The Mandalorian The Mandalorian 3.05 - Chapter 21 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

DinBo is also 100 times more sensible, healthy, encouraged and approvable IMO.

 

You tease lol

 

Absolutely. And her point of view is consistent with your signature.

 

DinBo wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but if the goal was to get them together by the end of the season, I'd figure they'd start hinting at it before the halfway point. It feels like they've barely talked to each other since the opening scene of episode 3.

 

5/10 for me. Seems like this show is becoming an expensive version of the Power Rangers.

 

This was a perfectly fine episode in isolation but fair warning that whichever future episode something bad inevitably happens to Captain Teva I will be automatically deducting 2 points at minimum from my usually generous rating.

 

This episode is the one starting to tie some of these disparate threads together.

I am curious about the Armorer's "retake Mandalore" statement after getting land on Navarro. I'm thinking more along Odin's "Asgard is a people, not a place" than "thanks Greef for this new home, but we're going to go repopulate Mandalore"

Especially after her comments about the forge to Bo Katan. Both forges, while visibly different, served the same purpose. Mandalore and Navarro, while different, will serve the same purpose: home of the Mandalorians

 

The "no removing your helmet" rule is implemented for two reasons, one is to keep them all in line, and the other one to hide from the evil empire.

Now that the empire is not a threat, there's less reason for the armorer to enforce the rule to everyone. She can make an exception for Bo Katan, and she justifies it well. Bo Katan walks both paths because she has the charisma, the experience, the personality and the will. Walking the path of the children of the watch doesn't mean that she has to keep the helmet on when she's with them. It means she can identify as one of them and work towards a common goal. And maybe the Armorer recognizes that in the near future maybe they won't have to hide anymore. The whole speech about the Forge was about adapting. That's what the Mandalorians do. And they will all accept it.

 

Pretty darn good episode. They managed to give some development to the New Republic while at the same time keeping the main focus of the episode on the Mandalorians. Final three episodes should be pretty good.

 

I really liked it... felt like old school Star Wars. The only critisism I really have is of the obvious TV budget constraints... and as good as the production values are, when you get the whole town amassed and it equates to about 20 people, it looks a bit small scale. Also, the Mandalorian versus space pirates ground battle (as much as I enjoyed it) needed some better editing/choreography more suited to a big screen budget. 8.5/10

 

I think it can only be the opposite. Nothing looks more like a Mandalorian than a Mandalorian helmet. If the purpose was to hide from enemies, Imperial or otherwise, the CotW would be removing their helmets and hiding their armor when walking about. However "When one walks the path of the Mand'alor, one is both hunter and prey." I think that line basically meant the helmet rule was akin to knowingly painting a target onto your face and embracing that. Living dangerously for the purpose of refining oneself through conflict.

We really need to know more about the rules, mythology and objectives of the CotW. The cement holding them together is almost non existent at this stage. And it's a problem because I don't buy the fact that these people would really exist as a clan or faction.

- They wear their helmets proudly, as a middle finger to those who would want to see them destroyed, yet they hide in caves and underground lairs.
- They embrace danger (coverts established in dangerous areas, close to enemy ranks or megafauna), but are seldom prepared for it and are always caught off guard by those dangers (Imperials in Nevarro tunnels, Raptor eating Foundlings regularly...)
- They will accept anyone in their ranks who hasn't removed their helmet even when they profess that they do not walk the Way. That's hardly enough of a belief system or ideology to keep people together.
- Whoever wields the Dark Saber after earning it through combat becomes the defacto Mand'alor. But Din is not the Mand'alor. I can buy that he's reluctant and doesn't want the job, but in that case surely someone would rise to challenge him every other day? He doesn't seem to mind.
- Their ultimate goal seems to be to retake Mandalore and rebuild, but when they learn Mandalore is ripe for the taking they're all "Argh, maybe later".
- What do they do all day in these caves? When their covert was on Nevarro it seemed as though Mandalorians found shelter within the tunnels but spent their days doing odd jobs like bounty hunting and the likes. Now they just seem to have turned into a cave-dwelling people who do nothing beyond standing around a beach and flying after animals who take their youngs.
- The shots of the Rebel pilot flying to their covert showed us they live on a barren planet with just rocks and water, no natural resources, greenery, food within walking distance. Yet they somehow all got there with a forge and presumably a lot of equipment (weapons, tech, maybe food)... but they don't have ships?
- They just adopted three baby raptors. What will they put in place to care for them? Are they going to feed them Foundlings?

It's also disappointing that the Armorer suddenly decided Bo-Katan had indeed seen a Mythosaur (assuming she's playing it straight with her), without proof. Last time they talked about it she was all "Oh yeah? Must have been a sweet dream."

Anyway. Part of me is conscious that I want to know more about the CotW because I love a good lore and want to spend more time learning about the Mandalorians of that era. And that the viewers can just accept what they're given as fact and not question it, as well as finding possible explanations for what they're not given (Okay, maybe the caves offer plenty of food so they don't need ships. Maybe there's an Intergalactic Uber service that would have brought them all there. Maybe there's an underground city where they hunt bounties all day...) But I can't help but think the reason we haven't gotten more at this stage is just laziness on the part of showrunners who are just throwing pretty armor and big slogans at us without really exploring their ramifications and what it really means for these characters and the worlds they inhabit.

 

Great episode. Carson Teva is awesome. I am so happy that we have at least one Mando not wearing her helmet. I thought for a moment that Bo-Katan and the Armorer both would walk out without their helmets on. That would have been cool.

May have been posted before, but here are a couple clips of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. How he got the gig and when he was handed Bigg's helmet.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1816703043517

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1816697923870

 

Well I saw a few NR pilots in blue. When Poe Dameron was a pilot, by that time all the NR pilots were in blue.

But your right we need to see further change. In Mando S4, I think mostly all NR pilots should be seen in blue uniforms, further showing the separation of time. Maybe Carson Teva would be allowed to still wear his rebellion orange. I'm all for seeing Carson still fly his T-65, but I want to see some new T-70's (Xwings the Resistance used) in NR blue in the next season.

 

@IG-42

That’s really cool Paul is a legit over the moon Star Wars fan. What a trip that must be to love this stuff and then be in it. Good for him.

 

I call it Filon the Nose.

His stuff is always way more on the nose than Lucas ever was (except for Dexxster’s Diner - Lucas went off the rails there). Pirates with obvious pirate outfits, Wild West town on Tatooine, New Republic barracks in the Asia-Pacific with people playing space pool, space wolves that just look like wolves. Part of a generally more kiddy style, I think.

 

I was getting some serious “Thanos bombarding the Avengers’ compound” vibes from this episode.

 

On the verge of tapping out on this show to be honest. The scripts and acting have become consistently sub-par which makes it hard to enjoy watching most of the time. On the character front, I was confused by the Armourer's sudden about-face on something she was previously willing to cast people out for, and am a bit disappointed that the show couldn't inject even a little bit of complexity into the divide between the Children of the Watch and the Mandalorian mainstream.

On the whole I'm frustrated, because this show could be a genuine riot if it would just get the basics right - narrative structure, characters, dialogue, acting. The defence of The Mandalorian has often been that it's a deliberately simpler piece, like a Saturday morning cartoon. The problem is that I've seen a lot of Saturday morning cartoons that have far more compelling, well-written characters and narratives.

Guess it was cool to see Zeb, going full CGI was the right choice. This is probably the part where people tell me it's not Zeb but Unnamed Lasat #1.

 

Is anyone talking about the scene where the Armorer asked Bo to remove the helmet?

I'd like to know
1) why the task of reuniting the clans is not given to the owner of the darksaber anymore

2) what's the logic behind asking Bo to remove the helmet.

 

It’s a little weird never taking your helmet off. You’re not going to have the same sort draw for your cause with the helmet rule. Look at masking in our world. Now imagine telling those people they have to wear a full head covering helmet.

I can PM you a reminder when Andor comes back if you want to tap off for a bit.

 

The speech about the forges was that the two ways of Mandalorians - the complex socio-political one that created the massive forge (represented by Bo and Mandos like her) and the simple, austere one that created the humble forge (represented by the Armorer and the CotW) are different but essentials parts of creating a new Mandalore.

And Bo walks both paths because she has walked the pure path of the CotW, proving her worth, and has also walked the complex political path of leading Mandalore as a whole. And she saw the mythosaur - which convinces the Armorer that she is a chosen one - one who walks both paths and is uniquely suited to lead the Mando nation.

My guess is that this (seeing the mythosaur) may be a mythic base for political legitimacy so deep that the Armorer believes it trumps the darksaber legitimacy.