The Mandalorian

Switch625

Flanging_Fred said:

Wow, that was a really nuanced and clever episode. I wasn’t that impressed with the first two episodes this season but that was ace.  Connects Andor and The Force Awakens with a great change in vibe.

Connects them how? I just watched it but it’s obviously gone over my head. It’s hard work keeping up with all these Star Wars shows and remembering which time it’s set in compared to the other ones. 

Flanging_Fred

Switch625 said:

Flanging_Fred said:

Wow, that was a really nuanced and clever episode. I wasn’t that impressed with the first two episodes this season but that was ace.  Connects Andor and The Force Awakens with a great change in vibe.

Connects them how? I just watched it but it’s obviously gone over my head. It’s hard work keeping up with all these Star Wars shows and remembering which time it’s set in compared to the other ones. 

These are just my wild theories of course but…

For me it seemed that episode was watering the seed of the idea that the New Republic isn’t as different from the Empire as we might like to think.  The scene of Dr Pershin “at work” was very similar to that of “Syril Karn” in Andor. I don’t think that was an accident.

The feeling of that episode changed dramatically from the normal vibe of the Mandalorian at the start to very much the vibe of Andor during that middle section on Corusant. 

I also got the impression this episode was trying to paint The New Republic as a bit incompetent, naive and arrogant. There were a few throw away lines in that episode that seem like they may be significant in the future as to how the First Order could grow.

In the sequels I never really understood the relationship between the New Republic and “the Resistance”. Why does the Resistance exist at all if the Galaxy is supposedly at peace? To fight the growing threat of the First Order? Why isn’t the New Republic combating them directly? I think someone along the line (probably Leia) is going to realise that the New Republic is disfunctional and takes steps to form the resistance to try and offer level of defensive capability independently.

Plus…

If on one side of the force you have the arrogance and incompetence of the light side/Jedi/Republic and evil of the Dark Side/Sith/Empire on the other, this gives weight to Luke Skywalker’s decision to give up and go into exile. Two crap sides of the same coin.

Caffeine_Vampire

*counts down to the unveiling of Grand Admiral Thrawn and his spooky eyes*

WezV

There was also a line about them decommissioning the Alliance fleet.   We know they are not safe, and will still need that fleet!  

There is a fleet of Tie's, originally passed off as gangster owned, but that becomes less likely by the end.

We know their conversion therapy isn't working, the guy operating the mind scrambler even says there are few successes, and we see the one he thinks is successful is far from it

The planet is still mostly human, just like the Empire before it.

This episode is telling us the New Republic is severely underestimating the threat against them!

Flanging_Fred

There is a very strong echo of “The Nazis were really evil but they were great at building motorways”.

crunchman

Flanging_Fred said:

There is a very strong echo of “The Nazis were really evil but they were great at building motorways”.

Don't bring Lineker into this!

tekbow

WezV said:

There was also a line about them decommissioning the Alliance fleet.   We know they are not safe, and will still need that fleet!  

There is a fleet of Tie's, originally passed off as gangster owned, but that becomes less likely by the end.

We know their conversion therapy isn't working, the guy operating the mind scrambler even says there are few successes, and we see the one he thinks is successful is far from it

The planet is still mostly human, just like the Empire before it.

This episode is telling us the New Republic is severely underestimating the threat against them!

To be fair, and WRT to both posts, IMO none of this necessarily bridges to the sequel trilogy, because in the legends (legacy canon before Disney reset everything) the NR ALWAYS had growing pains that was challenged by the Imperial Remnant (Thrawn Trilogy) and later the Yhuzong Vong.

They never had the cohesion, long view or united response of the Empire, which was how the Emporer was able to de-stabilise the old Republic in the first place.

Although I DO very much agree with the painting of the Elites of Coruscant as decadent and potentially corrupt, almost like the citizens of the Capitol in The Hunger Games/pick your Dystopia (Metropolis?).

What I found particularly interesting was the portrayal of Coruscant itself.

Take a close look at Kenobi and Andor (I think it was more noticeable in Kenobi). In the flashback of Anakin training with Obi-wan, you see the skyline of Courscant and it looks distinctly angular, grey and concrete, like Chicago or New York, rather than the shiny, rounded, smooth colour of the prequel Trilogy Coruscant.

This episode of the Mandalorian looked like the prequel trilogy Coruscant again.

Flanging_Fred

tekbow said:

WezV said:

There was also a line about them decommissioning the Alliance fleet.   We know they are not safe, and will still need that fleet!  

There is a fleet of Tie's, originally passed off as gangster owned, but that becomes less likely by the end.

We know their conversion therapy isn't working, the guy operating the mind scrambler even says there are few successes, and we see the one he thinks is successful is far from it

The planet is still mostly human, just like the Empire before it.

This episode is telling us the New Republic is severely underestimating the threat against them!

To be fair, and WRT to both posts, IMO none of this necessarily bridges to the sequel trilogy, because in the legends (legacy canon before Disney reset everything) the NR ALWAYS had growing pains that was challenged by the Imperial Remnant (Thrawn Trilogy) and later the Yhuzong Vong.

They never had the cohesion, long view or united response of the Empire, which was how the Emporer was able to de-stabilise the old Republic in the first place.

Although I DO very much agree with the painting of the Elites of Coruscant as decadent and potentially corrupt, almost like the citizens of the Capitol in The Hunger Games/pick your Dystopia (Metropolis?).

What I found particularly interesting was the portrayal of Coruscant itself.

Take a close look at Kenobi and Andor (I think it was more noticeable in Kenobi). In the flashback of Anakin training with Obi-wan, you see the skyline of Courscant and it looks distinctly angular, grey and concrete, like Chicago or New York, rather than the shiny, rounded, smooth colour of the prequel Trilogy Coruscant.

This episode of the Mandalorian looked like the prequel trilogy Coruscant again.

My observations are based on just the films and cartoons on Disney+. I’ve never read the books or comics or anything, so I’m unaware of all the Extended universe stuff.  I have some way to go to achieve my Star Wars nerd black belt.  I’ll get around to reading some of the books one day.

WezV

tekbow said:

To be fair, and WRT to both posts, IMO none of this necessarily bridges to the sequel trilogy, because in the legends (legacy canon before Disney reset everything) the NR ALWAYS had growing pains that was challenged by the Imperial Remnant (Thrawn Trilogy) and later the Yhuzong Vong.

I wasn't specifically referring to the link between prequels and sequels.

The link is there though, and comes via Dr Pershing and his link to cloning tech. 

Wasn't it odd how the New Republic were happily applauding his efforts in un-ethical  research at the start of the episode???

Either way, it was a change in direction for the show.  So far it has stuck to squabbles in the outer rim

DiscoStu

Go to Chrome browser. Type in 'The Mandalorian'. Wait for the pop up...
Works on Android, not sure about other OS.

guitargeek62

DiscoStu said:

Go to Chrome browser. Type in 'The Mandalorian'. Wait for the pop up...
Works on Android, not sure about other OS.

If you go to the Google homepage and search for it, then it works in Safari on MacOS and iOS too. Click on the pop-up for more fun

Brio

Go to Chrome browser. Type in 'The Mandalorian'. Wait for the pop up...

That made me happier than it should have. :-)

crunchman

Brio said:

Go to Chrome browser. Type in 'The Mandalorian'. Wait for the pop up...

That made me happier than it should have. :-)

I'm not installing Chrome just for that.

Brio

Come to the dark side Crunchman...

ICBM

This one was great, but it did feel like a random episode of Andor had been inserted into the middle - so much so that when it went back to the normal Mandalorian at the end it was rather a jolt that took you out of the narrative.

It did also very much remind me how completely different and much better Andor is, and how cartoony The Mandalorian is.

Loved the Coruscant section though -

but guessed the twist early on, the aptly named Katy O'Brian is O'Brien from 1984.

english_bob

ICBM said:

This one was great, but it did feel like a random episode of Andor had been inserted into the middle - so much so that when it went back to the normal Mandalorian at the end it was rather a jolt that took you out of the narrative.

It did also very much remind me how completely different and much better Andor is, and how cartoony The Mandalorian is.

Loved the Coruscant section though -

but guessed the twist early on, the aptly named Katy O'Brian is O'Brien from 1984.

I think the "twist" as you describe it is a bit too meta to be deliberate. I suspect a double-double-agent though.

But yes, Brutalist Coruscant is very reminiscent of Andor. It works well in the context of *that* show, but when you switch from the space-council-estate to the science-fantasy stuff going on in the Din Djarin / Bo Katan plotline it's quite jarring. 

crunchman

Somehow, Mando must get tied into the stuff on Coruscant, which will probably take a lot of the rest of this series.  Developments on the reclaiming of Mandalore are likely to be slow.  I think it could all get dragged out for another 5 seasons yet.

WezV

crunchman said:

Somehow, Mando must get tied into the stuff on Coruscant, which will probably take a lot of the rest of this series.  Developments on the reclaiming of Mandalore are likely to be slow.  I think it could all get dragged out for another 5 seasons yet.

yeah. The Mandalore stuff will likely become the big arc dragged out for as long as they can

It can nicely lead into struggles with both the New Republic and the Empire along the way.    Neither of those will want a new Mandalorian Army reforming.

I do wonder if Grogu was intended to still be in the show at this point

Jalapeno

english_bob said:

 when you switch from the space-council-estate to the science-fantasy stuff going on in the Din Djarin / Bo Katan plotline it's quite jarring. 

Good word, it was like watching to random plotlines smashed together. Though still the best episode of S3 so far. I see long term resentment from the big Mandalorian guard, he looked really pissed off when the waters were proven real.

AntonHunter

Jalapeno said:

english_bob said:

 when you switch from the space-council-estate to the science-fantasy stuff going on in the Din Djarin / Bo Katan plotline it's quite jarring. 

Good word, it was like watching to random plotlines smashed together. Though still the best episode of S3 so far. I see long term resentment from the big Mandalorian guard, he looked really pissed off when the waters were proven real.

Yeah, pretty impressive acting given the helmets too I thought.

Loving it so far. Took me a while to remember when Andor and Mano are set time-line wise, but got there.