Mandalorian Season 3

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

FYI: Bothan spies have leaked a chunk of Mando S3 trailer online, which can be found readily on the Twitters.

 

I'll update here when there's an official drop, because we don't need any Imperial entanglements - plus there's a chunk of it missing at the start, and they might change something before release.

 

Stuff we can see:

• There are many, many Mandos in this one. Clearly, not that many got wiped out last time.
• There's a closeup/framing shot of a delicately curved blue/silver helmet (ie: BEHOLD THIS HELMET: IT IS DRAMATICALLY FRAMED AND LIT AND THEREFORE DRAMATICALLY IMPORTANT) which may or may not be significant to Clone Wars or Rebels fans - I'm not that deep a nerd to know immediately.
• Buncha buncha Babu Friks.
• Big, black, extra-meanie-looking Imperial ship in a dockyard (Thrawn?)
• Space battle set around an asteroid base. Video is too blurry to see opponent ships but they don't look like TIEs - might be A-Wings.
• Bo-Katan is back and playing mommy to Grogu...
• ...whereas Dad makes sure he holds him tightly down while doing a barrel roll - so that's a Star Wars/Starfox crossover confirmed then?
• Also, Grogu's on his lap because there's a droid in the mech port of the Wizard Fighter - guess he's getting over that particular hangup.
• Final shot looks maybe like the ruins of Sundari. The nerds in the room seemed to know it pretty well.
• Added intel from Reddit: the final shot might also feature a Mandalorian Gauntlet-class fighter/transport, which is used by quite a few bad guys as well as Bo-Katan.

 

Let the wild, unfounded speculation begin... again?

Edited July 13, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[DougGraves]

In the final episode it will be revealed that the big bad threatening to destroy the universe is Vanya playing her violin

[Techwright]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:08 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

FYI: Bothan spies have leaked a chunk of Mando S3 trailer online, which can be found readily on the Twitters.

 

I'll update here when there's an official drop, because we don't need any Imperial entanglements - plus there's a chunk of it missing at the start, and they might change something before release.  I've not seen this rogue one, but I'll respond to your points.

 

Stuff we can see:

• There are many, many Mandos in this one. Clearly, not that many got wiped out last time.
• Are they all wearing helmets, or are some without?  The "cult" Mandos were the ones that took the hit.  Knowing we're working with Bo Katan, I'd expect there to be a lot of her people, Night Owls and just followers.
• There's a closeup/framing shot of a delicately curved blue/silver helmet (ie: BEHOLD THIS HELMET: IT IS DRAMATICALLY FRAMED AND LIT AND THEREFORE DRAMATICALLY IMPORTANT) which may or may not be significant to Clone Wars or Rebels fans - I'm not that deep a nerd to know immediately.
• I'm assuming you refer to a Mandalorian helmet?  And it's not Bo Katan's blue/white owl-faced helmet?
•  
• Buncha buncha Babu Friks. 
• I wondered when the little guy would show up again, though he's Sequel Trilogy, right?  That's like 25 years in the future.  Might be interesting to see a younger version.
• Big, black, extra-meanie-looking Imperial ship in a dockyard (Thrawn?)
• No clue.  When last we knew of him, his flagship was nothing like that, but it's been over a decade.  Might it be a flashback to Moff Gideon before the Night of A Thousand Tears?
• Space battle set around an asteroid base. Video is too blurry to see opponent ships but they don't look like TIEs - might be A-Wings.
• Bo-Katan is back and playing mommy to Grogu...
• ...whereas Dad makes sure he holds him tightly down while doing a barrel roll - so that's a Star Wars/Starfox crossover confirmed then?
• Also, Grogu's on his lap because there's a droid in the mech port of the Wizard Fighter - guess he's getting over that particular hangup.
• Interesting:  I thought Pele had told him she'd ripped out the droid port to make it a seat.  Did they reinstall it, I wonder?
• Final shot looks maybe like the ruins of Sundari. The nerds in the room seemed to know it pretty well. 
• Well, season 2 hinted strongly that Din was headed to Mandalore, so it makes sense.  Sundari was a massive city in a bubble.  Not sure how it would even be recognizable after getting point-blank nuked.
• Added intel from Reddit: the final shot might also feature a Mandalorian Gauntlet-class fighter/transport, which is used by quite a few bad guys as well as Bo-Katan.
• Was it red by any chance?  Maul owned a red one for a while.  It eventually left his employee and ended up at Yavin IV.

 

Let the wild, unfounded speculation begin... again?

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Techwright

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Well, here goes:

• All the Mandos in the battle scenes are helmeted. Bo appears without hers briefly when talking to Grogu.
• The VERY IMPORTANT HELMET is not Bo-Katan's, as she's shown wearing the owl helm later. It's much simpler, but elegantly painted: blue gradiented to cyan around the mouth area, with silver reinforcement along the cheeks. Reverse image searching doesn't give any specific matches, but did pull up a lot of references to Canderous Ordo. He'd be a bit old to be in this series, but an idea on that below.
• There are three Frik-type creatures working together on something.
• The unknown Imperial ship is big, very black and kinda chonky - thicker "sandwich" filling than usual between the diamond top and bottom structures.
• The final shot shows the Gauntlet (silver, not red) hovering over a planet. As the clouds part, a distinctive round cityscape in a desert becomes visible below. Chunks of ruined dome are visible on one side with smaller wall pieces around the rim: the remains of four graceful arcing structures can be seen, along with a small number of large buildings. Not quite like Boomtown, more ghost town.
• Three other notes:
  • The Imperial comms officer who's been working alongside Doctor Pershing also gets a full-on hero shot, and is therefore Important. 
  • The Armourer now appears to be sporting a gold helmet. Not sure if they did before...?
  • A number of the Mandos appear to have a blue-based helmet colour scheme in the early land battle scene.

If I had to guess where all this was leading:

• Factional Mandalorian in-fighting - Bo & co vs the Armourer's more traditionalist factions, with Din caught in the middle. With their most precious artifact in hand.
• If someone's trying to reference one of the legends of Mandalore with their colours, there may be another faction as well.
• Eventually factions unite against some kind of Imperial and/or criminal threat... or don't and Mandalore falls again.
• The Comms Officer may well be a spy - possibly another member of the Wren clan.

[Techwright]

5 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Well, here goes:

• All the Mandos in the battle scenes are helmeted. Bo appears without hers briefly when talking to Grogu. 
• Okay, so "battle scenes". Yeah, I guess I'd want my helmet on, too, at that point.
• The VERY IMPORTANT HELMET is not Bo-Katan's, as she's shown wearing the owl helm later. It's much simpler, but elegantly painted: blue gradiented to cyan around the mouth area, with silver reinforcement along the cheeks. Reverse image searching doesn't give any specific matches, but did pull up a lot of references to Canderous Ordo. He'd be a bit old to be in this series, but an idea on that below.
• I finally broke down and went looking for a shot of this helmet.  Assuming the one I found is the same one, there are a couple of striking points in the shot: (1) The helmet lens.  All Mandalorians I've known so far have a slope to their eye lenses, some more than others.  This helm has a strong block-y capital "T" look, no slope.  (2) As you noted, the helmet is "much simpler".  There's no decoration besides the color.  Mandalorians like to personalize their helmets.  This suggests to me that this is a brand new helmet.  Which leads to the next point.  (3) the holder and background:  The holder is wearing armorer's gloves, and the wardrobe is the color of the Armorer's attire.  And to the viewer's right, you can see the blue flames of the forge in the background.  (4) the specific blue colors.  I know of two groups (there may be others) that use this blue: Deathwatch, which rescued foundling Din Djarin and the Night Owls, who might be seen as a break-off from Deathwatch.  So...my guess is this is a brand new helmet created by the Armorer of the Deathwatch "cult", possible for Din Djarin, possible as a reacceptance gift for fulfilling his vow to atone and trying to return to the fold.  It may also be that they create a helmet for him to join the Night Owls, though I don't see the Armorer as being cooperative in that regard.  Alternatively, it might be either a helmet for a new character joining Deathwatch, or a flashback to Din getting his first Deathwatch helmet.
• There are three Frik-type creatures working together on something.
• Oh cool!  So we're not doing the whole Yoda thing where one character represents the entire race.  Look forward to seeing more of these Star Wars "Fraggles".  This might give Grogu someone to interact with around his size.
• The unknown Imperial ship is big, very black and kinda chonky - thicker "sandwich" filling than usual between the diamond top and bottom structures.  I got nothing.  I do suspect their saving a Thrawn reveal for the Ahsoka series, but then we'd didn't expect two episodes of Boba Fett to be extensions of The Mandalorian, so who knows?  I keep thinking this has got to be Moff Gideon somehow, though he's in custody (unless he escaped).  This might be because he's Imperial Intelligence, and I believe they're one of the "everything in black" groups.
• The final shot shows the Gauntlet (silver, not red) hovering over a planet. As the clouds part, a distinctive round cityscape in a desert becomes visible below. Chunks of ruined dome are visible on one side with smaller wall pieces around the rim: the remains of four graceful arcing structures can be seen, along with a small number of large buildings. Not quite like Boomtown, more ghost town. 
• Okay, so not Maul's ship, unless a new paint job.  As to the city dome, you mean...
•   Gallifrey falls no more! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
• Three other notes:
  • The Imperial comms officer who's been working alongside Doctor Pershing also gets a full-on hero shot, and is therefore Important. 
  • The Armourer now appears to be sporting a gold helmet. Not sure if they did before...? 
  • Yes, her helmet was gold before, though, since she's been dwelling in tunnels the lighting may have been creating odd distortions of that color.
  • A number of the Mandos appear to have a blue-based helmet colour scheme in the early land battle scene. 
  • This is probably the Night Owls, if Bo Katan is there, though there may be Deathwatch among them.  Bo used to be associated with that organization, though it became a strained relationship and the rules regarding helmets were clearly much different during that time.

If I had to guess where all this was leading:

• Factional Mandalorian in-fighting - Bo & co vs the Armourer's more traditionalist factions, with Din caught in the middle. With their most precious artifact in hand. 
• This sounds both cool, and quite probable.  It's clear Din has never matured in some key areas due to the repression he was unaware that the "cult" applied to his training.
• If someone's trying to reference one of the legends of Mandalore with their colours, there may be another faction as well. 
• Which brings up a question of where are the Wren Clan and Fenn Rau? Did they survive the attempt to exterminate the Mandalorians?  Wren clan is often seen in yellow/gold and steel grey.  Fenn Rau had an armor that was at times blue/grey or blue/white with red or gold trim.  There was a faction of Mandalorians loyal to the empire.  I think they used a white/red armor.
• Eventually factions unite against some kind of Imperial and/or criminal threat... or don't and Mandalore falls again. 
• I am of a concern that Bo Katan will ultimately be a tragic character.  Another failure to protect and lead Mandalore would cement her fate.
• The Comms Officer may well be a spy - possibly another member of the Wren clan. 
• I don't recall this character from the show.  Does he have Asian features?  If so, he may be Tristan Wren, brother to Sabine from Star Wars: Rebels.

 

[Mr. Vee]

While y'all wait there are a couple nerd shows for ya - 'Icons Unearthed: Star Wars' which seems to be mainly Marcia Lucas talking about production stuff and 'Light & Magic' which is pretty obviously an ILM documentary. Former is weekly on Vice (which is evidently a channel of some sort), first ep was Tuesday, and the latter in a couple weeks on D+.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

I do like the behind the scenes stuff on D+. In the very early days when content was a bit thinner on the ground found a couple of great bits. (I signed up specifically to get Onward when it came out, and then bastard Sky said nope... no metal fantasy journeys for you here, kids, not till we're done with it...)

 

..ahem. The Imagineering Story is about building the parks - and not saccharine. It's surprisingly frank about where the Mouse screwed up, especially their near-terminal 80s financial problems - and trying to understand non-American cultures (Japan, China... and The French.) Plus it's nice to see fellow nerds getting to build stuff and dealing with ludicrous practical challenges in a fantasy setting. 

 

The other one is Frank and Ollie - two of Disney's original Nine Old Men, inspirational animators, and grumpy old best mates who'd been taking the mickey out of each other since about 1936. (And yes, even they make it into a cape movie: they're the two old dudes on the bench in The Incredibles, "that's how you do it... old school." "Yup. No school like old school.") It's a lovely, funny, gentle watch with much animation nerdery going on.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Gallifrey falls no more! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

I don't think that's a crossover the nerds are ready for yet, unless the Ahsoka logo is hinting at more timey-wimey malarkey than we thought. Then again, it also looks like The Map from Time Bandits. 

 

I don't recall this character from the show. 

The Comms Officer is played by fine journeywoman sci-fi actress Katy O'Brian (Z Nation, Black Lightning, Agents Of SHIELD and a few others). Not the biggest character by a mile, so getting a Filoni Hero Shot™ in the trailer is a big thing. Given that Liu Bordizzo is the canon Sabine, it's probably not her, but could be another undercover Mando or resistance fighter who's been quietly sabotaging Gideon the whole time.

BTW, it's not often I do "realism" quibbles for a space wizard thread, but where the hell are the rest of Gideon's crew (complement ~200 + 200 troops for a Vigil-class) while all this is going on? Stuck in a lunch queue arguing if they need a tray?.

Edited July 15, 2022 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

7 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

The other one is Frank and Ollie - two of Disney's original Nine Old Men, inspirational animators, and grumpy old best mates who'd been taking the mickey out of each other since about 1936. (And yes, even they make it into a cape movie: they're the two old dudes on the bench in The Incredibles, "that's how you do it... old school." "Yup. No school like old school.") It's a lovely, funny, gentle watch with much animation nerdery going on.

a lifetime ago when I had dreams of being a Disney animator, I found a library copy of Frank & Ollie's book The Illusion of Life and spent weeks reading, re-reading, and practicing every sketch they put into the book.  The old library card checkout system showed my name on the card filling both front and back.  Sadly, it proved to be the road not traveled, but my life, and some of my artwork, are richer for it.  One of the great things about the book is that it is far more than just an artist's lesson: it is rich in stories of the lives of Walt and his fascinating Nine Old Men, and even goes into details about others, such as the ladies in the cell painting room who told Walt that Jiminy Cricket had too cold of a look, and showed Walt that applying a little bit of rouge before painting Jiminy's cheeks really warmed up his appearance. The book also details the best practical joke I ever heard about, when the animators decided to pull a fast one on Walt and recommended a particular turtle food for his tiny pet shop turtle in his office.

[Techwright]

Pulling this back up to share a thought: 

 

In doing some reading I discovered that the wonderful actor Julian Glover is still alive at 87.  His Star Wars character was a very competent Imp general, Veers.  Veers managed to survive the Death Star's destruction (he was away from base at the time) and survive The Empire Strikes Back (early drafts had the character killed).  He's even managed to survive the books as one book that killed the character has been relegated by Disney to the Legends dustbin.   Veers was supposed to be in The Return of the Jedi, but Glover's schedule didn't permit it.

 

Here's my thought:  The Mandalorian kicked off several projects set in the 9 years after Return of the Jedi, making it about 15 years since the Death Star blew up (15 ABY approx.)  Why not get Julian Glover back as competent Gen. Veers for one last run?  Finish him off this time.  Yes, Julian is much older now than Veers would be, but that can be managed, if with makeup wizardry, he's shown to be badly burned and injured possibly due to the events in Return of the Jedi.  So burn makeup, or possibly even cybernetics as a look.  An injured lung rasp might suffice for an aged voice.  Make Veers one of the architect generals of the First Order, and therefore a key target for the New Republic.  I don't care which show the character might end up in, but it could be some glorious continuity and a chance to see one of the dwindling number of actors from the original movie.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Techwright

[Techwright]

The latest trailer for the Mandalorian season 3 has dropped and ...wow...  so much happening.

 

Thoughts:

1. Is it too early to title Dinn as the next Mandalore?  I'm thinking maybe Mandalore the Re-uniter ("the Uniter" was already a previous Mandalore).  Other possibilities: "the Reforger", "the Healer", yadda yadda.  ("Mandalore" for those who don't know, was the founder and first major ruler, and his name, like Caesar's, became the title of all subsequent rulers of Mandalore.)

2. Grogu is definitely progressing, he seems to have either a wiser or harder edge to him at points, but I'm finding it hard to pin down a corresponding age in humans.  Sometimes he seems like an infant still and others like a confident 10-year-old.

3. They seem to imply from the matching of the dialog to visuals that Dinn has started training Grogu in the culture of the Mandalorians.  I guess he feels Grogu's return means it's green-lighted.  Of course, the trailer editor might just be tricking us and that's Dinn's comment to other Mandalorians.

4.  We've got the doctor again.  He seems at least an anti-hero to this point, but I'm not sure where his story is going, just that it seems to be tied to the origins of Snoke.

5. Four Jedi.  Looks like we've got more of Grogu's story unfolding.  I've been guessing for a while, and I truly hope his rescuer turns out to be Jocasta, the Jedi archivist.  I'll accept Quinlan Vos, though I'm not sure why the Force-powered tracker would be at the Temple.  He's always been more comfortable in the field.  I sat down a couple years back and compiled a list of all known Jedi survivors, and there were around a dozen.  That number has been reduced with some death confirmations over the last year's worth of projects.  It could still be one of the others like council member Oppo Rancisis, the snake-like master Jedi.  We've heard nothing about him.   Whomever the rescuer was, they, or the person(s) they turned Grogu over to, went to great lengths to hide him and develop a large protective force around him.

6. Katie Sackhoff is suspiciously absent from this trailer. I wonder what is going on/what happened to Bo Katan?  TIE fighters going after a Mandalorian ship: is that Bo trying to survive the First Order?

7. Not sure what that last monster was.  Looked a bit like a Talz, though they don't strike me as vicious.

8. Rather disturbing image of fighting Mandalorians pushing forward towards an unseen enemy and stepping around what appears to be a small dais or raised firepit where the ashes and armor of many of their brethren lay.  Looks like the big Vizla is leading the charge.  Intersperse throughout the trailer are shots of the alien Niktos battling ...someone...and I suspect it is the Mandalorians.  If so this suggests that Palpatine turned Mandaloria over to the Hutt gangster clans, which often use Niktos.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Ah, more Pedro content. Excellent.

 

If I had a comment, it's that this trailer is rich in pretty... and pretty vacant in content (unless you're as wise in the Mandalore and/or as much of a nerd as m'learned coll' above.

 

But that's a good thing. They may have learned from Andor that not dropping every surprise in the damn trailer is better. Grogu made his choice to stay with Dad - whether or not that's wise, or whether other Mandos accept the little green guy... is more of a question. (And remember that Grogu is intensely Force-sensitive, so he will know.)

 

Sackhoff hasn't done anything cancellable (to my knowledge), so theory of reuniting the remnants under Mandalore The Reforger (or Mandalore The Penitent?) and Bo-Katan not being on board with that stands. Guessing intertwined subplot of crime syndicate bid to "capture" the fledgling, unstable New Republic. Little on the nose for modern times but hey, metaphors gonna metaphor.

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:55 AM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

 

Sackhoff hasn't done anything cancellable (to my knowledge), so theory of reuniting the remnants under Mandalore The Reforger (or Mandalore The Penitent?) and Bo-Katan not being on board with that stands.

 

I think I mentioned this before, but I'm thinking character Bo-Katan may turn out to be a tragic character on a Shakespearean scale.  By all rights, she should be a hero that endures all difficulties and becomes both champion and leader of her people.  But a series of difficult moments in her life appear to be influencing a negativity in her life that may destroy her. It's not unlike the slow downward spiral of a certain key Jedi who decided he'd rather be dressed in black cybernetic armor.  I'm cheering for Bo-Katan, she's a very interesting character, and I hope however her story ends that it ends on a high note, but I'd not be surprised if she becomes the Othello of the Mandalorians.

 

Also related to the series I read an interesting fan theory.  I'll put it in the spoiler box just in case there's any truth to it:

Spoiler

The theory suggest that the Armorer is actually a previously unmentioned third sister of the House Kryze, and therefore the "kid" sister of both the late Duchess Satine and Bo-Katan.  Her current status as leader of the "religious" Mandalorians, which are Death Watch, would therefore imply that at some past point, Bo-Katan and she broke together from their elder sister (probably when Satine announced a pacifistic stance) joining Death Watch (Bo rose to second-in-command of the soldiers until Pre Vizsla's death), but in turn had a falling out when the religious element within Death Watch manifested.  Bo-Katan remained strictly soldier, but the kid sister doubled down on her commitment.  The religious order being seen in such a strong negative light, kid sister is not discussed by her family, and discusses Bo-Katan as a "cautionary tale".

 

While this is only a theory, and she may be left mysterious and without a backstory, I can see some strong story potential in this path.  It would pull Dinn in two directions: his religious beliefs that he feels compelled to follow even when cut free from the order, or the common sense approach to Mandalori-ing, which Bo-Katan has been trying to express.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Techwright

[Techwright]

I'm re-watching season 2 in preparation for tomorrow's season 3 premier, and it occurs to me there's a very big unanswered question from the end of Season 2:

 

Spoiler

What has become of Dr. Pershing?

 

He was taken by the combined forces of the New Republic and the Mandalorians.  He was stated to be a high-value target of the New Republic, and it is generally believed that Pershing is key to the cloning process that will allow force wielders to be cloned, giving us Snoke (whomever he's based off of), Rey's father (a renegade Palpatine clone, if I understand correctly) and the survival of Darth Sidious himself.    The fact that any of us dislike the Sequels doesn't mean a thing.  Favreau and Filoni have been tasked with making sense of them, and Pershing is therefore quite possibly a major cog in the modern lore. 

 

Sooo...what's become of him and the cloning arc?  Will we see Kaminoan clone scientist Nala Se working with him?  Or is that story to be moved to other Star Wars projects?

 

 

[Mr. Vee]

3x1 was a bit of a snooze. And hey Favreau 

Spoiler

Alligator jumping out of a lake to attack a kid is maybe not the best idea for a scene in a Disney show. 

 

[Techwright]

Good start to season.

Spoiler

Not sure what makes it a "snooze".  It has a giant monster attack, a robot attack, a gunfight, and a space battle, any one of which might be considered exciting by most.

 

Good fake out at the beginning.  Many reactioners thought they were seeing the backstory of Dinn Djarin until the Naboo Starfighter showed up.

Classic Star Wars includes a monster that tries (and sometimes succeeds) in eating sentient species:  trash compactor monsters, space slug monsters, Hutt-used execution pets, deep sea Naboo creatures, polar walrus-like creatures, ice spiders, and Krate dragons.  Each season starter gave us a monster fighting a Mandalorian, and now we get some sort of crocodilid-snapper turtle hybrid the size of a krate dragon as this season's opener.  The planet was not named, but it seems foolish to hold a ceremony in water without first making sure there's no immediate threat to the younglings.

 

Hilarious that Grogu is using the Force to entertain himself by spinning the chair.  That said, this may prove a problem if he grows too comfortable with using the Force to satisfy cravings.  What may be funny now may actually be an early warning.

 

The IG-11 attack scene was straight out of The Terminator, even to the crushing of the droid.  Fun, but I did have a problem with this scene.  In Season 1, Episode 1 the IG-11, fully intact, was demolished by a single shot at close range from Mando's blaster.  Here, Mando was firing repeatedly, at arm's length at times towards a critically damaged droid and couldn't seem to dent it.

 

Absolutely loved the prosthetics used for the Nikto pirate, Vane.   That said, I'm left wondering if it was actually prosthetics, or did they Davy Jones the actor?  I know that previously there was a stated intent to use practical effects whenever possible, and use CGI only to smooth rough edges to the practical effects.  Some of the other pirates looked very good as well, though due to being in the background mostly, we didn't get as clear a shot.  The pirate captain should be interesting.  I expect his return along with the Nikto.  I just hope that doesn't lead to Greef Carga's death.  I've greatly improved my Star Wars alien species knowledge during COVID years, but that captain's species eludes my knowledge.

 

We finally get to see the Naboo Starfighter put through its paces and it does not disappoint.

 

There's currently no name on IMDB.com for the voice of the tiny Ancellens, and I'm wondering if they got the same actress who voiced Babu Frick to return to do the voices. (Shirley Henderson, probably better known as "Moaning Myrtle" in the Harry Potter franchise.)

 

Bo Katan continues to strike me as a tragic character of Shakespearean proportions.  I'm wondering at what point she'll lose it and attack her allies, especially Dinn.

 

Anybody really thing Moff Gideon is permanently gone due to a military tribunal?  Anyone?  Didn't think so.

 

We get purgill in hyperspace (space whale-squids).  Not only is this a beautiful shot and a tie-in to Rebels, I can't help but feel this was meant to prime viewers not aware of Star Wars: Rebels to the possibility that purgills will again play a role in the upcoming Ahsoka series.

 

Finally, this is just a thought, but it seems every Mandalorian is bound to some sort of religion, whether they acknowledge it or not.  The Armorer's people are just obvious about it.  If the rest of the Mandalorians won't follow Bo Katan strictly on the basis of not wielding a weapon that the first Mandalorian rulers lacked, is this not a cult as well?  Perhaps that is Dinn Djarin's destiny: to heal fractures in Mandalorian society and build a united future regardless of whether one wants to wear their helmet or not.

 

 

 

 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Enjoying it so far. Pretty much as m'learned coll says, but also...

Spoiler

• Slightly puzzled as to why IG-11 is the first side quest here, but I guess they want Taika back.
• The pirate band (y'arr!) looked like very good makeup with a little animatronic assistance - or someone went over every frame with a Photoshop airbrush removing any trace of CGI glitchery. As it looked like a practical outdoor set (and not The Volume) the light would be quite tricky to fix.
• I liked the purgills as a potential call-forward to Ahsoka. Wonder if Mando & co will show up in that too?
• Mandalore the Reforger still sounds like a good name for the Darksaber's owner.
• Bo-Katan's crew leaving adds to the embittered/dangerous/unpredictable vibe, and makes a harder job of rallying all the Mandos.
• With a quick Google, we discover Kalevala was Satine's homeworld, amongst other things. Oddly enough, it's also the Finnish creation legend, and tells of heroes who had to acquire new skills or magical song lyrics to complete their quests. Not sure we're gonna hear Pedro singing, but there's always new things to learn.

 

By the way - I'm not sure how long this is gonna stick around for, but have you tried Googling The Mandalorian?

 

[Mr. Vee]

2 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Enjoying it so far. Pretty much as m'learned coll says, but also...

  Reveal hidden contents

• Slightly puzzled as to why IG-11 is the first side quest here, but I guess they want Taika back.
• The pirate band (y'arr!) looked like very good makeup with a little animatronic assistance - or someone went over every frame with a Photoshop airbrush removing any trace of CGI glitchery. As it looked like a practical outdoor set (and not The Volume) the light would be quite tricky to fix.
• I liked the purgills as a potential call-forward to Ahsoka. Wonder if Mando & co will show up in that too?
• Mandalore the Reforger still sounds like a good name for the Darksaber's owner.
• Bo-Katan's crew leaving adds to the embittered/dangerous/unpredictable vibe, and makes a harder job of rallying all the Mandos.
• With a quick Google, we discover Kalevala was Satine's homeworld, amongst other things. Oddly enough, it's also the Finnish creation legend, and tells of heroes who had to acquire new skills or magical song lyrics to complete their quests. Not sure we're gonna hear Pedro singing, but there's always new things to learn.

 

By the way - I'm not sure how long this is gonna stick around for, but have you tried Googling The Mandalorian?

 

Whatever it was must be gone, or I missed what I was supposed to be seeing.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

If you try typing The Mandalorian or Grogu into the google.com search box, he should pop up: if you click on him, he'll start ripping the search results apart (he doesn't seem to like his Wiki entry very much)

[Mr. Vee]

Got it. Didn't see him down in the bottom corner  of my screen, partially obscured by giant water jug 😄

[Techwright]

On 3/6/2023 at 5:45 AM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Enjoying it so far. Pretty much as m'learned coll says, but also...

  Hide contents

• Slightly puzzled as to why IG-11 is the first side quest here, but I guess they want Taika back.
• The pirate band (y'arr!) looked like very good makeup with a little animatronic assistance - or someone went over every frame with a Photoshop airbrush removing any trace of CGI glitchery. As it looked like a practical outdoor set (and not The Volume) the light would be quite tricky to fix.
• I liked the purgills as a potential call-forward to Ahsoka. Wonder if Mando & co will show up in that too?
• Mandalore the Reforger still sounds like a good name for the Darksaber's owner.
• Bo-Katan's crew leaving adds to the embittered/dangerous/unpredictable vibe, and makes a harder job of rallying all the Mandos.
• With a quick Google, we discover Kalevala was Satine's homeworld, amongst other things. Oddly enough, it's also the Finnish creation legend, and tells of heroes who had to acquire new skills or magical song lyrics to complete their quests. Not sure we're gonna hear Pedro singing, but there's always new things to learn.

 

By the way - I'm not sure how long this is gonna stick around for, but have you tried Googling The Mandalorian?

 

 

Tried it and got Grogu.  Cute fun.  Not sure how to get Din, though.

 

As to the hidden discussion:

Spoiler

If I had a guess (and tomorrow's story may answer this point anyway) I suspect IG-11 may be the intended recorder of Din Djarin's mine water cleansing ceremony.  Recall that Din mentioned that he'd bring the Armorer proof of that ceremony.  Using a trusted droid to record, it is impartial and the Armorer would be able to sift the memory to make certain the image is authentic.  Secondly, if he can get Kuill's programming back online (did the damage memory module ruin that chance altogether?) that provides a second guardian for Grogu.  Din is going to be traveling a planet with a currently unknown status and who knows what dangers there are?  As I recall,  the planet Mandalore had hostile creatures in the wilds, not on the scale of Kashyyyk's beastiary, but definitely something that would be challenging for training Mandalorians to deal with threats.  (Unless you're Children of the Watch, it seems.  Honestly, how many of these supposedly-trained guys does it take to realize the eyes are the best vulnerable targets on monster crocodilids?  They should have used those weapons on the eyes first.) *Puts soap box away*

 

Regarding the pirate band's looks and what it took to achieve them:  I bow to your wisdom in such matters.

 

I'm fine with Din showing up in miniseries Ahsoka so long as he doesn't dominate an episode to the exclusion of the main character(s).  As he is carrying the Dark Saber it would be natural to (Rebels SPOILER AHEAD) ...have a run-in with Sabine Wren, who is both a prominent Mandalorian and a former wielder of the Dark Saber.  Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if Sabine Wren could become an armorer, if she isn't already.  She's a first-class engineer, having developed possibly the most dangerous ground weapon against Mandalorians ever while she was still a prodigy teen.  She might make a good person to visit for armor repairs should the Armorer remain unavailable for one reason or another.

 

Mandalore the Reforger has a nice ring to it.  I'm actually surprised the show has not named previous Mandalors yet.  Unless the canonical comics or books have, it technically remains Legends territory for the moment.  If they intend to canonize the titles, they might want to let the casual audience in on the naming schemes for rulers.

 

I'm actually surprised Bo-Katans two sidekicks didn't stick around.

 

I'm curious to know if planet Kalevala was named by George Lucas, or someone else, because if it was George, it would imply he was influenced by Finnish mythology.  While not an outright surprise if true (the Kalevala has influenced others like Tolkien) it would be a point of interest as I always thought he was more influenced by Asian culture, religions, and stories (with a good dose of German historical influence, too).

 

[Techwright]

Season 3, Episode 2 - Chapter 18

 

This episode completely subverted expectations in story direction, advanced three characters, and brought in a legend, fulfilling a series of hints all the way back to the first chapter and I'm excited by all of it.

 

Spoiler

Subverted expectations:  We didn't get IG-11 back (boo!), nor did we get a side quest to get parts for it.  Instead we get the surprise of R5D4, not just the model, but the specific flawed droid dating all the way back to the Jawa landcraft in the original Star Wars, being sold to Din Djarin for the journey to Mandalor.  Plus, the droid pod insert is restored.  R5 has a chance to show personality, continue its fragility, and have more story time. This is the first of three characters advanced.

 

The trip to the living waters did not take several episode but was accomplished by episode 2.  Whether Din's deep immersion without all the words counts for redemption or not remains to be seen.  (By the way, it took me a bit to realize it was probably his armor without the jetpack for propulsion that dropped him like a rock.  I thought he'd been grabbed by a creature at first.)

 

We learn of another, barbaric humanoid species that lived in the outer regions of the planet Mandalor: the Alamites (which one reactor reasonably compared to H.G. Wells' Morlocks).  Along with them, we get flying gators, which probably moved in from the same wilds the Alamites came from.  As one who spends vacations with kin near Florida's Everglades, flying gators rank just a step below flying sharks on my "NOPE!" list, and a close two steps below flying spiders.

 

We gain a mystery of a cyborg that for some reason is trapping and killing Mandalorians (for their blood?).  While the creature is apparently dead now, that leaves a big question as to what it was, why it was doing what it was, how it settled there, and whether it was the only one.

 

Subverted expectations: Bo-Katan appears to have arrested her downward spiral and the adventure seems to have been cathartic, starting her back on a climb towards inner peace if not a new chance at leadership.  This is the second of three characters advanced.  Interesting to me is that Bo-Katan wielded the Dark Saber twice in combat defeating an increasingly challenging opponent, but left the saber for Din.   It could have been said that since Din had been dearmed by the Cyborg, that the saber passed to the Cyborg's possession, and that Bo-Katan's actions secured the saber for her in the correct manner that Mandalorians expect.  Yet she left the saber for Din.  That's either character growth on her part, or she wants a clean battle with clear witnesses to guarantee her right to wield the saber.

 

People will likely look back and say that this is the episode Grogu really started to advance.  He's on his own, afraid, but making fast, significant progress through the nightmare that Mandalore has become.  He's moving faster on the ground, and communicating better, as evidenced by communicating both direction and urgency to R5.  Bo-Katan rightly stated that he is tougher than he looks.  In addition, his chirps and coos are changing, and the hint was given that he might soon utter his first word.  Here's hoping it is "Papa".

He is the third character to advance.

 

 

And then we come to the legend. Hard-core Star Wars fans were amazed, laughed, and applauded when Favreau and Filoni introduced to canon in Chapter 1 certain elements from the animation in the Star Wars Holiday Special, a non-canon project that George Lucas had come to loathe and tried to distance himself from.  It was seen as a bit of good-natured rib poking from the current creators to the original creator. Nevertheless, the tuning-forked disintegration rifle became a thing, and by Kuill's reference, so did the mythosaur, though set in the past and as an extinct species.  Then we got the Mythosaur skull as a symbol of the Mandalorians, and additional references along the way.  Among these latter is the prophecy that a new era for Mandalorians would dawn with the rising of the Mythosaur. (It was in the recap for this episode, just to make sure people remembered.)  As Mandalorians are 99.999% of the time not Force sensitive, prophecies are not really much better than cute stories to tell foundlings.  That is, until today, when we actually see the face of a real, live mythosaur within the Living Waters.  One can make a fair guess as to what Bo-Katan said when her breath forceably escaped her helmet at the moment of sighting.  If this prophecy is to be demonstrated as true, then the implication is that either Bo-Katan or Din Djarin, the two Mandos present as the mythosaur awoke, will be the next Mandalor, that is, unless the beast needs to actually arise from the waters (likely to be tamed and ridden as Kuill stated all the way back in Chapter 1).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Thoughts:

Spoiler

• Din was out cold and/or drowning by the point the Mythosaur woke up. Hence, Bo is the Chosen One - or at least, is going to think she is.
• Interesting also that Bo wielded the Darksabre naturally and with ease, whereas Din can't handle the weight.
• Serious creepout / horror vibes from that weird bloodsucking creature. Good to see Favreauloni continuing the fine Disney tradition of giving kids nightmares...
• ...and bringing a ruined but still wondrous vision of Mandalore from Clone Wars to life.
• Grogu is, indeed, tougher than he looks and clearly smart enough to instruct a droid, if not fly yet. And R5 has developed some loyalty to his new master.
• Flying gators: indeed, not something you want around. (If they'd wanted flying giant spiders they'd just need to film in Australia.)
• Nice scene with Pelle catching everyone up on what's been happening and that the Boonta races are basically N'Awlins on Carnival, right down to the "replacement" (ahem) catalytic converters. Watching a human speak Jawa is kinda fun. I've also had the same "wow, Grandpa" reaction looking for audio spares in a Maplin's (think posh RadioShack).

 

[Mr. Vee]

Some internets figured out the writing on the tablet. Evidently they liked to drop Biblical quotations long, long ago in that galaxy far, far away. Because of course they did.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Ezekiel 25:17 would have been funny. As it is, the one they're claiming is appropriate for the fate of Mandalore.

 

Have to admit, if I ever get round to writing a Star War (chance'd be a fine thing) I'd drop my family's Life Day Pudding recipe in Aurabesh and see if they worked that one out.