couldn't figure out a way to shoot the zero g scene with the puppet.
I liked the Andor-style writing and themes. It setup a complex character arc for Bo-Katan and what her motivations are and what they mean for Din and Mandalore. It also setup a complex galactic situation that despite regime change, the New Republic doesn’t appear to be as benevolent as they want people to believe. Dr. Pershing’s mundane day job in the New Republic is a nice call back to Syril Karn’s mundane day job in the Empire. Despite regime change, life for average citizen plods on like change had never occurred. It also proves Migs Mayfeld correct, the New Republic isn’t that different from the Empire, they’re both occupiers on someone else’s land.
Remarkably unpopular opinion that might get me crucified but here we go: I absolutely loved and I mean LOVED this episode and I have no problem with Mando/Feloni verse leading into the sequels, as a matter of fact I was always hoping they do. Of course I’m not a very big fan of the sequels, especially since Disney pretty much admitted that they didn’t care or have a plan, nor do I think that any amount of recontexualizing or expansion of lore will make those movie that much better BUT… that doesn’t mean they can’t try, nor does that mean the lore itself can’t be cool and interesting within itself and this episode yesterday really peaked my interest. Literally got chills when they played the Plagueis theme when Pershing was talking about getting his cloning stuff. On top of how creepy and bladerunner/ 1984/ dystopian the new republic is like. I genuinely wonder and am curious where this is all going and I’m so exited to find out. I swear, like this brought me back to when I used to stay up all night, theorizing about what Ep8 and 9 will bring back when force awakens came out!
This might be a crazy thought but when I heard the Plagueis story theme I gotta say the thought that they are gearing up to say that Snoke is at least partially a Plagueis clone, maybe even Plagueis + Palps DNA crossed my mind. Especially given Pershing explained he wanted to create individuals that can take multiple genetic strands to make a better version.
Someone once told me that Star Wars revolved around the Skywalker and Palpatine families. Now I wonder, with the shows at least, if Filoni is making it so it revolves around the Mandalorians and Cloning
I really like that Pershing’s mind was flayed and he wasn’t rescued to be reunited with the leftover Empire. That’s an Empire move, show one seed of doubt or regret and get tortured. Show willingness to discuss secrets, get tortured. Talk crap about the Empire, get tortured. Also, Bad Batch shows that Mt Tantiss doesn’t need Pershing. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to him.
I had this uneasy unsettling feeling during the whole Elia part because I initially didn’t trust her, but using the backing musical cues gave us that false feeling that her intentions were good. I really liked this Mando-Andor sandwich.
I thought I had caught Grogu trying to say, "This is the Way." as well. Made me chuckle when Grogu just kept watching poor R5 slide back and forth. I like the way that we still don't have a clear definition of the greater thing/s happening, the mystique has me hooked. After wondering what Dr. Pershing was exactly doing for the Empire we now know, very interesting cloning background. I didn't even think about Elia knowing how far to take the dial. Maybe she'll use that to make Dr.Pershing want to come back to the Empire. I definitely kept waiting for the double cross. The build of trust between the characters was a bit of a slow burn, but the pacing felt right. After the sequels, I think I've just become accustomed to the story jumping about. I still keep expecting IG-11 to show up later on. After Chapter 19, it to me feels like s3 has some solid footing to build on. Have we've seen the last of 16th Grievous? Bum bum bum. Chapter 20: Gorian Shard's Locker
Whoa! You guys read my comment. Can't say I've had that happen. Grateful for all you guys do. Interesting there are so many different views on this season
Your comment that described this CHAPTER as an Interlude as spot on. We took a break from the main story arc to take a look at concurrent events in another part of the galaxy. Thor and Naboo, have you ever read one of the “Aftermath” novels? The “Aftermath” novels introduced the idea of “interlude” chapters to Star Wars novels. Actually, there is nothing special about “Interlude” chapters, aside from the fact that the author literally named the chapters, “Interlude”. Otherwise, the use of interludes is simply a good writing style for a novel. If you have ever read any of the ASOIAF novels, aka Game of Thrones, then you should be more than familiar with this style. Many Star Wars fans seem to be having a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of interludes being inserted into the main story arc. Each season of the show can almost be regarded as a self contained novel. Notice how this goes a LONG way in explaining the title mini-series “Book of Boba Fett.”
I enjoyed this episode, but it’s unfortunate because so many people have fallen off this show. My whole family used to watch it and now after these last two episodes it’s only me and my dad watching it.
I don’t understand all the fuss. The show isn’t suddenly bad because it did something different. It’s not like bad batch witch has a fantastic episode followed by two crap ones and then another fantastic one. This has been hit hit hit just exploring different parts of the larger story. Every episode has been good. This show wasn’t hiding that it was getting bigger in scale either. They kept saying it in interviews repeatedly that this season was expanding the scale of things, for goodness sake luke skywalker was in the last season and we explored the return of the empire and cloning a little in season 1 and 2 this is what the show was always about, just watching it from mandos point of view means that it escalated because he is being dragged into the conflict. How can everyone simultaneously want it to culminate into a thrawn crossover thing and Not understand it must go here first. This is exciting because there are the first steps to that goal. And even still we received inane character growth from bo and tension for din we still got really great mando growth.
I think they used some Andor sets (or backgrounds in post or whatever)-- like the big exterior with the columns where Deirdre is approached by that guy that was really into her.
I just saw a comment on a different review earlier today with that theory about the Armorer being a Kryze sister and that does seem like a really fun theory. It will be interesting to see how Bo interacts with the others to see who she knows.
I was very confused by the torture. First of all, because the tone is drasticly different than the 2 first episodes. I dont get the republic procedure, like this is an incredible dangerous equipement it seems, and they just... let a random person be all alone in charge, even thought she doesnt even work here... Very strange, very odd. And I was very on board with the episode until this point. I found it very disturbing, I even 24 hours after I still dont know if I liked it. I am just confused.
No, it's obvious that she's keeping it a secret because she intends to try to tame it herself, since it would carry more clout than having the dark saber. Taming one of those im sure is more difficult than defeating another Mandalorian in combat to take the dark saber by force... No pun intended.
It's obvious that Bo Katan is experiencing a crisis and transformation. The events at the mines of Mandalore affected her more than she was prepared for, including the appearance of a literally mythic mythosaur. She's got to be wondering why Djarin didn't see it, since it literally filled her field of view, and she was questioning whether it was a vision or hallucination. All the things that Bo dismissed as fable - the Dark Saber, Living Waters, Mythosaur, the Creed, the helmet, the Way, her family bloodline, the self-destructive nature of the Mandalorian philosophy left without leadership - she is now forced to reconsider and she doesn't have easy answers for. Sulking in her castle is no longer an option. Come to think of it, why Didn't Din see this enormous beast filling the water around them?
Great recap, Thor and Naboo. I didn’t mind this episode but it could have been better. To me it was more about the editing. They should have taken out a little of the Dr Pershing stuff, added a little Din and Bo stuff and edited the two stories together. Also, did you notice that Elia Kane was the one that walked away with th case of Dr Pershing’s after he got the equipment he needed from the imperial ship? Another takeaway of mine was why didn’t Bo tell Din about the Mythosaur? That seemed like she was hiding it on purpose for some reason. 🤔
Haven't seen this episode, but from what is being described, I hate the New Republic stuff. I absolutely hated the Aftermath books and the way the New Republic has been presented in D Cannon. All this pretty much builds on that, which means all this is built up to the sequel trilogy. The way the New Republic is written is stupid. To have a rebuilt government establishment de-miltarise them selves while still fighting their enemys is stupid. Also, the whole "not using Empire tech" thing is another retcon because one of the NRs ship uses the parts of captured Star Destroyers. It was the whole plot to the Squadron game. Too not use Empire tech is dumb because most of was hold over tech from the previous Republic.
Yeah, it feels like someone broke Favreau's legs. But it still was a great episode. And if the New Republic was perfect... Well, it wouldn't be fun. Anyway, thanks for the debate, guys! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
As a history student, this episode and the new republic as a whole feels eerily similar to the Weimar Republic in Germany (the interwar period). They both heavily demilitarised (although Germany was forced to), the society seems happier (think the roaring 20s/the stressemann era). Furthermore, with hindsight, in episode 7, that scene with Hux giving a speech reminds me of a certain Austrian (watch the scene in German if u can’t see it), they even do the Hitler salute, the flag is red with their symbol in black (nazi flag is a bit more complex). Like the Weimar Republic, it feels like the new republic is living on borrowed time. Their system can’t keep on going. Take the amnesty program, that’s an echo chamber. It’d be so easy for there to be conspiracies going on, I’d be surprised if there isn’t. They don’t even program their droids to be able to read body language, tone, etc (Ik it isn’t always consistent. For example, I’m ADHD, I fidget a lot, eye contacts a problem, etc). So the real question is: was the new republic doomed from the start?
(An earlier comment here...) I don't know, guys, but the more I think about the Pershing part, more it feels like a hallucination... Perhaps all that was caused by the machine at the end... I don't know. Really weird stuff indeed.
Knowing episode 3 was a resurrected script from Rangers Of The Republic shines a light on Kane being a Republic agent. Thrawn & Gideon are both actively cloning, they would want Pershing's brain intact not scrambled eggs.
I’m in the minority. Pershing’s fate was sad. But he 100% brought it on himself. He sought the traitor lady out. If he just did his desk job he wouldn’t have be mind wiped. And the lady seemed shady from the beginning. Also giving military grade equipment to the outer rim is how you get a civil war.
No ...they did NOT need to connect the two parts today. Now if there is never some sort of payoff in the future than it will suck. I totally expect they are setting up to "explain" stuff from the 9th movie and that sucks.
The future of Star Wars TV is going to be more like the early wave of Wu-Tang Clan solo albums where it says Raekwon or Method Man or GZA or Ghostface but it's really just a Wu-Tang Clan album.
6:25 I agree that it would be great if The Mandalorian could go back to its own story, one of the things that I loved about season 1 was that the show was new and fresh and didn’t include a bunch of characters and plot that weren’t in the larger universe.
I absolutely loved this episode 🖤 the story building was amazing. And dr Pershing has been an important character throughout the series so it made sense to get a deep dive episode. This felt very similar to the crosshair episodes of the bad batch (which I loved as well) 🍻quality SW
If they really want to make a mandoverse group of shows, instead of naming this 8 episodes "Mando", and these "BoBF" (especially with the mando/grogu sidequest in bobf), just make a show with 22 episodes a year, about this time in galactic history so it doesnt feel like Pershing took a mando episode, or mando took boba episodes...
No, the battle between Mando/Bo-Katan and those TIE Interceptors wouldn't be news on Coruscant because: 1. That is so insignificant to the people of Coruscant. It would be like a people in London talking about how yesterday, a few Chilean police officers died attacking a seeming empty house in Santiago. Only, probably even less interesting. 2. There were no witnesses. Bo-Katan's deserted and derelict summer home on a generally empty moon orbiting a destroyed planet was uninhabited. Just Bo-Katan and a few droids. Unless she went running for the Channel 7 Evening News, or the pilots of the supposedly defeated and non-existent Empire called the news, nobody could even possibly hear about it. So having Percy and Ellie walk past some Coruscant pedestrians discussing it would be wildly improbable. Unless they were in beskar armor and personally knew Bo-Katan and lived in her home before they abandoned her, in which case, given the population of Coruscant is over a trillion people, the odds of passing them right as they discuss it is about 1 in 500,000,000,000. Give or take.
I see a lot of people commenting about the fact that they're decommissioned a lot of ships. People got to remember the empire was huge and actually so is the new republic. the government regardless is trying to manage a thousand planets. No matter who is in charge, the empire or republic, 90% percent of it is just pure bureaucracy and paperwork. They don't have enough resources or manpower to do everything properly so it's almost like a junkyard, Park the assests make sure they can't hurt nobody and let them rot
2:30 No, organ cloning will be expensive, but there’s this stigma with some humans in the books against cyborgs, they believe it makes you less human. (Vader, for example) probably a ton of anti-droid stuff after the clone wars.
Every time they would finish a scene in Corusant I thought they'd go back to Din and Bo. I know there is probably something being set up there, but sadly I was bored.
23:15 I agree, Andor was amazing! I hope this is a slow burn with a big payoff, not too far from its roots. They can have another show that has the “big picture” show. Maybe have another show called The Way, or whatever, that details the resurrection of Mandalore paralleled by the rise of The First Order. The show could feature characters from The Mandalorian but not take the show completely over.
If anything with the promo episode 4, grogu is up next to be the star in the "mandalorian" episode.... They are really stretching this "battle for mandalorian unity" chapter..
So, in other words we are back to the Last Jedi? Empire and Rebels - no difference there, no fairy tale here, no good vs evil, archetypal kind of story-telling - just like the Uniparty? Really? Good bye.
A few things I've noticed. I think part of the episode is to show that regardless of government the bureaucracy just grinds on ie. "say hello to the new boss the same as the old boss." This episode looks like it's been influenced by the Andor series hence the slower pace. However, this story line should have been more developed throughout the series. The last thing is that I find the story of Dr Pershing to not be very realistic. Look at what happened to the scientists after WW2. Perishing would have been snapped up by someone in the military even if it was only to make sure nobody else could have his research.
Despite how different this episode is, the Mando series has shown that every major side plot mattered, so this cloning side story will play a big part of the S3 story for sure.
I don’t think there was ever a plan to keep Din and Grogu apart! Tgat makes no sense because we still don’t know anything about Grogu backstory or what the Empire wanted him for!
It make sense that the Mandalorian is transitioning to big picture. I mean we know this is going to lead to a huge crossover. I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t understand that.
I feel the multiple shows are gathering the story line to fill in the holes of the last three books. The cloning plot leads to Emperor Palpatine existance. The reduced capability in the Rebel force is being explained. The rise of the First Order is in the back ground. The Emperor was always working behind the scenes and you see it in all of the series. There are allot of Jedi still alive in these stories which haven't been hunted down as a results of Order 99. I find these series are working toward something big. The Empire is still alive and building a power base. I feel you are going to find out the Empire fleet is going to be dismantled only to be shipped to the outer rim to be rebuild into the First Order Fleet. The Rebel forces are not paying attention to what is happening and thinks no threat exists. Thus is dismantled the Reell capital ships and thus destroyed the fleet which could stand up against the fleet of First Order. There are several missing pieces, where were the Rebel fleet being shipped and reassembled. It was called upon in the final book. So there is a Rebel group in the shadows as well waiting to be called upon. Will this force be what the Mandalore will be called upon to guard and collect? There are more force sensitive beings in tbe Star Wars universe. I think these beings and the Jedi still around will rebuild the Order in much the way the original order was practiced. The combining of the light and dark side taught together thus balancing the force. Afterall, the force needs to be balanced. It is an underlying goal through the entire s story line. I feel there will be a prequel trilogy which will show the breaking of the original teachings of both light and dark side of the force. Then there will be another trilogy after the last ones with Daisy and Grugro rebuilding the foundation of the new Jedi Order from the original teachings of light and dark side. This will bring the balance of the force back, thus peace returns to the galaxy with the original peace keepers.
Um guys, Favreau said in season *2* that he wanted the show to get bigger. He said something about just like Game of Thrones getting bigger as the seasons passed, he wanted to do the same with Mando. He's just doing it now
I think the issue here isn't scale, but focus. We could and likely will get a Mandalorian plotline that is a believable and natural progression of the scope of Din's domain and interests from the relatively simple/narrow world and motivations we started with. The setup is all there, and I don't think any of us were expecting this to remain a bounty-of-the-week serial in perpetuity. However, perhaps due to changing story directions, corporate pressure in regard not only to Grogu but the use of this flagship show to promote spin-offs in front of a captive audience, and/or simple poor planning and execution these additional subplots feel very unmoored from the main thrust of the story. Like you said, if they'd connected the two parts of this episode through some meaningful on-screen reference, it would improve the whole thing greatly. However, this issue was present in the first episode as well: the trip to Navarro was largely pointless except as an interlude that may be foreshadowing of future plot threads or even advertising future shows, but it was a slightly jarring diversion from the otherwise very compelling current of the story. This was just that, multiplied in effect. The focus should remain on the Mandalorian and all other excursions need to better fit into or reasonably and immediately relate to the progression of that story, otherwise fewer people will stick around for the payoff that these little side plots might yield later on down the road. It's too bad, really, I actually have come around to the Pershing side story upon further reflection- the saccharine sweet and surface deep niceties of the new Regime were creepy and intriguing, and I'd love to see more exploration of how the high ideals of the rebels clash with the realities of human (and alien) behavior and of actual administration of power as well as the way they interact with the permanent power base of the bureaucracy and the wealthy that persists regardless of the ideological persuasions of whoever's in charge. However, I just couldn't enjoy or fully absorb it as I was watching it due to my annoyance at being so abruptly pulled out of the story.
I really enjoyed it... However, I the "General Audience" probably did not. I usually get the GA opinion from my coworker. He and his 7 year old Daughter watch Mando, and they are definitely not super fans like us. He stated he fell asleep. lol Me on the other hand, I loved the Andor styled feeling and really loved it. I can see that they will be connecting Dr. Pershing to something.
Some very interesting insights into this latest episode. No one seemed to comment on the medical gear Dr Pershing left the ship with. What happened to it? Who has it and why? Definitely a hint there's more going on than we're privy to.
On the whole getting rid of Empire equipments... Recently Switzerland decided to destroy old air defence systems instead of selling or giving to other nations that, you know, in need of air defence... So basically it is Politic in a nutshell
The new replublic was unrealistically stupid in this. Beyond that it was great Edit: The Mando part felt like a different show than the corusant parts. Also they took forever to get back to Din
i felt like they were showing that the New Republic is actually corroded to the core (worlds). It almost feels like Elia Kane is using the amnesty program as part of the contingency plan to prevent information about post-Cinder imperial information to come out.
I thought that the Dr's 'weird' reaction to being asked if he was new, was because he was quite literally new i.e. a clone. I'm probably wrong, but it sort of makes sense...
8:46 There should have been a better segue between the Mandalorian system and what’s happening on Coruscant. But the idea that they heard about Imperial Remnant activity in the Outer Rim does not follow with one of the themes of the episode, which was the absolute disconnection between the elites in the Core and the other folks out in the Outer Rim.
I doubt it. His description of the imperial mind flayer would suggest the opposite: somebody who's mind has been wiped clean. Chances are it's the mole covering her tracks and getting everything Pershing knows about his research so she can pass it to Gideon and/or Thrawn.
I do like the theories that Omega becomes a villain but i doubt that: 1. Omega is blonde 2. She doesn't speak in the same accent as Omega However if she like dyed her hair and changed her accent to be underciver, imagine she's interested in the cloning to create a new line of Clones from her own DNA, that would be wild.
I was telling my girlfriend the entire episode that Elia was evil and she would betray Pershing. I suspect she's working for Gideon still.
I never mentioned it to your girlfriend, but I did say it to my family.
I'm sure she could have guessed all by herself, it was entirely predictable.
@@Raygo. She's less vocal than I am.
duh
@@joelpierce1453 She sounds perfect. MTFBWY both.
Im surprised anyone is surprised that the show is expanding. He stole a bounty from the remnant in the first season. And in the second season infiltrates a base and tracks down Gideon. Unless he can convince the remnants that he and grogu are dead and go into hiding this was always the direction the show was going in my opinion. Also Persing was created in this show. Its funny people dont think his story belongs here. Thanks for the video. Im addicted to your banter 😂.
Something else no one is talking about, is it sounded like Grogu was trying to speak when both Mando and Bo said “this is the way” while in her ship. My guess is he’s gonna say it in the season finale, albeit probably broken and jumbled
Yea, and in the episode before that when asked who taught him how to flip, I think his words translated to Luke Skywalker. That's what I'm sticking with anyway.
The way this is
@@haukef.1070 Haha, exactly!
patu
I noticed that too.
I was engrossed by the episode, and thought it had some emotional highs and moments of beauty. How could any long-time fan not be enchanted to see the peak of the highest mountain on Coruscant, poking through the artificial skin encircling the planet, the very last trace of its nature? It was also a delight to see Din accepted by his covert once again with Bo-Katan by his side. Although this shivered with tension and future revelations, possibly dangerous ones, as the whole episode does. And yet I was left feeling strangely unsatisfied. It was uncomfortable viewing, and I wasn't sure why.
After reflection I think I have it. Star Wars (originally at least) was a perfect fairy tale. Good against evil. We always knew which was which and we could always rely on the good guys to be good... in the end anyway. The emperor was defeated. Anakin was redeemed. Luke, a perfect hero who would never abandon hope and turn to the dark side was victorious. The story could have ended right there and been perfect and loved forever. But no, we were given "sequels" that brought Palpatine back (making Anakin's sacrifice meaningless,) and where Luke is a defeated, despairing hermit who wants the Jedi order to die. These films were almost universally loathed and condemned... but they exist and won't go away and now the new owner of the franchise is hell-bent on making them make sense. So we have to be shown that those noble, altruistic rebels go on to create a society just as bad as the Empire, if not worse. We have to see that their victory was meaningless, that almost no one can be trusted, and that really nothing whatsoever has changed. The rich are still rich, and immune to every adversity. The poor are still poor, struggling in lives of joyless drudgery down in the lower levels of Coruscant, while the lucky ones (however gifted they may be) sit in cubicles all day punching data into consoles with nothing to look forward to except stolen biscuits that remind them of happier times. And human rights (alien right?) still don't count for much. It may have been plot convenience to have no safety rules of any kind in a facility for mind-wiping perps, but if so it was heavy-handed and contrived. Indeed the whole depiction of "New Republic" society was. I know this show isn't Andor (even if that vibe was very much on show here), but if the show is going to veer away from being a father-son journey and a kind of homage to the old west, I would hope for more subtlety. But I guess we're no longer in the age of subtlety... or fairy tales for that matter.
but post-ROTJ stories don't have to deconstruct the previous films in order to tell a good story. It's because those in charge of the sequels didn't understand Lucas' stories, that they went in the direction of deconstruction.
@@admiralseabass8993 As to your first point I would agree. But it seems to me that it's _because_ the sequel movies deconstructed SW that the TV shows are now tasked with putting it back together again.
One thing most people seem to be overlooking is that Elia Kane was shown taking the equipment she and Dr. Pershing found and putting it someplace. I think this means that she has a specific purpose for the equipment and needed Dr. Pershing to find the exact piece of equipment she was tasked to retrieve.
In front of like 20 new republc officers who saw her do it and would report it.
Coruscant looked amazing. I was glad to see they didn’t go with the dollar store CGI they used in Kenobi.
I was surprised that Bo Katan kept the Mythosaur to herself. I was thinking she turned a new leaf at the end of the previos episode but now I suspect she may be having an internal debate/crisis between her unexpected induction into “The Way” and her personal ambitions to rule once more.
"Coruscant looked amazing." I agree, but the storytelling ... 🤦♂
@@Age_of_Apocalypse " I agree, but the storytelling ..." Was great too IKR lol
@@Age_of_Apocalypse But seriously, there does seem to be quite the number of people who liked the episode in both visuals and storytelling.
@@Age_of_Apocalypse elia kane's actress did do great, in protraying her character's suspicious side. The question of if it should of been in the mandalorian show or another show is a valid one.
@Age_of_Apocalypse I, too, found the dialogue/ quality of the mini story to be off. It was also extremely obvious that the woman was still bad. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. Certainly not worth interrupting the mandalorian storyline for in my opinion.
Bo-Katan's character arc so far reminds me of a famous line from Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." She won't admit it yet, but she's definitely starting to believe. That was my favorite part of the episode. The Pershing stuff was interesting even though it dragged a bit in the middle. I did enjoy Elia Kane quite a bit. That cold stare as she turned up the dial on the mind flayer was fantastic. Can't wait to see more of her and Moff Gideon.
I appreciated the "It's a trap" joke, he said it straight to the face of the calamarian dude 😂
I think they should have trimmed the Pershing stuff a little, especially since they were planning on hitting the “reset” button on him at the end.
The pacing was weird. On one hand it was incredibly slow for worldbuilding and Pershing's development, but on the other hand they really rushed the ending so the New Republic seems like they literally enforce naivete by thought control on themselves.
@@mpnuorvathey do, that was the implication.
The republic didn’t fall in a day it was rotting from the inside out for over a thousand years.
Why would the new republic be any different?
I completely disagree with this take. They were giving us really important post ROTJ worldbuilding by why of Pershing's experience. We learned more about the state of the politics in this episode than the entirety of the first 2 seasons. If you only look at Pershing's arc, i can see your point but it was not just about Pershing. It was about showing the cracks in the New Republic and why it is destined to fail to the First Order.
@@quiden75 I enjoyed the world building and the character development. There was just a lot of that Pershing story that could have been trimmed a little and wouldn't have subtracted from it, particularly the sneaking around near the end. A few minutes saved here could have given us a few minutes there.
@@solidus0079 Why do you have this mentality?
There is not a finite number of minutes to the episode, which they chose to spend on Pershing instead of Mando. If they felt the need to include more scenes, they would have, without cutting his arc.
It’s strange to me that people are so judgmental about Pershing’s arc because they have no idea how it ties into the rest of the season. If he has not talked about again for the rest of the season, these people have a point.
But they are just judging it way too early because they hate Disney
They only have 8 episodes. They cannot afford this sort of haphazard story-telling, and they definitely don't have the time for a slow-burn episode. If they want to proceed like this, that is fine, but the season should be 13, 18, or even more episodes. At this rate, by the season finale, I don't see much happening that will end in a fulfilling manner.
It's like the New Republic never heard, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." Military surplus equipment, especially medical supplies, can be of great help to those without basic medical care.
"Diet Andor" episode. While Coruscant politics worked in last year's show, it was due to the massive stakes that were riding on Mon Mothma's careful wording and Luthen & Kleya's disguise...amongst a dominant empire panopticon. Not to mention the dialogue has to be top quality for it all to be engaging (why many folks had issues with the politics-heavy prequels). In all fairness, it took me a little bit for the Karn scenes to click in Andor, so hopefully a few more things are established for Pershing's story so I can feel a stronger undertone
Spoilers alert :
- Fantastic opening dogfight ! Not gonna lie, the Bo Katan leaf maneuver felt very Top Gun Maverick like (if you know, you know). The same way you could tell Rachel Morrison (the previous epidode's director) was a fan of Metroid, you can tell either Favreau or this episode's director Lee Isaac Chung was a big fan of Top Gun Maverick, which is pretty funny since Top Gun Maverick was essentially a remake of the Death Star trench run, so having Star Wars referencing the movie that referenced Star Wars is like poetry, it rhymes !
- Pretty miffed about the middle part with Dr Pershing (sure, it felt like Andor's pacing... only without the great writing and storytelling or visual execution, and with some very grating visuals from the Volume that brought me right back to Obiwan's episode 2 or in the underwater base). I can see that they tried to Andor it by giving us 2 very distanced parallel plots, with one showing us how the New republic is shady as heck and frankly not much better than the Empire (the whole Pershing's experience is nothing short of a reconstruction of how the Nazis were working with their prisoners... I mean new reconverted former Imperials, with ID numbers instead of names, very publicly visible and recognizable badges, concentration camps, forced labor that has nothing to do with their abilities, daily psychological tests, and even tests to catch them red-handed, stuff that I wouldn't get past some SS shit, to top it off with some good old brainwashing...)... But the execution just felt very muddled and frankly not super interesting. Glad they're bringing back Katy O'brian, though. I actually enjoyed her character in Quantumania, even though she didn't have much to do in it, and I'm glad they're bringing her back here with more than just 5 lines. She's actually quite a terrific actor, with all the nuances she's been through here, and buff as she is, I can't help but thinking that Disney is banking on her to become the new Gina Carano of the show, only for the other side... Since my take on her character is that she's actually a sleeper agent that feigns being succesfully reconverted to the New Republic... but is actually still a spy for Moff Gideon, having infiltrated the New Republic (a reversed Lonni, from Andor) to wipe all the traces of her boss's work, including Dr Pershing's memory, who knew too much. The future will tell, but all in all, it was either dragged way too long crammed in a single episode, taking too much of the run time (I'm ok with them taking time with a 12 episodes long season with one hour episodes, but it works less on a 8 episodes season with each episode being usually around 30 minutes), or too short as a whole (I could have seen it being played in 2 or 3 parts in various episodes, so the betrayal would have felt more shocking).
- Great ending, though. With Bo Katan having lost everything, her people, her castle, but having been through a mystical renaissance of sort after her baptism in the Living waters and seeing the Mythosaur, and being now accepted in the covert (Pretty sure the title of the episode, the Convert, is about her), having the episode ending with a zooming close up to her for 2 episodes in a row kinda heavily implies she's becoming the de facto protagonist of this season, or at the very least, the future Mandalor'.
The one thing I'm really missing in this season, though, is Ludwig's Goransson's iconic score.
Not to throw any shade to Joseph Shirley (he also inherited Ludwig's score on Boba Fett and Creed 3, which makes me wonder if he's a friend or disciple of Ludwig), he's doing a great job at marrying Ludwig's style with more classic traditional orchestral opera, John Williams style, being sort of a middle ground inbetween these 2 styles... But I can't shake the feeling that 50% of the Mandalorian's DNA comes from Ludwig Goransson's haunting score that carries its own very iconic, unique and instantly recognizable musical identity ! And we're just not getting it this season !
The classic scores are certainly more familiar to Star Wars fans, but ultimately, they don't take such wild big musical swings that the Mandalorian season 1 and 2 did, play it safer than them, almost overplaying the card of the Mandalorian's flute each time he gets onscreen in his Naboo Ship, almost making it feel kinda repetitive... which adds to the feeling that this season is VERY different than previous seasons, and not as daring. Which kinda bums me off...
Great post, excellent review, thanks so much.
“Felt like Andor’s pacing only without the great writing and storytelling or visual execution.” Yep, sums up how I felt about this episode lol. I’m fine with heightening the stakes or whatever but stick to the tone of your own show please
I really like this episode! I don't quite understand all the controversy, but I guess that's because I really like shows that start out small and end up large.
That plan was to calculated for Gideon. I feel like Thrawn himself planned this out.
The earlier glimpse of the purgills maybe a clue to Thrawn's presence.
The whole 20+ minutes of Pershing and Cain is foreshadowing the entire rest of the season between Din and Bo.
Look at us, we're friends and I'm helping you....PSYCH!
Whatever issues this episode had, all was redeemed when Pershing said "It was a trap!"
and the Mon calamari guy felt a pause, as if by genetic reflex :P
That was awesome lol
But Bo Katan also didn’t reply “This is the way” at the covert. I hope it means nothing because I don’t want her and Din to become enemies. I really loved the action scenes. Definitely didn’t trust the empire Chick one bit when I spotted her in the audience. I hope Pershing will be ok. Felt sorry for him. So excited for the next episode. Also really appreciated that the Episode was longer than the first 2 😊
This is the way
So this is clearly ranger of the republic being integrated into the show.
I think so too. The parts from rangers that would need to be told.
Everyone needs to relax & just enjoy the ride. Many times, in many shows, sometimes you need to get through the whole season before you can look back and see, oh, well that all pieced-together nicely! We've enjoyed the story-telling of Favreau & Filoni so far - they have our trust - so relax & trust them to tell their story - it will all work out, it just takes time. Everyone is so "now, now, tell me now, make it make sense now" instant gratification silliness. Again, relax.
you do know that comment from the wealthy guy, and this whole show is 100% connecting this to the sequels. The wealthy guy is just like that Benecio Del Toro scene where he shows the logs of the weapons dealer selling ships to the empire and the rebels
The comment from 16:03 is some of the best thoughts on this I’ve seen. That’s an actual complex and actually realistic situation they can explore. I think people are making stuff up when saying that they are trying to make the New Republic “bad” so the genocide of Episode 7 is justified, it’s simplistic as hell and still doesn’t justify anything
John and Dave have said they have many more stories to tell, I’ve been expecting them to expand. I like it, I’m still on board
Grogu was completely shoehorned in this season for sure. We can see that when he conveniently enters his pod to get away if a scene that wasn't written with him in mind, like when he enters it when the cockpit opens in Mandatore and immediately leaves ito get back in frame, despite the potentially toxic atmosphere entering the cockpit and not enough time have passed for the ship to pump it out. Also in the shio maneuver Bo Katana does that makes the droid float in the air he enters the pod moments before and leaves it right after such scene, almost like they couldn't figure out a way to shoot the zero g scene with the puppet.
I liked the Andor-style writing and themes. It setup a complex character arc for Bo-Katan and what her motivations are and what they mean for Din and Mandalore. It also setup a complex galactic situation that despite regime change, the New Republic doesn’t appear to be as benevolent as they want people to believe. Dr. Pershing’s mundane day job in the New Republic is a nice call back to Syril Karn’s mundane day job in the Empire. Despite regime change, life for average citizen plods on like change had never occurred. It also proves Migs Mayfeld correct, the New Republic isn’t that different from the Empire, they’re both occupiers on someone else’s land.
And that's why this is so jarring...it's almost as if the galaxy shouldn't have celebrated the end of the empire. This is deconstructive storytelling.
@@admiralseabass8993 True…but in the context of the Bloodlines novel, it kind of supports how dysfunctional the NR becomes.
Did you notice how Dr. Pershing was sipping on a blue fizzy thing while Elia had a red one?
Remarkably unpopular opinion that might get me crucified but here we go: I absolutely loved and I mean LOVED this episode and I have no problem with Mando/Feloni verse leading into the sequels, as a matter of fact I was always hoping they do. Of course I’m not a very big fan of the sequels, especially since Disney pretty much admitted that they didn’t care or have a plan, nor do I think that any amount of recontexualizing or expansion of lore will make those movie that much better BUT… that doesn’t mean they can’t try, nor does that mean the lore itself can’t be cool and interesting within itself and this episode yesterday really peaked my interest. Literally got chills when they played the Plagueis theme when Pershing was talking about getting his cloning stuff. On top of how creepy and bladerunner/ 1984/ dystopian the new republic is like. I genuinely wonder and am curious where this is all going and I’m so exited to find out. I swear, like this brought me back to when I used to stay up all night, theorizing about what Ep8 and 9 will bring back when force awakens came out!
This might be a crazy thought but when I heard the Plagueis story theme I gotta say the thought that they are gearing up to say that Snoke is at least partially a Plagueis clone, maybe even Plagueis + Palps DNA crossed my mind.
Especially given Pershing explained he wanted to create individuals that can take multiple genetic strands to make a better version.
@@PixelKatana literally what I was thinking 🔥
I loved this episode as well but still think it is a huge mistake to connect this show directly to the sequels.
Someone once told me that Star Wars revolved around the Skywalker and Palpatine families. Now I wonder, with the shows at least, if Filoni is making it so it revolves around the Mandalorians and Cloning
I really like that Pershing’s mind was flayed and he wasn’t rescued to be reunited with the leftover Empire. That’s an Empire move, show one seed of doubt or regret and get tortured. Show willingness to discuss secrets, get tortured. Talk crap about the Empire, get tortured. Also, Bad Batch shows that Mt Tantiss doesn’t need Pershing. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to him.
I had this uneasy unsettling feeling during the whole Elia part because I initially didn’t trust her, but using the backing musical cues gave us that false feeling that her intentions were good. I really liked this Mando-Andor sandwich.
A Mandor Sammich?!
I thought I had caught Grogu trying to say, "This is the Way." as well. Made me chuckle when Grogu just kept watching poor R5 slide back and forth. I like the way that we still don't have a clear definition of the greater thing/s happening, the mystique has me hooked. After wondering what Dr. Pershing was exactly doing for the Empire we now know, very interesting cloning background. I didn't even think about Elia knowing how far to take the dial. Maybe she'll use that to make Dr.Pershing want to come back to the Empire. I definitely kept waiting for the double cross. The build of trust between the characters was a bit of a slow burn, but the pacing felt right. After the sequels, I think I've just become accustomed to the story jumping about. I still keep expecting IG-11 to show up later on. After Chapter 19, it to me feels like s3 has some solid footing to build on. Have we've seen the last of 16th Grievous? Bum bum bum. Chapter 20: Gorian Shard's Locker
Whoa! You guys read my comment. Can't say I've had that happen. Grateful for all you guys do. Interesting there are so many different views on this season
Your comment that described this CHAPTER as an Interlude as spot on. We took a break from the main story arc to take a look at concurrent events in another part of the galaxy.
Thor and Naboo, have you ever read one of the “Aftermath” novels? The “Aftermath” novels introduced the idea of “interlude” chapters to Star Wars novels.
Actually, there is nothing special about “Interlude” chapters, aside from the fact that the author literally named the chapters, “Interlude”.
Otherwise, the use of interludes is simply a good writing style for a novel. If you have ever read any of the ASOIAF novels, aka Game of Thrones, then you should be more than familiar with this style.
Many Star Wars fans seem to be having a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of interludes being inserted into the main story arc.
Each season of the show can almost be regarded as a self contained novel. Notice how this goes a LONG way in explaining the title mini-series “Book of Boba Fett.”
It was like Andor if Andor had worse writing, dialogue, and acting
I enjoyed this episode, but it’s unfortunate because so many people have fallen off this show. My whole family used to watch it and now after these last two episodes it’s only me and my dad watching it.
It's still good, I think people are making slightly more off it than it is. It's not season one of course but it's still 100x better than Kenobi
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy oh yes but due to all those failures I can see why viewership for mando is so low now.
A lot of people weren't paying attention, and didn't realize the third season was even back.
@@CCFONESOL which is weird because the third seasons trailer broke records for Disney+ so maybe people are just uninterested
I don’t understand all the fuss. The show isn’t suddenly bad because it did something different. It’s not like bad batch witch has a fantastic episode followed by two crap ones and then another fantastic one. This has been hit hit hit just exploring different parts of the larger story. Every episode has been good. This show wasn’t hiding that it was getting bigger in scale either. They kept saying it in interviews repeatedly that this season was expanding the scale of things, for goodness sake luke skywalker was in the last season and we explored the return of the empire and cloning a little in season 1 and 2 this is what the show was always about, just watching it from mandos point of view means that it escalated because he is being dragged into the conflict. How can everyone simultaneously want it to culminate into a thrawn crossover thing and Not understand it must go here first. This is exciting because there are the first steps to that goal. And even still we received inane character growth from bo and tension for din we still got really great mando growth.
I think they used some Andor sets (or backgrounds in post or whatever)-- like the big exterior with the columns where Deirdre is approached by that guy that was really into her.
Mom, i want andor
Mom: We have andor at home
Grogu's first words would actually be " The Way, this is."
Yoda only spoke that way to honor his master
Well Yaddle spoke normally so maybe 50/50
@@JasonlaroseLaRose booooooo
At one point, when Ellia and Pershing are heading to the ship, a guard is distracted by a third party when he almost notices them. Ellia had backup.
I just saw a comment on a different review earlier today with that theory about the Armorer being a Kryze sister and that does seem like a really fun theory. It will be interesting to see how Bo interacts with the others to see who she knows.
I think the story lines will be connected when we see Carson Teva's story
It's already connected. The cloning arch is the reason grogu had a bounty in the first place. Without that, din and grogu never meet.
Good points. 👍
Thor, I had a good laugh at Mando vs Ando. 😂
I was very confused by the torture. First of all, because the tone is drasticly different than the 2 first episodes. I dont get the republic procedure, like this is an incredible dangerous equipement it seems, and they just... let a random person be all alone in charge, even thought she doesnt even work here... Very strange, very odd. And I was very on board with the episode until this point. I found it very disturbing, I even 24 hours after I still dont know if I liked it. I am just confused.
About the Mythosaur: I took it as that Bo isn't completely sure what she saw in the water was real. That's why she asked Din if he saw anything.
No, it's obvious that she's keeping it a secret because she intends to try to tame it herself, since it would carry more clout than having the dark saber. Taming one of those im sure is more difficult than defeating another Mandalorian in combat to take the dark saber by force... No pun intended.
It's obvious that Bo Katan is experiencing a crisis and transformation. The events at the mines of Mandalore affected her more than she was prepared for, including the appearance of a literally mythic mythosaur. She's got to be wondering why Djarin didn't see it, since it literally filled her field of view, and she was questioning whether it was a vision or hallucination. All the things that Bo dismissed as fable - the Dark Saber, Living Waters, Mythosaur, the Creed, the helmet, the Way, her family bloodline, the self-destructive nature of the Mandalorian philosophy left without leadership - she is now forced to reconsider and she doesn't have easy answers for. Sulking in her castle is no longer an option.
Come to think of it, why Didn't Din see this enormous beast filling the water around them?
Great recap, Thor and Naboo. I didn’t mind this episode but it could have been better. To me it was more about the editing. They should have taken out a little of the Dr Pershing stuff, added a little Din and Bo stuff and edited the two stories together. Also, did you notice that Elia Kane was the one that walked away with th case of Dr Pershing’s after he got the equipment he needed from the imperial ship? Another takeaway of mine was why didn’t Bo tell Din about the Mythosaur? That seemed like she was hiding it on purpose for some reason. 🤔
Haven't seen this episode, but from what is being described, I hate the New Republic stuff. I absolutely hated the Aftermath books and the way the New Republic has been presented in D Cannon. All this pretty much builds on that, which means all this is built up to the sequel trilogy. The way the New Republic is written is stupid. To have a rebuilt government establishment de-miltarise them selves while still fighting their enemys is stupid. Also, the whole "not using Empire tech" thing is another retcon because one of the NRs ship uses the parts of captured Star Destroyers. It was the whole plot to the Squadron game. Too not use Empire tech is dumb because most of was hold over tech from the previous Republic.
Yeah, it feels like someone broke Favreau's legs. But it still was a great episode.
And if the New Republic was perfect... Well, it wouldn't be fun.
Anyway, thanks for the debate, guys! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
As a history student, this episode and the new republic as a whole feels eerily similar to the Weimar Republic in Germany (the interwar period). They both heavily demilitarised (although Germany was forced to), the society seems happier (think the roaring 20s/the stressemann era). Furthermore, with hindsight, in episode 7, that scene with Hux giving a speech reminds me of a certain Austrian (watch the scene in German if u can’t see it), they even do the Hitler salute, the flag is red with their symbol in black (nazi flag is a bit more complex). Like the Weimar Republic, it feels like the new republic is living on borrowed time. Their system can’t keep on going. Take the amnesty program, that’s an echo chamber. It’d be so easy for there to be conspiracies going on, I’d be surprised if there isn’t. They don’t even program their droids to be able to read body language, tone, etc (Ik it isn’t always consistent. For example, I’m ADHD, I fidget a lot, eye contacts a problem, etc). So the real question is: was the new republic doomed from the start?
I did hear the Pershing thread was, in fact, salvaged from the Rangers of the New Republic writer's room
I'm an OG guy. I love the galaxy building thats going on. Mando in BoBF, Ashoka in Mando, its all tying in somehow, I hope.
Wai, my 2 like comment made it into the episode? And just 2 weeks after getting the hammer of quality!? ❤❤❤
(An earlier comment here...) I don't know, guys, but the more I think about the Pershing part, more it feels like a hallucination... Perhaps all that was caused by the machine at the end... I don't know.
Really weird stuff indeed.
Loved the world building. Great Star Wars episode nerdiness
I was actually thinking what Sentinel was thinking too.
Knowing episode 3 was a resurrected script from Rangers Of The Republic shines a light on Kane being a Republic agent.
Thrawn & Gideon are both actively cloning, they would want Pershing's brain intact not scrambled eggs.
4:10 right! Imagine if Wernher von Braun were made an office assistant or a desk clerk?
I’m in the minority. Pershing’s fate was sad. But he 100% brought it on himself. He sought the traitor lady out. If he just did his desk job he wouldn’t have be mind wiped. And the lady seemed shady from the beginning. Also giving military grade equipment to the outer rim is how you get a civil war.
No ...they did NOT need to connect the two parts today. Now if there is never some sort of payoff in the future than it will suck.
I totally expect they are setting up to "explain" stuff from the 9th movie and that sucks.
The future of Star Wars TV is going to be more like the early wave of Wu-Tang Clan solo albums where it says Raekwon or Method Man or GZA or Ghostface but it's really just a Wu-Tang Clan album.
6:25 I agree that it would be great if The Mandalorian could go back to its own story, one of the things that I loved about season 1 was that the show was new and fresh and didn’t include a bunch of characters and plot that weren’t in the larger universe.
I absolutely loved this episode 🖤 the story building was amazing. And dr Pershing has been an important character throughout the series so it made sense to get a deep dive episode. This felt very similar to the crosshair episodes of the bad batch (which I loved as well) 🍻quality SW
If they really want to make a mandoverse group of shows, instead of naming this 8 episodes "Mando", and these "BoBF" (especially with the mando/grogu sidequest in bobf), just make a show with 22 episodes a year, about this time in galactic history so it doesnt feel like Pershing took a mando episode, or mando took boba episodes...
No, the battle between Mando/Bo-Katan and those TIE Interceptors wouldn't be news on Coruscant because:
1. That is so insignificant to the people of Coruscant. It would be like a people in London talking about how yesterday, a few Chilean police officers died attacking a seeming empty house in Santiago. Only, probably even less interesting.
2. There were no witnesses. Bo-Katan's deserted and derelict summer home on a generally empty moon orbiting a destroyed planet was uninhabited. Just Bo-Katan and a few droids. Unless she went running for the Channel 7 Evening News, or the pilots of the supposedly defeated and non-existent Empire called the news, nobody could even possibly hear about it.
So having Percy and Ellie walk past some Coruscant pedestrians discussing it would be wildly improbable.
Unless they were in beskar armor and personally knew Bo-Katan and lived in her home before they abandoned her, in which case, given the population of Coruscant is over a trillion people, the odds of passing them right as they discuss it is about 1 in 500,000,000,000. Give or take.
I see a lot of people commenting about the fact that they're decommissioned a lot of ships. People got to remember the empire was huge and actually so is the new republic. the government regardless is trying to manage a thousand planets. No matter who is in charge, the empire or republic, 90% percent of it is just pure bureaucracy and paperwork. They don't have enough resources or manpower to do everything properly so it's almost like a junkyard, Park the assests make sure they can't hurt nobody and let them rot
I work in healthcare. I liked the repurposing of a current day C-Arm X-Ray unit to become the mind flayer.
Style points for indirect comment reference. 😆
The EU or Legends New Republic had sense enough to repurpouse equipment! Star Destroyers, fighters, walkers all day long.
I thought it was crazy how it was like this episode was written based off of y’all’s last couple videos (living waters, Pershing, etc.)
I'm still of the opinion that Pershing just got "reprogrammed". We didn't see him die or what he's like once he's out of that thing. Or he's toast. 😀
I immediately knew that Elia Kane was not who she said. I think she is a double agent for the Emprial Remanat
2:30 No, organ cloning will be expensive, but there’s this stigma with some humans in the books against cyborgs, they believe it makes you less human. (Vader, for example) probably a ton of anti-droid stuff after the clone wars.
What a fantastic episode!
Every time they would finish a scene in Corusant I thought they'd go back to Din and Bo. I know there is probably something being set up there, but sadly I was bored.
23:15 I agree, Andor was amazing! I hope this is a slow burn with a big payoff, not too far from its roots. They can have another show that has the “big picture” show. Maybe have another show called The Way, or whatever, that details the resurrection of Mandalore paralleled by the rise of The First Order. The show could feature characters from The Mandalorian but not take the show completely over.
Having to write out Cara Dune and her series was more of a problem. But those plot points still need to be told somewhere.
Bo was attacked before she could get a chance they do have targeting computers in the helments
Since ep 1 had nothing to tell they could have introduced the Coruscant storyline there
Is everyone forgetting that Dr. Pershing has been in the Mandalorian since the first episode of the first session...
If anything with the promo episode 4, grogu is up next to be the star in the "mandalorian" episode.... They are really stretching this "battle for mandalorian unity" chapter..
So, in other words we are back to the Last Jedi? Empire and Rebels - no difference there, no fairy tale here, no good vs evil, archetypal kind of story-telling - just like the Uniparty? Really? Good bye.
A few things I've noticed. I think part of the episode is to show that regardless of government the bureaucracy just grinds on ie. "say hello to the new boss the same as the old boss."
This episode looks like it's been influenced by the Andor series hence the slower pace. However, this story line should have been more developed throughout the series.
The last thing is that I find the story of Dr Pershing to not be very realistic. Look at what happened to the scientists after WW2. Perishing would have been snapped up by someone in the military even if it was only to make sure nobody else could have his research.
Despite how different this episode is, the Mando series has shown that every major side plot mattered, so this cloning side story will play a big part of the S3 story for sure.
I forgot about the missing nephew. Interesting
I *really* enjoyed this episode. Almost felt like a hybrid of Mandalorian and Andor
Naboo literally says the same thing 10 seconds in 😂
I don’t think there was ever a plan to keep Din and Grogu apart! Tgat makes no sense because we still don’t know anything about Grogu backstory or what the Empire wanted him for!
Anyone remember when the phrase " the sequels" simply meant The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? LMAO 😅
It make sense that the Mandalorian is transitioning to big picture. I mean we know this is going to lead to a huge crossover. I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t understand that.
I feel the multiple shows are gathering the story line to fill in the holes of the last three books. The cloning plot leads to Emperor Palpatine existance. The reduced capability in the Rebel force is being explained. The rise of the First Order is in the back ground. The Emperor was always working behind the scenes and you see it in all of the series. There are allot of Jedi still alive in these stories which haven't been hunted down as a results of Order 99. I find these series are working toward something big. The Empire is still alive and building a power base. I feel you are going to find out the Empire fleet is going to be dismantled only to be shipped to the outer rim to be rebuild into the First Order Fleet. The Rebel forces are not paying attention to what is happening and thinks no threat exists. Thus is dismantled the Reell capital ships and thus destroyed the fleet which could stand up against the fleet of First Order. There are several missing pieces, where were the Rebel fleet being shipped and reassembled. It was called upon in the final book. So there is a Rebel group in the shadows as well waiting to be called upon. Will this force be what the Mandalore will be called upon to guard and collect? There are more force sensitive beings in tbe Star Wars universe. I think these beings and the Jedi still around will rebuild the Order in much the way the original order was practiced. The combining of the light and dark side taught together thus balancing the force. Afterall, the force needs to be balanced. It is an underlying goal through the entire s story line. I feel there will be a prequel trilogy which will show the breaking of the original teachings of both light and dark side of the force. Then there will be another trilogy after the last ones with Daisy and Grugro rebuilding the foundation of the new Jedi Order from the original teachings of light and dark side. This will bring the balance of the force back, thus peace returns to the galaxy with the original peace keepers.
Reminds me of the torture of the Master Spy in The Last Starfighter.
Um guys, Favreau said in season *2* that he wanted the show to get bigger. He said something about just like Game of Thrones getting bigger as the seasons passed, he wanted to do the same with Mando. He's just doing it now
I think the issue here isn't scale, but focus. We could and likely will get a Mandalorian plotline that is a believable and natural progression of the scope of Din's domain and interests from the relatively simple/narrow world and motivations we started with. The setup is all there, and I don't think any of us were expecting this to remain a bounty-of-the-week serial in perpetuity. However, perhaps due to changing story directions, corporate pressure in regard not only to Grogu but the use of this flagship show to promote spin-offs in front of a captive audience, and/or simple poor planning and execution these additional subplots feel very unmoored from the main thrust of the story. Like you said, if they'd connected the two parts of this episode through some meaningful on-screen reference, it would improve the whole thing greatly. However, this issue was present in the first episode as well: the trip to Navarro was largely pointless except as an interlude that may be foreshadowing of future plot threads or even advertising future shows, but it was a slightly jarring diversion from the otherwise very compelling current of the story. This was just that, multiplied in effect. The focus should remain on the Mandalorian and all other excursions need to better fit into or reasonably and immediately relate to the progression of that story, otherwise fewer people will stick around for the payoff that these little side plots might yield later on down the road.
It's too bad, really, I actually have come around to the Pershing side story upon further reflection- the saccharine sweet and surface deep niceties of the new Regime were creepy and intriguing, and I'd love to see more exploration of how the high ideals of the rebels clash with the realities of human (and alien) behavior and of actual administration of power as well as the way they interact with the permanent power base of the bureaucracy and the wealthy that persists regardless of the ideological persuasions of whoever's in charge. However, I just couldn't enjoy or fully absorb it as I was watching it due to my annoyance at being so abruptly pulled out of the story.
I really enjoyed it... However, I the "General Audience" probably did not. I usually get the GA opinion from my coworker. He and his 7 year old Daughter watch Mando, and they are definitely not super fans like us. He stated he fell asleep. lol Me on the other hand, I loved the Andor styled feeling and really loved it. I can see that they will be connecting Dr. Pershing to something.
Some very interesting insights into this latest episode. No one seemed to comment on the medical gear Dr Pershing left the ship with. What happened to it? Who has it and why? Definitely a hint there's more going on than we're privy to.
On the whole getting rid of Empire equipments...
Recently Switzerland decided to destroy old air defence systems instead of selling or giving to other nations that, you know, in need of air defence...
So basically it is Politic in a nutshell
Well Swizterland is known for it's neutrality. That means not supporting a NATO-backed proxy war that may lead to WW3.
The new replublic was unrealistically stupid in this. Beyond that it was great
Edit: The Mando part felt like a different show than the corusant parts. Also they took forever to get back to Din
i felt like they were showing that the New Republic is actually corroded to the core (worlds). It almost feels like Elia Kane is using the amnesty program as part of the contingency plan to prevent information about post-Cinder imperial information to come out.
I thought that the Dr's 'weird' reaction to being asked if he was new, was because he was quite literally new i.e. a clone. I'm probably wrong, but it sort of makes sense...
8:46 There should have been a better segue between the Mandalorian system and what’s happening on Coruscant. But the idea that they heard about Imperial Remnant activity in the Outer Rim does not follow with one of the themes of the episode, which was the absolute disconnection between the elites in the Core and the other folks out in the Outer Rim.
I'm afraid the show is gonna to go full soap opera and have this procedure convert Dr. Pershing to a full-on evil-genius maniacal madman villain.
I doubt it. His description of the imperial mind flayer would suggest the opposite: somebody who's mind has been wiped clean. Chances are it's the mole covering her tracks and getting everything Pershing knows about his research so she can pass it to Gideon and/or Thrawn.
@@mpnuorva Let's hope so.
Theres a theory that Elia Kane was actually Omega.
I do like the theories that Omega becomes a villain but i doubt that:
1. Omega is blonde
2. She doesn't speak in the same accent as Omega
However if she like dyed her hair and changed her accent to be underciver, imagine she's interested in the cloning to create a new line of Clones from her own DNA, that would be wild.