Okay, Nerdy Nightly, remember how Grogu was initially a test subject? Remember how, when Mando went back to Nevarro in Season 2 to get his ship fixed, and Grogu stayed in school and stole cookies from a stingy kid, while they went to that Imperial facility with the blue fish-guy, and they saw all the test clones in the tanks? This cloning stuff is part of the overall plot; Dr. Pershing was one of the first characters introduced in this entire series. Just pick up the pieces as we go along... And don't forget about The Book of Boba Fett. It's also part of this narrative, which is why Mando was in it. From what I can tell, they're trying to tell one big story with multiple branches, all at once. Every single Star Wars show that they're putting out now is related by the singular canon by which they're abiding in their writing of these stories. Every single story... One big story. That's what I see. In other words, no matter what Star Wars content comes out, there is only one "Star Wars Universe", which is why Disney cleaned house with the whole EU thing at the start. They want only one comprehensive Universe explored from many different angles; nothing may deviate. I think of it as a contrast to all the "multiverse" nonsense that's been going on lately... No multiverse in Star Wars, no time-traveling BS, just a single timeline that's open for creative writing. The plot that they're laying out is bigger than any of these single shows that are each unfolding it. It will all tie together into one. Take Luke, for example... Most, if not all of us, were disappointed by his fall and disconnection from the Force, I think, which we saw in The Last Jedi, but there is also all of that time of Luke in his prime, a few moments of which we glimpsed at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian. All of the timeline is available for creativity within it, from what I can tell... If they did Luke at the beginning of his Jedi Academy, then they can do pretty much anything, I think, especially with the animation side of things, like with Bad Batch or Tales of the Jedi. Think of that... The Ahsoka we saw in Tales of the Jedi is the same Ahsoka we saw in The Mandalorian, or The Clone Wars, or Rebels, or whatever she's in. Andor is just another great example of how different genres of entertainment can exist within the same Universe. Think about it... At the time of the awakening of the Mythosaur, which is said to supposedly herald a new age of Mandalore... Luke Skywalker is alive and well, and in his prime... As is Ahsoka Tano... And Boba Fett. Also, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra... The list goes on and on. And it's all the same story.
Yep, its like Thieve's World or Martin Superhero novels. One overall plot, but so many viewpoints. I love the vision of seeing everything from different angles.
Exactly! So few people seem to be able to understand that everything is connected. The entirety of Star War revolves around Palpatines quest for immortality. In order for him to achieve that took him a lot of planning. A lot of time. A lot of multiple plots. Everything that happens in Star Wars is all because of that. And the plan is so wide spread that so many of the people involved in it have no idea that they're involved. But that's what it is. It's all connected. It's all one story.
Connections between our story and Coruscant: (1) Gideon has quite likely escaped (2) an officer from Gideon’s ship sold out Pershing (3) she wiped his mind presumably of all memory from his time researching at Gideon’s direction, including related to Grogu. My conclusion: she’s still serving Gideon, who is still out there and will be a problem in the future, and this is our heads up to that.
The first thing I noticed was the Bo-Katan wasn’t taking off her helmet after bathing in the living waters. After seeing the mythosaur I felt like she was going to give “the way” a chance.
If the point was to get the equipment needed to carry on his work, whomever was doing so would know enough that they wouldn't need him to show them what equipment was needed. I think the whole reason for her to be there was to silence him. To prevent him from exposing, or helping to counter something that was done. If you can create an 'ultimate weapon', one of your highest priorities is making sure you keep that advantage until you're ready.
I think Bo-Katan is being set up to unite the clans, including the Children of the Watch. She can wield the Dark Saber better than Din or Pax Visla, and she has been accepted into the Covert, AND she knows where there is a Mythosaur for the taming. I think she can do what Din Djarin cannot.. unite the clans, ALL the clans.
So my guess is that they’re doing a Luke and Leia thing. Din is the Mandalorian, not the Mandalore. He’s an an example, a symbol, a big damn hero, maybe the one who takes down their “Palpatine.” Bo-Katan is of the same nature and also very capable, but her inclination is more toward rulership and command, in a way that Luke/Din would explicitly never want. Between the two of them (and the Han/Grogu “wildcard with a good heart,”) you’ve got the makings of a Mandalorian revolution.
Claroos as usual has the better analysis of what’s happening. It’s crazy how on point her intuition has been throughout all their reactions. Love Nerdy, but it’s funny how often he is wrong.
The worst part is when he affirms that he is correct over her but he is actually wrong. You see it with a lot of couple youtubers. No doubt he has a love for the material these things are based on and no one is perfect, but you've just got to be a little more humble.
@@CCFONESOL I'm not convinced. This... didn't feel very Thrawn somehow. Too easy to escape and with little obvious upside for him if it worked. Sure, could be for taking out Gideon but Thrawn looking for revenge would be totally out of character especially when it could result in pieces that were effectively off the board coming back into play. Plus from what we've seen of Gideon's forces the old anti-alien prejudice seems alive and well so Thrawn being in charge doesn't seem to fit. Might be completely wrong of course but there's still a part of me thinking when Thrawn does show up it's as an ally or at the very least not an outright villain as part of an effort to stop whatever cloning / dark trooper shenanigans are going on as it presents a threat to his people as well.
@@smiddlehurst1 Thrawn doesn't do anything without multiple reasons. Gideon couldn't do this even if he wanted. And the Dark Trooper program is essentially dead.
Every episode so far makes sense in the larger picture when you assume that Dr. Pershing uses Grogu to complete the flawed Palpatine clones. Fuck, I hope I'm wrong.
Patience! As Yoda said. All these things will correlate. Give the story time to unfurl. I believe the double agent is working for Gideon. Her job was to get him to collect the necessary research equipment, then get rid of him (she chose to erase his memory). The cloning has to do with finding Grogu to use his DNA/midichlorians to ultimate create Palpatine’s clones so he could live forever (the Sith’s attempt for immorality since they can’t become force ghosts).
The episode title "The Convert" I think does refer to Bo. Her army and fleet left because she just didn't come back with the Darksaber. But a dip in a pool: Welcome back to The Way, and she is just taken in as is. She is convinced in a way. The Way. Converted.
That Elia lady still works for the remnants of the Empire. She wanted wipe Kershing's memory so the Republic could never have access to it. Her people still have that information. That's my take.
Love love loooooved this episode! Andor-flavored interlude with political intrigue setting up the wider world of the show, sandwiched in between the Bo/Mando/Grogu family fun dogfight show? I'm HERE for it and was utterly enthralled througout! Personally, I'm super into the different vibes and narrative flow of this season. It's not moving in the directions we expect it to and I can't wait to see how these threads wind up intersecting. I don't think Kane is going to be our main villain or anything, but I do think this episode was setting her up as a threat (and I can't wait to see more of her!) in service of whoever/whatever that big bad might be!
Andor had a much better handle on balancing multiple storylines and pacing them well. Going hard with action early then slowing down for the rest neuters any buildup or tension. There was barely any tension for the Coruscant story and just some world building. Maybe the introduction of some stakes would have been very helpful
Craziest theory : this was Ashoka 0.5, what if the doctor will be used as an important character giving info tracking the Imperials, trying to remember things there. Idea 2: they need the cloning knowledge to continue the Emperor/Dark side cloni g things, they first separate the doctor, make him fall hard, then recruit, use him. I'm sure she had no power, just a trusted snitch left unattended.
Pershing's adventure was 1) A great lift of George Orwel's 1984 2) The New Republic is the Empire with a happy face a) Using letter/number combos instead of names for the amnesty participants b) requiring approval to proceed on research, ND flat out denying it c) what is the reason the top if the mountain could not be touched? Is Pershing now labotamized (SP?)?
My musings ... 1. Kaine is still working for Gideon (and Thrawn) with the objective to evaluate Dr. Pershing and eliminate him. Getting rid of him doesn't make sense to me, though. I don't understand this plot line at all. 2. The New Republic is making the same mistakes the old Republic was. And the Jedi. Individuals are not important. The leaders are out of touch with the people. We saw how many senators were fine with whatever happened as long as they benefited. They followed Palpatine's orders right up until he dissolved the senate. And it looks like most of them took their old seats back. 3. Bo-Katan will unite the Mandalorians. She'll learn that The Way really might be the right way. At least for Mandalore. Her old clan left when she didn't bring back the dark saber. Din's clan, the current "Watch", accepts her without question after bathing the the Living Waters. I also think they'll talk about the robo-crab thing that caught Din. They'll realize that since he lost control of the dark saber and Bo-Katan used it to rescue him, she earned the right to wield it. 4. The Dave and Jon shows do what this episode did all the time. But The Clone Wars had 20 or so 30 minute episodes. They could take a whole episode and do something off the wall. Then 6 or 7 episode later that tangent comes into play. Even The Bad Batch has done it and has 16 episode seasons. If it wasn't for Dave and Jon I'd be worried. But I still trust them. 5-ish. You can walk freely between the cars in the Atlanta rail system, MARTA. Also, YAY, the season finale lands on my 53rd birthday.
Claudia Gray's novel "Bloodline" covers a portion of the internal politics of the New Republic. Including, how the lower ranking members of the Imperial Elite was able to translate their interest to the new galactic goverment. It was heavily emplied, that many people even if they don't posessed rank in the Empire wiledly supported Palpatine's ideology. During the time when the First Order started gaining territories at the Outer Rim, their symphatizers blocked any attempt from the New Republic Forces to interrupt their slow invasion.
She most likely still working for the empire (Gideon) and used dr Pershing to gather what equipment he needs to continue his research and then took it so she can deliver back to the empire.
I thought the same thing. I thought Gideon (or his crew) were breaking into the Star Destroyer to kidnap Pershing so he could continue his research for Palpatine's resurrection. I really hope this show is not related to the Palpatine story.
I loved the scene with the mind flayer because it has the same ethical issues of cloning mentioned earlier. Yeah soothing traumatic memories/cloning organs is good, but erasing minds/eugenics is bad. It exemplifies how just because you want to do something with the best intentions, others will take it to the extreme, which often isn't ethical.
I love how they make the New Republic the same as the Empire. Also Nerdy I was a member of the Kennedy Center in DC for a while. You would see the rich people at the member lounge like empty the snack bowls into their purses or pockets.
I mean the Empire was pretty much the same as the Galactic Republic. I think that's kind of the point, not much reason to think that the New Republic would be any different. You look at Tatooine during the Galactic Republic and during the Empire and during the New Republic... it's not much different. The Galaxy is too large to manage and so the Empire takes a firm grip on most of it and appoints regional governors and makes deals with groups like the Hutts and hires corporate security to help manage it. That was primarily the reason for the creation of the Death Star, so they could more effectively manage individual planets through fear. The Republics both are ineffective in governing as well because the Senate is a mixed body representing entirely too many interests, which yields to corruption. That isn't to say they're the exact same. You have a slightly more representative government (but not tangible representation) and less of a police state, which largely gives rise power vacuums which help out criminal organizations.
When they were captured they only say the designation of Pershing when saying someone was under arrest. Then Kane grabs the things he wanted for his research and walks behind the officers (??). Then later Pershing says she trapped him. The whole thing was a ploy by her to see if he would go against the rules. Hence telling him to touch the top of the mountain knowing the drone will come and stop him. This was foreshadowing and telling you exactly what she was doing with Pershing. At any time he could say no, (tho entrapment). To Republic, it was him falling back to his old ways. For her it was to take advantage to do whatever it was she is planning when she turned up the dial. But she works for the Republic to find those that may slip back. This is shown in the conversation between her and the technician behind the glass. The Republic sees her as a success, for deprogramming but also because she finds the "failures" like Pershing (those that go back to their old ways).
I am sure it'll all come together. I think a lot of people expect the Mandalorians to team up against Gideon and Thrawn at some point. The Bad Batch running parallel sort of foreshadows the whole cloning Snoke / Palpatine story arc. And Navarro is a good place for the Mandalorians to find sanctuary. Plus they'll have a nice flagship with parking space for the N1, when they defeat the pirates. And who knows, maybe they'll run into a memory circuit for IG11. He'd be a great asset.
Despite certain people accusing me of being Dave Felony’s cat, I actually have no inside knowledge of this. TBS, in my head canon they are setting up having a replacement for Dr. Hemlock…who we can assume will not survive Clone Fierce 99’s current season. So if they erase this clone experts personality, they can manufacture anew villain.
we had to get to know him more then "the scientist" to make that more tragic. Why she did it? He was a traitor, if he had never aided the the mando squad Gideon would not have fallen. She dosent care, mission accomplished.
The 'Uber' driver appeared to be a repurposed E-XD-series infiltrator droid, like the EXD-9 from the Star Wars Rebels episode 'Warhead'. This was a particularly dangerous droid in its original guise. The design is actually based on Ralph McQuarrie's original 1970's pre-production designs for C-3PO and is influenced heavily by 'Maria' from Fritz Lang's 1927 classic 'Metropolis' (the name is actually never used in the film though) .
Let's not forget where Mando started. Cloning is the biggest part of the Star Wars story in this era, and whether we like the sequels or not, the story still has to build to that point.
1; The Doctor's memory had to be erased because Gideon does not want too much of the specifics of their work getting to the New Republic. 2; Favreau used the first two episodes of this season to try and save BoBF. So we're going to get a lot of additional content (filler) to even out this season. He took the two episodes so expect another episode with the same kind of filler. So... yeah. Dark times ahead.
When you Bo Katan was so alone inside her castle. Until she wore the helmet and joining her people at the end, she no longer lonely anymore. I believe it is a good sign for her.
What I thought was going to be the overall arc of the season was already taken care of in episode 2, and this episode leaves me unsure where this season goes. I thought this was a great episode, but each episode so far feels, in some ways, self-contained I'm very curious where it goes.
This is set pre the First Order - my guess is she set him up to get access to the tech he needed for cloning to contribute to the Emperor's rise come the Rise of Skywalker. She was on Moff Gideon's ship, but who has she actually been working for?
I don't think Bo could be coerced into a cult at this point in her life. She's seen and experienced too much to fully buy into something she knows so much about.
This could be a way of setting up the spin-offs like Ashoka Think of it they're showing the new Republic and the Empire spy agents this could all be leading up to the Grand Admiral thrawn storyline. Personally I think they're using the first part of the season to set up a whole bunch of new characters and spin-offs or not new characters but bring you back into can and maybe some characters that we loved. I love the first three episodes of Mandalorian to me that's perfect perfect TV
The way the New Republic was acting this episode made me not sad they got blown up in 20ish years lol, but at least it builds some connective tissue with the sequels (as apparently all Star Wars media needs to retroactively justify the movies)
I ve heard that episode 4 will be 43 minutes long. I think that the 56 minutes of this episode was intentionally made for both characters mando and pershing. Maybe in the fourth we will see only mando and bo again.
I thought it was a very good episode, but the pacing was off. As you said it's basicaly another show as soon as they cut to Coruscant and it felt jarring. I couldn't fully emerse to this part of the story because half of the Coruscant story arc I wanted to see a conclusion to what happened to Mando and Bo. As much as I love The Mandalorian as a show, the pacing in this whole season so far feels off and janky in a weird way, without being bad, really. That pacing is something they mostly nailed in previous seasons. I hope they find a way back to that.
I think all this stuff is trying to eventually make episode 9 make sense. I think G68 took L52 to that lab so he could pick out the important cloning equipment. Maybe G68 is a loyalist to the emperor and is trying to clone him so he can arrive like he did in Episode 9. I think there was a cloning episode last season too, if my memory serves.
The reason the Dark Saber has power is as Gideon said, its story not just having it. The Mythasaur is a bigger story to the Mandalorians than the Dark Saber. So I'm guessing Bo Katan is keeping that in her back pocket to use to gather the Mandalorians.
if Pershing is gone, and I sadly believe he is. the Empire has no loose threads when it comes to their attempts in cloning a force sensitive Palpatine, (witch is exactly what they are alluding to that they are attempting) and the Republic has no clue.
This episode was a little different but... One thing I noted, where did the Interceptors come from. As Bo said, that's not an Imperial warlord. I think Thrawn is back and may Ezra. Bo is seeing that the Way might be the path to reunite her people, I think she's going to be a heavy influence on Din forward. I can see her and the Armorer working together, though not comfortably. With the "good" Doctor.... They said that they thought Gideon had escaped. I think one of the reasons they showed this was because Asoka asked the Magistrate where her boss was, and intimated that Gideon was working with/for Thrawn. Removing the doctor's memories is specifically to be sure that he doesn't use those to get himself into a better position. I'm going to need to watch previous episodes to be sure, but I suspect that she was, and still is, an Imperial spy. He's certainly not going to be in any condition to argue. I think the commentary is more about how out of touch the people living in comfort are as opposed to those on the rim. "Empire, Rebels, New Republic, I can't tell the difference." How the hell can you not tell the difference? That's one the rich fat cat guy, if he can't tell the difference between an empire that turned a planet to glass and people who are just trying to stay alive and hoping their planet doesn't get turned to glass.
I've had a theory about Ezra. SPOILERS for the Thrawn Trilogy. In the OG books, Thrawn finds a hidden Jedi master (Actually a clone made by Palpatine), and teams with him to keep Thrawn's fleet able to do the crazy manoeuvres Thrawn wants to pull off. Thrawn persuading Ezra to at least work with him to create a new type of government, neither Empire or Republic (As we see, the New Republic clearly has some shit going on) could provide the same concept.
How did she get that position in so little time? It's been 2 years. Her excuse? She's someone who works for the New Republic rooting out Imperials who haven't reformed. (That's the vibe I got.) But, yeah... she's still working for Moff Gideon. I think Dr. Pershing knows what Moff Gideon is doing, so removing him is important.
That Tie Interceptor dog fight scene was awesome,I feel really bad for Pershing :( Seems like New Republic is not so different from Empire :( I hope Ellia Kane at least gets punished for what she did to Pershing :)
I assumed the one amnesty officer helping Pershing was actually an Empire loyalist and is using the machine to re-indoctrinate Pershing, who seems genuinely anti-Empire, to work for her. But that aside, none of this is really connecting yet and there are a ton of holes for why what she was doing shouldn't really be working. It feels like a show that has a broad idea for things it wants to do but really needed to put alot more thought into the details of how its doing them and how its getting from one point to the next. Also while the "ted talk" scene of the rich people talking to him was interesting satire, I honestly felt like the acting of those extras was.. not the best. Maybe that was a directing thing and not on the actual actors, because the other Mon Cal's delivery equally felt weird, but yeah it just felt.. for lack of a better way to describe it, kind of cartoony. So far, of the two current Pedro Pascal shows, this is definitely the lower rung one by a significant margin.
It's a really interesting episode, but the shift to the Coruscant section feels so jarring. I think the main reason it feels so odd is that this show has always been from Din's point of view, or at least closely adjacent. Although there were cutaway scenes, they would have some connection to what he'd been involved with in that episode, whether that was Fennec, Boba, Cara, or Moff Gideon. The only obvious connection here was the Imperials and what they're currently up to, so maybe whoever is directing Kane's actions was also responsible for the attack on Bo and Din, but that character is still in the shadows.
Fantastic opening, felt like a movie, and you can definitely tell the whole VFX budget of the episode went to that scene alone coz the Volume looked pretty horrendous on Coruscant, I mean Obiwan level of horrendous. I'm pretty miffed by the middle part of the episode. On the one hand, I like that they gave more to Katy M. O'Brian to do (I actually quite enjoyed her character in Quantumania, even though she didn't have much to do in it), and she has much more lines in this episode than in the previous 2 seasons of Mandalorian. And seeing how buff she is, I'm kinda wondering if Disney is not pushing her to become the new Gina Carano of the show, except working for the other side (I'll come back to this point later). But yeah, it was weird. On the one hand, we can see how f**cked up the New Republic is (with the rich guy at the beginning basically not able to tell any difference between the Empire and the New Republic, and how they actually use some pretty shady ways to "Nazi style rehabilitate" former imperials, like on concentration camps with ID numbers and delimited perimeters, desk jobs that have nothing to do with their abilities, like in Andor's prison arc or Syril Karn's desk job, daily interrogation about "mood about the New Republic", and in the event that all else fails, tests to catch them red handed, and brainwashing, etc). It all feels it's taking a page from Andor, that showed that the Rebellion, most well represented by Luthen and his assistant Cleia, was ready to dirty its hand with shady deals in order to keep the fight going. So in a sense, Favreau learned from Andor, which is good. What is not so good was the execution, that is not only storytelling wise pretty muddied, but also visually with some questionable usage of the Volume that reminded me of episode 2 of Obiwan, which was really grating on the eyes (if you look at the first time we saw Dr Pershing in season 1 it was cinematic as heck, but here the whole time I watched him in this episode, it felt like a TV Novella at best), but also the way it's executed, and the time it took for a B-plot that seemingly leads to nowhere to ... well, lead to nowhere, now that poor doc was lobotomized (and yeah, the writing was really lacking with NOBODY monitoring the whole process ??? No surveillance cameras, whereas we all know it's a thing in the Star Wars universe, since it repeatedly happened in previous seasons episodes (The prison break episode in season 1, Luke's appearance on Moff Gideon's ship in season 2) ??? I mean... come on ! I really hope it wasn't Favreau himself that wrote this episode, coz then he's just having a VERY BAD DAY at the office ! My only guess on where this very protracted intermission could lead is that Moff Gideon is still out there somewhere, and Alayna is actually a double agent who still ultimately works for him, having infiltrated the NR under the guise of a succesful integrated agent, so that she could wipe Pershing's mind coz he knows too much. Then back on Bo Katan, who started the season abandoned and alone, just lost everything down to her castle, and after having a sort of mystical enlightment and fresh baptism from having bathed in the Living Waters AND witnessed the Mythosaur, is now welcomed in a new covert of Mandalorians as decreed by the Creed. She's kinda going through a rebirth of sort, and having 2 episodes back to back that ends on a zooming close up on her makes me think she's kinda becoming the de facto main character of the season. At first I thought the episode's title the Convert was about Din, who freshly rejoined his covert, but with second thought, it might very well be about her. So all in all, the opening and ending, really fantastic, middle part, I guess they tried to go the Andor/Game of Thrones route, with several distant plotlines evolving at the same time, but while it might work for a season of 10 episodes that are each one hour long, I'm less convinced on a season of 8 episodes of 30+ minutes (except this one that was 56, but arguably with 20 minutes of fluff that could have easily been dispensed). Another thing I'm really missing from this season as a whole is the unique score of Ludwig Goransson. 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... but I can't shake the feeling that 50% of the Mandalorian 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 ! With more classic scores more familiar to Star Wars fans, but ultimately, don't take such wild big musical swings that the Mandalorian season 1 and 2 did, playing it safer than them, which adds to the feeling that this season is VERY different than previous seasons, and not as daring. Which kinda bums me...
The machine scene is a set up. Even their conversation. Covers for the guy who left. Plausible deniability. Remember The old Empire is trying to make a comeback. And she was happy eating the K ration. Either he is going to be Empire brain washed or they wanted to cover their tracks on the cloning and his research would lead to the emperors' clones being found out early. Even the drinking scene was all set up to get him. The episode was called the convert. Question is who converted to what? Bo looked almost happy to be back among the Mandalorian. Then she eyes the skull on the wall. Does she convert or is she thinking I could convert these true believers to her side of things. Making her leader again. And we know she wants that.
I think they are pushing to introduce the other shows coming soon, the series big bad, and somehow explain the snoak and papa palpatine threads. It was just a weird way to do it without the context of the rest of the season. I'm at the point where I can't really judge the show without seeing the full story play out. I think it helped that Andor was broken down into 3 episode chunk/mini-arcs.
There's always a filler-ish episode in every show. Sometimes its for the better, for the worst or for the average This Coruscant section could have 10 minutes cut right out of the episode. And it went on for basically a whole 30 minutes. I would've appreciated if we got the first 10 minutes of it in this episode, the next 10 in episode 4, and then the rest in episode 5. Instead of cramming all of it in this episode and pretty much losing the interest of your audience's attention.
I, being one of many, thought the episode was great. The more you allow your expectations to color your experience, the less enjoyment you will have. Just like the more you assert that your way of thinking is the only right way, the less appeal you will have to those around you.
So many people are too attached to simple storytelling. Lately I have been fascinated that they call the episodes chapters. After watching an interview with Filoni and Favreau I am starting to understand they are trying to mimic what Lucas was doing in the original movies. The old time movie serials like Flash Gordon and Zorro had episodes like this. The entire thing is the story but each chapter can be anything in the universe that leads to the story. I have to say the modern viewer wants simple story telling.
Yeah I also feel this feels disjointed. Why do they try to insert things in Boba Fett into Mandalorian. That whole segment breaks the story and pacing of the Mandalorian in my opinion. I also kinda feel that Grogu really shouldnt be playing this big part in season 3. He should have stayed with Lule and then appeared at the end of season 3 potentially to set up season 4. I think Disney is going for the cuteness factor a bit too much.
So, if you combine the best of both genetic donors, that's icky to you... But what if the two parents raise their child with the best life advice that they have to offer? I mean, it's basically a same-same applied to mind versus body (metaphysical versus physical). I mean, think about it... A child that has good parenting for their mind is going to have an advantage over the child that has poor psychological conditioning. Splicing the best of the two minds, I'm sure, would surely seem like a good idea to anyone, but splicing the best of the body is somehow different, even though the practical effects of advantage would be similar... I mean, really, I would hope that Nature itself would do the work of taking the best of me and the best of my wife to make our child. I would hope that Nature could be naturally eugenic, and certainly not naturally regressive. We want to move forward, not backward... To rise, not fall... To evolve, not devolve. It's pretty obvious. I don't wanna stay in a mud hut or a teepee... I like A/C. Of course, if you wanna talk about natural eugenics, let's talk about various cultures and how they evolve over time... Let's talk about Asian test scores... Or African American athletic ability... Let's talk about what various peoples have gone through in human history and the impacts that these forces have made upon their genetic reproductions. Or, we could just call the Truth of our Existence "icky" and refuse to shine the Light of Awareness upon it. Our self-expressions are what come together to reproduce in partnership, and so the apples may fall only so far from their trees.
I was hoping that robot was a lie detector or some kind of anthropomorphic Voight-Kampf test, but instead it ended up just being one of those online therapy chatbots
Both stories were interesting, but, I think they should've been separate episodes. They're too unrelated to feel like an A & B storyline from one episode. Forcing them together kinda ruined the flow. It was like, "OK, now that you're invested, forget all that, and, watch this completely unrelated story."
I believe Elia Kane is supposed to still be loyal to the Empire. I think she turned it up either, as punishment, or, simply to deny him as an asset to the New Republic. She's either still working for Gideon, or, someone else. A Grand Admiral, perhaps?
Basically like I felt with episode 1 we wasted some of the important Mando moments in a show most people avoided and now this story is as disjointed as the sequel trilogy
I think her orders were to eliminate a witness. She clearly didn't need him to get the equipment and his replacement could've easily just given her a list and description if the equipment were the goal. And since the equipment seems to just be star destroyer standard issue why would they even need to go to such trouble. Nah it was all about making sure he didn't talk ever.
@@Drummer4President He was giving a talk about the science not who he was working for. She's obviously working for whoever was financing Gideon and tying up loose ends.
@@Vipre- he doesn’t seem the type to have kept quiet about anything that he knew when he was in their deprogramming camps. If he knew anything important or secret, why wouldn’t he have already told about it?
While not related to the episode, during your reaction you mention neoliberalism, but seem to be relating it to the political left. Neoliberalism isn’t related to the political left, neoliberalism is the school of economic thought embraced by the political right that is focused on the privatization of public service, and the austerity movement.
My thought is that she's there at Gideon's behest to clean up any of his old crew that could expose things he could be doing in working with Thrawn
....Thrawn hasn't even been found yet. He's with Ezra elsewhere.
Or whoever is above Gideon in the pecking order. Gideon was upper middle management at best.
Or she needed the stuff required for cloning research to setup the oh so fantastic sequel trilogy clone some big bad
@@JynxedKoma just because he hasn’t been revealed yet doesn’t mean he hasn’t been found, it has been over 10 years since he disappeared.
@@magus104 Ya, if they're going to steal the C'baoth story, giving it some context retroactively by setting up his cloning facility kinda works?
Okay, Nerdy Nightly, remember how Grogu was initially a test subject?
Remember how, when Mando went back to Nevarro in Season 2 to get his ship fixed, and Grogu stayed in school and stole cookies from a stingy kid, while they went to that Imperial facility with the blue fish-guy, and they saw all the test clones in the tanks?
This cloning stuff is part of the overall plot; Dr. Pershing was one of the first characters introduced in this entire series.
Just pick up the pieces as we go along...
And don't forget about The Book of Boba Fett.
It's also part of this narrative, which is why Mando was in it.
From what I can tell, they're trying to tell one big story with multiple branches, all at once.
Every single Star Wars show that they're putting out now is related by the singular canon by which they're abiding in their writing of these stories.
Every single story...
One big story.
That's what I see.
In other words, no matter what Star Wars content comes out, there is only one "Star Wars Universe", which is why Disney cleaned house with the whole EU thing at the start.
They want only one comprehensive Universe explored from many different angles; nothing may deviate. I think of it as a contrast to all the "multiverse" nonsense that's been going on lately... No multiverse in Star Wars, no time-traveling BS, just a single timeline that's open for creative writing.
The plot that they're laying out is bigger than any of these single shows that are each unfolding it. It will all tie together into one.
Take Luke, for example... Most, if not all of us, were disappointed by his fall and disconnection from the Force, I think, which we saw in The Last Jedi, but there is also all of that time of Luke in his prime, a few moments of which we glimpsed at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
All of the timeline is available for creativity within it, from what I can tell... If they did Luke at the beginning of his Jedi Academy, then they can do pretty much anything, I think, especially with the animation side of things, like with Bad Batch or Tales of the Jedi.
Think of that...
The Ahsoka we saw in Tales of the Jedi is the same Ahsoka we saw in The Mandalorian, or The Clone Wars, or Rebels, or whatever she's in.
Andor is just another great example of how different genres of entertainment can exist within the same Universe.
Think about it...
At the time of the awakening of the Mythosaur, which is said to supposedly herald a new age of Mandalore...
Luke Skywalker is alive and well, and in his prime...
As is Ahsoka Tano...
And Boba Fett.
Also, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra...
The list goes on and on.
And it's all the same story.
Yep, its like Thieve's World or Martin Superhero novels. One overall plot, but so many viewpoints. I love the vision of seeing everything from different angles.
This ^^^^
Exactly this.
That's why I enjoy it all. I like to see how it all ties together, and what things they bring into the story.
Exactly! So few people seem to be able to understand that everything is connected.
The entirety of Star War revolves around Palpatines quest for immortality. In order for him to achieve that took him a lot of planning. A lot of time. A lot of multiple plots. Everything that happens in Star Wars is all because of that. And the plan is so wide spread that so many of the people involved in it have no idea that they're involved. But that's what it is.
It's all connected. It's all one story.
Connections between our story and Coruscant:
(1) Gideon has quite likely escaped
(2) an officer from Gideon’s ship sold out Pershing
(3) she wiped his mind presumably of all memory from his time researching at Gideon’s direction, including related to Grogu.
My conclusion: she’s still serving Gideon, who is still out there and will be a problem in the future, and this is our heads up to that.
The first thing I noticed was the Bo-Katan wasn’t taking off her helmet after bathing in the living waters. After seeing the mythosaur I felt like she was going to give “the way” a chance.
If the point was to get the equipment needed to carry on his work, whomever was doing so would know enough that they wouldn't need him to show them what equipment was needed.
I think the whole reason for her to be there was to silence him. To prevent him from exposing, or helping to counter something that was done.
If you can create an 'ultimate weapon', one of your highest priorities is making sure you keep that advantage until you're ready.
I think Bo-Katan is being set up to unite the clans, including the Children of the Watch. She can wield the Dark Saber better than Din or Pax Visla, and she has been accepted into the Covert, AND she knows where there is a Mythosaur for the taming. I think she can do what Din Djarin cannot.. unite the clans, ALL the clans.
I was hoping The Mandalorian ultimately is Grogu, I don't think it's Din, but what you're saying makes sense too. They have so much story wiggle room.
So my guess is that they’re doing a Luke and Leia thing. Din is the Mandalorian, not the Mandalore. He’s an an example, a symbol, a big damn hero, maybe the one who takes down their “Palpatine.” Bo-Katan is of the same nature and also very capable, but her inclination is more toward rulership and command, in a way that Luke/Din would explicitly never want. Between the two of them (and the Han/Grogu “wildcard with a good heart,”) you’ve got the makings of a Mandalorian revolution.
@tablesalt2628 Nope
Maybe it was just me, but when she turned the dial of death up all the way, I was thinking "Not to 50!!!"
This was to cover up the cloning experiments for Snoke and Palpatine. I think people don’t realize how huge this episode will be later on.
Claroos as usual has the better analysis of what’s happening.
It’s crazy how on point her intuition has been throughout all their reactions.
Love Nerdy, but it’s funny how often he is wrong.
I think this after nearly every video
She's brilliant and beautiful and has fantastic hair! 😉 And I agree her insight is fantastic.
The worst part is when he affirms that he is correct over her but he is actually wrong. You see it with a lot of couple youtubers. No doubt he has a love for the material these things are based on and no one is perfect, but you've just got to be a little more humble.
why has no one pondered WHY there were so may fighters in the same airspace? Bo even mentions "that's a lot of ships for an Imperial Warlord..."
Thrawn is coming
@@CCFONESOL I'm not convinced. This... didn't feel very Thrawn somehow. Too easy to escape and with little obvious upside for him if it worked. Sure, could be for taking out Gideon but Thrawn looking for revenge would be totally out of character especially when it could result in pieces that were effectively off the board coming back into play. Plus from what we've seen of Gideon's forces the old anti-alien prejudice seems alive and well so Thrawn being in charge doesn't seem to fit. Might be completely wrong of course but there's still a part of me thinking when Thrawn does show up it's as an ally or at the very least not an outright villain as part of an effort to stop whatever cloning / dark trooper shenanigans are going on as it presents a threat to his people as well.
@@smiddlehurst1 Thrawn doesn't do anything without multiple reasons.
Gideon couldn't do this even if he wanted. And the Dark Trooper program is essentially dead.
Her convincing Pershing to touch the mountain was a foreshadow of the set-up she was working on for the entire episode.
Every episode so far makes sense in the larger picture when you assume that Dr. Pershing uses Grogu to complete the flawed Palpatine clones. Fuck, I hope I'm wrong.
Patience! As Yoda said.
All these things will correlate. Give the story time to unfurl.
I believe the double agent is working for Gideon. Her job was to get him to collect the necessary research equipment, then get rid of him (she chose to erase his memory).
The cloning has to do with finding Grogu to use his DNA/midichlorians to ultimate create Palpatine’s clones so he could live forever (the Sith’s attempt for immorality since they can’t become force ghosts).
The episode title "The Convert" I think does refer to Bo. Her army and fleet left because she just didn't come back with the Darksaber. But a dip in a pool: Welcome back to The Way, and she is just taken in as is. She is convinced in a way. The Way. Converted.
That Elia lady still works for the remnants of the Empire. She wanted wipe Kershing's memory so the Republic could never have access to it. Her people still have that information. That's my take.
Love love loooooved this episode! Andor-flavored interlude with political intrigue setting up the wider world of the show, sandwiched in between the Bo/Mando/Grogu family fun dogfight show? I'm HERE for it and was utterly enthralled througout! Personally, I'm super into the different vibes and narrative flow of this season. It's not moving in the directions we expect it to and I can't wait to see how these threads wind up intersecting. I don't think Kane is going to be our main villain or anything, but I do think this episode was setting her up as a threat (and I can't wait to see more of her!) in service of whoever/whatever that big bad might be!
Andor had a much better handle on balancing multiple storylines and pacing them well. Going hard with action early then slowing down for the rest neuters any buildup or tension. There was barely any tension for the Coruscant story and just some world building. Maybe the introduction of some stakes would have been very helpful
Craziest theory : this was Ashoka 0.5, what if the doctor will be used as an important character giving info tracking the Imperials, trying to remember things there.
Idea 2: they need the cloning knowledge to continue the Emperor/Dark side cloni g things, they first separate the doctor, make him fall hard, then recruit, use him.
I'm sure she had no power, just a trusted snitch left unattended.
Pershing's adventure was
1) A great lift of George Orwel's 1984
2) The New Republic is the Empire with a happy face
a) Using letter/number combos instead of names for the amnesty participants
b) requiring approval to proceed on research, ND flat out denying it
c) what is the reason the top if the mountain could not be touched?
Is Pershing now labotamized (SP?)?
My musings ...
1. Kaine is still working for Gideon (and Thrawn) with the objective to evaluate Dr. Pershing and eliminate him. Getting rid of him doesn't make sense to me, though. I don't understand this plot line at all.
2. The New Republic is making the same mistakes the old Republic was. And the Jedi. Individuals are not important. The leaders are out of touch with the people. We saw how many senators were fine with whatever happened as long as they benefited. They followed Palpatine's orders right up until he dissolved the senate. And it looks like most of them took their old seats back.
3. Bo-Katan will unite the Mandalorians. She'll learn that The Way really might be the right way. At least for Mandalore. Her old clan left when she didn't bring back the dark saber. Din's clan, the current "Watch", accepts her without question after bathing the the Living Waters. I also think they'll talk about the robo-crab thing that caught Din. They'll realize that since he lost control of the dark saber and Bo-Katan used it to rescue him, she earned the right to wield it.
4. The Dave and Jon shows do what this episode did all the time. But The Clone Wars had 20 or so 30 minute episodes. They could take a whole episode and do something off the wall. Then 6 or 7 episode later that tangent comes into play. Even The Bad Batch has done it and has 16 episode seasons. If it wasn't for Dave and Jon I'd be worried. But I still trust them.
5-ish. You can walk freely between the cars in the Atlanta rail system, MARTA.
Also, YAY, the season finale lands on my 53rd birthday.
Claudia Gray's novel "Bloodline" covers a portion of the internal politics of the New Republic. Including, how the lower ranking members of the Imperial Elite was able to translate their interest to the new galactic goverment. It was heavily emplied, that many people even if they don't posessed rank in the Empire wiledly supported Palpatine's ideology. During the time when the First Order started gaining territories at the Outer Rim, their symphatizers blocked any attempt from the New Republic Forces to interrupt their slow invasion.
She most likely still working for the empire (Gideon) and used dr Pershing to gather what equipment he needs to continue his research and then took it so she can deliver back to the empire.
I thought the same thing. I thought Gideon (or his crew) were breaking into the Star Destroyer to kidnap Pershing so he could continue his research for Palpatine's resurrection. I really hope this show is not related to the Palpatine story.
I loved the scene with the mind flayer because it has the same ethical issues of cloning mentioned earlier. Yeah soothing traumatic memories/cloning organs is good, but erasing minds/eugenics is bad. It exemplifies how just because you want to do something with the best intentions, others will take it to the extreme, which often isn't ethical.
I love how they make the New Republic the same as the Empire. Also Nerdy I was a member of the Kennedy Center in DC for a while. You would see the rich people at the member lounge like empty the snack bowls into their purses or pockets.
I mean the Empire was pretty much the same as the Galactic Republic. I think that's kind of the point, not much reason to think that the New Republic would be any different.
You look at Tatooine during the Galactic Republic and during the Empire and during the New Republic... it's not much different. The Galaxy is too large to manage and so the Empire takes a firm grip on most of it and appoints regional governors and makes deals with groups like the Hutts and hires corporate security to help manage it. That was primarily the reason for the creation of the Death Star, so they could more effectively manage individual planets through fear.
The Republics both are ineffective in governing as well because the Senate is a mixed body representing entirely too many interests, which yields to corruption. That isn't to say they're the exact same. You have a slightly more representative government (but not tangible representation) and less of a police state, which largely gives rise power vacuums which help out criminal organizations.
Can we have Andor?
We have Andor at home.
That's how those 40 minutes felt to me.
Kickass dogfighting with Mando and Bo tho.
When they were captured they only say the designation of Pershing when saying someone was under arrest. Then Kane grabs the things he wanted for his research and walks behind the officers (??). Then later Pershing says she trapped him. The whole thing was a ploy by her to see if he would go against the rules. Hence telling him to touch the top of the mountain knowing the drone will come and stop him. This was foreshadowing and telling you exactly what she was doing with Pershing. At any time he could say no, (tho entrapment). To Republic, it was him falling back to his old ways. For her it was to take advantage to do whatever it was she is planning when she turned up the dial. But she works for the Republic to find those that may slip back. This is shown in the conversation between her and the technician behind the glass. The Republic sees her as a success, for deprogramming but also because she finds the "failures" like Pershing (those that go back to their old ways).
I didn't expect to be dropped in the middle of an Andor-like plot during the third episode of The Mandalorian.
I am sure it'll all come together. I think a lot of people expect the Mandalorians to team up against Gideon and Thrawn at some point. The Bad Batch running parallel sort of foreshadows the whole cloning Snoke / Palpatine story arc. And Navarro is a good place for the Mandalorians to find sanctuary. Plus they'll have a nice flagship with parking space for the N1, when they defeat the pirates. And who knows, maybe they'll run into a memory circuit for IG11. He'd be a great asset.
If they bring in Snoke or refer to him... all is lost.
Despite certain people accusing me of being Dave Felony’s cat, I actually have no inside knowledge of this.
TBS, in my head canon they are setting up having a replacement for Dr. Hemlock…who we can assume will not survive Clone Fierce 99’s current season.
So if they erase this clone experts personality, they can manufacture anew villain.
we had to get to know him more then "the scientist" to make that more tragic. Why she did it? He was a traitor, if he had never aided the the mando squad Gideon would not have fallen. She dosent care, mission accomplished.
I don't think grogu was saying this is the way. I think he was saying we are about to get railed by a bunch of tie interceptors.
25:58 "It was a TRAP!". Then they show the Mon Calamari lmao
The 'Uber' driver appeared to be a repurposed E-XD-series infiltrator droid, like the EXD-9 from the Star Wars Rebels episode 'Warhead'. This was a particularly dangerous droid in its original guise. The design is actually based on Ralph McQuarrie's original 1970's pre-production designs for C-3PO and is influenced heavily by 'Maria' from Fritz Lang's 1927 classic 'Metropolis' (the name is actually never used in the film though) .
Let's not forget where Mando started. Cloning is the biggest part of the Star Wars story in this era, and whether we like the sequels or not, the story still has to build to that point.
1; The Doctor's memory had to be erased because Gideon does not want too much of the specifics of their work getting to the New Republic.
2; Favreau used the first two episodes of this season to try and save BoBF. So we're going to get a lot of additional content (filler) to even out this season. He took the two episodes so expect another episode with the same kind of filler.
So... yeah. Dark times ahead.
When you Bo Katan was so alone inside her castle. Until she wore the helmet and joining her people at the end, she no longer lonely anymore. I believe it is a good sign for her.
What I thought was going to be the overall arc of the season was already taken care of in episode 2, and this episode leaves me unsure where this season goes. I thought this was a great episode, but each episode so far feels, in some ways, self-contained I'm very curious where it goes.
This is set pre the First Order - my guess is she set him up to get access to the tech he needed for cloning to contribute to the Emperor's rise come the Rise of Skywalker. She was on Moff Gideon's ship, but who has she actually been working for?
Idk how that one chick wouldn’t get caught ya know, they are gonna come back and be like why is this guys brain fried
I don't think Bo could be coerced into a cult at this point in her life. She's seen and experienced too much to fully buy into something she knows so much about.
This episode was the Wish version of Andor
This could be a way of setting up the spin-offs like Ashoka Think of it they're showing the new Republic and the Empire spy agents this could all be leading up to the Grand Admiral thrawn storyline. Personally I think they're using the first part of the season to set up a whole bunch of new characters and spin-offs or not new characters but bring you back into can and maybe some characters that we loved. I love the first three episodes of Mandalorian to me that's perfect perfect TV
Telling a Mon Calamari that it was a trap. I see what they did there...
If what I've heard is correct the "Pershing Aside" was originally part of the cancelled Rangers storyline.
My theory: Kane works for Thrawn, meaning she was the only person on Gideon’s ship more important than Gideon.
The way the New Republic was acting this episode made me not sad they got blown up in 20ish years lol, but at least it builds some connective tissue with the sequels (as apparently all Star Wars media needs to retroactively justify the movies)
DR Pershing sold out Moff Gideon in the last episode of Series 2. This was an assassination by the Empire / New Order
Saying "It was a Trap!", to a Mon Calamari 25:55 😂
All those Tie Interceptors was Thrawns way of entering the chat. Gotta get the masses ready for the Ahsoka series.
I ve heard that episode 4 will be 43 minutes long. I think that the 56 minutes of this episode was intentionally made for both characters mando and pershing. Maybe in the fourth we will see only mando and bo again.
I thought it was a very good episode, but the pacing was off. As you said it's basicaly another show as soon as they cut to Coruscant and it felt jarring. I couldn't fully emerse to this part of the story because half of the Coruscant story arc I wanted to see a conclusion to what happened to Mando and Bo. As much as I love The Mandalorian as a show, the pacing in this whole season so far feels off and janky in a weird way, without being bad, really. That pacing is something they mostly nailed in previous seasons. I hope they find a way back to that.
I think all this stuff is trying to eventually make episode 9 make sense. I think G68 took L52 to that lab so he could pick out the important cloning equipment. Maybe G68 is a loyalist to the emperor and is trying to clone him so he can arrive like he did in Episode 9. I think there was a cloning episode last season too, if my memory serves.
The reason the Dark Saber has power is as Gideon said, its story not just having it. The Mythasaur is a bigger story to the Mandalorians than the Dark Saber. So I'm guessing Bo Katan is keeping that in her back pocket to use to gather the Mandalorians.
I think they house all the former imperials in one place so they are contained and they can keep an eye on them.
if Pershing is gone, and I sadly believe he is. the Empire has no loose threads when it comes to their attempts in cloning a force sensitive Palpatine, (witch is exactly what they are alluding to that they are attempting) and the Republic has no clue.
This episode was a little different but... One thing I noted, where did the Interceptors come from. As Bo said, that's not an Imperial warlord. I think Thrawn is back and may Ezra. Bo is seeing that the Way might be the path to reunite her people, I think she's going to be a heavy influence on Din forward. I can see her and the Armorer working together, though not comfortably. With the "good" Doctor.... They said that they thought Gideon had escaped. I think one of the reasons they showed this was because Asoka asked the Magistrate where her boss was, and intimated that Gideon was working with/for Thrawn. Removing the doctor's memories is specifically to be sure that he doesn't use those to get himself into a better position. I'm going to need to watch previous episodes to be sure, but I suspect that she was, and still is, an Imperial spy. He's certainly not going to be in any condition to argue. I think the commentary is more about how out of touch the people living in comfort are as opposed to those on the rim. "Empire, Rebels, New Republic, I can't tell the difference." How the hell can you not tell the difference? That's one the rich fat cat guy, if he can't tell the difference between an empire that turned a planet to glass and people who are just trying to stay alive and hoping their planet doesn't get turned to glass.
I've had a theory about Ezra. SPOILERS for the Thrawn Trilogy. In the OG books, Thrawn finds a hidden Jedi master (Actually a clone made by Palpatine), and teams with him to keep Thrawn's fleet able to do the crazy manoeuvres Thrawn wants to pull off. Thrawn persuading Ezra to at least work with him to create a new type of government, neither Empire or Republic (As we see, the New Republic clearly has some shit going on) could provide the same concept.
How did she get that position in so little time?
It's been 2 years.
Her excuse? She's someone who works for the New Republic rooting out Imperials who haven't reformed. (That's the vibe I got.)
But, yeah... she's still working for Moff Gideon.
I think Dr. Pershing knows what Moff Gideon is doing, so removing him is important.
That Tie Interceptor dog fight scene was awesome,I feel really bad for Pershing :( Seems like New Republic is not so different from Empire :( I hope Ellia Kane at least gets punished for what she did to Pershing :)
Thrawn is coming.
And when Elia breaks Gideon out of prison, you will see how it connects.
Bo Katan spun around before that Tie Interceptor could come on her from behind
I assumed the one amnesty officer helping Pershing was actually an Empire loyalist and is using the machine to re-indoctrinate Pershing, who seems genuinely anti-Empire, to work for her. But that aside, none of this is really connecting yet and there are a ton of holes for why what she was doing shouldn't really be working. It feels like a show that has a broad idea for things it wants to do but really needed to put alot more thought into the details of how its doing them and how its getting from one point to the next. Also while the "ted talk" scene of the rich people talking to him was interesting satire, I honestly felt like the acting of those extras was.. not the best. Maybe that was a directing thing and not on the actual actors, because the other Mon Cal's delivery equally felt weird, but yeah it just felt.. for lack of a better way to describe it, kind of cartoony.
So far, of the two current Pedro Pascal shows, this is definitely the lower rung one by a significant margin.
See? The Empire wasn't that bad. They had cookies. How can you be evil and still indulge in baking cookies? I knew it! :)
No response to someone saying "It's a trap" to a Mon Cal?
They destroyed the Alone Throne! The Malaise chaise! The Despair Chair!
It's a really interesting episode, but the shift to the Coruscant section feels so jarring. I think the main reason it feels so odd is that this show has always been from Din's point of view, or at least closely adjacent. Although there were cutaway scenes, they would have some connection to what he'd been involved with in that episode, whether that was Fennec, Boba, Cara, or Moff Gideon. The only obvious connection here was the Imperials and what they're currently up to, so maybe whoever is directing Kane's actions was also responsible for the attack on Bo and Din, but that character is still in the shadows.
The Imperial Remnant are totally going to glass Bo-Katan's new world now too.
Fantastic opening, felt like a movie, and you can definitely tell the whole VFX budget of the episode went to that scene alone coz the Volume looked pretty horrendous on Coruscant, I mean Obiwan level of horrendous.
I'm pretty miffed by the middle part of the episode. On the one hand, I like that they gave more to Katy M. O'Brian to do (I actually quite enjoyed her character in Quantumania, even though she didn't have much to do in it), and she has much more lines in this episode than in the previous 2 seasons of Mandalorian. And seeing how buff she is, I'm kinda wondering if Disney is not pushing her to become the new Gina Carano of the show, except working for the other side (I'll come back to this point later).
But yeah, it was weird. On the one hand, we can see how f**cked up the New Republic is (with the rich guy at the beginning basically not able to tell any difference between the Empire and the New Republic, and how they actually use some pretty shady ways to "Nazi style rehabilitate" former imperials, like on concentration camps with ID numbers and delimited perimeters, desk jobs that have nothing to do with their abilities, like in Andor's prison arc or Syril Karn's desk job, daily interrogation about "mood about the New Republic", and in the event that all else fails, tests to catch them red handed, and brainwashing, etc).
It all feels it's taking a page from Andor, that showed that the Rebellion, most well represented by Luthen and his assistant Cleia, was ready to dirty its hand with shady deals in order to keep the fight going. So in a sense, Favreau learned from Andor, which is good.
What is not so good was the execution, that is not only storytelling wise pretty muddied, but also visually with some questionable usage of the Volume that reminded me of episode 2 of Obiwan, which was really grating on the eyes (if you look at the first time we saw Dr Pershing in season 1 it was cinematic as heck, but here the whole time I watched him in this episode, it felt like a TV Novella at best), but also the way it's executed, and the time it took for a B-plot that seemingly leads to nowhere to ... well, lead to nowhere, now that poor doc was lobotomized (and yeah, the writing was really lacking with NOBODY monitoring the whole process ??? No surveillance cameras, whereas we all know it's a thing in the Star Wars universe, since it repeatedly happened in previous seasons episodes (The prison break episode in season 1, Luke's appearance on Moff Gideon's ship in season 2) ??? I mean... come on ! I really hope it wasn't Favreau himself that wrote this episode, coz then he's just having a VERY BAD DAY at the office !
My only guess on where this very protracted intermission could lead is that Moff Gideon is still out there somewhere, and Alayna is actually a double agent who still ultimately works for him, having infiltrated the NR under the guise of a succesful integrated agent, so that she could wipe Pershing's mind coz he knows too much.
Then back on Bo Katan, who started the season abandoned and alone, just lost everything down to her castle, and after having a sort of mystical enlightment and fresh baptism from having bathed in the Living Waters AND witnessed the Mythosaur, is now welcomed in a new covert of Mandalorians as decreed by the Creed. She's kinda going through a rebirth of sort, and having 2 episodes back to back that ends on a zooming close up on her makes me think she's kinda becoming the de facto main character of the season. At first I thought the episode's title the Convert was about Din, who freshly rejoined his covert, but with second thought, it might very well be about her.
So all in all, the opening and ending, really fantastic, middle part, I guess they tried to go the Andor/Game of Thrones route, with several distant plotlines evolving at the same time, but while it might work for a season of 10 episodes that are each one hour long, I'm less convinced on a season of 8 episodes of 30+ minutes (except this one that was 56, but arguably with 20 minutes of fluff that could have easily been dispensed).
Another thing I'm really missing from this season as a whole is the unique score of Ludwig Goransson.
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... but I can't shake the feeling that 50% of the Mandalorian 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 ! With more classic scores more familiar to Star Wars fans, but ultimately, don't take such wild big musical swings that the Mandalorian season 1 and 2 did, playing it safer than them, which adds to the feeling that this season is VERY different than previous seasons, and not as daring. Which kinda bums me...
I was with Clarus the whole time, SHE'S SUS GUYS.
SHE BEEN BEING SUS!!!
The machine scene is a set up. Even their conversation. Covers for the guy who left. Plausible deniability. Remember The old Empire is trying to make a comeback. And she was happy eating the K ration. Either he is going to be Empire brain washed or they wanted to cover their tracks on the cloning and his research would lead to the emperors' clones being found out early. Even the drinking scene was all set up to get him. The episode was called the convert. Question is who converted to what? Bo looked almost happy to be back among the Mandalorian. Then she eyes the skull on the wall. Does she convert or is she thinking I could convert these true believers to her side of things. Making her leader again. And we know she wants that.
I think they are pushing to introduce the other shows coming soon, the series big bad, and somehow explain the snoak and papa palpatine threads. It was just a weird way to do it without the context of the rest of the season. I'm at the point where I can't really judge the show without seeing the full story play out. I think it helped that Andor was broken down into 3 episode chunk/mini-arcs.
I think the numbers are to remove the imperial chain of command/ranks.
There's always a filler-ish episode in every show. Sometimes its for the better, for the worst or for the average
This Coruscant section could have 10 minutes cut right out of the episode. And it went on for basically a whole 30 minutes. I would've appreciated if we got the first 10 minutes of it in this episode, the next 10 in episode 4, and then the rest in episode 5.
Instead of cramming all of it in this episode and pretty much losing the interest of your audience's attention.
I absolutely love that shirt!! Where did you get it?
I, being one of many, thought the episode was great. The more you allow your expectations to color your experience, the less enjoyment you will have. Just like the more you assert that your way of thinking is the only right way, the less appeal you will have to those around you.
Nerdy, do you have a Lego Gauntlet or Razor Crest?
Your shirt man :D
This is the way to watch Mandalorian!
This was my favorite episode this season so far... But also, it was super weird the way it was structured and felt disjointed.
GREAT SHIRT !!!!!!! I love it...
So many people are too attached to simple storytelling. Lately I have been fascinated that they call the episodes chapters. After watching an interview with Filoni and Favreau I am starting to understand they are trying to mimic what Lucas was doing in the original movies. The old time movie serials like Flash Gordon and Zorro had episodes like this. The entire thing is the story but each chapter can be anything in the universe that leads to the story. I have to say the modern viewer wants simple story telling.
Thanks, Nerdy! Thanks, Clarus! 🌆 So much yet to unfold. #NerdyNightly #StarWars #TheMandalorian
This episode has a lot of '1984' vibes for me
Yeah I also feel this feels disjointed. Why do they try to insert things in Boba Fett into Mandalorian. That whole segment breaks the story and pacing of the Mandalorian in my opinion. I also kinda feel that Grogu really shouldnt be playing this big part in season 3. He should have stayed with Lule and then appeared at the end of season 3 potentially to set up season 4. I think Disney is going for the cuteness factor a bit too much.
So, if you combine the best of both genetic donors, that's icky to you...
But what if the two parents raise their child with the best life advice that they have to offer? I mean, it's basically a same-same applied to mind versus body (metaphysical versus physical).
I mean, think about it... A child that has good parenting for their mind is going to have an advantage over the child that has poor psychological conditioning.
Splicing the best of the two minds, I'm sure, would surely seem like a good idea to anyone, but splicing the best of the body is somehow different, even though the practical effects of advantage would be similar...
I mean, really, I would hope that Nature itself would do the work of taking the best of me and the best of my wife to make our child. I would hope that Nature could be naturally eugenic, and certainly not naturally regressive.
We want to move forward, not backward... To rise, not fall... To evolve, not devolve.
It's pretty obvious.
I don't wanna stay in a mud hut or a teepee...
I like A/C.
Of course, if you wanna talk about natural eugenics, let's talk about various cultures and how they evolve over time...
Let's talk about Asian test scores...
Or African American athletic ability...
Let's talk about what various peoples have gone through in human history and the impacts that these forces have made upon their genetic reproductions.
Or, we could just call the Truth of our Existence "icky" and refuse to shine the Light of Awareness upon it.
Our self-expressions are what come together to reproduce in partnership, and so the apples may fall only so far from their trees.
0:17 I got that one too!
Personally, I'm not fond of the Dr. Pershing segment. I don't really understand the relevance. I really like the Din and Bo-Katan segments, though.
She still works for Moff Gideon. Just trying up loose ends IMO
Dude I love that shirt. That shit's fire
More Mythasaur... In This Economy
R5 "Take me home now!"
Clone Wars did this stuff all the time. Those episodes often threaded together into greatness down the road.
Hi Nerdy🧔🏽 and Claurs 👩🏼🦰 Love your reaction to this episode and love your hats !!!
This is the way🖤💙💚
I was hoping that robot was a lie detector or some kind of anthropomorphic Voight-Kampf test, but instead it ended up just being one of those online therapy chatbots
Both stories were interesting, but, I think they should've been separate episodes. They're too unrelated to feel like an A & B storyline from one episode. Forcing them together kinda ruined the flow. It was like, "OK, now that you're invested, forget all that, and, watch this completely unrelated story."
I believe Elia Kane is supposed to still be loyal to the Empire. I think she turned it up either, as punishment, or, simply to deny him as an asset to the New Republic. She's either still working for Gideon, or, someone else. A Grand Admiral, perhaps?
Basically like I felt with episode 1 we wasted some of the important Mando moments in a show most people avoided and now this story is as disjointed as the sequel trilogy
This is the Way.
Thouie weeee. Grogu
I got more DC metro vibes from the subway.
She did take the box of supplies he would need to continue his research. Is that what she wanted?
I think her orders were to eliminate a witness. She clearly didn't need him to get the equipment and his replacement could've easily just given her a list and description if the equipment were the goal. And since the equipment seems to just be star destroyer standard issue why would they even need to go to such trouble. Nah it was all about making sure he didn't talk ever.
No Bro
@@Vipre- but he’s already talked. He’s told the New Republic exactly what he was doing. He was literally giving a lecture on it lol
@@Drummer4President He was giving a talk about the science not who he was working for. She's obviously working for whoever was financing Gideon and tying up loose ends.
@@Vipre- he doesn’t seem the type to have kept quiet about anything that he knew when he was in their deprogramming camps. If he knew anything important or secret, why wouldn’t he have already told about it?
While not related to the episode, during your reaction you mention neoliberalism, but seem to be relating it to the political left. Neoliberalism isn’t related to the political left, neoliberalism is the school of economic thought embraced by the political right that is focused on the privatization of public service, and the austerity movement.
aaah good old eugenics 8:09
I gave up on being a dive instructor....... deep down is wasn't for me