The Mandalorian (Spoiler Thread)

[Rippounet]

On 11/30/2019 at 4:00 AM, Kalbear said:

I don't see how having a cute thing means that it's going to be the franchise runner, and honestly if it is I'm going to be kind of pissed; I really don't give two shits about some small baby growing for 800 years and finding out about yoda puberty. Yoda isn't exactly the most popular thing in the Star Wars universe to begin with; if they're making that as their franchise rock that's a pretty stupid idea.

It's more likely that he's cute and lovable and is a plot device.

Even characters acting as plot devices can be developed though.

On 11/30/2019 at 7:46 AM, nah said:

There are a lot of scenes that kind of hold on Baby Yoda observing what's happening in front of him when Mando is doing something violent to protect it. Close up its eyes, switch to Mando vaporizing somone, back to the baby's eyes, like its absorbing lessons from what's happening.

I was starting to think I had imagined those moments (can't bother to rewatch the episodes, it's not that good a show).

I'm pretty sure BabyYoda will get some form of agency before the end of the season, having analysed what was happening around him and figured out what he can do at a critical point. OTOH since the show focuses on Mando, the moment BabyYoda proves to be more than a cute baby may also be the moment he has to leave (thus giving him a convenient time skip for development).
Two thoughts on that:
- I don't think it/he has to go through "puberty." In all likelihood there'll be few physical changes as the Yoda grows up. It's just that people will treat it with respect and "listen" to him and his force-based intuition (though it's unlikely he'll ever talk much).
- If I had to make a bet I'd say Mando will have to both rescue BabyYoda at some point and find him a place to stay (he obviously doesn't want to keep him around). Of course, BabyYoda could become a member of a crew built around Mando, but that seems better for the distant future (seaons 4-5). For the time being the arc would likely conclude as Mando finds someone to watch over him... which brings me back to Ahsoka Tano and her possibly still being alive as a wise grey master. She's quite obviously the best character to watch over him while the show goes back to Mando's adventures...

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, Rippounet said:

Even characters acting as plot devices can be developed though.

Didn't say they couldn't. I don't think it's going to be the actual face of the franchise, the savior of Star Wars on Disney, the thing that drives 20 years of shows or the basis for a very long term plan. Stitch got development as well, but at the end of the day he was designed to be cute and sell merch. Same with Cars for Pixar. Same with Olaf from Frozen. Giving Great Importance to the thing that eats frogs and expecting some amazing reveal for a show that is so directly aimed at kids and written and produced by a person who mostly had experience with cartoons and a guy who unironically wants to bring back life day though? Come on. 

[Rippounet]

5 hours ago, Kalbear said:

I don't think it's going to be the actual face of the franchise,

Neither do I ('tis not what I said).

Though there's a joke to be made about it being the de facto face of The Mandalorian...

5 hours ago, Kalbear said:

expecting some amazing reveal

None of my speculations would lead to anything "amazing." Pretty much every single one of them corresponds to a well-established trope.

My initial speculation (the one that started this exchange) is literally a trope:

Quote

"Badass and child" entry (TvTropes)
The Child is a Hero, who is very often female but may be of either gender, between toddler-age and tween-age who has been orphaned in the dangerous world these two very different people are trying to survive in. Either the child's proximity to the Badass will constantly bring them into dangerous situations, or the Child themself is valuable for some other reason and will have one or more organizations vying to attain them, usually to exploit them in some way that is immoral. It is not uncommon for the child to be supernatural or otherwise special in some way to justify this. If very young the child may not have much of an actual personality, but if a little older they will usually be The Pollyanna, with a smile on their face despite their circumstances. They will trust the Badass completely and insist upon his goodness even with complete knowledge, and sometimes even acceptance or approval, of the violence they have done to protect them. The Child will at least begin as a Non Action Kid, on the sidelines, not involved in battles at all, perhaps not even present if the badass can find a safe place to stow them for the length of it, though it's also not uncommon for them to develop powers or abilities as they remain in contact with The Badass, especially if they are older, which allows them to participate in combat. The Badass and The Child are nearly always Walking the Earth, either trying to defeat whatever organization is after The Child, to get out of whatever horrible place they are in, or to carry out some revenge.

 

[Toth]

I guess that's what happens when you impulse buy the DVD of Detective Pikachu while also browsing Baby Yoda memes before going to bed.

This night I had an extremely trippy dream that was basically a commercial for a movie about "The original baby Yoda". There was a dude driving around in his totally mundane car, but there was an animatronic Pikachu riding in the passenger seat and they were reenacting scenes from the Mandalorian.

I... I see myself out...

[aceluby]

On 12/8/2019 at 6:00 AM, unJon said:

Thanks. Agree with you. My kids are loving the show, and I think it’s entertaining. And baby Yoda is pretty special. And that’s really it. It could be amazing, but it’s not, and I’m not sure it’s trying to be. 

I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment.  It's a good show and far better than the new movies, save R1.  With all the drek that has come out of the SW universe this show doesn't have to be amazing, but it is pretty good and entertaining.

[Corvinus85]

Wow, this latest episode was full of guest stars. Quite enjoyable episode, plenty of good action, and liked seeing some New Republic stuff.

[Toth]

Fine episode indeed. I rather liked the former Stormtrooper guy, he was ruthless and yet his funny reactions to things were quirky enough to make him not seem as cartoonishly villainous as the other ones.

Only thing is that I found it quite strange how the New Republic forces acted. I thought they would respond to the distress signal with a corvette, not with three sweaty guys in X-Wings. And I also would have thought they would hail the station and investigate why they have the distress beacon of a prison ship instead of coming in guns blazing just because they picked up a single starfighter in the process of launching. It seems we shouldn't let Filoni fly an X-Wing, he is far too trigger happy!

[Toth]

I also just read that the New Republic soldier was played by the voice actor of Anakin in The Clone Wars. Wow, another cameo I completely missed! XD

Also another tidbit that makes me think that Filoni is a magnificient bastard: Have you noticed the symbols on the New Republic Uniforms and helmets? Those were not Disney Canon New Republic icons, but this one: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/3/33/NR_Seal.svg/revision/latest?cb=20080307235709

It's the New Republic symbol of the old EU! In comparison, the Disney Canon one looks like this:
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/0/0f/New_Republic_canon.svg/revision/latest?cb=20160126010008

What is that if not a bold statement? I mean so far the show definitely felt like it could fit very smoothly into the EU and I believe that is done intentionally so. If only because the EU actually gives a more or less coherent place to fall back to in regards to sensible post-Endor worldbuilding.

[Kalbear]

That was basically sponge cake. Sweet, tasty, and entirely not filling. Which again, fine, but totally filler. 

Also, the twi'lek feel like some bullshit cosplay assholes wearing wife beaters. All the costuming is in general really really boring. 

[Corvinus85]

14 minutes ago, nah said:

It was about a third of the way into this episode I realized I was watching a really expensive, really immersive, highly polished commercial, and it totally killed my enthusiasm for the show.

Commercial for what? Toys?

[dooog]

Easily the worst one of the season for me.  Predictable and cringey.

 

Also you have to wonder why the gang feared the distress beacon so much.  I mean, it gets activated, they spend 5 minutes finding the prisoner, Mando has the time to wait for a droid to pass by and then escape from a cell. They fuck around for ages "killing" one another, Mando beats them all individually, sticks them all in a cell together and then jumps into hyperspace, traveling across the universe and with the time to conclude his business arrangement... all before the distress beacon cavalry arrive! These distress responders are delivering cold pizza.

[Corvinus85]

26 minutes ago, dooog said:

Easily the worst one of the season for me.  Predictable and cringey.

 

Also you have to wonder why the gang feared the distress beacon so much.  I mean, it gets activated, they spend 5 minutes finding the prisoner, Mando has the time to wait for a droid to pass by and then escape from a cell. They fuck around for ages "killing" one another, Mando beats them all individually, sticks them all in a cell together and then jumps into hyperspace, traveling across the universe and with the time to conclude his business arrangement... all before the distress beacon cavalry arrive! These distress responders are delivering cold pizza.

Well thank God that space is big. The transponder was active the whole time, me thinks, so the X-Wings could have been almost at the prison ship when suddenly it started moving. 

[unJon]

The characters are cardboard cutouts. The episodes are unrelated and serial. Each hits a different theme in Westerns is a formulaic way. It’s all predictable. 

But it’s entertaining. 

Plus Baby Yoda. That kid is the golden goose and I love him. Even though I know just what Disney is doing, it works for me. 

If I could tweak something, it would be to mix in some mythology episodes with the serial/filler episodes. I assume the season finale will circle back in some way. But having some other recurring characters after week 3 would tie the season together for me better. 

[The Last Storm]

Every episode seems like a standalone almost. The only thing to tie anything together is lil yoda. Really not sure what this is all about. 6 episodes in you usually have some idea.

[dooog]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:28 PM, Corvinus said:

Well thank God that space is big. The transponder was active the whole time, me thinks, so the X-Wings could have been almost at the prison ship when suddenly it started moving. 

Gimme a break. The transponder was so little of a threat that even after being activated... Mando goes about finding the prisoner, being imprisoned, breaking out of prison, hunting down each one of the group individually, putting them in all in cell together and even with all that, Mando still felt comfortable enough to bring the beacon aboard his ship, fly across the galaxy and meet beardy guy to conclude his business transaction.  How would this response ever be remotely effective if a someone was getting sprung from prison without all the fucking around in between?!

[Corvinus85]

39 minutes ago, dooog said:

Gimme a break. The transponder was so little of a threat that even after being activated... Mando goes about finding the prisoner, being imprisoned, breaking out of prison, hunting down each one of the group individually, putting them in all in cell together and even with all that, Mando still felt comfortable enough to bring the beacon aboard his ship, fly across the galaxy and meet beardy guy to conclude his business transaction.  How would this response ever be remotely effective if a someone was getting sprung from prison without all the fucking around in between?!

If you pause the episode right when the transponder is activated, you'll notice that there's about 22 minutes left in the episode. The droids tells them they have roughly 20 minutes until the NR ships arrive. So yes, all the action on the ship was in under that time. Then we got a time jump with Mando going back to the station, in that time the transponder moved, too, and the X-wings followed. 

[dooog]

22 minutes left in the episode because that translates to real story time!! Just stop.

22 minutes left in the episode... without showing how long Mando had to think up a plan of escape, then wait inside his cell for a droid to finally pass by so he could decapitate it. Would be quite a wait since that droid must have been quite far away from the crew that stuck him in the cell in the first place.  Then the time to stalk his prey individually which also isn't shown, incapacitate them... well you get the idea.  And with all that time lapsed Mando still felt confident enough to travel across the universe with the transponder, conduct his business - luckily very quickly since Beardy was waiting at the hanger with Mando's specific purse on hand.

And even somehow assuming that's all grand, how is 20 minutes an acceptable response to deter any remotely competent prison break

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, dooog said:

22 minutes left in the episode because that translates to real story time!! Just stop.

22 minutes left in the episode... without showing how long Mando had to think up a plan of escape, then wait inside his cell for a droid to finally pass by so he could decapitate it. Would be quite a wait since that droid must have been quite far away from the crew that stuck him in the cell in the first place.  Then the time to stalk his prey individually which also isn't shown, incapacitate them... well you get the idea.  And with all that time lapsed Mando still felt confident enough to travel across the universe with the transponder, conduct his business - luckily very quickly since Beardy was waiting at the hanger with Mando's specific purse on hand.

And even somehow assuming that's all grand, how is 20 minutes an acceptable response to deter any remotely competent prison break

You don't really know the size of the ship. Based on the size of Mando's ship, which is quite small, it doesn't seem to me that the prison ship is some behemoth that requires a long time getting from one place to another. They already get fairly fast to the control room in the first place, and that's after a droid fight.

If you want to argue stupid writing, a couple of examples: why was there a lock on the inside of a cell door? or why couldn't the transponder simply be destroyed?

I'm enjoying the show for what it is. It reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons, and gleefully wait for a new episode each week.

[Leofric]

12 hours ago, Corvinus said:

You don't really know the size of the ship. Based on the size of Mando's ship, which is quite small, it doesn't seem to me that the prison ship is some behemoth that requires a long time getting from one place to another. They already get fairly fast to the control room in the first place, and that's after a droid fight.

If you want to argue stupid writing, a couple of examples: why was there a lock on the inside of a cell door? or why couldn't the transponder simply be destroyed?

I'm enjoying the show for what it is. It reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons, and gleefully wait for a new episode each week.

When we first saw it, I thought the transponder thing was just a remote that told the prison ship to send a distress signal, so smashing it served no purpose because the damage was done.  But then he brings it across the galaxy to his old friend's space station, so it turned out that the remote was beacon itself, so yeah smashing seemed to be the way to go.  

[Jaxom 1974]

Another episode with interesting potential to flesh out the world of this particular Mandalorian and put some heft into the overall story...and then poof...nothing. 

And when did Twi'lek's get such prominent fangs...?  Bib Fortuna was all sharp teeth...Hera didn't appear to be fanged, or any others in Rebels...that was actually distracting...