Mandalorian Season 3

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Spoiler

8 hours ago, Techwright said:

I understand the need for flexibility, but that's a really soft target.

It's certainly "center mass". I don't know what the comparative damage is for a blaster vs, say, a bullet, an IED, or an exploding Soviet-era CRT television (long story) but it's certainly not something you'd want unprotected. 

 

That said, aiming for a specific part of an individual in full combat, while moving, is a lot trickier than it sounds, and a the easiest way to do it is to just aim straight from the arm, which places an intentional shot in the chest and upper arms (again, do blasters canonically have significant recoil? If not, aiming would be easier.) It also involves stopping to think about placing that shot, which requires both the training and mindset to do so, with the known intention of disabling or killing. Mandalorians presumably do have some of that, not sure about space pirates, and it needs quite a lot of training to achieve realtime (cf Marshall studies and later research.)

 

To help with that, Mandos seem to use the same psych trick as Captain America. It might seem odd that that the helmets, pauldrons and other armour are brightly coloured and decorated, because the the bits you've protected are now targets...

...now read that sentence again. The bits you've protected are now targets. What the eye is attracted to, is where the eye/bullet follows, same as with Cap's bright, shiny, target-painted and impenetrable shield against the darker uniform. Also why I'm never, ever going into battle with no chest protection, book sales be damned.

 

As m'learned coll' points out, armour of any kind is of limited utility when you're facing a properly braced heavy machine gun. They're unfortunately quite accurate these days but don't really need to be: put enough lead/charged plasma in one humanoid-sized area and something is gonna get ouchied.

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Mr. Vee]

Their midsections are perfectly protected by multiple belt pouches. If we learned anything from Rob Liefeld it's that pouches deflect the eye from noticing what's underneath, be it a waist the size of a donut, a forearm the size of an adult human, or as in this case, unshielded normal sized midsections. 

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, Mr. Vee said:

Their midsections are perfectly protected by multiple belt pouches. If we learned anything from Rob Liefeld it's that pouches deflect the eye from noticing what's underneath, be it a waist the size of a donut, a forearm the size of an adult human, or as in this case, unshielded normal sized midsections. 

Wow, a Rob Leifeld pouch defense argument.  Never thought I'd see that.   It's probably best that Rob never drew Paz Vizsla.  He'd have a chest and feet that defy anatomical explanation (probably physics, too), and his mini-gun would have pouches on the barrel.

[Techwright]

11 hours ago, biostem said:

And if those wrist mini-shields are as good as they appear to be, or at least we have the precedent of the Gungan handheld shields, why aren't they employed more often.  I get that they can't really be on 24/7, but c'mon!  It's also odd that female mandalorians appear to lack thigh armor...

 

 vs 

 

I was a bit surprised when you used the plural, but went and looked at Sasha Banks' outfit, and yeah, no forward thigh armor.  Din, on the other hand, has no shin armor.  As a former soccer player, I can tell you the shin is incredibly vulnerable to a good kick.  I once witnessed a star player taken out of the season when an opponent tried to kick the ball only to hit shin.  The resounding *crack* could be heard on the other side of the field.

 

Looking over the pictures, I'm suddenly wondering: are there leather workers and tailors in their ranks?

[Mr. Vee]

I think Bo picked up the leg armor in Steel Canyon, as they give that nice blobby look we've come to expect from certain leg armor/boot combos.

[Techwright]

Season 3, final episode, or as I'll probably call it: "We all were so wrong.  So very, very wrong." (Did I mention "very"?)

 

Spoiler

Not exactly sure what Brendan Wayne was referring to, but none of the gloom and doom preached across the web came to pass.  Unless some were fixated on using the light cruiser going forward, or seeing more of the IG-12 vehicle, or seeing more of the Dark Saber, or seeing Moff Gideon for a long time to come. (Well, more on that later.)

 

First, let me get one major criticism out of the way, and yes, this time I mean "criticism" not "critique".   What off earth are Mandalorians doing jetting around in the vacuum of space without serious space gear?  And how does a rocket pack that would have burned out its fuel simply chasing an alien cold drake have the ability to take a man into outer space without running dry?  Seriously.  They must think none of us lived in the Space Age.  I get that the helmet can be pressurized, but the day-to-day uniform materials ...ugh.

 

Okay, rant over.  For the sake of an otherwise fun episode, I'll accept the major, reality-defying handwave.

 

• No one turned out to be a spy.  The theory proposed by another on Redditt, that last episode's title was a reference to the biblical 12 tribe spies that scoped out their ancestral homeland, seems to have merit. 
•  
• Axe Woves was not a traitor or even a jerk.  He performed admirably, even to the risk of his own life.  While I have certain misgivings about the true survivability of exiting a side window of a plunging, full-throttled light cruiser, I appreciate that he survived and appears to be shaping up to hold a position that Paz Vizsla would have held.
•  
• The Armorer was not a traitor, and admirably did smashing-great armorer things.
•  
• The surface Mandalorians were not traitors and actually showed how Mandalore will recover, possibly within mere years.  Their discussion of numerous threats above and below the surface has me wondering:  is there a future show in the re-colonization of Mandalore?  I'm still left wondering what on Mandalore that bizarre cyborg was, and what its backstory is.  A The Mandalorians show might allow flashbacks to address that.

 

Going through the rest more or less in order of appearance:

• Din Djarin wears modern Earth boot soles.  Who knew?
•  
• The protracted fight with Djarin's two captors makes a certain sense as all wear the beskar armor, but they were really not good at targeting the non-armored parts.  DD as I mentioned previously, doesn't wear shin armor.  Had I been the bad guys, a blaster shot there would have ended any serious struggle.  I also noticed one of them took a good 4-inch knife to the unprotected chest and shrugged it off.  Tough man.
•  
• Moff Gideon still retains a legion of soldiers in his base, but announces that he will take on Din Djarin and Grogu alone.  To parody an oft-used Sharpe line:  that's not soldiering, that's hubris!     Evil Overlord List violation #39 - If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not...seek out my opposite number among his army. (Okay, yeah, Praetorian Guards, sure, but they left to deal with Grogu, so it still counts.)
•  
• R5 gets it big moment and is the textbook example of courage:  doing what's needed in the face of danger despite your fear.
•  
• Very surprised non of the TIE interceptors turned attention to the drop ships.
•  
• The barrier shields meant to protect you can work against you as well. 
•  
• The idea that the mouse droid didn't go get someone with a blaster, but instead rounded up a gang of mice droids to, what, dent R5's shins?, is hilarious.  Reminds me of my late, beloved mini dachshund who was convinced he was a Great Dane.
•  
• So, destroying all the clones in that room destroys all the clones, right?..........RIGHT?  (Evil Overlord List #27 - I will never build only one of anything important. Like a cloning room.)   Also, the hero being able to destroy the whole room by mashing a bunch of buttons at one control panel smacks of a violation of Evil Overlord List #9: I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a  large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.
•  
• The armorer gets to jetpack.  When she flew up alongside of Bo-Katan, I was convinced they were going to have a conversation like "In case you fall in battle, what's your actual name?" but no.  No revelations.
•  
• Flame throwers are not working in this episode as intended.  Several times people walk away from a dowsing.  Flamethrowers leave a burning chemical on what they hit.
•  
• Praetorian Guards clearly had not been briefed on Yoda.  If they had, they might not have taken their sweet time menacing Grogu before dispatching him.
•  
• The Dark Saber is gone, right?.........RIGHT?    Moff Gideon is gone, right?.........RIGHT? 
•  
• Kid Vizsla gets to finish his ceremony sans Papa Vizsla.  Why this wasn't done days ago after they cleared away the crocodilid makes no sense, but hey, first one to get a ceremony back in the sacred waters. Yay!
•  
• Formal adoption, and Grogu clearly showing that he's disappointed he cannot yet take the creed.  Progress.  And here we get another surprise:  Din is the family name, not Djarin.  So Mandalorians, like Earth humans, have two family name conventions:  in first position like "Din" and in last position like "Vizsla".
•  
• And we get the big reveal:  Bo-Katan does not get the mythosaur to rise, but instead it is Din Grogu who connects with the beast via the Force.
•  
• The Great Forge is reactivated.  Quick, everyone go find beskar remnants and bring them to be reforged.  Full beskar armor for all!
•  
• Captain Tevan gets a back-pocket bounty hunter.  Last time we were in the pilots' bar, it looked like Zeb was the leader.  I'm surprised he wasn't the authority to make the call.  The funds have to come from someone's budget.  Wonder how long it will be before a bean counter notices discrepancies?
•  
• IG-11 is rebuilt and is the new marshal of Nevarro.  Huzzah! 
•  
• Bilbo has returned to Bag End and all is right with...I mean,,,the Din family has a concrete cabin, a frog pond, and all is right with the universe, right?........RIGHT?

 

Going forward:

• I can see The Mandalorian ending forever on this note.  It's a good one, but I hope not, and am holding to Favreau's comment that he was working on season 4.  Waiting to see if there's an official announcement.
• Moff Gideon has a way to "come back".  As I mentioned previously, it's the same trick that Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al used in Stargate SG-1: full-knowledge clones of himself.  He may yet be a thorn in the galaxy's side.  Yes, Din Djarin destroyed the cloning vats holding force-sensitive versions of Gideon, but who is to say those were the only clones?  Gideon may have had earlier, successful versions of himself without force powers. 
• Gideon's efforts have now been stated to have unlocked the ability to clone force powers.  The question is whether that information is known to the team under Hux or not.  It seems unlikely given the discussion in last episode.  If so, what this has shown is that it is possible, where before it was considered impossible, and it will be up to Hux's team to figure out the same technological leap. By the way, note that nearly-finished clones are fully aged.  This is a significant step up from Kaminoan cloning, which required 10 years to mature including training.
• We saw a crushed Dark Saber, but we didn't see the outcome of the remains.  It's possible that Bo-Katan claimed them, and can rebuild the saber.  Alternately, and with the scene in the Waters, it's got me thinking, it may be possible that the casing is beyond salvage, but not the crystal.  If true, the crystal could be fitted into a casing, perhaps one for a very tiny Mandalorian hand, one, say, that was already offered a tiny green lightsaber.  The Dark Saber Crystal may be the thing to recognize a Mandalore in the generations to come.
• And speaking along that note, we've now seen signs that, of the core trio, it is Grogu who now stands the best chance of riding the mythosaur, but probably not for a while.
• Bo-Katan, Axe Woves, Koska Reeves, and the Armorer are alive and healthy.  Many stories to come may happen.  I personally would be interested in seeing a series re-exploring and conquering Mandalore.  To me, it would be a space opera version of the Lost World genre, with Mandalore subbing for 1800s central Africa or a mysterious plateau in South America.  If the atmospheric interference is actually a thing, and not a sythetic condition created by Moff Gideon, then that communications barrier lends itself to a lost world concept.  It might be in animation form rather than live action, however.

 

 

 

[Mr. Vee]

Spoiler

So now we have 4 custom plus the standard club version of whatever we're calling the purple neon things. Almost enough for a full Electric Light Orchestra. The absurdly expensive custom replica people should be thrilled. Plus that'd justify 3 different Praetorian Guard action figures and character unlocks for a Lego Mando game/dlc. Favreau's really been upping his Disney chops.

 

Also I like that Moff Gus cloned himself as a 64 year old man. You spend all that money developing clone tech and then cheap out on the de-aging? I guess he planned for his clones to use the force to shrink their prostates back to normal.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Still processing that ending…and I’m currently on mobile so I can’t use Spoilers.

…but I’ve never been so happy to be wrong about almost everything and everybody.

 

Concur with what m’learned colls say, other than one part: I think the handle of the Darksaber was used to light the Forge. One age ends, another begins.

 

Also, this still IS an ending, and a very satisfying one, if this is where they want to leave Djarin and Grogu… for now. Safely back in the toybox, you might say.
 

I have heard that characters from Mando will guest in Ahsoka (it’s only fair) so I suspect Mando and Bo may return as allies. If I have a disappointment, it was that there was no mid-credits Brainy Smurf reveal.

[Techwright]

8 minutes ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Concur with what m’learned colls say, other than one part: I think the handle of the Darksaber was used to light the Forge. One age ends, another begins.

 

Also, this still IS an ending, and a very satisfying one, if this is where they want to leave Djarin and Grogu… for now. Safely back in the toybox, you might say.
 

I have heard that characters from Mando will guest in Ahsoka (it’s only fair) so I suspect Mando and Bo may return as allies. If I have a disappointment, it was that there was no mid-credits Brainy Smurf reveal.

1.  What an intriguing idea!  I went back and viewed the lighting ceremony repeatedly.  While the handle does look similar, and I cannot swear that it is not the Dark Saber handle, some close-up shots seem to show it as a different design that has similar shapes.  I'm perfectly fine with it being the Dark Saber handle, though, if it is formally revealed as such.

 

2. Agreed.  Though considering the merchandizing possibilities, I suspect the toys will come out of the box within 2 years for another adventure.

 

3.  Just don't take a full 2 episodes to focus on the Din family to the exclusion of the titled character.  As to Bo, I think it would be a natural that it should be arranged for her and Ahsoka to meet again, this time on the live screen.  It makes sense, too.  As Thrawn will be revealed as a huge threat, it would be natural for Ahsoka to notify her friends, especially the ruler of a planet.  Incidentally, it just hit me today:  Bo-Katan is leader of the Nite Owls, and Ahsoka is deeply tied to the owls, one in particular.  Friendship coincidence? or is the Filoniforce at work here?

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

9 hours ago, Techwright said:

or is the Filoniforce at work here?

…the Filoniforce is everywhere…

[Techwright]

Small note on a subtle detail.  In regards to Bo-Katan, it was pointed out to me....

Spoiler

...that Bo-Katan's right hand was actually injured when Moff Gideon power-suit crushed the Dark Saber.  From that moment on, though her arm moves into various battle positions, she holds her hand in one posture, as if it has been injured.  She uses only her left hand, including in receiving the torch that re-lights the Great Forge.   Most feel that Bo-Katan will return to Star Wars at some point, perhaps even in season 4 of this show.  If so, it will be interesting to see if that injury completely heals or if there are lasting repercussions.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, finally home, and can post spoilery thoughts:

Spoiler

• Okay, so Poutily Handsome Evil Hydra Dude didn't just come through for the Good Guys - he went full Flash Gordon! We've only got 13 minutes to save Mandalore...
• Speaking of which, Beskar or no Beskar, having an Imperial Cruiser dropped on your head is a one-way ticket to Deadsville, because the one thing it ain't is fireproof - possibly why all the Mandos have dinky flamethrowers. Pot-roasting in your armour is not a fun way to go.
• I love Giancarlo as much as the next evildoer, though, and there's always the possibility that wasn't Moff Prime - or if there's enough clones running around now...
• Luck plays its hand on the battlefield: the Gauntlets were going back through that sensor-jamming storm right about the time the Ties were going the other way. Lucky that neither side ran into the other as they'd both be on similar vectors.
• Bo and the Armourer go hand-to-hand in mid-air, which seems to be a highly effective way of dealing with Beskar'd opponents.
• I get a feeling we're gonna be seeing a lot more of that Republic pilot hangout in Ahsoka, and any further Mandos. Especially if Zeb's a pilot these days.
• Mandalorians relearning and rewilding their planet to be green and good again - even better than it was in Kryze's time.
• Did some of them stick with Nevarro though?
• If there's a space version of an Adirondack chair and a mint julep, Mando's earned it. Wonder how the lawn's doing...

Yep: all in all, whether this is the last time or till next time, a very satisfying place to leave our heroes, the Song of Mandalore is written anew, and the Filoniverse grows ever larger. One happy nerd over here.

 

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

So, finally home, and can post spoilery thoughts:  (as usual, blah blah blah in orange)

  Hide contents

• Okay, so Poutily Handsome Evil Hydra Dude didn't just come through for the Good Guys - he went full Flash Gordon! We've only got 13 minutes to save Mandalore...
• I'd be interested in seeing if Axe Woves gains a respect level akin to Paz Vizsla among the Children of the Watch.  While ideology may prove too different between the groups, it would be fascinating to see if he and Ragnar bent enough in strong personalities for Woves to become Ragnar's guardian.
• Speaking of which, Beskar or no Beskar, having an Imperial Cruiser dropped on your head is a one-way ticket to Deadsville, because the one thing it ain't is fireproof - possibly why all the Mandos have dinky flamethrowers. Pot-roasting in your armour is not a fun way to go.  I was tickled when people noted that there was no body.  I really think there was a good reason why, folks.  A Gideon may be back.  That Gideon won't be.
• I love Giancarlo as much as the next evildoer, though, and there's always the possibility that wasn't Moff Prime - or if there's enough clones running around now...
• Exactly. A not-too-subtle back door to getting Giancarlo back.  It may even afford him a chance to play a Gideon with a somewhat different personality, since Star Wars has shown that clones develop different natures.
• Luck plays its hand on the battlefield: the Gauntlets were going back through that sensor-jamming storm right about the time the Ties were going the other way. Lucky that neither side ran into the other as they'd both be on similar vectors.
• You caught that, too.  I was surprised they showed it that way.
• Bo and the Armourer go hand-to-hand in mid-air, which seems to be a highly effective way of dealing with Beskar'd opponents. 
• I get a feeling we're gonna be seeing a lot more of that Republic pilot hangout in Ahsoka, and any further Mandos. Especially if Zeb's a pilot these days. 
• Hopefully.  The "hangout" reminds me of some Vietnam-era base stuff I've seen over the years. (It maybe why they added psychadelic music?)  Zeb as pilot feels odd.  We know he can fly, but Zeb's always been the muscle.  Hand-to-hand-to-prehensile foot is more his thing.
• Mandalorians relearning and rewilding their planet to be green and good again - even better than it was in Kryze's time.
• Did some of them stick with Nevarro though?
• Good question.  Perhaps it will be shown that the Mando district of Nevarro is where trade with Mandalore takes place.  I can easily see Greef recognizing the advantages of having a steady stream of Mandalorian traders present.  He may even encourage the development of a resort for Mandalorians who want a break from reconquest.  As another thought, it might be used as a plant nursery, protecting the more vulnerable species until they can grow stronger to be replanted on Mandalore.  That's kind of far out there, but Nevarro is a volcanic rich soil.
• If there's a space version of an Adirondack chair and a mint julep, Mando's earned it. Wonder how the lawn's doing...
• Plenty of rocks for Grogu to build a zen garden.

Yep: all in all, whether this is the last time or till next time, a very satisfying place to leave our heroes, the Song of Mandalore is written anew, and the Filoniverse grows ever larger. One happy nerd over here.

I'm watching what news feeds I can find to see if there's official confirmation of a 4th season. I'm guessing word will come within the week, maybe two. While I've relayed that Favreau was writing it, that doesn't guarantee filming it.

 

 

[Glacier Peak]

So he says he's unlocked that new ability related to cloning, wasn't that the purpose of Rey in the Sequel Trilogy, a la Palpatine? 🤔 

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, Glacier Peak said:

So he says he's unlocked that new ability related to cloning, wasn't that the purpose of Rey in the Sequel Trilogy, a la Palpatine? 🤔 

 

There's a difference and the Shadow Council is where we get a confirmation:

Spoiler

Moff Gideon's forces are who first succeeded in cloning with force abilities.  But it was dependent upon the abilities of Dr. Pershing.  Pershing is now either dead or brain-fried and that left Gideon as the sole holder of the knowledge, which he used on himself, and covered up the evidence of success, Pershing's fate being a part of that cover up.  Apparently Moff Gideon for all his vaunted intelligence program is in the dark on many things including Thrawn's very real existence and that of the emperor as well. That may have changed things.  So to his thinking, with the Sith gone, the destiny of the empire falls to whomever holds the key to force powers.  Too bad for him that his hubris destroyed all that in a fiery end.

 

Commandant Hux holds a second cloning program, the overt one among the Shadow Council.  While I suspect they are unaware of how deep the program goes, Hux at least knew Dr. Pershing was working on force-sensitive clone technology, but was spun a lie that Pershing's work was not complete and that Pershing was lost.  Therefore, as it looks right now, Hux's team will have to discover their own process for developing a force user. 

 

From what I understand about Rey, her biological father was a Palpatine clone who escaped and tried to have a family life but was hunted down.  He may or may not have had force abilities, I've not heard.  But they manifested in Rey, and that meant that being one step from Palpatine's genetic code, she was susceptible to takeover by Palpatine himself.  It's a different process than Pershing's process, though the results could have ended the same way had Pershing survived and been integrated into the emperor's program.

 

[biostem]

My thoughts:

 

Spoiler

On 4/22/2023 at 7:39 PM, Techwright said:

Moff Gideon's forces are who first succeeded in cloning with force abilities.

Do we actually know this, though?  He claims it, but we never saw any clones actually do anything.

 

Is there any explanation as to why the Praetorian Guard are willing to basically be passed around between the various remnant forces so readily?

 

If Beskar can be crafted into mail, it makes me wonder why they wouldn't wear it as a base under the plates - would seem to address the issue with gaps in the armor.

 

If Woves was able to reach escape velocity to board the cap ship, how did they "run out of fuel" when chasing the giant bird/pteradon in the previous episode?  Further, are shields not a thing, as that cap ship seemed rather fragile against those TIEs - was there not enough time to enable shields, or was it just a sacrifice to allow all the other ships to flee?

 

The Dark Trooper Droids from S2 seem like they'd be a great supplement to the supercommandos - I mean, it was really only due to Luke's intervention that they didn't succeed - why abandon them?

 

 

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Thoughts on biostem's thoughts...

Spoiler

Beskar seems to be able to be forged, moulded or pressed into plates, and the Mandos even have some kind of vac-forming tech for metal. But mail is a skill, tricky to learn, quite hard to automate, tricky to maintain and heavy. The plates still made a big difference, while being less of a pain for both the Imps and the Lucasfilm craft shop to make.

 

Praetorians seem to be the fanatical types and will obey orders, no matter how stupid. And maybe they didn't know they were facing a small Mando army, plus one smol but fierce Force user.

 

Agreed: even though the Mando ship had entered atmosphere - and seems to be capable of landing - gas is still a handwave. (Unless they were chasing Big Bird for hours,  or didn't have a full tank because they'd been doing training already. Then again, Woves has already done a drop landing and been moving around inside the city with it). Slightly more handwavey is how one unprotected Mando gets through a lightning storm and turbulence capable of throwing the Gauntlets around.

 

As to why the ship bought it so easily - it's a light patrol cruiser, which is getting fired on by TIE Bombers designed to take out large capital ships and small cities. They can't repel firepower of that magnitude... I also wonder if the Imps have some kind of "prefix code" designed to help retake or scuttle hijacked ships. Though given their mildly arrogant inside/outside-the-hive mentality, I can't imagine it's something they'd think of.

 

Battle droids have a long and glorious history of failing when you need them most. An army of brainwashed clones - no idea where he'd get that idea from - seems like an upgrade, especially if they're a little bit Force-y. And from an actor's and director's perspective, I can't imagine those Dark Trooper droid suits weren't an absolute pain in the ass - literally, given the outfit - to move a group of extras around in perfect lockstep and have them fight Luke.

 

[Techwright]

Thoughts on @biostem's thoughts:

Spoiler

Regarding force clones:  You do make a good point.  If viewers will not accept a death unless a body is seen, then we probably should not be so quick to assume the force clones were valid just because Moff Gideon says so.  They certainly were alive though, and knowing from Pershing's discussion in the opera house that his cloning technology spliced two donor DNA strands, the life signs show a reasonable possibility of a viable force clone.  Still, a possibility, not necessarily an actuality, and perhaps not to the potency Gideon would hope.

 

Regarding Praetorian Guards:  The PG go where they are ordered.  Commandant Hux gave the order based off of Moff Gideon's request and description of the problem.  It's not about whether the PG are willing or not.  Actually this possibly gives some subtle insight into what the writers are thinking.  It appears that the Praetorian Guard, which are second only to the emperor's guard, are currently assigned to Hux's division, and under his orders.  Since Hux controls the cloning research, this suggests that the PG are protecting it, and that they are there in preparation for the ascendancy of the Sith Apprentice, at which time they will be assigned to him.

 

Regarding Beskar mail:  I agree with your assessment.  However, I would point out that even real-world mail was a very costly, very time-consuming process to create.  The plate might be more economical than the mail.  We do know this particular armorer has some technology built into her forge, but it seems to be for design aid.  We've not seen a high tech fabrication tool, at least that I can recall.  Grogu's mail shirt was tiny, so probably doable within reasonable time.  Additionally, at least to this point, beskar has been in short supply due to the wars.  Now that they control the planet again, beskar should be everywhere, starting with the armor of the beskar storm troopers.  That said, it's not been stated what level of quality and purity it is.   I'd also note that, at least in the case of the Children of the Watch, their armor is almost certainly a variety of metals, with some possibly of a mix with beskar.  Any chain mail would likely be an inferior metal to Grogu's pure beskar mail.  Lastly, pointing out real-world examples, medieval historians point out that certain cloth paddings were actually far more practical for combat, and even if one had mail, it was worn over the padding.

 

Regarding jetpack fuel:  Yes, you're on-the-nose with the writers' oversight, or perhaps their lack of explanation.  I mentioned that earlier as well.  There are various explanations which may make it work in context, but it simply doesn't work, because the writers failed to explain it somehow. 

 

Regarding ship shields:  Ah, this is a long-standing Star Wars inconsistency.  One of the early arguments between who would win between an armada of Star Wars Imperial capital ships and Star Trek capital ships was the shield difference.  Trek had them, Wars didn't.  Furthermore, Trek has cargo and personnel transporters, allow troop deployment through unshielded Imperial ships, or more likely beaming chunks out of vital Imperial ship equipment, including hulls, and beaming Imperial personnel from their ship into space.  Wars finally figured that out and started adding shields to ships, but always inconsistently.  I can't give a better answer than that because I find it confusing myself.  In Rebels for example, one stolen shield generator installed in a Rebel base was able to hold off a blistering bombardment from the 7th Fleet for about 15 minutes.  Why then are star destroyers not covered in these things? Rogue One had a shield protecting an entire planet, but the ships above it were vulnerable.  Power consumption might be an argument, the fact that planetside you have options for drawing far more power than a ship can, but I've never seen a good explanation.  The problem is greater than just the writing in The Mandalorian, though.

 

Regarding Dark Trooper droids not being used:  While again not explained, I feel there may be some reasonable assumptions here.  We do know for example that they draw a lot of power and are kept powered down.  That may make them impractical for certain operations.  They may have been expensive or limited in availability.  If I recall correctly, there were about 40 on the light cruiser.  That may have been Moff Gideon's entire compliment of drones.  That fits with his ego, keeping the entirety of them near him for protection.  His ego I think could play a huge factor in this.  He referred to his clones as the next dark troopers.  Why keep the old model when the new model is ready to launch, your base is undiscovered, and you've a full base of jetpacking, beskar-wearing storm troopers until the clone dark troopers are ready?  Several potentially reasonable explanations, but ultimately, I think it was because the writers really wanted the Mandalorians to square off against flying beskar stormtroopers.  That, and they painted themselves into a corner by showing the beskar spear, now destroyed, was the only known way a Mandalorian could hope to destroy the drones.

 

Thoughts on @ThaOGDreamWeaver thoughts:

Spoiler

Regarding beskar mail and Lucasfilms:  I've seen video footage before showing that Hollywood chain mail is often actually a plastic material that visually resembles metal.  As such, a machine can manufacture it, though I'd imagine there's still some assembly required, like sizing it to an actor.  Not sure, but I think it might have been a video on armor and weapon making from Weta for the Lord of the Rings movies.

 

Regarding the light cruiser's "fragility":  one has to remember, there was only one man running a ship designed to be run by a large compliment of personnel.  Yes he was using automated defenses, but that's not the standard for a light cruiser, else why send so many people onto it?  Half the ship's design, it's personnel and their stations, were not in play this fight.  Of course it will take heavy damage.  And yes, Imps have a serious flaw of arrogance blinding them to possibilities.  Cassian Andor pointed that out when he met Luthen.

 

Random observation from the episode:

Spoiler

Eric of NewRockstars, usually an insightful source of information as to what's going on in a movie or TV show's background, got the detail about IG-11's new chestplate wrong.  He compared it to several things, including the red mythosaur painting on the bottom of the Mandalorian light cruiser.  In reality, the red/white stripe scheme is the marking of a marshal in this time period.  It's like the tin stars worn by Wild West marshals.  You can see the markings on the belt buckles of marshals IG-11, Cob Vanth, and Cara Dune (during her short marshal stint) and on the marshal badge handed to Cara Dune.  IG-11 also has it on the left arm. I point this out because with three showings now, I'd not be surprised if we see a fourth or more in the future, perhaps with a character introduction, which should clue us in immediately to their profession.

 

I also suspect, but cannot prove yet, that the pattern on Greef Karga's red & white (rather light tan) robe is a magistrate's symbol taking the marshal's markings to the next level.

 

 

 

 

 

[Techwright]

Pitch Meeting released it's take on The Mandalorian season 3 this week, and Ryan George was absolutely savage in his humor regarding Mando 3's shortcomings.

 

 

[biostem]

12 hours ago, Techwright said:

Pitch Meeting released it's take on The Mandalorian season 3

The "side quest" had me rolling!

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Bringing this thread back with a bang... specifically, this one...

 

 

And while you're busy setting that as your screen background, everyone's favourite intergalactic DILF and his adorable Disney cash machine adoptive son are officially coming back... to the big screen. Production starts later this year. https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-and-grogu

 

Not much more to it in that article, but... reading between those few lines, and reading the lines of my Financial Times (don'tcherknow)...

 

...interesting strategy change. This is pivoting one of the breakout D+ properties back to a full ticketed cinema play. I don't think Iger is losing faith in D+: the Streaming Wars will continue, and D+ will continue to be a major force. But with angry activist investors like Nelson Peltz* around his isn't the only opinion that counts.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/03/disney-board-member-bob-iger-valueact-blackwells-trian

 

*no relation to Nelson Muntz, though quite a few CEOs he's wedgied might disagree with that

 

[Techwright]

8 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

And while you're busy setting that as your screen background, everyone's favourite intergalactic DILF and his adorable Disney cash machine adoptive son are officially coming back... to the big screen. Production starts later this year. https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-and-grogu

 

 

So no season 4?  While I look forward to a movie, a season is at least 4 hours of material (probably a bit more), so a movie feels like we've lost an hour or two of content.  Of course, if the content lost is a creepingly slow tale of a doctor being set up for destruction, then I'm fine with the lost of an hour.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Depends how tightly Favreauloni structure their movie. They do love an epic (space) Western, and those do need room to breathe.

 

On the business side of things… D+ pandemic releases Turning Red, Soul and Luca are getting limited cinema runs this year. That could be a knock-on effect of the actors’ and writers’ strike leaving big holes in the schedule, but does seem like nerves are wavering over at the House of Mouse. 

[Without_Pause]

Not exactly a terrible move to rerelease things which came out curing the pandemic. 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

30 minutes ago, Without_Pause said:

Not exactly a terrible move to rerelease things which came out curing the pandemic. 

And they're good. 

 

Turning Red might have the anti-woke brigade frothing a bit - but is also objectively bloody hilarious.

Stop me if you've seen this one before, but I loved this trailer...

Spoiler

 

 

Luca's also... just for once, I'm a bit lost for words, but "warm" and "wonderful" spring to mind, as does "pasta".

 

Not been quite so sure about Soul - bit more high concept. I also think Onward deserves a second crack at it, as its original release was cut short or canned completely in many territories. It does just show that they're not 100% wedded to a D+ first-and-only release for new content.

 

Also new news: all of the storylines from the Filoniverse will get tied up in an End Of The New Republic flick, including Mando, Ahsoka, and Boba Fett. There'll also be the much rumoured Rey movie, and a Dawn Of The Jedi movie from James Mangold.