The Mandalorian - Season 3 (SPOILERS possible)

[Rob]

Probably, good hiding spot for it too.

I just figured the idea was that it pulled him under because no one's ever down there and it was threatened, and then calmed down when it saw Bo Katan.

[P-Siddy]

Probably, good hiding spot for it too.

Yeah.  Bo-Katan (or was it The Armorer) did mention that mythosaurs used to swim in the Living Waters.  So perhaps all the mythosaurs' pee in the water was the proof that The Armorer needed to prove Din swam in them. 

[Nicklab]

It looked to me like Din fell straight down into the water.  And Bo-Katan's explanation that the Imperial bombing might have caused a collapse seemed plausible in light of all of the damage on the surface.  I was struck by how she asked Din if he had seen anything down there, and that he said he had not.  As for the water itself?  The Armorer pouring the sample into her basin, and how the water reacted seemed to be proof enough to her that they had been in the waters.  I suspect that the colors that develop when the water is poured might be signs of Beskar ore that has leached into the water.  Besides that, the Armorer seems to have her own supply of the water, since she used it in the first episode of the season, and she has also used it before.  Has she been back to Mandalore and not said so?

Bo-Katan's arrival with Din Djarin to the covert seemed to escalate the tensions among them.  Paz Vizsla seemed on edge about her presence.  And I suspect that past differences between the various Houses and Clans of Mandalore might be the cause of future conflicts.  There have been theories that the Armorer is Rook Kast, who was part of the Death Watch sect that supported Maul during the Clone Wars.  Her armor resembles the character seen in the Siege of Mandalore, and the horns on her helmet might lead you to think that she was part of Maul's faction.  Kast was aligned with House Vizsla at that time.  And then to see Bo-Katan welcomed by the Armorer into the tribe after her immersion in the waters?  I'm really curious to see where this goes.

I think the big question from this episode is about the Imperial Remnant.  Moff Gideon had TIE Fighters.  We saw several of those in his Remnant.  But the TIE Interceptors and Bombers?  That was a serious escalation from what we had seen before.  And the storyline with Dr. Pershing and Gideon's former comms officer, Elia Kane (she finally has a name!), seems to be leading towards something developing in the way of another Imperial Remnant faction.

[P-Siddy]

I've read that this other Imperial warlord could possibly be one who will have a role in another, future live-action Star Wars show (but has been seen in animated shows and books).

[Jeff]

Bo-Katan's arrival with Din Djarin to the covert seemed to escalate the tensions among them.  Paz Vizsla seemed on edge about her presence.  And I suspect that past differences between the various Houses and Clans of Mandalore might be the cause of future conflicts.  There have been theories that the Armorer is Rook Kast, who was part of the Death Watch sect that supported Maul during the Clone Wars.  Her armor resembles the character seen in the Siege of Mandalore, and the horns on her helmet might lead you to think that she was part of Maul's faction.  Kast was aligned with House Vizsla at that time.  And then to see Bo-Katan welcomed by the Armorer into the tribe after her immersion in the waters?  I'm really curious to see where this goes.

I need to go back and rewatch some old Clone Wars episodes.  I thought Bo Katan started out with Death Watch?  Wasn't she tight with Pre Vizsla at the start of the Mando stuff in TCW?  And she only left Death Watch after Maul took over because she didn't like Jedi/Sith?  I guess that would be why former Death Watch folks would have a grudge against her.

Do we know how Children of the Watch (TM) are related to Death Watch (TCW)?  Sometimes I think they are supposed to be the same (like how it was Death Watch Mandalorians who rescued/saved 'lil Din) but then in TCW the Death Watch dudes took their helmets off and weren't bitching about it.  I guess maybe the Children of the Watch were former Death Watch members who dove deep into old ways in an effort to get Mando civilization back or something?

[P-Siddy]

I need to go back and rewatch some old Clone Wars episodes.  I thought Bo Katan started out with Death Watch?  Wasn't she tight with Pre Vizsla at the start of the Mando stuff in TCW?  And she only left Death Watch after Maul took over because she didn't like Jedi/Sith?  I guess that would be why former Death Watch folks would have a grudge against her.

I just perused Bo-Katan's wiki page and you pretty much have it correct, Jeff.

[Nicklab]

The Mandalorians that rescued Din Djarin as a child wore the Death Watch sigil on their armor.  It would seem that the Children of the Watch are part of that movement. 

I think the whole dynamic of Death Watch vs the loyalists who were aligned with House Kryze and the throne are the big conflict in Mandalorian society.  I think those lingering tensions may be a factor moving forward.  And perhaps Din Djarin can help end that conflict. 

[Dave]

Was it just me or was the whole Dr. Pershing side story incredibly long and boring, and at this point it seems totally irrelevant too?  I'm hopeful all that time spent on that side plot ends up mattering later.

I want more Mando, Bo Katan, and Children of the Watch action.

And I think Din just accidentally stepped off the stairs and sank in to the Living Waters.  My guess is that the bombing damaged the stairs and created a big hole that he unexpectedly dropped in to.  It didn't seem like the Mythosaur was all that close to the surface and all that active - just chilling about halfway down.

[GrandMoffNick]

I didn't necessarily think they did a great job with the Pershing story, but am absolutely intrigued to learn more about him. Also thought it was cool to see how the New Republic dealt with ex imps. That being said, I agree there needs to be a payout past what they just showed us. I assume there's more with the Mon Cal dude at end. I don't need the show to be just Mando, but don't want more episodes that are 80% not Mandos.

[Nicklab]

I think the Pershing subplot was taking on a few things - the situation for ex-Imperials was one.  The state of the New Republic was another - is it a step in the right direction?  Or are they doomed to make the same mistakes as the Old Republic?  And then there's the situation with ex-Imperials like Elia Kane.  She seems to have been assigned to tie up loose ends with Dr. Pershing - witness the way she maxed out the device that he was hooked up to at the end of that part of the episode.  Oh, and it sounds like Moff Gideon has escaped.  All of this seemed like place-setting for what's to come later in the seaon, and possibly in other shows that are in development.

I also enjoyed seeing more of Coruscant in live action.  That plaza where Pershing and Kane were having space popsicles is one that we've seen before in Clone Wars.  And some of the cityscapes seemed to be straight out of ATTACK OF THE CLONES.  Stylistically I liked how Coruscant in this episode was somewhat reminiscent of Coruscant as seen in ANDOR.  And that Pershing's cubicle seemed pretty reminiscent of Syril Karn's cubicle in ANDOR.  It all rhymes, right?

[P-Siddy]

I think this episode is setting up other series.  I think the Warlord could be Thrawn, which I assume would be featured in Ahsoka... 


In the first episode, there is convo about Marshall Dune and how she was recruited by the New Republic.  Rumors say that Carano and Disney made amends (won't believe it until I see official word), so maybe the Rangers spin-off could still be in the works?  I would think a Rangers spin-off would show the bureaucracy of the New Republic and how that helped usher in the the formation of the First Order.

But I agree that it's weird that The Mandalorian shifted from its main storyline to show what's going on with Pershing and the New Republic.  Kind of felt like Book of Boba Fett when they spent some episodes with Din, Luke, and Grogu.

[Dave]

I think the Pershing subplot was taking on a few things - the situation for ex-Imperials was one.  The state of the New Republic was another - is it a step in the right direction?  Or are they doomed to make the same mistakes as the Old Republic?  And then there's the situation with ex-Imperials like Elia Kane.  She seems to have been assigned to tie up loose ends with Dr. Pershing - witness the way she maxed out the device that he was hooked up to at the end of that part of the episode.  Oh, and it sounds like Moff Gideon has escaped.  All of this seemed like place-setting for what's to come later in the seaon, and possibly in other shows that are in development.

I'm hopeful they were setting up future stuff, but the pace of the Pershing content was brutally slow. 

I liked how the quickly dropped the Moff Gideon reference which let us know what's going on, without a long story associated with it.  If they were tying to tie up loose ends, or introduce new characters, etc. I think they could have done it a whole lot more concise way.

I'll reserve my judgement until later in the season to see how it all pans out.  In the moment some of the Andor stuff was kind of slow (Aldhani) but after the season was done and I rewatched it all it was really well done.  I don't think Mando Season 3 is that well put together, but I'm hopeful that everything in these stories ultimately will matter and they're not just wasting our time with popsicles by the mountain top and biscuit rations.

[GrandMoffNick]

I'm not ready to say every time a show has a storyline devoted to a secondary character going forward that they've jumped the BoBF shark the way that show did.

[Nicklab]

I think the Pershing subplot was taking on a few things - the situation for ex-Imperials was one.  The state of the New Republic was another - is it a step in the right direction?  Or are they doomed to make the same mistakes as the Old Republic?  And then there's the situation with ex-Imperials like Elia Kane.  She seems to have been assigned to tie up loose ends with Dr. Pershing - witness the way she maxed out the device that he was hooked up to at the end of that part of the episode.  Oh, and it sounds like Moff Gideon has escaped.  All of this seemed like place-setting for what's to come later in the seaon, and possibly in other shows that are in development.

I'm hopeful they were setting up future stuff, but the pace of the Pershing content was brutally slow. 

I liked how the quickly dropped the Moff Gideon reference which let us know what's going on, without a long story associated with it.  If they were tying to tie up loose ends, or introduce new characters, etc. I think they could have done it a whole lot more concise way.

I'll reserve my judgement until later in the season to see how it all pans out.  In the moment some of the Andor stuff was kind of slow (Aldhani) but after the season was done and I rewatched it all it was really well done.  I don't think Mando Season 3 is that well put together, but I'm hopeful that everything in these stories ultimately will matter and they're not just wasting our time with popsicles by the mountain top and biscuit rations.

The mention of Moff Gideon made me think that they were sewing the seeds of doubt about the New Republic and foreshadowing the re-emergence of an Imperial remnant - whether it was Moff Gideon or some other Imperial warlord.  Between that exchange and all of the Imperial fighters attacking Kalevala, it was plain to see that something bigger is coming.

As for the concept of tying up loose ends?  I didn't mean that in terms of THE SHOW doing that.  Rather, I looked at the Dr Pershing story as being more about Elia Kane acting as an agent of the Imperial remnant.  And the Imperials want her to tie up those loose ends that might put their operations at risk.  Dr. Pershing's work in cloning, his study of Grogu and the cloning lab on Nevarro make it clear that there's a larger effort underway that goes beyond his own efforts.  With Pershing in New Republic hands he has the potential to endanger the efforts that might be linked to other Imperials who are scattered throughout the galaxy.  Eliminating Pershing as a possible intel source seems to be in the interest of the Imperials.

[Rob]

Was it just me or was the whole Dr. Pershing side story incredibly long and boring, and at this point it seems totally irrelevant too?  I'm hopeful all that time spent on that side plot ends up mattering later.

SAME! 

I'm all for world building and in theory I like deep dives into things that aren't just Mandalorians flying around talking about whether someone took their helmet off, but the ending left me if that was really the origin story for whatever the ex Gideon officer woman's name is? 

The show is having an identity crisis... Grogu has become decorative.  The first two episodes with looking to repair IG-11 and seeing Babu Frik's little gang, and the pirates... it all felt like wasted time.  Then the Bo Katan stuff seems actually interesting... they weaved in a bit of mystery with all those TIE Interceptors being too many for a warlord...

And then we spent 45 minutes following around a reformed Dr. Pershing relapsing. 

The mention of Moff Gideon made me think that they were sewing the seeds of doubt about the New Republic and foreshadowing the re-emergence of an Imperial remnant - whether it was Moff Gideon or some other Imperial warlord.  Between that exchange and all of the Imperial fighters attacking Kalevala, it was plain to see that something bigger is coming.

The show runners said a few years ago that Mandalorian would explore the origins of the First Order.  I have to think that's the direction all this is headed over the next few years.