Online Series: The Mandalorian III- NO Politics-Mysterious disappearance of Cara Dune

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I thought this episode was excessively ... fine. I don't have a passionate defense, but I definitely don't have any ire. But I also like dropping into a new place with new characters for 20 minutes or so. I don't want a movie or trilogy about it, but 20 minutes of a multi-season show? Big whoop. Better than going back to f***ing Tatooine yet again.

I actually like how they resolved the Darksaber issue because finding a way to make Bo fight Din would really have been forced, unless they wanted to turn Bo "bad" for some reason (which also would feel forced). The ol' Draco Malfoy trick works. My only nitpick is that Din (who has openly not wanted it) should've just handed it over a few episodes ago.

Edit: I honestly find the backfilling of the Palpatine clone storyline to be much more tedious than any random side quest. I'd rather see adventures of the week than spend time spackling over the cracks of the sequel trilogy.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

The last five minutes or so was relevant. The rest was fluff. I mean, that's this show in a nutshell.

 

[Richard]

You know what -- I'm a tool

I liked that campy fun episode. I couldn't help it hahaha

 

[CanesUltimate11]

I thought this episode was excessively ... fine. I don't have a passionate defense, but I definitely don't have any ire. But I also like dropping into a new place with new characters for 20 minutes or so. I don't want a movie or trilogy about it, but 20 minutes of a multi-season show? Big whoop. Better than going back to f***ing Tatooine yet again.

I actually like how they resolved the Darksaber issue because finding a way to make Bo fight Din would really have been forced, unless they wanted to turn Bo "bad" for some reason (which also would feel forced). The ol' Draco Malfoy trick works. My only nitpick is that Din (who has openly not wanted it) should've just handed it over a few episodes ago.

Edit: I honestly find the backfilling of the Palpatine clone storyline to be much more tedious than any random side quest. I'd rather see adventures of the week than spend time spackling over the cracks of the sequel trilogy.

He tried in Season 2 and she wouldn't take it. And up until the end of the last episode and this one she hadn't shown any signs of really wanting to be a leader again so he would have had no reason to give it to her prior.

 

[Voight]

Fo what it's worth good or bad, Famuyiwa did confirm at Celebration '23 that "The Mandalorian" no longer refers directly to Din alone, it's become more of a show around Manda-Lore and the culture in general. I suspect any Mando or Foundling with the potential to still be alive is an option to show up. Fett undoubtedly has some role and I believe Fenn Rau is rumored to have been cast. I wonder if Korkie Kryze is still alive, try to imagine the blowback if this show brings in a character named "Korkie"

Wonder if thats because they have an inkling Pascal won't be able to commit for the full length of show they wanna do. He's a hot commodity now and certainly got the show off the ground so he did his job.

 

[Jussi]

Wonder if thats because they have an inkling Pascal won't be able to commit for the full length of show they wanna do. He's a hot commodity now and certainly got the show off the ground so he did his job.

I think it was always destined to be about Mandalorians and Mand'lore in the end because of Filoni.

 

[MadDevil]

Wow, what an episode. Couple kind of dumb things but man that was fun.

Spoiler

Gideon decided to go with the mashup Mando cosplay between Vader and Maul.

Grogu getting an IG-11 mech suit was completely ridiculous and great at the same time.

Nice to see Palleon in live action and another Thrawn reference (nice timing after revealing who is playing him at Celebration Disney).

 

[trojansoilers]

Man there was a lot to unpack, but what a great episode!
The season started off a bit slow, but the payoff in the last two episodes is going to be worth it.

 

[Jussi]

Holy shit, that delivered! Wow!

 

[Jussi]

Man there was a lot to unpack, but what a great episode!
The season started off a bit slow, but the payoff in the last two episodes is going to be worth it.

Yeah, there's been a lot of sidequest, sidequest, main plot, sidequest, sidequest, main plot, sidequest, main plot moments in the season for me it was clear from episode 2, that this was the way where things were headed towards.

Edit: 9.1 rating at IMDB so far.

 

[Jussi]

I'm not sure it is. Dark Troopers supposedly have Beskar armor in them. Of course they could also be Imperial Super Commandos:

Imperial Super Commando

What are those, flying stormtroopers?""Worse. They're traitors. Mandalorians who serve the Empire.Ezra Bridger and Fenn Rau The Imperial Super Commandos were Mandalorian soldiers loyal to the Galactic Empire whose masterful combat skills were eclipsed only by their ruthlessness. They were led by...

starwars.fandom.com

Well I was right, kind off.

 

[Deport Ogie]

Definitely started to pull together a bit. I think we're starting to see how they are going to leverage this show to provide exposition to the cluster**** of plot that was the sequel trilogy. Whether that proves to be any success or not, eh who knows.

Spoiler

Project Necromancer has to the Snoke/Palps mess, right?

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Great episode. The last scene in particular was so good.

Spoiler

Paz Vizla is such a f***ing bad ass. What a hero end

Oh, and you can tell Filoni is a huge KOTOR mark... VIBROBLADES BABY!

 

[Hivemind]

They're doing their best to tie together all the different loose ends this season has, but it's still pretty awkward. Trying to integrate the Darksaber, Bo Katan, Din & Grogu, Nevarro, the pirates, Coruscant, Pershing, cloning/Snoke/Palpatine, Moff Gideon, Mandalore reconquest, the ever continuing retcons of Mandalorian culture, and now Thrawn all into the same season is a hot mess. It's pretty clear that some of these storylines were from Rangers of the New Republic, others are purely to set-up Ahsoka, and some are simply to justify BoBF - but they're all being dumped into this season. Grogu re-uniting with Din in BoBF has had essentially zero impact on this season (the only time he's played any meaningful role other than being comic relief is in episode 2 where he fetches Bo Katan). For better or worse (worse IMO), Bo Katan is the protagonist of this show now and the Space Western concept with Din Djarin that made the first two seasons so exceptionally is essentially gone. We still get some adventure of the week episodes, but the tone and style spasms wildly from "We're gonna try to be Andor" for an episode to that campy Scooby Doo crime procedural last week.

This was the first half of a big payoff sequence trying to integrate all these disparate plot lines (plus some fan service). The action was much better than a lot of the action has been this season. But all the exposition dumps felt rather stale (why are we still having to have characters narrate backstory 7 episodes into a season?).

 

[Scandale du Jour]

They're doing their best to tie together all the different loose ends this season has, but it's still pretty awkward. Trying to integrate the Darksaber, Bo Katan, Din & Grogu, Nevarro, the pirates, Coruscant, Pershing, cloning/Snoke/Palpatine, Moff Gideon, Mandalore reconquest, the ever continuing retcons of Mandalorian culture, and now Thrawn all into the same season is a hot mess. It's pretty clear that some of these storylines were from Rangers of the New Republic, others are purely to set-up Ahsoka, and some are simply to justify BoBF - but they're all being dumped into this season. Grogu re-uniting with Din in BoBF has had essentially zero impact on this season (the only time he's played any meaningful role other than being comic relief is in episode 2 where he fetches Bo Katan). For better or worse (worse IMO), Bo Katan is the protagonist of this show now and the Space Western concept with Din Djarin that made the first two seasons so exceptionally is essentially gone. We still get some adventure of the week episodes, but the tone and style spasms wildly from "We're gonna try to be Andor" for an episode to that campy Scooby Doo crime procedural last week.

This was the first half of a big payoff sequence trying to integrate all these disparate plot lines (plus some fan service). The action was much better than a lot of the action has been this season. But all the exposition dumps felt rather stale (why are we still having to have characters narrate backstory 7 episodes into a season?).

I mean, all seems pretty clear. Rushed, sure, but clear and easy enough to follow.

Could each plotline be way more developed and have a slower burn? Yes, that's a given. If it was in comic book form, it would be rather easy actually. In TV format? I dunno, it would end up being a little boring after a while... unless you do it Game of Thrones style with a GIANT cast. Then, yeah, I think it would work rather efficiently.

 

[Hivemind]

I mean, all seems pretty clear. Rushed, sure, but clear and easy enough to follow.

Could each plotline be way more developed and have a slower burn? Yes, that's a given. If it was in comic book form, it would be rather easy actually. In TV format? I dunno, it would end up being a little boring after a while... unless you do it Game of Thrones style with a GIANT cast. Then, yeah, I think it would work rather efficiently.

It doesn't need to be a slow burn. In fact, The Mandalorian really probably shouldn't be much of a slow burn. It's at its strongest as a space western with relatively self-contained plotlines that weave in-and-out of the overarching narrative.

But this season didn't really do that, either. It still had its adventures of the week at times, but they were in stark contrast to previous seasons. In season 1 we got a variety of adventures, but characters and plot elements from each were concretely tied back together at the end. Din built his merry band of rebels from that group, and we got additional characterization, world building, and advancement to relevant challenges along the way. The episodes still all felt like they were part of the same continuing adventure of the titular character, and all felt like part of the same journey. This season we get - not that. We have story of the week episodes, but they're tonally inconsistent, some feeling like they're from entirely different shows (and with the Rangers of the New Republic cancellation, they very much could have been). We had an entire episode built around Pershing, but he was tossed aside by a random dialogue line in the lastest episode (and the Imperial plant working for Gideon has contributed a whopping like 4 minutes of screen time since then). There was a space pirate arc, but that was once again just tossed away by a line of Moff Gideon's dialogue in the most recent episode. We had rebuilding IG-11... to pay off Grogu getting to smash "YES" and "NO" buttons? And don't get me started on the episode from last week, in which only the final 5 minutes of which mattered at all. These episodes leap from character to character as the focal point, without much unifying theme, aesthetic, or tone. Even episodes like the ice cave in season 2 helped set up meaningful challenges that mattered later in the season (Din's Razorcrest being damaged ultimately leading to it being tracked by Gideon).

This season could be saved by simply going back to the basics. Don't waste an entire episode trying to be Andor. Don't waste another episode pretending to be Scooby Doo. Stop jumping between multiple protagonists. Integrate the pirate sub-plot in a more meaningful way than "Thanks for Saving us Mandalorians, you can call Navarro home!" followed by "Nah, we gotta leave this new home and retake Mandalore" less than 3 minutes later. You want to have plots about re-uniting the tribes of Mandalore? Go for it, have Din interact with them in adventure of the week episodes, leading to them unifying in the final act of the season.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Spoiler

 

[LarKing]

Other than some imo stale voice lines, this was my favorite episode of the season. Really tied everything together. I think the action was solid. Vizla with “go, there are too many” was somehow more monotone than he normally talks. The scene would’ve really benefitted from any emotion at all in his voice.

Grogu in IG-12 was hilarious. I was dying at the “yes yes yes” spam when him and Mando are walking through the town.

I loved that the Mandalorians actually feel lethal and look like an army now. Before it felt like only a few of them. The weird colors from the first few episodes look a lot better now. Idk if that’s because they stand out less next to all the other clan of Mandalorians or because they changed them to be a bit less ridiculous but either way I’m happy with it.

Love that we got just enough of Thrawn’s name being dropped to satisfy but not waste him when he’s Ezra/Ahsoka’s villain. Interesting that Gideon thinks he’s a myth basically.

The beskar alloy doesn’t seem to stop shots from wounding soldiers much more than regular imperial armor did haha but that’s a minor complaint.

Idk if it’s the actors or the lines they’re delivering but man some of the lines are just so stale. It feels so forced and emotionless. Hopefully that improves next episode/season. Looking forward to it.

 

[Jussi]

Other than some imo stale voice lines, this was my favorite episode of the season. Really tied everything together. I think the action was solid. Vizla with “go, there are too many” was somehow more monotone than he normally talks. The scene would’ve really benefitted from any emotion at all in his voice.

Grogu in IG-12 was hilarious. I was dying at the “yes yes yes” spam when him and Mando are walking through the town.

I loved that the Mandalorians actually feel lethal and look like an army now. Before it felt like only a few of them. The weird colors from the first few episodes look a lot better now. Idk if that’s because they stand out less next to all the other clan of Mandalorians or because they changed them to be a bit less ridiculous but either way I’m happy with it.

Love that we got just enough of Thrawn’s name being dropped to satisfy but not waste him when he’s Ezra/Ahsoka’s villain. Interesting that Gideon thinks he’s a myth basically.

The beskar alloy doesn’t seem to stop shots from wounding soldiers much more than regular imperial armor did haha but that’s a minor complaint.

Idk if it’s the actors or the lines they’re delivering but man some of the lines are just so stale. It feels so forced and emotionless. Hopefully that improves next episode/season. Looking forward to it.

The Mandalorian knew where to shoot. Seams or places where there isn't armor. Necks etc.

 

[LarKing]

The Mandalorian knew where to shoot. Seams or places where the isn't armor. Necks etc.

Makes sense. Like I said, a minor complaint. Still overall a fantastic episode imo.

 

[Jussi]

Makes sense. Like I said, a minor complaint. Still overall a fantastic episode imo.

It was clear in the close up shots.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

The beskar alloy doesn’t seem to stop shots from wounding soldiers much more than regular imperial armor did haha but that’s a minor complaint.

I was thinking the exact opposite the entire time. Usually stormtroopers keel over whenever a blast is within twenty feet of them, always thought how pointless stormtrooper armor was. In this one it felt like you could really feel that this was an elite troop with increased armor. Troops on both sides were shaking off hits unlike normally it's just the protagonists that could do that.

Well I thought that until the final confrontation when Paz Visla wiped out like 30 of them but beyond that moment which was needed for story it felt like these troops would actually have a chance when stormtroopers are normally the most useless army ever.

 

[Hivemind]

I was thinking the exact opposite the entire time. Usually stormtroopers keel over whenever a blast is within twenty feet of them, always thought how pointless stormtrooper armor was. In this one it felt like you could really feel that this was an elite troop with increased armor. Troops on both sides were shaking off hits unlike normally it's just the protagonists that could do that.

Well I thought that until the final confrontation when Paz Visla wiped out like 30 of them but beyond that moment which was needed for story it felt like these troops would actually have a chance when stormtroopers are normally the most useless army ever.

Very much agreed.

I also chuckled at the "Go, there's too many of them!" followed by Paz Visla killing all of them. I understand they were just doing that to set up showing off the Praetorians (which presumably Bo Katan will fight next episode), but it just felt kinda silly in hindsight. I guess there wasn't actually too many

 

[MadDevil]

Was I the only one thinking of this when Grogu was in his mech...

 

[Power Man]

What an episode

Esposito is so good in villain roles